The only thing that is certain after last week’s presidential primary elections: is that we still have no idea who will win the presidential nominations.

A different candidate won each time, with Obama and Huckabee winning in Iowa but Clinton and McCain winning New Hampshire. A third Republican primary was held in Wyoming, with Romney as the winner.

Not only were the results varied, they were also completely unexpected.On the Democratic side, Obama won in historically conservative Iowa, despite an African American population of only two percent. He was then projected to dramatically win in New Hampshire, but Clinton won instead.

“Eight polls said Obama was up there in New Hampshire,” said political science Professor George Taylor. “Hillary took the New Hampshire primary because of her emotions. That brought the women over.”

Clintons showing of her emotional side in past weeks has worked as women voters rallied around her, allotting for 57 percent of total Democratic voters in New Hampshire.

“Victory really puts her back on the road map to running a very good campaign… and giving her some reason to believe she can win this thing,” said Professor Hunter Bacot, director of Elon University Poll.

Sen. John Edwards, however, is in trouble as polls don’t show him to be improving any time soon. He's projected to come in third in South Carolina.

“Edwards might carry South Carolina,” Taylor said, with notable stress on the word “might.

The Republican race is even more hectic. Huckabee was thought to be in the background of the race until he pulled off a win in Iowa, and McCain rallied back from a dismal fourth place finish in Iowa to blow away the competition in New Hampshire, winning 37 percent of the vote.

McCain is quickly becoming a top contender in the race. His win in New Hampshire puts him in position to potentially win in Michigan, and then again in South Carolina.

“It’s going to be be McCain and Romney and McCain and Huckabee, and the constant there is McCain,” Bacot said.

Romney finished second in both elections, and won the Wyoming primary, but he may have a hard time getting back in the race unless he is able to win in Michigan, where his family lives.

“If Romney loses Michigan, he’s out,” Taylor said.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is in even more trouble, winning only four percent of the vote in Iowa and nine percent in New Hampshire. Once thought to be a potential front-runner, he now seems to be in over his head..

The most important primaries, however, are still to come. Super Tuesday is just three and a half weeks away, when over 20 states will hold their primaries in the same night, including California and New York.

“Super Tuesday will decide the winner,” Taylor said. “We’ll just have to watch and see.”

Reporter: Michael Heil - 01/16/07