Mr McCain did not quite clinch the Republican nomination on February 5th, but he pulled far ahead of Mr Romney and Mr Huckabee. Mr Huckabee, who had failed to win anything since Iowa, crowed that his five victories on February 5th showed that he is the only man who can beat Mr McCain. But while Mr Obama was in short trousers and Hillary Rodham was waffling to her fellow students about “searching for more immediate, ecstatic and penetrating modes of living”, Mr McCain was having his teeth and bones broken by North Vietnamese interrogators. Of all the Republicans, he takes the toughest line on curbing global warming, which surely helped him in eco-minded California, where he won 42% of the vote to Mr Romney’s 32% and Mr Huckabee’s 12%. But Mrs Clinton trounced Mr Obama by 15 points (56% to 41%)—a victory not only for her campaign but for the Clinton name over the Kennedy name. Read More