Media talk on the day of the "Chesapeake primaries," in Virginia, Maryland, and DC, focused on the momentum of Obama, who was expected to win these states, as was McCain.

The consensus in the media appears to be that McCain will have the nomination all but sewn up after today's raft of primaries, leaving Romney in his wake, while the race between Obama and Clinton is just "too close to call."

Lots of celebs in the audience last night for the Obama-Clinton debate on CNN, which provided frequent reaction shots of the likes of Steven Spielberg, Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, and Isaiah Washington.

Barack Obama had a large margin of victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, drawing 55% of the vote compared with 27% for Clinton. Hillary Clinton, that is.

Inevitably, presidential candidates whose lack of funding and popularity has been made abundantly clear are dying off as the Super Tuesday primaries on February 5 approach.

An also-ran in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney was not afraid to predict he would win the January 15 primary in Michigan, which is a home state of sorts for him.

The presidential candidate field continues to narrow, with Gov. Bill Richardson the latest to drop out, following his dismal showing in NH this week. Sens. Dodd and Biden had dropped out the previous week, after generating poor results in the Iowa Caucuses.

Various media reports indicated that a very high turnout was expected today in the New Hampshire primaries, aided by relatively warm weather, as the race for president is finally giving the media and the public at large something substantial to chew on.

Ever since Reagan and his media-savvy handlers (like Mike Deaver, the former vice chairman of Edelman who recently passed away), candidates and their teams have been wholly calculating in the decisions about who or what is behind the candidates when they give speeches.

Certainly, the Republican race has gotten more interesting now that it appears to have broadened beyond just Romney, Giuliani, and Thompson as the leading contenders.