McCain and Obama Plow Ahead

The Potomac Primaries -- Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia -- were one-sided contests last night. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) increased his advantage on the Republican side by winning three winner-take-all states, while Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) moved into the delegate lead with his wins for the Democrats.

McCain continues to play out the endgame on former Gov. Mike Huckabee. According to CNN, McCain crushed Huckabee in the District of Columbia, 68% to 17%, and similarly dominated in Maryland, 55% to 29%. Virginia proved a closer contest, 50% to 41%. In total, McCain collected another 89 delegates.

Huckabee collected zero delegates on the night. Repeated calls have gone out from corners of the Republican Party for him to pull out of the race. The most recent calls came from Gov. Rick Perry (R., Tex.). Texas happens to loom large on the primary calendar for March 4 with 140 delegates up for grabs.

Huckabee enjoys saying he "believes in miracles," but he continues to trail Mitt Romney, who pulled out of the race last week and would need to score 80% of the remaining delegates to beat McCain. It's over for Huckabee. It's true that he continues to raise his visibility traveling the country, but he risks annoying party elites and regulars who want to unify behind McCain. ...