Because I can't help it

Here's a guess at the South Carolina results. Because it's an open primary, I might be tempted to vote Cain were I a resident.



Newt: 40

Mitt: 30

Santorum: 15

Paul: 10

Cain: 5

Update: What Atrios said

Not that I need to add anything to Atrios' pithy line but this is the quintessence of why our entire system of elections and the people who cover them is corrupted beyond all recognition. King writes,

But disgust with the corrosive effects of super PAC money and coolness toward the likes of Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are no excuse for trying to disrupt the presidential election system, as it appears Colbert has tried to do.

Um... yes, yes that is precisely what you do when you recognize that the system is a sham. You disrupt the fuck out of it or shut the fuck up. Otherwise you're part of the problem.

Upperdate: Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi has a guess on tonight's results at the end of this post as well. He also offers these thoughts on the GOPony race to this point.

I've given up trying to predict this race. Watching the events of last night, I saw plausible nomination scenarios for all four candidates. Don't forget that if the merry-go-round of incompetence continues much longer – if Romney and Newt and Santorum keep hot-potatoing frontrunner status and primary victories – Ron Paul is going to waltz into the convention with a mass of delegates and a legit argument that he was the strongest and most consistent candidate.

Sure, sure, that's fun to think about. But I'm sticking to my Romney inevitability thesis. If there's one candidate who most perfectly personifies the utter hollowness of American democracy at this stage in our history, it's Mitt. If there's another, it's the current President but that fact only strengthens my conviction here.