Huckabee Undermines Romney All Across the South

As a fuller picture of the results in Southern states emerges, it now appears that Mike Huckabee has undermined Mitt Romney's campaign. Romney, whose last-ditch strategy involves trying to rally the party's conservative base around him in opposition to John McCain and his supposed crimes against conservatism, badly needs a handful of wins in states like Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Missouri -- places where his new message should most resonate. But Huckabee's regional and cultural appeal in those states threatened to steal the voters that Romney is targeting. In the early-going tonight, reports suggested a virtual three-way tie in Georgia--suggesting that Romney might be able to overcome Huckabee's presence and contend in the South. But the numbers that have since come in across the South paint a different picture: In Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama and Georgia, McCain and Huckabee are running closely together in first and second place, with Romney lagging further behind in third place. Added together, Huckabee's and Romney's votes would constitute a clear majority in those states. But with Huckabee in the race, it appears that religious conservatives have favored him over Romney, making Huckabee and McCain (with moderate and independent support) the leaders and squeezing Romney out. The story is similar in Missouri, although Romney is -- for now -- slighly ahead of Huckabee for second place. UPDATE: Alabama, which was just called for Mike Huckabee, is a perfect example of the damage the former Arkansas governor is doing to Mitt Romney's campaign. Without Huckabee in the race, Romney might have staked a claim to a clear majority of Huckabee's Christian conservative base in the state--and thus notched a key win over John McCain. Instead, the win--and the delegates--go to Huckabee. Romney can't afford for this to happen across the South.