It goes without debate that things are starting to coalesce for John McCain. After being left for dead six months ago, McCain has risen from the ashes to steal the thunder in all but one of the major GOP contests thus far. With Rudy Giuliani preparing to drop out and endorse McCain, the pool of candidates siphoning votes yet again decreases. Giuliani’s voters are a natural fit for McCain’s moderate/maverick stances on traditional GOP issues.

Mike Huckabee, running low on cash and momentum, has been running for VP since his surprising come-from-behind victory in Iowa. His inability to win in South Carolina was his swansong; Fred Thompson may be to blame for Huckabee’s failure in South Carolina, but McCain yet again emerged with the “Big ‘Mo” out of the Palmetto State, which propelled him into tonight’s contest.

According to CNN, voters whose main issue was the economy favored McCain by eight points. This comes as a shock, after Mitt Romney spent almost ten times as much money on television as McCain attempting to position himself as the candidate with the answers to our economic woes based on his lifetime of success in business. Voters still cast their ballots for “Mac.”

On February 5th, the McCain/Giuliani “coalition” will be facing off against a divided conservative house. With no love lost between Romney and Huckabee, Huck will certainly stay in until February 5th no matter what, just to throw a wrench in Romney’s plans.  With over 1000+ delegates up for grabs on “Tsunami Tuesday,” this scenario, combined with the boost from the Florida win, gives the edge to John McCain for the GOP nomination.

Whodathunkit?