Looks like Ron Paul is “suspending” his campaign so he can focus on his primary election for his congressional seat. Robert Stacy McCain puts it best with this translation of Paul’s announcement:

“Hey, chumps, ever heard of something called a ‘bait and switch’?

“Remember all that money you donated so I could campaign for president?

“Well, instead I’m going to use it to campaign for re-election to Congess, you stupid chumps.

“However, just in case you’re not smart enough to realize you’ve been played for a sucker, I will maintain a token presidential campaign. That will allow me to continue paying fat salaries to the genius pimps who masterminded this scam.

“You’ve been so totally punk’d, dude. I got your hopes up, then screwed you over.

And after all that effort spamming online polls…

I’m tired… feel free to discuss the primary results tonight…

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: I’m not quite so tired, but I managed to sleep on the plane a little.

Huckabee had a good night, and the rumor-mill out there is a worry that Huckabee might be able to pull off a win in Texas. I’m not so sure about that – in Louisiana, Huckabee fell short of the necessary votes to immediately secure Louisiana’s delegates, and they’ll now be awarded at a State convention, where they are almost certain to go to McCain. Meanwhile, Huckabee’s crushing victory in Kansas is offset, in delegates, by McCain’s slight win in Washington, and its still mathematically nearly impossible for Huckabee to derail McCain. Blogs for Victory advises Huckabee to pack it in – we’ve got an election to win, not an ego to feed.

Meanhile, Barack Obama scored huge today, and that means he’s probably tied – if not slightly ahead – of Hillary in the delegate count. Word is that in upcoming primaries, however, Hillary should do fairly well…which means that there won’t be a Democratic nominee until at least the end of March, and my feeling is that its becoming very hard for the Democrats to avoid an open convention.

I have made it back to Boston safely. Mark should be back in Vegas soon as well, but he was pretty tired so I imagine you won’t hear from him for a while.

I am quite tired myself, and waiting to take the train back to my apartment. If any of you are planning to watch the Celtics game tomorrow, I will be there.

Anyway, it was a fun CPAC, despite some disappointing news. Aside from meeting Tom DeLay, we met some folks from the RNC, including Chairman Duncan, at a blogger & talk radio reception. I’ll talk more about everything after I get home and catch on some sleep. Must reserve the iPhone’s battery power.

We’ve had quite a day today. It started with President George W. Bush’s speech, dark and early at 7:15 a.m. It was a great speech, one that ought to be called his Conservative State of the Union. I have no doubt that history will look back on Bush’s presidency and acknowledge all the good he did for our country and the world.

Later in the morning Mark and I had a breakfast chat with Robert Stacy McCain, co-author of Donkey Cons, who blogs over at The Other McCain. He endorsed our book, Caucus of Corruption.

In the afternoon we had a meeting with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a great American and conservative leader. Mark and I were very grateful he was able to take some time out of his schedule to meet with us. As you know, Tom DeLay also endorsed our book. It was a nice meeting, we talked politics and about the presidential race. It was a very nice meeting, and we are both glad we finally got to meet him in person. It is a shame how the Democrats smeared him.

It was a busy day, and it’s still not over yet. We’ll be heading out in a little while, but I did want to give everyone an update.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I was interviewed yesterday by MarketWatch…

Watching President Bush deliver his speech at CPAC. People were lining up at 5 am to get in line to see him. The crowd is loving him, shouting “We love you, George!” and “Four more years!” Great speech so far, gonna continue watching.

Well, we are at Morton’s Steakhouse. As I lost the Superbowl bet, I am paying for Mark’s New York Strip. I am getting the filet mignon.

Cheers.

I’m at JFK Airport right now, blogging from my iPhone. I have some time before my connecting flight to Dulles, so I thought I would drop a note here. Mark and I were scheduled to arrive in DC within ten minutes of eachother, but his flight was delayed a half hour, so who knows?

Tomorrow begins CPAC!

UPDATE, 12:31 AM: I landed at Dulles a little while ago. Mark just texted me that he has landed.

UPDATE, 2:30 AM: To make a long story short, we just got to our hotel.

Super Tuesday will likely tell us who the Democrats will nominate, and who the Republicans will nominate. I don’t have to tell you how devastating it would be to our country if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama becomes president, so I’m asking all those people who support a strong America and victory in the war on terror to pledge to support the Republican nominee with a donation on Thursday, February 7, 2008.

Do you want Hillary or Obama nominating the next one or two Supreme Court justices? Do you want Hillary or Obama as commander-in-chief? Our country cannot afford such a thing to happen. Take the pledge now.

Maine’s caucuses are this weekend, with most caucusing today. According to Truth Caucus, Mitt Romney appears to be doing very well in Maine, despite the establishment’s supporting of McCain.

Rank-and-file activists are turning out in droves for Romney. Word is Sens. Snowe and Collins are stumping hard for McCain […] to avoid an embarrassment.

It will be interesting to see if Maine will be the first bellwether of a possible GOP conservative/activist tide against McCain.

UPDATE: Mitt wins.

Barack Obama (D-Rezko) has been trying to paint himself as the one who can unite this country, and he even claimed at the debate last night that he’d bring in advisors and such that aren’t just “yes men.” He claims he’s open to differing opinions and claims he knows he’s not always correct. It’s his way of appealing to independents and moderates.

But his record shows that he would be the furthest thing from mainstream. According to the National Journal, Obama was the most liberal senator in 2007. For the record, Hillary Clinton (D-Hsu) ranked the 16th most liberal senator.

It’s funny too, because so many on the left are regurgitating the ridiculous idea that Barack is more moderate. They don’t really believe it, they are just trying to convince independents and moderates that Barack Obama is some uniting figure who will bring Republicans and Democrats together. Christopher Hayes, writing at The Nation, is doing the same thing, by writing, “[Obama’s] record places him squarely in the middle of Democratic senators.” Yeah, nice try.