It appears that McCain is pulling ahead a bit in Virginia – as of 9:14, he has 49.73 percent of the vote to Huckabee’s 41.32. What will be interesting to see is whether McCain can, for the first time, crack the 50 percent mark in a primary. If he can’t do that in a two-man race, he’ll keep facing questions about his appeal to the whole party.

UPDATE: I should have noted that McCain has broken the 50 percent mark in some big blue states. I should have specified that he has had that 50 percent problem in the more conservative states.