More than a few conservatives around the U.S. are likely reconciling themselves to the fact that a man they detest is going to be the man they will have to find a way to support come November.

Now the favorite, John McCain has a ways to go before he wins the GOP nomination, but animosity towards him is no secret, and sets up a fascinating battle between the U.S. Senator and the machine.

Having gotten the most votes, McCain should the leverage. Should. But does anyone remember John Kerry? He knows it’s not that simple.

A lot depends on McCain’s Democratic opponent. Barack Obama is a less unifying enemy who also appeals to many independents and moderates.

Hillary Clinton, conversely, strengthens John McCain’s hand - even the fervent McCain haters within the GOP despise the N.Y. Senator more.

Regardless, McCain has not won 50 percent of the vote anywhere, so many more Republicans have voted against him than for him.

The power brokers - committee members, donors, activists - have major clout if they disagree with the maverick Arizonan on many of his focal points.

While the liberal establishment is somewhat divided between Clinton and Obama, it doesn’t have this problem. Both are highly regarded.

If McCain secures the nomination, he will be pushed to make concessions on immigration, campaign finance and who knows what else.

Will that cause independents and moderates who adore him to reconsider? With a man who’s every Democrat’s favorite Republican, all bets are off.

John McCain and Mitt Romney set their sights on next week’s Super Tuesday voting contests following a bitter sparring match Wednesday night over Iraq, immigration and the economy.

Tension between Florida primary winner McCain and runner-up Romney dominated last night’s debate in Simi Valley, Calif. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul also took part.

McCain, the Arizona Senator, again accused Romney of setting a timetable for withdrawal of the U.S. from Iraq, a charge Romney denied.

“I do not propose, nor have I ever proposed, a public or secret date for withdrawal,” Romney said.

John McCain also said “we may have to go further” to stimulate the economy, in connection with a statement about the stimulus packages making their way through Congress.

McCain and Romney sparred early and often.

Romney said he supported President Bush’s first-term tax cuts. “I believe in getting rates down,” he said. “I think that builds our economy.”

John McCain and Mitt Romney are locked in what has now become largely a two-man race for the Republican nomination.

Huckabee won Iowa’s caucus January 3 but hasn’t won another contest, while Paul remains in single-digits polling-wise. On Wednesday, former N.Y. City mayor Rudy Giuliani quit the race and endorsed McCain.

The intangibles would seem to strongly favor McCain here, but Romney has something in his arsenal McCain cannot match: money.

In Florida alone, Romney was able to air 4,475 ads compared to McCain’s 470 - and Romney’s air power is likely to dwarf McCain’s on Super Tuesday, an advantage McCain will try to counter with free media.

Today, McCain is beginning campaigning San Francisco. Later, he’s expected to pick up another endorsement - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - then finish the day at a fund-raiser in L.A.

Mitt Romney, meanwhile, is canvassing the southern part of the Golden State with four appearances set for Thursday.

Mitt Romney had a clear strategy from the start.

Running an ideological, three-pronged campaign, he would appeal to fiscal, social and national security conservative principles.

Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose!

Reaching out to each demographic, Mitt joined the NRA, talked tough on immigrants, and became really opposed to gay marriage.

All designed to put the former Massachusetts governor on the right side of every issue and build a winning GOP coalition.

Only the coalition Mitt Romney seeks doesn’t appear to exist.

He’s won three states, but a narrow loss Tuesday to John McCain in Florida was the latest in a series of failures for a man who has outspent rivals and once led in many states’ polls.

His failures can be blamed on plenty of things, but also reflect a shift in dynamics: Romney is running for the nomination of a party that may not exist in the way he thinks it does.

Mike Huckabee siphons votes from Mitt’s social and fiscal targets. John McCain beats him on national security credentials and has a maverick streak that appeals to moderates.

Can Mitt Romney revamp his strategy and reach the people he needs to in order to rally on Tuesday? Or is this a lost cause, one that would have worked in the past, but not now?

