Live-blogging the 2012 Wyoming caucuses: Romney wins, but it's really a tie, so whatever

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, why not? But let's make this quick.

10:16 pm - With all the attention recently on Michigan and Arizona, you would be excused for not knowing that Wyoming has been holding caucuses, from February 11 to today. These caucuses in the state's 23 countries end with straw polls that determine the allocation of 26 delegates (with three more unpledged RNC delegates, so 29 in total). By comparison, yesterday's super-hyped primary in Michigan resulted in the allocation of only 30 delegates (given that the state had its delegate number cut in half for violating party rules).

10:21 pm - And Romney won. (Results here.) With 100 percent reporting, it's Romney 39, Santorum 32, Paul 21, and Gingrich 8. In delegate terms, it looks like 10 for Romney, 9 for Santorum, 6 for Paul, and 1 for poor Newt.

10:25 pm - Does this mean anything? Well, a win's a win, even by just a single delegate. And this win only serves to reinforce Romney's frontrunner status after yesterday's much more prominent votes. But of course Santorum can still claim something of a tie here, just as he can in Michigan, and he no doubt would have done better here had he not been such a late surger in the race (that is, if he's been seen as a viable alternative, and as really the only genuinely conservative alternative, to Romney earlier on).

10:34 pm - Anyway, only about 2,000 people actually voted. Any way you look at it, this was hardly a ringing endorsement of anything other than general apathy. These were just some hardcore partisans assuming disproportionate influence over presidential politics. Good for them, perhaps, but this wasn't exactly American democracy at its finest. 

10:38 pm - Alright, enough. Don't say we didn't show any love for... no, not The Cowboy State but officially The Equality State, which is rather funny when you consider what Mitt and Rick think of equality, whether it's for women, the non-rich, or anyone else not demographically privileged by Republicans.

10:42 pm - Come on back tomorrow for many more new posts, including one from Richard on Erick Erickson's rather unfavorable view of Romney, as well as a guest post on police/government spying on Muslims.

10:44 pm - Good night, everyone.