It was a great night for Ron Paul.

Clarity has once again descended upon the presidential race, the same clarity that led me to say last January that Ron Paul is “Hillary’s worst nightmare.” I viewed the entrance of Ron Paul into the race from the perspective of my prior prediction of a Hillary-McCain race with Hillary winning. Ron Paul disrupted that calculus entirely: he could outflank Hillary from the left and the right simultaneously! With McCain in the race, Hillary is the peace candidate and the nation wants peace. Enter Ron Paul and he becomes the peace candidate.

The nation is not going to elect George Bush’s third term, John McCain. He has no chance to beat Hillary in November.

So, I know my optimism about the Revolution has made many chuckle–because they missed my point. (Many also chuckled when I said in September: “I think it’s too early to write off McCain. He’s still in double digits nationally and he’s a tough old bird with a compelling personal story and lingering media support.”) It was always about who could beat Hillary. Hillary Clinton would be a catastrophe for the United States. She must be beaten. Ron Paul is the only one who can do so. His fiscal conservatism and conservative stances on life and immigration will hold the base while his opposition to the war and support for civil liberties and true economic populism will outflank Hillary from the left. His background in medicine will neutralize Hillary’s key domestic issue.

Now, what happened tonight?

I feel like Michael Corleone at the end of Godfather I: Fred Thompson’s dead; Rudy Giuliani’s dead; Huckabee’s dead and Romney’s on life support. Mitt, the more people hear about you, the less they like you. He’s only won states where he had the home field advantage. If Huckabee can’t win South Carolina, he’s finished.

Now, the Republican establishment and MSM will start to sell McCain as the nominee.

Hillary won tonight in a state that Obama hotly contested and had considerable labor support.

So, right now, the stark choice I saw a year ago can now be presented to the Republican rank and file. Hillary is the presumptive Democratic Nominee. McCain is the favorite for the Republican nomination. McCain cannot beat Hillary but Ron Paul can.

Would you rather have Hillary or Ron Paul in the White House is the point.

That was always the point.

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