Well, the first Super Tuesday state has finally reported in, and Mike Huckabee has won West Virginia. I know, what the hell, right? With all the emphasis placed on the McCain-Romney race since Florida, nobody was expecting Huckabee to win too many states. However this is a perfect example of why Mike Huckabee is still a major player in this race. The longer he stays in the race, the more votes he takes away from Mitt Romney. Never has this been more true than in West Virginia, where McCain supporters voted for Huckabee to keep Romney from winning. Yeah, that’s right, McCain supporters voted for Huckabee instead.

“This is raw politics as it’s really practiced,” CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said. “The McCain supporters who were third in the first round decided to throw their weight behind Mike Huckabee in order to stop Mitt Romney from winning this convention. And look at that — they did.”

Final results had Huckabee winning 52 percent of the vote, Romney in a close second with 47 percent, and McCain at only 1 percent. Clearly, without those McCain voters, Romney would have won. With all 18 state delegates now going to Mike Huckabee, this comes as a big blow to the Romney campaign that is desperately trying to catch up to McCain.

With only one state having reported in, Super Tuesday has already taken an unexpected turn. Stay with us throughout the rest of the day for more results.

Huckabee scores first Super Tuesday win – [CNN]