It was not a lack of cash nor his wife Elizabeth’s cancer that forced John Edwards out of the race. It was unyielding mathematics.

The big question is who his supporters are now likely to back, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. The even bigger question is how Edwards’ exit upsets calculations of the mechanics of winning delegates.

Florida’s results show the importance of the 15 percent threshold.

Under the rules of the Democratic party, candidates must garner 15 percent in a primary to gain delegates to the convention.

As John Edwards‘ support eroded, squeezed by Clinton’s machine and Obama’s insurgent candidacy, polls showed him slipping.

Failure to win 15 percent would thwart any plan to accumulate delegates and remain a power broker at August’s convention.

John Edwards abandoned his bid for the White House in New Orleans, La., just over 13 months after he launched it in that very city.

Although the Florida primary was stripped of its importance, Edwards would have failed to pick up a single delegate despite winning 14.4 percent of the vote, behind Clinton’s 49.7 percent and Obama’s 33 percent.

Instead, Edwards’ votes would have been discounted.

1. In Florida, that would have favored Clinton, who won the largest proportion of votes and so would have received the bulk of delegates.
2. Had Edwards topped 15 percent, it would have hurt Clinton.
3. Thus, Edwards’s sub-15 result were widespread on Super Tuesday, Clinton would benefit. In that case, Edwards’s exit helps Obama.

Newly armored by the spirit of Camelot, Barack Obama is still distressed by the sight of a certain damsel, writes Maureen Dowd.

It’s already famous as The Snub.

At the State of the Union Monday, few cared about W., whose presidency crumpled long ago. The only union that fascinated was Obama and Clinton, creeping around each other.

It would have been natural for the Illinois senator, hours after an embrace by the Kennedys, to follow the gracious lead of Uncle Ted and greet the rebuffed Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Barack Obama did not greet Hillary Clinton Monday.

But the fact that he didn’t - even with her wearing a defiant shade of red amid a sea of dark suits - is telling. It shows that Obama cannot hide how much the Clintons rattle him.

On a flight to Kansas to collect another big endorsement, this one from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Obama said he was “surprised” by reports of the alleged spurning of Hillary Clinton.

Continue reading about The Snub …

It’s already a strange campaign.

But what if, post-Super Tuesday, the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remains as tight as it’s been?

And what if - you knew this was coming eventually - you then threw Al Gore into the mix?

Delegates are awarded in proportion to the vote — not winner-take-all, so if Clinton and Obama continue to split the vote in many states, this could potentially last awhile.

If it does, and they continue to attack each other, there just might be an opening for someone to step in and unify the party.

Like, say, Al Gore.

The former V.P. insists he won’t run, though in his last statement on the matter, he said, “I see no reason to rule it out entirely.”

It’s worth noting, as high-profile endorsements are piling up, that Al Gore has not backed either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama so far.

Don’t expect him to, either. A recent report indicates that an endorsement by Al Gore is looking extremely unlikely.

Obviously, the reason for that is up for debate.

An Oscar, a Nobel Prize and massive amounts of free media have catapulted Gore to a new national and international status that could be tarnished by taking sides - especially the losing one - in the primary battle.

Perhaps Gore, who recently spoke out in favor of gay marriage, believes he can do the most good for the world if he remains out of the fray. Or maybe he’s still weighing his own entry into the race of a lifetime.

John Edwards has decided to drop out of the presidential race and will do so in a speech this afternoon at the same place where he began this campaign — in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Throughout this season, John Edwards hasn’t been able to break through the dueling high-profile candidacies of Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, or raise the funds to carry on.

Top advisers said that Edwards would not be endorsing another candidate today when he makes his announcement at 1 p.m.

John Edwards and daughter Cate Edwards on January 27.

On Tuesday, Edwards canceled campaign events in Alabama and North Dakota, opting instead to fly to New Orleans late Tuesday night.

His press aides told reporters that he would make a “major policy speech” on poverty, in the city where he announced his candidacy.

John Edwards placed a distant third last night in Florida’s primary. And even more disappointing, as a native of South Carolina, he finished in the mid-teens there, as Obama won overwhelmingly.

