McCain Wins, Huckabee barely beating Romney

soundpolitics.com ^ | February 19, 2008 10:10 PM | Eric Earling

[CharlesWayneCT]

Now that it is clear he can’t win, I kind of hope he stays in, and keeps losing, so that McCain still has speeches to make on election night. It helps that he gets the stage with Barack and Hillary.

What was great last night is that at least on the stations I watched Huckabee didn’t get his shot because he happened to start speaking when the democrats were starting. But McCain went right at about 9pm, when people just started tuning in, so he got first shot.

Without any drama, they won’t cover him, and the democrats will get free publicity.

[NavyCanDo]

In Washington Romney beat Huckabee in 13 of the 39 counties and for a while Romney was ahead and then neck and neck the reat of the night.

[maui_hawaii]

I'm not surprised Romney polled well there despite withdrawing from the race, considering the large Mormon population.

Yes, oh so large. 2-3% of the population is LDS...

Please give the Mormon jibes a rest.

[Mr. Lucky]

Are you going to let actual facts get in the way of a good anti-McCain rant?

[rbmillerjr]

Oh let Huckabee stay in, it gives McCain a free victory speech from now until the Convention.

[rockrr]

I’m glad McInsane got the support that he did. It means that they won’t miss my vote at all...

[CASchack]

I think you’re right. Huckabee is helping McCain get coverage. I had sworn off voting for McCain, but I don’t think I can stomach Barack ‘Partial birth abortion’ Obama as President. It will be Jimmy Carter all over again. I know we got Reagan after Carter, but the late 70s were dark times.

[WOSG]

“I suspect that a lot of Republicans are voting for Obama just out of hatred for Hillary. I have no data to back this notion up. Just a suspicion”

I heard that 10% of the GOP vote in Wisconsin was Republicans and they went 2 to 1 for Obama.

It will be important to bring them home in November or hte most liberal Senator in the US Senate loses.

“This guy [Obama] is very scary. Not only as a candidate as McCain will have a nearly an impossible time beating him, but also as, God forbid, President. THE MOST LIBERAL MEMBER OF THE U.S. SENATE. Good grief that is bad news. Couple that with his being incredible inexperienced and flat our naive/ignorant/wrong on foreign policy and we are in for a world of hurt. The words “abject disaster” come to mind. The incredibly scary thing is how many republican friends I have who buy into his vapid speeches. It is truly frightening.” - Wyatt’s Torch

[colorado tanker]

People are reading way too much into this. Washington had early voting. I have an in-law there who voted for Romney before he pulled out.

[Fractal Trader]

Seems to me the bigger story is that over 20% of Republicans would rather throw away their vote on a candidate who’s no longer in the race, and who has even urged them to vote for McCain, than vote for McCain. That does not bode well for the GOP in November.

A likely cause of the strong vote for Romney is the fact that the election was primarily contested through mail in "absentee" ballots. Many of the ballots could have been sent in weeks ago. IIRC correctly, I sent out my ballot shortly after the new year.

[TAdams8591]

Huckabee is a spoiler, and that’s all he is.

[TAdams8591]

Hillary should be defeated at the first available opportunity. For me it isn't fear, but what she so richly deserves, and the fact that I find her and Bill so unlikable, it will be almost impossible to tolerate another Clinton term. And despite what he says about the war, Obama will be no worse than Hillary

After what the Clinton's foisted on the nation their first eight years, they should have been run out of town on a rail and had a difficult time venturing out in public, let alone be able to run for a third term.

Regardless of the polls, McCain does not have the ability to bit either Democratic candidate, though, Obama would be more formidable.

[Rameumptom]

>>>Not to put too fine a point on it, but Huckabee is not cutting it as the anti-McCain alternative.

When Hunter and Thompson dropped out Romney got 75% support here on the ultimate conservative litmus test site FReerepublic. IOW, even though he was a third choice for many FReepers he still passed the conservative litmus test. Now, since Romney has dropped out Huckabee can only get 27% support here on FR. IOW, Huck doesn't pass the best conservative litmus test out there.

[ajay_kumar]

I don’t see how Obama is all that good an orator. His delivery is slow and monotonous. ML King was far superior orator. I think what is exciting the people his promises of handouts such as subsidized health care, college tuition, pre-school and God knows what else. The anti-war types are excited about quick and dirty troop withdrawal.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Well, Huckabee did his damage. He split the GOP in half, isolating better conservatives such as Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter away from the Christian vote while McCain got all of the cross-over liberal and independent votes and the veterans' votes to himself.

[rodeo-mamma]

Thanks for the ping. I find it interesting that Huckabee has to stay in the race even though he continues to lose, just to prove it that he wasn’t in it to stop Romney. It serves Huckabee right, he must stay in just to lose so that he can save face.

[Utah Girl]

Don’t you know? Huckabee’s setting himself up for 2012. :)

[fallingwater]

Seems to me the bigger story is that over 20% of Republicans would rather throw away their vote on a candidate who’s no longer in the race, and who has even urged them to vote for McCain, than vote for McCain. That does not bode well for the GOP in November.

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I can see a “Reagan like” victory coming up for Obaman. Imagine replacing this sea of red with blue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ElectoralCollege1984-Large.png

[HardStarboard]

>>>That does not bode well for the GOP in November. <<<

I don't think you understand motives. I voted for Romney in the WA State primary not to impress Democrats, but to impress McCain that Conservatives are out there - and he needs to court us if he wants our participation.

I will vote for the Republican nominee in November. The fact it will be McCain does not excite me for a number of reasons; some of which are huge holes in his conservatism, and, not the least, my doubt that McCain has the energy and the inner fire needed to fight a Messianic figure like Obama!

I will support McCain if I see that he takes the offensive against O'bama's extreme liberalism and socialist leanings. I currently have my doubts that McCain has the heart to do that.