2:45 p.m.: MSNBC: The first contest of the day to be decided, and result gets the BRIEFEST possible mention on MSNBC, David Gregory now presiding: Huckabee of Arkansas is the 'projected' winner of the West Virginia Republican caucuses.

This is mentioned with the utmost terseness, some follow-up by Dan Abrams at the top of the hour. The DOW is now down about 300. As someone mentions, again briefly, Romney was expected to win those caucuses.

It wd be interesting to know whether some Republicans actually expect that Huckabee will be paired with a winning nominee John McCain for VP. I cannot see that happening, literally cannot force my imagination to get around it. All the announcers on television seem to be pushing that scenario, but it has to be imaginary. If McCain does get the nomination--which is by no means a given--I wd think he wd have to take Romney, for a shot at winning the general election. Or if not Romney, then Fred Thompson as the Romney stand-in. It is just difficult to imagine ExxonMobil, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Shearson Lehman and the rest giving their usual support to a McCain-Huckabee ticket, somehow.

Meanwhile, Gregory briefly interviews Grover Norquist, the lower-corporate-taxes man. He was the one, if you recall, who went down and personally engaged in trying to crucify a GOP governor of Alabama for noticing that extremes of poverty and wealth are not Christian--and trying to do something about it. The national GOP tends to frown on that sort of thing. Norquist not committing himself as to whether McCain or Romney will win. Also not looking happy.