• speakers think they have to shout into the microphone to be heard
• political delegates have absolutely no rhythm (and no shame)
• everyone jumps at the chance to chant something

• All of the oil that the U.S. imports from the Persian Gulf (about $7.5 billion/month)
• About 28% of our gasoline consumption; or, enough to reduce the price of gas by nearly a dollar a gallon
• Three new nuclear reactors each month (at roughly $3 billion apiece); in five years, nuclear power could be generating over half of the country's electrical needs
• A complete solar power system for 250,000 homes every month; in five years, 13% of houses could be powered solely by solar energy

Republicans:

• McCain: 36% (57 delegates)
• Romney: 31%
• Giuliani: 15%
• Huckabee: 13%
• Paul: 4%

Notes

• Clinton won the Democratic vote, but Florida was stripped of its delegates by the Democratic Party for moving up its primary date.
• Florida is a winner-take-all state for delegates.
• Giuliani is widely expected to drop out of the race today, and possibly endorse McCain. Giuliani had counted on a strong showing in Florida.

Democrats:

• Obama: 55% (25 delegates)
• Clinton: 27% (12 delegates)
• Edwards: 18% (8 delegates)

Notes

• John Edwards won South Carolina in 2004. His distant third-place finish must be disappointing to him, and should be a sign of his increasing irrelevance in this race. Time to move on, John.
• Bill Richardson dropped out of the race on January 10th. Somehow I missed that.
• Dennis Kucinich dropped out of the Democratic race Thursday. Political blogs continue, though, to keep close tabs on his hot wife.
• Fred Thompson dropped out of the Republican race Tuesday. Political blogs continue, though, to keep close tabs on his hot wife.

Democrats, Nevada:

• Clinton: 51% (12 delegates)
• Obama: 45% (13 delegates)
• Edwards: 4% (0 delegates)
• Kucinich: 0%
• Richardson: 0%

Republicans, Nevada:

• Romney: 51% (18 delegates)
• Paul: 14% (4 delegates)
• McCain: 13% (4 delegates)
• Huckabee: 8% (2 delegates)
• Thompson: 8% (2 delegates)
• Giuliani: 4% (1 delegate)
• Hunter: 2%

Republicans, South Carolina:

• McCain: 33% (19 delegates)
• Huckabee: 30% (5 delegates)
• Thompson: 16%
• Romney: 15%
• Paul: 4%
• Giuliani: 2%
• Hunter: 0%

Notes

• Duncan Hunter dropped out of the race, after yesterday's results.
• John Edwards admits he got his "butt kicked" in Nevada, but vows to press on. My guess, though, is that if he has a poor showing in South Carolina, he'll be pressured to drop out of the race. It's looking very much like a two-horse race. (Why Kucinich continues to campaign is beyond me. And I imagine Richardson must be discouraged by his poor performance in a Southwestern state.)
• The wide disparities between results in the Republican race reflects, in my opinion, a severe internal conflict in the Republican party. Romney appeals to libertarian-leaning, pro-business conservatives; McCain appeals to values-oriented conservatives; Huckabee appeals to evangelical Christians. The likelihood of a third-party candidate "Nadering" the Republican vote this year seems to be growing.
• Giuliani continues to pin his hopes on the upcoming Florida primary, and the 22 "Super Tuesday" states that vote on February 5th.

Republicans:

• Romney: 39% (24 delegates)
• McCain: 30% (5 delegates)
• Huckabee: 16% (1 delegate)
• Paul: 6%
• Thompson: 4%
• Giuliani: 3%
• Hunter: 0%

Notes

• The Democratic Party stripped Michigan of all its delegates for having its primary too early, so Democratic vote counts are essentially meaningless.
• The Republican Party stripped Michigan of half of its delegates.
• Liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas had called for Democrats to vote for Mitt Romney, since the Democratic primary was meaningless, and a Romney victory would complicate the close Republican race (and tie up campaign dollars in the primary).
• McCain now has a dominant lead in national polls, ahead of Huckabee; former front-runner Giuliani is a distant third, and Romney is fourth.

Democrats:

• Clinton: 39% (9 delegates)
• Obama: 36% (9 delegates)
• Edwards: 17% (4 delegates)
• Richardson: 5%
• Kucinich: 1%

Republicans:

• McCain: 37% (7 delegates)
• Romney: 32% (4 delegates)
• Huckabee: 11% (1 delegate)
• Giuliani: 9%
• Paul: 8%
• Thompson: 1%
• Hunter: 0%

Notes

• Delegate counts are estimated.
• Obama had led significantly in polls in the days leading up to the election.
• Exit polling reveals that women voted heavily for Clinton, as did voters in big cities.
• Republicans voted for McCain based on his character, despite agreeing more with Romney on issues.

Democrats:

• Obama: 38% (16 delegates)
• Edwards: 30% (14 delegates)
• Clinton: 29% (15 delegates)
• Richardson: 2%
• Biden: 1%
• Dodd: 0%
• Kucinich: 0%

Republicans:

• Huckabee: 34% (17 delegates)
• Romney: 25% (12 delegates)
• Thompson: 13% (3 delegates)
• McCain: 13% (3 delegates)
• Paul: 10% (2 delegates)
• Giuliani: 3%
• Hunter: 0%

Notes

• I'm going with media projections of Republican delegates; the actual numbers may change. Updated with CNN's delegate projections, January 20, 2008.
• Clinton received more delegates than Edwards despite receiving less of the popular vote, due to the mechanics of the Democrat's Iowa caucus system.
• Giuliani did not campaign in Iowa.
• Joe Biden and Chris Dodd dropped out of the Democratic nominating race after the Iowa results.