In W. Va., Huckabee Blocks for McCain

Another example of the enduring John McCain-Mike Huckabee alliance and its consequences for Mitt Romney: Huckabee just won the West Virginia State Republican Convention thanks to an assist from McCain.

Romney targeted West Virginia, where a vote of the 1,100 delegates at the state G.O.P. convention determines which presidential candidate will receive all 18 of West Virginia's delegates to the national convention.

On the first ballot, Romney led with 41 percent to Huckabee's 33 percent, with McCain in third place. But in the second round of voting, most of McCain's supporters went to Huckabee, handing the former Arkansas governor a 52-47 percent victory over Romney.

Even though the delegate jackpot is small, Romney was looking to rack up a victory he could crow about -- the same way he did after targeting small events in Wyoming, Nevada and Maine.