If -- and this is a big if -- but if Mike Huckabee could somehow win Virginia today, the impact would be huge. He would most likely stay in the race until March 4. This, of course, is a huge problem for McCain because that gives Huckabee three weeks to campaign in Texas. Huckabee does very well when he has time to go campaign face-to-face. The Virginia victory would give him lots of time to do his retail politics, as well as lots of earned media, as well. My guess is that if Huckabee wins Virginia, he then goes on to win Texas ...
Up until now, the McCain campaign has been humoring Huckabee. First, they were thankful for his role in hurting Romney, and second, they probably thought that by keeping this race somewhat competitive, he was keeping them in the public eye (and keeping him from being forgotten while everyone focuses on Obama and Hillary).
But if Huckabee wins Virginia tonight, that's all over with. Count on the McCain campaign to begin heavily pressuring Huckabee to get out of the race. And when I say heavily, I don't mean nicely asking him. What I mean is promising he will have no part in the Administration, and that he might not even be able to run a local Republican club in Arkansas if they win...
Of course, Huck won't listen, and that's when this gets very, very ugly.