Peggy Noonan, on MSNBC: “I kind of got the feeling South Carolina felt that it owed John McCain… I also think Republicans might be looking at McCain and thinking he’s the guy who can take on Hillary. She has a history of smacking around these men who take her on, and I think it will be different with him…”

UPDATE: Or a simpler explanation, prompted by a reader: The Bush vote from 2000 was split among three candidates, Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney.

There’s a lot of discussion on the cable networks tonight that Fred Thompson’s blistering criticism of Huckabee helped put McCain over the top tonight.

McCain-Thompson. Hmmm…