While we wait ... and wait ... and wait for the Culinary Union to stop holding a wet fingertip aloft, trying to gauge the latest shift of the political winds, a few quick thoughts on last night's results. My family used to own a summer house in New Hampshire, so I have a lot of fond feelings for the Granite State. Anyway ...

Donkeys: ObaMania is put on hold, at least until Jan. 19, but the Nevada caucuses are finally relevant, just when they were on the verge of being permanently consigned to the back pages.

And though I don't know if anything could bring me to vote for Hillary Clinton, this is the umpteenth time her political obituary has been prematurely penned. The consistent tendency of the chattering classes to underestimate her resiliency and (baffling, IMO) popular appeal is a textbook example of how those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Full disclosure: I am a donor to the campaign of John Edwards and my Mom is an organizer for him. That said, his is a campaign that consistently fails to take fire, particularly within the all-important labor constituency. Perhaps Democrats just don't want to be reminded of the bitter frustration of the '04 election. I know I don't.

Elephants: Score one for MGM Mirage CEO J. Terrence Lanni, who stuck by his man, John McCain through thick and thin -- mostly thin. So victory in N.H. must taste all the sweeter around the Lanni breakfast table.

On the other hand, the Fertitta brothers and Sheldon Adelson have got to be wondering when the campaign of Rudy Giuliani is actually going to actually, like, you know, start. The former mayor is mailing it in, banking on Iowa, N.H., Michigan and S.C. to produce a hopelessly fragmented result while he lies in ambush down in Florida. Two or three wins by McCain or Mike Huckabee and this strategy is toast. Giuliani claims to be the "notional" frontrunner, but after getting clocked by Ron Paul in Iowa and then just squeaking past him in N.H., I wonder if Rudy has spent too much time boating on De Nile.

And, lastly, let it not be said that there's no percentage in being a rabidly pro-war candidate, like Duncan Hunter. Because there is: One percent.

Labor: As for the Culinary, there's no point in warning that its endless shilly-shallying (the better to come out on the winning side) will make it look ridiculous, because it already has. Perhaps it should hold off on any endorsements until Jan. 20. Can't go wrong that way.