News Digest, 2/12/08: A Big Day On The Potomac

The big news yesterday concerned the dynamic between Huckabee and McCain, and that relationship will likely only get more complicated today as Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. head to the polls and more delegates are handed out.

Republican officials in Washington gave Saturday's race to McCain a little too early for Huckabee's liking, and the web of political intrigue and confusion that has unfolded since Huckabee began the proceedings for formal protest has been interesting to watch. Of additional importance is the relationship between McCain and Huckabee, which was all smiles and high-fives when other potential competitors were in the race. Huckabee has been focused on problems with Washington's system and local actors rather than blaming McCain in any way, but they can't stay nice to each other for much longer.

The process in Washington will no doubt be elongated if Huckabee follows through on his requests for a complete recount, but the hilarious thing about the vote count is that at some point yesterday, the state GOP officials started counting votes again, deciding that maybe they ought to count all 100 percent when the candidates were only separated by 1 or 2 percent with plenty of votes to go. Have you ever seen a close election not be completely counted? In America, that is?

McCain has picked up some support in Texas recently: last week Senator John Cornyn endorsed him, and yesterday Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison joined her colleague in supporting McCain. That would make it all the more embarrassing for them and McCain if Huckabee pulls it out in Texas, but signs have started to materialize that conservatives may be ready to get a little religion on the Senator from Arizona, if for nothing other than the sake of running a real race instead of supporting the candidacy of some half-bright third party mockup.

I will be curious to see what the delegate tallies look like after today, since they are an unqualified mess already. Editorial intern Curtis Rochelle compiled some numbers yesterday that showed the sometimes huge disparities in delegate counts between various news organizations. I think that such confusion is sort of curious, but then again, I guess I feel like you should be able to get on the phone and get some answers, and failing that, you let everyone know you couldn't get satisfactory information. Such a move may not be palatable or plausible in today's high-pressure, results-oriented political coverage environment, and that is sad. I would rather have the truth a little late than a rough estimate on time, especially in matters of such importance.

Regular contributor Chris Bell provided some insight into the proposed "Office of Congressional Ethics" — a panel of non-members that would perform ethics oversight on the House. As you might have guessed from his record on ethics, he is in favor of it.

Speaking of ethics, Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint against Tom Craddick over some alleged campaign finance finagling, and the latest treatise on the importance of the youth vote showed up over at Politico, containing some interesting analysis on the value of perspective. Grace Stevens has the next episode of On The Record for you, this time interviewing Phyllis Wolper, a candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 1 in Denton County.

Stay with us throughout the day for coverage of the contests up north. Thanks for reading.