The New Face of the Republican Party
Posted on 02/06/2008 2:55:51 PM PST by bshomoic
Analysis: McCain New Face Of GOP
Campaign '08 Complete Coverage
Super Tuesday In-Depth
WASHINGTON (CBS) ― This analysis was written by CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs.
After amassing a huge delegate lead in 21 Super Tuesday contests, John McCain is the new face of the Republican Party. Despite loud and sometimes bitter opposition from some conservative corners, the Arizona senator has edged ever closer to winning his party's presidential nomination.
Both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee pledged to fight on. But the sheer delegate deficit each must now erase to overtake McCain will make it harder by the day for them to have a realistic chance.
Charting a path to the nomination for either candidate at this point is challenging, at best. Some southern or quasi-southern states remain targets for Huckabee -- states like Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi. For Romney, who is out of home states to run in, the obvious targets are even less clear. But big states like Ohio and Texas would surely be on the list. What Romney does have is the money to keep running.
Big wins will be harder to come by now because just two pure winner-take-all contests remain - Virginia and the District of Columbia. The remaining states mostly allocate their delegates by congressional district winners, meaning it will be harder to overcome McCain's delegate lead. And over half the delegates headed to the national convention have been selected already.
"Winning states is important, but it's really about delegates," said Michigan Congressman Peter Hoekstra, a Romney backer. "Romney has to win enough delegates to get a reasonable number of people to look at him." True, but the bigger question is whether he can possibly cobble together enough to win.
Huckabee now looks very much like a regional candidate. He has not won outside of the South since Iowa and showed little strength in the Midwest, Northeast and West on Super Tuesday, despite winning five states.
Romney has proven he can win his various home states - Massachusetts, Utah and, earlier, Michigan. - but little else. What Romney did that Huckabee did not was demonstrate considerable strength nationwide, from Georgia to Colorado and points in-between.
Each will have something to hang on to after this day, Romney a likely second-place in the delegate count, Huckabee some statewide wins.
In the end, Romney has been stymied by better-known, more able candidates. He may also be the victim of a serious misunderstanding about what conservatism means today. Romney has sought to cast the race as being about who is more conservative, amplifying the mantra started by angry talk-show hosts protesting that McCain was not one of them.
But Romney seems to have missed his own stump speech in which he frequently talks about the three legs of the conservative coalition - economic, national security and social issues.
Among Republican primary voters nationwide voting on Super Tuesday, McCain won among those who cited the economy as their biggest concern, even as they thought Romney the best candidate to deal with it, according to CBS News exit polls. Whether those voters were conservative or not, they are speaking for the Republican Party.
McCain also won among those who cited national security as their top concern but finished third among those seeking a candidate who shares their values. In other words, McCain won two of the three legs of conservatism. Most importantly, McCain won the delegate rich (and winner-take-all) states giving him a big leg up on getting to the 1,191 needed to lock up the nomination.
McCain is for sure the choice of moderate and independent-minded Republican voters. There is also some evidence that he's not the overwhelming choice among them.
Thirty-seven percent of primary voters on Super Tuesday called themselves pro-choice but just 51 percent of those voters chose McCain. And on immigration, one of the most contentious issues in this election, 54 percent said they oppose the deportation of illegal immigrants and just 46 percent of them voted for McCain. But McCain did not win traditional Republican states in the south or west, carrying more Democratic-friendly territory in the northeast as well as California.
The road to eventual victory may be daunting for Romney and Huckabee but the path to reconciliation within the party itself may prove more so. The rancorous debate that has erupted in recent days between Romney and Rush Limbaugh on one side attacking McCain and Huckabee on the other will need time to heal.
Limbaugh isn't sounding optimistic about a coming-together anytime soon. "If down the road you think that the election of Obama, Hillary, or McCain is going to result in very bad things happening to the country," he said on his radio show yesterday, "Who would you rather get the blame for it?"
Ironically, it's the Democratic race which might relieve the pressure on Huckabee and Romney to bow out. Nothing would soothe a party with a financial and energy deficit than a head-start on the general election, allowing their nominee to repair the party and begin the fall campaign in earnest.
