Divided conservatives hand victory to Ortega

Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega never had majority support among fellow Nicaraguans, but due to the country's quirky electoral law, he might become president anyway.

Conservatives Eduardo Montelalegre and Jose Rizo - unable to separate the good of their country from their own egos - split the anti-Ortega majority, apparently enabling the murderous Marxist former junta leader to redeem himself democratically.

Thanks, in large part, to funding from the Chavez regime in Venezuela, massive fraud built into the Nicaraguan political and judicial systems, and the cheerleading of former President Jimmy Carter.

All the returns aren't in, but press reports indicate that Ortega might have won about 40 percent of the vote, with about 32 percent to Montealegre and 24 percent to Rizo. The figures vary widely as the returns are counted and spun.

Nicaragua's spoils-based political system has doomed the country to the permanent status of banana republic.