On to New Hampshire

Congratulations to Governor Huckabee and Senator Obama. Although I thought Huckabee would win, I didn't think he'd pull away by the margin he did. The local Huckabee supporters I know are now leaving Iowa and heading to South Carolina. On the Democratic side, I knew it would be a tight vote, but I thought Clinton would pull it out. Democrats Biden and Dodd have dropped out of the race. The pressure's on now for New Hampshire.

Although the Wyoming GOP nomination process is tomorrow, it is largely being ignored while candidates key on New Hampshire. Candidates have paid little attention to Wyoming, and whether anyone has an advantage is unknown. There has been no public polling, and those familiar with the results of the Republican precinct caucuses held last month said no clear candidate emerged when delegates to the county conventions were selected. Here are the upcoming primaries:

January 5: Wyoming County Conventions (R only)
January 8: New Hampshire Primary
January 15: Michigan Primary
January 19: Nevada Caucuses
January 19: South Carolina Primary (R only)
January 25: Hawaii Caucuses (R only; 1/25 - 1/27)
January 29: Florida Primary
January 29: South Carolina Primary (D)
February 1: Maine Caucuses (R only; 2/1 - 2/3)

23 states will join us for the Fat Tuesday primaries. Turnout was very high in Iowa. Democratic Party officials said turnout exceeded 239,000, far above the 124,000 who participated four years ago and eclipsing even the campaigns' most optimistic forecasts. Still, Iowa's total delegation at the convention is 65. There will be 3,515 pledged and 852 unpledged delegates at the convention.