McCain move hands W. Va. delegates to Huckabee  Major cable news networks are calling West Virginia for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The West Virginia Republican Party's convention awards 18 delegates to the winner of balloting among the state's party-members. And apparently after Sen. John McCain's staff made a strategic decision, a victory was denied to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"[S]ources say that representatives for John McCain called many of his reps in WV and asked them to vote for Huckabee...in order to thwart Romney on the second ballot," writes Atlantic blogger Marc Ambinder.
The intrigue in the W. Va. contest emerged after Romney raced out to a lead in the first round of balloting, with 41% of the vote. However, state GOP rules require 50% of the vote for a win, and the pooling of Huckabee and McCain votes was sufficient to push the Arkansas Republican into the first win of Super Tuesday.
Romney participated in the Tuesday convention in the Appalachian state, hoping to build momentum from an early win in the state. According to AP, the former governor accused McCain of pursuing policies that would "would effectively kill coal," a key industry in the mountainous state.
While Huckabee had to rely on McCain's surrogates to win, it did not dull his campaign's excitement.
"Please spread the word to voters in the super tuesday states to turn out and vote for Gov. Huckabee!!!" said a post at the campaign's blog.
 
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