ELECTIONS AROUND THE WORLD

Political observers were anxiously awaiting election returns from three key places Saturday: Nevada, South Carolina, and the Faroe Islands.

In Nevada, Mitt Romney proved that the right hair can make the difference between defeat and victory. Also, it's nice to have Mormons on your side when running in a western state. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton proved that age and treachery will always defeat youth and optimism.

But the real action Saturday night was in South Carolina. John McCain pulled out a narrow victory against Mike Huckabee. McCain's comeback is nothing short of amazing, and I must say the more I see of him the more I like. The whole "straight talk" thing is actually working. Sure, Michigan voters beat him up for actually admitting that many lost Detroit auto jobs weren't coming back. But he was equally frank with South Carolinians (sp?) about the Confederate flag, and that didn't stop him from winning. With all he B.S. politicians spin, it really is refreshing to hear one of them talk to us like adults.

The Democrats have to wait a week to vote in South Carolina. I don't know why it works that way.

Nevada and South Carolina's results leave the presidential race as muddled (read: exciting) as ever. There are still four viable candidates on the Republican side, and two for the Democrats. And then there's Fred Thompson. I bet he wants to drop out of the race, but can't get up the energy to do so.

And what of Saturday's Faroese elections? What effect will they have on the presidential race? Probably none, but let's look at the results anyway.

Prime Minister Jóannes Eidesgaard's Fólkaflokkurin party was expected to lose power in the parliament, but it didn't happen. They still hold a majority in the world's oldest continuously meeting legislative body (their parliament is almost 1,000 years old), followed by Sambandsflokkurin, Javnaðarflokkurin, and, of course, Sjálvstýrisflokkurin. (Some of of you may think I came up with these names by smashing my face against the keyboard--I've been known to do such things--but it's not true.)

Tjóðveldisflokkurin should have done better, but nobody could pronounce it. A bunch of students formed a party called Miðnámsflokkurin , but they didn't win any seats. So I guess age and treachery edges out youth and optimism on the Faroes, too. I really love writing down the names of Faroese political parties, so here's another one: Miðflokkurin .

That's all the incisive political observation I can muster for a single night. I've got to get some rest and hope my laryngitis clears up before the 6 PM newscast tomorrow.