The New Face of the Republican Party
The title alone needed a barf alert!
The title alone needed a barf alert!
And it ain't pretty.
The Hucksters have fooled themselves by abandoning conservatism and aligning themselves with the leftist global warming side of the Republican Party.
What is going to happen to the Huckster sell-outs after the election? Are they going to try to come back to the conservative wing of the party and look for support on abortion issues? Or, are they going to try to work with the Democrats?
“Sooooo.....do you think there’s any chance of a Romney/Huckabee ticket?”
Not a chance. Huckabee has been quite snidely anti-Mormon since Iowa. From his “innocent” questioning of a New York Times reporter about Mormon beliefs (and the later discovery that his Faith & “Values” advisor the week before had declared as fact that Mormons “believe Jesus and Satan are brothers. Can you believe it?” to his declaring himself the Christian candidate, the two haven’t mixed.
The way Huckabee has attacked Romney and left McCain unscathed... The way he defended McCain’s lies. The way they tag-teamed West Virginia...
The two are practically bed buddies.
Not only do I not think Romney and Huckabee would get along, I don’t think Huckabee and McCain would have any intention of letting him join them if he wanted.
They will come to us demanding support, as they feel entitled to it.
Among Republican primary voters nationwide voting on Super Tuesday, McCain won among those who cited the economy as their biggest concern, even as they thought Romney the best candidate to deal with it, according to CBS News exit polls.Can you get more stupid than that?
It's a cliche: the evil party and the stupid party.
Well, the evil party is more evil than ever and the stupid party is as stupid as stupid can be.
As Gump's momma used to say, stupid is as stupid does.
I have to admit that this consideration has given me pause.
We know some really dire things are looming. But one of the things I learned about from the previous Xlinton adminstration was that they are experts at muddling things up to shove those days-of-reckoning onto the future backs of the NEXT guys...
FYI Ping in case you didn’t see this!
McCain will be the face of the GOP’s defeat in November.
What’s more difficult?
Start a grassroots campaign to win the control of GOP and Country for Conservatives, or put enough pressure on President McCain, who is just one man? Can’t get a Conservative nominated in a Conservative party, but going to change the world in few months. Whatever.
He has already tried to reach out to Conservatives, and has changed his position on Taxes and Immigration.
He will still be 1 Trillion times better President than Hillary.
Ann Coulter is just a Verbal Suicide Bimbomber who has never won anything.
I will take my chances with McCain “IF” that is the choice I have - Hillary or him.
Otherwise, be prepared to go for FORCED CHECKUPS to your Doctor’s office so they can practice PREVENTIVE MEDICINE on you.
LOL
ARRGGGHHHH! I cannot look at THAT face. He’s the face of a ghostie with an attitude.
This statement is a severe understatment meant to further marginalize Romney. Fact is, outside of his three home states (MA, MI, and UT) he has won EIGHT other states (ME, MN, CO, AK, WY, NV, ND, and MT).
It is true that his delegate count as a result of not winning the big states is defficient when compared to McCain...and that over taking McCain will be a Mount Everest.
But to say that he has only won his home states and little else is simply not true.
There is no difference between the Republican and Democrat Parties. This year that is really a true statement.
“Yes, McCain will be the face of the GOP...for the next 9 months, but no longer after that.”
Yup. And after he gets his clock cleaned in November he’ll likely waste away, maybe even resign from the Senate. He’ll be washed up, in any event. Unfortunately, the GOP will be pretty much washed up, as well, at least fpr the foreseeable future. But, since it’s inevitable America is going to get clobbered either domestically or internationally, or both, and economically and socially and culturally, the survivors may just get the idea in a few years that tossing out the libs is the thing to do. Pity we have to suffer terribly before the average American wakes up to reason.
No thanks.
“Otherwise, be prepared to go for FORCED CHECKUPS to your Doctor’s office so they can practice PREVENTIVE MEDICINE on you.”....Unless they come to my home and drag me out kicking and screaming, in a straightjacket, I will be forced to do no such thing.
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