It's McCain vs. Romney - and Romney's wallet

Kansas City.com (McClatchy Newspapers) ^ | 2.1.08 | By MATT STEARNS AND DAVID LIGHTMAN

[meandog]

LONG BEACH, Calif. - It's momentum vs. money in a sprint to Super Tuesday that could determine the Republican presidential nominee.

Arizona Sen. John McCain has the momentum, after back-to-back victories in the South Carolina and Florida primaries and a series of high-profile endorsements. He added California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Missouri Sen. Jack Danforth on Thursday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has the money, and is willing to spend more of his estimated $250 million fortune to keep his candidacy alive. He'd lent his campaign $17 million as of September.

The battleground: 21 states across the country that vote in Republican contests Tuesday. The field seems to favor McCain, but he does have some challenges.

[meandog]

And unlimited money can take you only so far. Romney spent millions in Iowa and New Hampshire and lost both states. He aired more than 4,000 television ads in Florida, McCain fewer than 500. Romney still lost - in a closed, Republican-only primary

[Sybeck1]

It’s McCain & Huckabee versus Romney and his wallet.

Since when has having money been a bad thing in conservative Republican eyes?

[lormand]

Juan McAztlan to Conservatives

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[kbennkc]

Thank goodness McCain shares Hillary’s contempt for profit .

[Loyal Buckeye]

Since when has having money been a bad thing in conservative Republican eyes?,/I>

The comments about Romney spending his money, and outspending McCain 10:1, are more than a little off base.

Romney, in essence, is running against a long-term incumbent. How else is to become known and get his message out without out-spending his opponent?

[Invincibly Ignorant]

The class warfare debate. Figures.

[coramdeo]

It should read: “Its McCain and the kind of non-stop fawning Main Street Media coverage that no amount of money can buy, plus his little friend Huckabee, vs. Romney”.

[Invincibly Ignorant]

You must be democrat

[elizabetty]

McCain has been given MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in FREE PRESS from the liberals.

[the808bass]

Romney still lost - in a closed, Republican-only primary

So, you think Charlie Crist and Mel Martinez are where the party should be headed?

[the808bass]

Since when has having money been a bad thing in conservative Republican eyes?

When a good-looking, smooth-talking Mormon has it. Some hate him for one of those definers. Some...for all.

[meandog]

You must be democrat...

Nope, libertarian with a conservative tilt. Democrats around here are the ones voting for Romney to ensure Hillary.s victory in November; and those who have stated (god forbid the thought)they will vote for Hillary should McCain get the GOP nod because they hate him so much!

[CharlesWayneCT]

It wasn’t a “republican-only” primary. It was only closed in that you had to declare ahead of time, not that you had to prove you had a tie to the party.

McCain attracted independents who joined the republican party to vote for him, some of whom still identified themselves as democrats.

He might get them in the general election as well, I’m just correcting the misstatement that only “republicans” voted in the primary.

I also heard that McCain outspent Romney in the last weeks.

Romney had to spend millions to get his name out to the voters. McCain had already done that in 2000, and had about a hundred million dollars worth of free publicity from the media.

Money gets you organization, but McCain had money enough for that early. IT gets you name recognition, but even after all the spending McCain has higher name recognition than Romney, and people THINK they know him better.

[Republican Red]

McCain’s wife Cindy is mega wealthy. So I would fix the title to read:

It’s McCain and his wife’s purse vs. Romney - and Romney’s wallet

[Iron Munro]

It’s McCain & Huckabee versus Romney and his wallet.

Romney got his money the old fashioned way - he worked for it.

How foolish when he could have just took handouts and payoffs like McCain and the other Keating 5 influence peddlers.

Oh! Wait -
He wasn't a Senator so he had no influence to sell.

Sorry.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

“Arizona Sen. John McCain has the momentum, after back-to-back victories in the South Carolina and Florida primaries”....Bullcrap! He won on crossover votes because that’s who the democrats want their candidate to face!

[Miss Didi]

RUSH: In addition to that, I got a blogger here. See, what's the blog? I don't know what the blog is. It's a blogger. I don't know where the blog is from. But the guy was going through the exit poll data and has analyzed it, via the CNN website and their exit poll numbers and he says they reveal some surprising things from Florida. Romney won pro-lifers. Romney won the mainstream religious. Huckabee won the very religious, which is less than one-fifth of the pool.

Romney won the Protestants. Romney tied Huckabee with evangelicals. Romney won the pro-George W. Bush voters. Romney is the primary second choice of Giuliani voters and Thompson voters and McCain voters. Romney won the immigration hardliners. Romney won the upper middle class earning between $100,000 and $200,000 annually. Romney won the terrorism-oriented voters. Romney won the self-identified conservatives and the self-identified very conservatives. Romney won the values-oriented voters. Romney won the white voters. Romney won the tax-cutting voters. As this blogger writes, "In short, Romney won the Republican Party's idea of itself, and that, too, is a big deal. If you're white, Protestant, anti-abortion, you go to church on Sunday, you think well of the president, you want lower taxes, you hate terrorists, you make a good living, you want to do something about immigration, you live in Florida; chances are you voted Romney. The question before Florida was whether McCain could win in a closed Republican race, and now we know he can. The question now is whether he can win with conservatives, and in Florida McCain did not." (cont.)






Romney Fed Up, Not Giving In; McCain Not Winning GOP Base Romney Fed Up, Not Giving In; McCain Not Winning GOP Base

[Invincibly Ignorant]

well. Not many republicans I know embrace class envy.

[lone star annie]

As Rush says, “Liberals love their own profits, just hate everyone else’s.”

[tioga]

McCain got his money the old fashioned way too......he married it just like sKerry did