Free Republic

I was wondering how McCain was doing in the Red States, so I marked up a 2004 Electoral College map with a "W" in every state he won, and a "L" in every state someone else won. (I didn't bother marking the Blue States.) McCain's not very popular in states where Republicans actually deliver electoral votes to the President. He has lost far more than he has won. Here is my rather simple, but illuminating map.

The good news for the 2008 presidential candidates is that only hours remain in their torturous march across the Super Tuesday battlefield. The bad news: A new trek begins the next morning. For the Democrats, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, it will be longer — perhaps excruciatingly so. For Republicans, the end may be closer. Which raises the possibility that 2008 could produce another jack-in-the-box surprise: The party with advantages in polls and popular enthusiasm, and two path-breaking candidates, could yet march into trouble. And the party with the beleaguered White House incumbent and comparatively weak presidential field...

Major grumbling among conservatives about the Republican field. So many candidates, so many flaws. Rudy Giuliani, abortion apostate. Mitt Romney, flip-flopper. John McCain, Mr. Amnesty. Fred Thompson, lazy boy. Where is the paragon? Where is Ronald Reagan? Well, what about Reagan? This president, renowned for his naps, granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli bill. As governor of California, he signed the most liberal abortion legalization bill in America, then flip-flopped and became an abortion opponent. What did he do about it as president? Gave us Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy, the two swing votes...

Democrats agreed to shake up tradition Saturday by wedging Nevada between Iowa's leadoff caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in the 2008 presidential nominating calendar and adding South Carolina soon afterward.The addition of Nevada's caucuses and the South Carolina primary to a presidential calendar long dominated by Iowa and New Hampshire is intended to give a greater voice to Hispanics and blacks-minorities critical to Democrats' success.