No matter how hard you plan ...

LAS VEGAS -- Oh, irony of ironies.

As we all know by now, Michigan and Florida got themselves in a boatload of trouble with the national Democratic and Republican parties by trying to jump to near the head of the line of states that get to vote first for the presidential nominees.

It cost the Democrats in Michigan and Florida their convention delegates -- and, maybe more importantly, the presence of candidates campaigning. The Republicans in those states lost half their delegates. In both party's cases, they lost a lot of face.

But now, especially on the Republican side, it's beginning to look as though those two states may have done themselves even more of a disservice. Nobody could have foreseen this, but if there is no clear winner coming out of the massive -- and de facto -- national primary on Feb. 5, when more than 20 states vote, the states that hold their nominating contest after that could be in play as kingmakers.

See you in Montana, New Mexico (Republicans only) and South Dakota on June 3.

-- Scott Martelle