So, McCain has won the South Carolina primary. As he said in his victory speech, it only took him eight years.

His win is pretty amazing when you consider his prospects last summer. In fact, I just found a New York Times article from exactly six months ago — July 19, 2007 — that presents a vastly different Republican race.

The decline of John McCain’s presidential campaign, and the rising profile of Fred D. Thompson as a prospective contender, are forcing candidates to rewrite their strategies as they adjust to a playing field vastly different from just one month ago…

The shifting strategies reflect a Republican campaign that remains in extraordinary flux, particularly compared with the Democratic field. In the space of a month, the party has witnessed not only the near-collapse of the campaign of Mr. McCain, once considered the party’s most formidable contender, but also the ascendancy in polls of Mr. Thompson, a former actor.

To confront a Thompson candidacy, Mr. Romney’s aides said they were adding to their forces in South Carolina, the state with the fourth nominating contest, in hopes of handing Mr. Thompson a decisive defeat in a state with a heavy conservative population and where he presumably has regional appeal…

Mr. Thompson’s advisers, saying they would speak only anonymously until their candidate gets into the race, confirmed that assessment, saying that Mr. Thompson intended to present himself as the most conservative candidate in the race and would go to South Carolina as part of his announcement swing….

In interviews, aides to the Republican candidates said they did not want to say or do anything — like poaching former McCain aides — that could offend Mr. McCain and complicate any effort to win his endorsement should he drop out of the race…

The article also mentions Rudy Giuliani several times. But it doesn’t mention Mike Huckabee at all.

How things change.