it was not a two many race, it was a four man caucus.
McCain gamed the votes with the second ballot because he would not have survived a third ballot.
Only kook paul was eliminated in the first round. ALL the mccain voters save 15(?) went to huckster per ORDERS. Again the only conclusion is McCain could not have survived a third ballot.
An extra ballot would not have made any difference.
The McCain supporters would still have supported Huckabee, just on the 3rd ballot instead of the 2nd.
Not so much that, but probably they just didn’t want to take a chance that their delegates would leave in the 2-hour delay before the 3rd ballot. It was certain none of the Romney people were going to leave.
By throwing the vote in the 2nd round, he denied Romney a win.
Problem with conventions, they aren’t generally uncommitted folks showing up