So a little bit of meta about these primary write-ups. The substance to them is sometimes very small---I am just giving a name, a date, some numbers, and a small bit of analysis. But the point is that it is an event. It is a happening. There is an aspect of gonzo journalism, with the thrill of hitting refresh, as the numbers roll in. Sometimes I am silly, sometimes I make mistakes, and sometimes my hot takes are quickly proven wrong. But that is the point--- it is valuable to look back and see a time when Pete Buttigieg was seriously a contender for the highest office in the land.
The 2024 Michigan Republican Primary was five days ago, or (does quick math), around the time of the Permian Extinction. World and national events have continued to march on, and so the end result of the Michigan Republican Primary---another contest where Donald Trump beat Nikki Haley by a 40 point margin, 68-27 points. This gave us no new information, since the pattern seems to have repeated here: another state where the normal rules of primaries would show Trump with a "presumptive" status. But Nikki Haley is getting a regular, solid amount of the vote that can't be dismissed. Once again, the normal rules don't apply.
This Super Tuesday, which involves over a dozen contests, will probably tell us something "definitive".
And as for, me staring at the numbers 68-27, I don't know what they mean.