Scoring some big wins last night John McCain moved closer to the Republican nomination, but he failed to deliver a decisive knockout blow to either of his rivals. McCain claimed California late last night, cementing his hold on the delegate rich larger states. McCain won nine states, picking up 511 delegates, while Romney won seven states, picking up 176 delegates, and Mike Huckabee won 5 states and picked up 147 delegates. The Huckabee factor continues to stymie Romney’s attempts to make this a two person race, and the convenience of Huckabee’s continued presence in this race for McCain was evidenced in West Virginia, where a near certain Romney win was denied to him by a second ballot switch of McCain supporters to Huckabee, giving Huckabee the win. Romney and Huckabee exchanged some harsh words over this incident, but Romney was denied. Read a pretty good analysis of Huckabee’s major presence in this race at the Washington Post. The continued hard right assault on McCain appears to be working to some degree, with those identifying themselves as “conservative” voting against him, even in the states he has won. If McCain is the nominee will he be able to bridge the divide with the Rush Limbaugh/talk radio wing of the Party? Does McCain have the temperment to even try?