Posted on 01/03/2008 1:00:16 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
It looks like the Politico website has another fascinating scoop full of un-substantiated and un-named sources.
That is that John McCain's campaign is literally hanging by a thread. He is low on money and fallen to a fourth place tie with Ron Paul in Iowa. Sources (unnamed) say that a McCain shellacking in Iowa will likely drop him out of the running in New Hampshire where is organization is running on fumes.
In Iowa McCain has gone from 13% and high hopes of pulling a surprise to falling to 10% and a tie with a surging Ron Paul. UPDATE: ARG poll confirms the McCain slide in Iowa. McCain has gone from 17% on Dec. 23rd to 11% as of yesterday (Jan. 2). While Thompson continues to climb and increase his lead on McCain.
Other sources say that McCain's slippage in Iowa has concerned his camp so much that they have attempted to leak an un-substantiated rumor that Fred Thompson (though leading in the polls and leading in fundraising)is likely to drop out and support McCain. This could possibly be John McCain's "who me?" moment that reminds voters of the depths of McCain's pettiness.
It is that Ron Paul surge that unnamed and anonymous sources inside the McCain campaign are most concerned with. Because those same Ron Paul independents will likely help Paul much more in New Hampshire than they will John McCain. Remember in 2000 it was those very independents that McCain relied upon.
It is not very likely that McCain can survive a fourth (possibly fifth) place showing in Iowa, then lose his "independents" to Ron Paul and Obama in New Hampshire and there is rank speculation that McCain will indeed drop out soon and endorse his old pal Fred Thompson.
Thompson Story Fell Apart
Of course the Politico website also tried to pass off a rumor that the surging Fred Thompson might actually bow out of the race if he did not take second place in Iowa. Of course Politco reporter Jonathan Martin fell back on a "jocular" moment to base his speculation on.
Yet all indications from the Thompson campaign are that Jonathan Martin and the Politico have again "stepped in it." Word on the street is that the Thompson campaign, over the holidays, raised $1.8 million dollars. Also Byron York, who is actually on the ground in Iowa, recently spoke with a top advisor, on the record, to Thompson who said "I can't put enough adjectives in front of the 'deny' to accurately describe how vehemently I'm denying the story."
Let's not forget that it was this same "Politico" website that got seriously busted for misreporting the facts of a fire hall visit by Thompson.
NOTE: Of course if one were to read the Politico hit piece on Fred Thompson this morning you would understand impetus behind this post. Note how I easily pieced together a scenario based on unnamed and anonymous sources "inside" the McCain campaign? Notice how more realistic THAT scenario sounded than the made up scenario of Thompson?
Do these folks at Politico have any credibility at all? I mean I know I am a Thompson supporter but wow... Who writes a hit piece like that the day of the Iowa Caucus? Who lists anonymous sources "inside" the campaign?
Hypothetically... IF Thompson were to drop out and Hunter were still in I would support him. In fact, he’s the ONLY other candidate I could possibly feel good about supporting. The rest have way too many problems for me morally to take a stand WITH them... I fear that if the GOP doesn’t get a real conservative nominee it won’t be just me that become completely disenchanted with the party as a whole.
Of course, I’m a recent (5-6 years) “convert” from the LP and I spent too much time and energy working for a 3rd party to go back to that... I’m afraid I might lose faith altogether, but time will tell. I know for sure that I could never support Romney, Huckabee, McCain, Giuliani, etc... etc... They stand for nothing this party is supposed to stand for, and my whole intent on changing parties was to try to get the GOP BACK to its roots...
Actually, no more plausible than the other unsubstantiated rumor, I guess for some people plausibility is based on whose ox is being gored.
If McCain was going to quit, he would have done it months ago when he was out of money and polling in single digits.
This rumor is stupid. McCain isn’t even RUNNING in Iowa. If he manages a 3rd or 4th-place finish, or even a 5th-place finish, that puts him ahead of everybody else who didn’t try to win, and maybe one or two that worked hard to win.
And he’s polling in first place in New Hampshire, and frankly the worse he does in Iowa that more those crazy NH types will want to pick him to “prove their point” about Iowa.
If he loses New Hampshire, maybe then he’d drop out, but my guess is he staggers on at least to South Carolina.
Even if he WANTED to help Thompson, he’s worth more to Thompson RUNNING in NH, because he will win delegates and then can ask those delegates to vote for Thompson at the convention.
If McCain had said something like that about Thompson, the Thompson supporters here would have been livid about spreading false rumors.
I guess it’s all good though.
Nothing was substantiated here this morning, except that people have active imaginations.
And would be the best chance Duncan Hunter has of being our nominee.
Good advice there... Too bad my husband’s works second shift or I may suggest the same thing — get out of the house and away from all of this!
LP is Libertarian Party, right? Wouldn’t Ron Paul be more in line with your core views?
Now THAT would be weird, if Thompson dropped out and endorsed Ron Paul. I’d be looking for the Wizard of Oz at that point.
Go get some groceries, fill up the car, hit the library, take the kids to get a movie to watch...
Lots of ways to get away for an hour or so.
I would understand why he did it as they are old friends, but I would feel betrayed on so many levels that I could not help but take it out via my opinion of the man.
What was substantiated was that it was baseless. As for the imaginations, what else is new?
Ummm... NO... Actually Ron Paul and his supporters are the whole reason I left the LP. They’ve gotten more kooky as time has passed. I’m not an anti-war idiot. I’ve got friends and family fighting in this war, and it makes me SICK to see people railing against them so.
I honestly don’t know if I’ve changed that much, or if the party has really moved that far left, frankly. Before I left the party there was a concerted effort to work WITH the Green Party, and I just couldn’t stomach that. It’s one thing to stand together in a protest against bias in the MSM, it’s another thing altogether to start working on policy issues together...
Add to that the unprofessionalism throughout the party structure in the two states I’ve been in, and it became clear to me that my time and energy was being wasted, frankly. Plenty more I could say, but I’d derail this thread WAY too much to get into it all now...
I heard the same thing. Actually, I heard it in a dream....or was it the voices in my head. Whatever, It sounds good to me..
I agree with you. Romney, McCain, Huckabee, Rudy are all going to win some states. It is unlikely that any one of them have enough delegates to win the nomination outright.
Well, there is that, too. Iowa is just the first semi-solid thing people in the different camps can point to as far as who has the support of the party “faithful” (or so people would like to assume). And, you’re right. As much as I rail against the MSM, it may be that even I have put too much stock into Iowa thanks to them. ;)
True, if one has a car to drive and it wasn’t like 5 degrees outside! LOL Thanks though... I think we’ll be putting on a movie in a bit after dinner... Speaking of which, I’ve got to get that started. :)
Yeah, well, I can sympathize with the 5 degrees; it’s about that here too (Northern Illinois). But we’re going to doggedly go out for a bite. I don’t want to cook and the wife shouldn’t have to after working all day.
Anyway, I hope they have the Boston Cream pie for dessert. They were out of it last time (they always let me know as soon as I sit down). Darn!
Smart money never bets against a sure thing, no matter what odds they are given. And right now, the sure thing seems to be anyone but Hunter.
Well, I hope you and your wife enjoy your dinner, and I hope they have the Boston Cream Pie, too! ;)
Not a Harry Potter fan? My kids are so I’m pretty sure that’s the reference. Dobby is a house elf that must punish himself when he does something his master wouldn’t like.
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