Posted on 01/20/2008 1:58:52 PM PST by AmericaTalks
John McCain's clinching of the primaries i n New Hampshire and South Carolina indicates that the GOP has serious problems. McCain is the least conservative of all of the Republican contenders, yet somehow his message appears to be resonating with disenfranchised voters.
McCain's win puts him in a position to trounce all comers in the Florida primary January 29th and Super Tuesday on February 5th. But his lack of the values conservatives espouse could spell disaster for Republicans who want to make sure that a true alternative to the liberal rhetoric of Hillary and Obama is offered.
Until now, there has been no frontrunner in the GOP race, with Huckabee winning the Iowa caucuses, Romney winning lower-profile Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada primaries, and McCain taking New Hampshire and now South Carolina.
Now admittedly Romney has the highest delegate count so far, but things could quickly change in the days ahead, which could spell trouble for those of us who wanted almost anyone but McCain.
How much longer Mike Huckabee will be able to hold on is uncertain. But Huckabee was counting on a clear victory from conservative Christians which he didn't get, largely from the undecideds. He's still a contender, but he is beginning to falter. Depending on how Giuliani does in Florida, his campaign could tank, and Fred Thompson is now on life support.
Which leaves us with McCain. He is a true war hero, and a fine man. But he is not a fiscal conservative, not a hawk when it comes to foreign policy, not a friend of those opposed to illegal immigration, and his campaign finance reform bill soured many in his party to anything else he might have to say.
Should McCain survive and become the nominee of the GOP, he will have truly risen from the dead. But like the old saying goes, his light at the end of the tunnel could be the headlights of an oncoming train wreck which might propel a democrat into the White House this November.
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And McCain is egotistical enough to take them up on it.
Real Clear Politics composite polls of head to head matchups:
McCain 48.5 Clinton 44.5
McCain 45.8 Obama 44.5
Thompson 41.5 Clinton 49.0
Thompson 38.3 Obama 50.3
Headline doesn't jive with the evidence. If it had said "Thompson is a train wreck for the GOP," then based on the evidence, the point would be valid. With the anti-Bush sentiment in the country, the GOP is going to need independents in this election more than ever. McCain consistently delivers on the independent vote. Whether you like McCain or hate him, that is the reality, so the headline makes no sense.
>and one of the biggest is Fla. ,which is WTA and which he will probably win
No. But he is my pick to take second just over Mitt.
Rudy is doing just fine here from what I see.
McCain and Huckabee are both running as fifth columns within the Republican Party. We should kick them both out. McCain could start the Independent Party and Huckabee the Christian Democrat Party.
What the GOP needs to just survive is the base and they are not crawling over broken glass for McCain, I can assure you.
If the GOP continues on this independent chasing course, then it is going to die.
McCain is not a fine man. He is a grotesque twisted characture of an evil genius right out of Shakespearan drama. He has been the point man for the RINOS and Rats in Congress and has been a moving force in driving Bush ever leftwards.
He might get nomianted, but he will never get elected.
RD, don't you think open primaries with Rats and Independents picking our candidate is a factor? Going forward McCain isn't going to be getting any cashish from those same Rats and Indy's. The conservative vote has not been felt fully yet. I think he has reached his high water mark. Just a thought or two.
Regards
Good point, well said.
You need more than that...you need teh dang field to narrow.
Between Fred and Huckabee enough votes are being sucked off for candidates that don’t have a prayer.
McCain will never win more than 35-40% of the votes in any of our primaries..but the other 60-70 percent keeps getting split up by fools who wont drop out of the race.
That is an outright falsehood. Many of us don't care for McCain for one reason(s) or another. While McCain is less conservative than Fred Thompson, he's definitely more conservative than Giuliani, Romney or Huckabee.
“The MSM (even Fox News) is covering for him. No one wants to mention that he has little or no support among the base. They hope we all forget his Illegal Immigrant Amnesty McCain-Kennedy Bill, the anti-First Amendment McCain-Feingold Bill, the Gang of 14 where he helped the Democrats block Bush court appointees, his two votes against both Bush tax cuts, and the Keating Five scandal.”
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The MSM will cover for him alright, until the day after he wins the Republican nomination. Then it’s gonna be a gleeful contest to see who can throw enough dirt at him to make him explode.
I’m not sure the Democrats would ever have considered Mitt as their veep...
Hunter’s gone. Thompson has no traction. Mitt is the furthest right of those that are left. I know that many here have problems with him, but he is the best choice of those who are standing. There is no Ronald Reagan out there. I think we have to rally around Romney.
But, Mike Medved thinks he and Huckaboob are the cat's whiskers. That there are so many mediocre men among the GOP who think they should be President just shows how much the party has slipped since Reagan (And to hell with Bill Kristol and the other pseudo-cons who continuously urge us to embrace mediocrity by telling us to stop looking back to Reagan.)
If you don’t vote for Mcain you allow a liberal into the Whitehouse. If you vote for Mcain or huck you allow a liberal into the Whitehouse. This really sucks!
Not sure what you mean by that.
I do know that Romney is a liberal, a liar and a loser.
Clearly, you’ve been hoodwinked.
Actually, I disagree. McCain is a train wreck for the GOP even if he becomes president--perhaps especially should he become president. Should that happen, a substantial number of the worst, crazy left-wing schemes will acquire political cover from the Republican president of the United States. Result, when things tank again, conservatives get blamed.
We are political junkies here. We know the difference between conservatives and John McCain. Most Americans think John McCain IS a conservative. If McCain takes the nation over the cliff, which I believe he will, we get blamed for his ignorance and arrogance.
If we are genuinely becoming a minority position in the US, which I believe we are, America and conservatism is best served by being an opposition party--not just a group of people determined to hold onto a slice of power no matter what the cost. If that is the case, we need to accept that opposition status and make it clear to the American people that there are still adults around in politics who are willing to pick up the pieces when the left drives the country over the cliff.
If McCain is the Republican alternative, the best way to save America and conservatism is to withdraw from the political process, except as issues advocates and to support conservatives in Congressional, State and local elections. There is no point supporting a man who will do everything in his power to destroy the conservative movement and to blame us for his shortcomings.
LOL. Makes me think of Bette Davis: "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be bumpy ride."
Agreed. He is clearly the least worst of the remaining viable candidates.
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