What does this mean and why did it happen? The verdict is still out, but here are some interesting Edwards links …

• Was his decision to withdraw financial? Unlikely. Despite being dwarfed by Obama and Clinton, Edwards raised millions this month
• His populist message resonated with many voters, but others saw a conflict between his humble past and present wealth
• Some believe Edwards’ exit may have been prompted at least in part by Elizabeth Edwards‘ ongoing health problems
• As for what’s next, some say this benefits Hillary Clinton, who may even award him a second straight V.P. nomination
• Other pundits believe Edwards’ departure likely means further coalescing of the anti-Clinton vote behind Barack Obama

Not shockingly, the Kennedys‘ endorsement of Barack Obama got a lot of people talking about what effect the backing of one of the Senate’s most senior Democrats would have on Obama’s campaign.

Will the young senator from Illinois inherit the Kennedy mystique that was the late president’s?

Kennedy is far from the only member of the Democratic establishment who has decided to support Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

The list is impressive, powerful names like Sens. John Kerry (above), Patrick Leahy and Kent Conrad, former Majority Leader Tom Daschle, California Rep. George Miller and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Interesting that they would turn their backs on Hillary, the wife of one of the party’s most popular figures, and a key player in the party herself.

But The Politico notes how Washington’s liberal establishment has joined together around the view that Former President Bill Clinton is tarnishing his legacy and hurting his wife’s prospects in the process.

The South Carolina rout lends credence to that argument.

The question remains, of course: Will more Democratic power brokers follow suit and risk alienation from someone as powerful as Hillary Clinton by backing an upstart? And will it be enough to help Barack Obama survive a de facto national primary on Super Tuesday?

That’s the question of the hour in the increasingly scandalous life of Kwame Kilpatrick, the mayor of Detroit, who had a woman other than his wife with him at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. before speaking at the Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast Friday morning.

Organizers? Not pleased.

The embattled, scandal-prone Kilpatrick was reportedly seen in the North Carolina city with some woman named Carmen Slowsky.

Kwame Kilpatrick and Carmen Slowsky had enjoyed champagne and a whirlpool bath together at a cost of more than $500.

A copy of the hotel invoice shows a stay arranged for two.

Things are going from bad to worse for Kwame Kilpatrick.

This comes after Michigan prosecutors launched an investigation into allegations that Kwame Kilpatrick lied under oath about an extramarital affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty.

Kilpatrick has said the affair with Beatty is over, and some say he is unlikely to be charged, but political damage lingers.

Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy icked Kilpatrick up at the airport, saw him at the breakfast and again at dinner, where he was alone each time. Yet questions about Carmen Slowsky continue to hound the mayor.

“I think it’s very disappointing to have this happen,” Bellamy said.

“Kwame Kilpatrick’s speech was a chance to energize the community around mentoring and tutoring our youth. The event was meant to focus on Dr. King’s legacy and now the focus is on this.”

So who is Carmen Slowsky? Is that an alias for Christine Beatty or someone else, or is she a real person?

Experts are taking heed at Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer’s statement that the world is running out of cheap oil.

Here is what van der Veer writes about the two new future energy scenarios that have been developed by the Shell corporation:

“We are experiencing a step-change in the growth rate of energy demand due to rising population and economic development. After 2015, easily accessible supplies of oil and gas probably will no longer keep up with demand. The future will be either a scramble for resources or a cautious, well-planned ride into a changing future.”

Given the absurd profits Shell and its industry counterparts are making, it is the clearest acknowledgment of the reality of peak oil, and should sound alarms throughout Washington and everyday Americans, too.

Says the group Climate Progress: “The oil company with the best strategic planning says the day of reckoning is nigh.” Indeed. The question is, who has the best plan to do something about it?

As we’ve learned from years of inactivity from government officials, talk is cheap when it comes to climate change.

State of the Union rhetoric is one thing, curbing carbon emissions and developing alternate energy sources quite another.