Posted on 04/17/2008 6:10:40 AM PDT by tlb
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans are no longer underdogs in the race for the White House. To pull that off, John McCain has attracted disgruntled GOP voters, independents and even some moderate Democrats who shunned his party last fall.
Partly thanks to an increasingly likable image, the Republican presidential candidate has pulled even with the two Democrats still brawling for their party's nomination, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo news poll released Thursday. Just five months ago - before either party had winnowed its field - the survey showed people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House by 13 percentage points.
Also helping the Arizona senator close the gap: Peoples' opinions of Hillary Rodham Clinton have soured slightly, while their views of Barack Obama have improved though less impressively than McCain's.
The survey suggests that those switching to McCain are largely attuned to his personal qualities and McCain may be benefiting as the two Democrats snipe at each other during their prolonged nomination fight.
By tracking the same group of roughly 2,000 people throughout the campaign, the AP-Yahoo poll can gauge how individual views are evolving. What's clear is that some Republican-leaning voters who backed Bush in 2004 but lost enthusiasm for him are returning to the GOP fold - along with a smaller but significant number of Democrats who have come to dislike their party's two contenders.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
I think if you read the link in #16, you'll understand why. It's not intended to change your mind, just help you to reason through the decision according to your values.
I’ll vote for McCain in November - but he’ll get no financial or volunteer support from me.
Any money or volunteer effort will go to other candidates in my state.
You voted for who you felt was the best candidate. That is all any of us can do. It wasn’t a RP problem but a weak leadership by the Republican Party IMO. If you are connecting with the public no one is going to take your base away.
Strengthen the things that remain.
Moving the national election day to April 15 is the easiest way I know how to bring about conservative policies and conservative politicians ... I can’t see continuing to subsidize “sorta kinda sideways sometimes” conservative candidates in the hopes they get a couple of issues right.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows John McCain leading Barack Obama, 47% to 42%. The presumptive Republican nominee also leads Hillary Clinton 50% to 40%. Among unaffiliated voters, McCain leads Obama by eight percentage points and Clinton by fifteen. Daily tracking results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (see recent general election results).
Overall, among all voters nationwide, McCain is viewed favorably by 55% and unfavorably by 42%. Obama’s ratings are 47% favorable and 51% unfavorable. For Clinton, those numbers are 42% favorable, 56% unfavorable (see recent daily favorable ratings). Among unaffiliated voters, McCain is viewed favorably by 55%, Obama by 47%, and Clinton by 34%.
Regardless. I’m not a fan of McCain either but I would never waste my vote on some third party canidate and help put some smug, closet racist, marxist in the White House.
If you think Clinton was bad well, Obama will be a hundred times worse.
Perhaps by 2012, there will be a chance to elect a true Conservative President. We can work on that then.
Allowing either Hillary or Obama to win this election would be devastating to the country.
We also know that we cannot allow this country to fall into the communist hands of Obama, or into the Marxist hands of Hillary who will use the IRS as a tool to crush her enemies.
Simply stated, American patriots have resolved in their own minds that they will take a McCain shiv in the back because they love this country more than they hate McCain and are willing to personally sacrifice as much.
“...people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House...”
The trouble for the Dems is now they’ve named them, and they are both anti-American Leftists.
Vengeful compromises destructive to conservatism and freedom in the long term in exchange for immediate power?
“Perhaps by 2012, there will be a chance to elect a true Conservative President.”
How many people will support conservatism after seeing that its compromise was the path to success? How many people will believe that the Republican Party promotes conservatism after 4-8 years of McCain? How many people will even understand conservatism after President McCain?
The more we grip the more we get. You think if all conservatives just shut up and jumped on the bandwagon he’d be talking tax cuts now? Keep the kvetching going until November I say.
McCain is not winning conservatives. They are going to him by default because otherwise we’ll end up with Carl Marx or the great Socialist Shrew.
” I’m not a fan of McCain either but I would never waste my vote on some third party canidate and help put some smug, closet racist, marxist in the White House.”
The shortest path to a destination is not always a straight line.
I have really bad news for you. I, too, was once sucked in by these phonies. I was stupid enough to send them (the CP party) money--twice. Then my eyes were opened.
These thieves took my money and used it to run ads against Bush--not Gore or Kerry!!
It was disgusting. They were trying to get Gore and Kerry elected. I have nothing but disdain for them.
I've also come to realize that these phonies stand there beating their chests pretending to be more sanctimonious than Republicans knowing full well, they'll never win anything. They don't even want to win anything. If they did, they'd have to then govern and they wouldn't be so perfect then.
If you want to throw away your hopes, and money and help elect one of these absolutely terrible RATS, I guess this is America (even though that is slowly eroding away) and you can do it but you're being deceived in the process.
We can play a part in that.
If McCain gets elected, we should support him when he acts as a Conservative, and he will on some issues. On those issues where he does not act as a Conservative, we need to oppose him vigorously.
The candidates in 2012 or 2016 will also have to help define why the Conservative approach is the best approach. If they can do that, and can connect with the voters, then they can win election even if McCain behaves as a RINO in office.
If we allow Barak or Hillary! to assume the office, where they control the military and appoint the judges with a rubber stamp Senate, there may not be much of a country left for whoever we run in 2012. That needs to be prevented at all costs.
More like, we know that Obama and Hillary would be much worse, so we are just playing the hand we’ve been dealt.
I feel that 1980 was the culmination of years of under the radar creative activism and growth, that began with Goldwater. The problem in my view is that I don't see that same kind of energy and effort among conservatives of today, outside of the geopolitical engagements regarding the WOT. I'm by no means a Libertarian isolationist type, but it seems to me that the war on terror has sucked all the energy of conservatives to deal with that, while at the same time energizing the socialist wing of American politics.
Too bad we don’t have a candidate we can be enthusiastic about. It’s all a question about the lesser of two evils.
Did I read also the Gallup poll shows McCain beating both those other 2? Unreal. He is underfunded, some question his age, and the party is unenthusiastic. But if he is leading at this point it must be a big indicator of how pathetic the Dems are.
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