GUEST, I'll accept now that we have a genuine difference of opinion and that no distorition was intended.

But here's my point: Johnson had already withdrawn before Wisconsin, and he still got 35% of the vote there. You can't have it both ways. Either 42-49 is a defeat for McCarthy, or 35% for a candidate who is not in the race (Johnson) is a stunning victory.

John Edwards' second place in Iowa was a better than expected showing. It was not a victory. If anyone achieved a victory in Iowa this year it was Kerry.

Johnson withdrew very early from a race that was to be hotly contended by two other candidates. You might as well say that Howard Dean handily defeated Dick Gephardt in the primaries. In fact, that would be more accurate since Dean came in ahead of Gephardt in the only caucus they were both competing in.