Bob Novak wonders if John McCain might not be the GOP’s Last Man Standing

This scenario does not connote a late-blooming affection for McCain among the party faithful. Indeed, he remains suspect to them on global warming, stem cell research, tax policy and immigration controls, not to mention his original sin of campaign finance reform (with authorship of the McCain-Feingold Act). Rather, his nomination would result from him being the last man standing, with all other candidates falling. Rudy Giuliani’s baggage is getting too heavy to carry. Fred Thompson never got started. Huckabee’s Republicanism is even less orthodox than McCain’s and seems unviable beyond Iowa. Romney is burdened with anti-Mormon prejudice and the accusation he is “plastic.”

This is pretty much what I was getting at a few weeks ago when I wondered if McCain was the “leftover alternative.”

At a minimum, we are going to know an awful lot in just under two weeks: this race is not going to be nearly as wide open by the morning of January 9th as it is today.