John McCain Wins Florida, The GOP Loses
Senator John McCain has been riding a wave of independent voters to victory pretty much since New Hampshire and it would seem that he did the same in Florida. The first sign of this came when the South Florida Sun-Sentinal reported a story of how an independent voter went into a polling place and admitted to not being registered in any party and yet was still allowed to vote in the Republican primary. And now, with the vote count finished and McCain annointed the leader, we see that the exit polls show that McCain received 44 percent of the independent vote, which made up 17 percent of the total vote in the Republican primary. Two assessments can be made from this fact: 1) independents were allowed to vote in the primary and 2) Conservatives do not like McCain.
First, everyone following this process knows that you cannot vote in the primary in Florida unless you are registered the particular party that you wish to vote in. So how in the world did John McCain--Mr. Independent--get independent votes in a state where the primary is closed to party members? Perhaps it was Charlie Crist, Florida's Governor who endorsed McCain, that managed to get a last minute rule change or maybe it was individual polling place workers who took it upon themselves to put the fix in for McCain. No one knows as of yet, but I will say that something stinks.
Next, is the lack of support for McCain from the base of the Republican Party. According the exit polls on CNN, McCain lost the Conservative vote to Mitt Romney by nearly ten percentage points. It has been that way for McCain the entire primary season. He is winning the Republican Party nomination race without winning the one segment of the Republican Party that makes up the base. It is looking like Huckabee is staying in it just to badger Romney and siphon off enough of the Conservative vote from Romney, giving McCain the victory. Maybe McCain and Huck have made an arrangement for the Huckster to be his running mate, I don't know. I do know this: Florida has set McCain up to be the Republican nominee and he has yet to garner a majority of the Conservative vote.
At this stage in the game, I am pretty certain that Hillary is going to be the Democrats' nominee, and as much as I do not want those two back in the Oval Office, I will never, ever vote for John McCain. I have gone through McCain's faults numerous times in this space, so there is no need to do so now. The only observation I will make is that it seems to me that the Republican Party is having their nominee stolen from them by the likes of a McCain/Huckabee agreement. Many pundits are making the case that the Republicans are looking for the candidate most likely to win in November, but that is not the case when you look at the current frontrunner and his support from Republicans/Conservatives. What Liberals and Moderates could not accomplish in 2000, they are doing in 2008 and it is at the detriment of the Republican Party.
Go here to look at the CNN exit polls:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/index.html#FLREP
Here's the Sun-Sentinal piece:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-129electionday,0,6968764,print.story
First, everyone following this process knows that you cannot vote in the primary in Florida unless you are registered the particular party that you wish to vote in. So how in the world did John McCain--Mr. Independent--get independent votes in a state where the primary is closed to party members? Perhaps it was Charlie Crist, Florida's Governor who endorsed McCain, that managed to get a last minute rule change or maybe it was individual polling place workers who took it upon themselves to put the fix in for McCain. No one knows as of yet, but I will say that something stinks.
Next, is the lack of support for McCain from the base of the Republican Party. According the exit polls on CNN, McCain lost the Conservative vote to Mitt Romney by nearly ten percentage points. It has been that way for McCain the entire primary season. He is winning the Republican Party nomination race without winning the one segment of the Republican Party that makes up the base. It is looking like Huckabee is staying in it just to badger Romney and siphon off enough of the Conservative vote from Romney, giving McCain the victory. Maybe McCain and Huck have made an arrangement for the Huckster to be his running mate, I don't know. I do know this: Florida has set McCain up to be the Republican nominee and he has yet to garner a majority of the Conservative vote.
At this stage in the game, I am pretty certain that Hillary is going to be the Democrats' nominee, and as much as I do not want those two back in the Oval Office, I will never, ever vote for John McCain. I have gone through McCain's faults numerous times in this space, so there is no need to do so now. The only observation I will make is that it seems to me that the Republican Party is having their nominee stolen from them by the likes of a McCain/Huckabee agreement. Many pundits are making the case that the Republicans are looking for the candidate most likely to win in November, but that is not the case when you look at the current frontrunner and his support from Republicans/Conservatives. What Liberals and Moderates could not accomplish in 2000, they are doing in 2008 and it is at the detriment of the Republican Party.
Go here to look at the CNN exit polls:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/index.html#FLREP
Here's the Sun-Sentinal piece:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-129electionday,0,6968764,print.story
posted by Robert A. McReynolds | 2:10 AM
3 Comments:
First of all, quit listening to Rush, the guy is a clown.
Second, Rush "movement cons" and their kind paved the way for 8 years of Bush, who, as everyone now realizes, is also a clown.
Third, are you really pulling for Romney? Also a clown.
The reality is this: the movement is dead. Sadly, it is not dead bc of the Kennedy's / Clintons / Fonda's of the world. It died at the hands of a president who passed our issue litmus test, but passed very few tests during his presidency. I'll spell it out for you: George W. Bush was the worst thing that ever happened to our party. At this point we have two choices, support moderate republicans, ar get used to getting our tails whipped for the next few years (sweet lord, I only hope were down a couple of years bc I cant take 8 years of Clinton).
Whith the dis-service Bush has done the GOP, it's no wonder that "our" voters are leaving to support McCain. As much as the democratic candidates putter about talking of change, I think a large part of our party wants change to. McCain is the most experienced in international/defense policy of all the candidates. But Rush and tha idiots who follow him support Romney!!!??? It is not a surprise that the party is shifting towards moderates like Arnold/McCain. If our movement ever breathes again, we have to remember to choose wisely next time. In the meantime, we need to choose the candidate who won't further embarass us.
Okay, first, just because you call Rush a clown does not make it so. And you can throw all of the "he-did-drugs" mantra at me as your "evidence" all you want. That is not a disqualifier for his political insight.
Second, though Bush has made some mistakes, he is way better than the alternative that would have been Al Gore, an even bigger "clown."
Third, I have never said that I am pulling for Romney. Yeah, I flirted with idea....back in 2005! As the primaries got going, I was actually pulling for Fred Thompson, but alas, he dropped out. Right now, I have no clue as to who I will support. Rest assured, it will not be John McCain.
Your reality is merely a dream. The movement is not dead. The movement needs elected leadership, something that we have been missing under Bush's stewardship. I take it that by you saying that Bush is the worst thing to have happened to the Party, you are referencing the Iraq war and the losses of 2006? I don't think that I would chalk up the loss of 06 to our involvement in Iraq. Also, if the movement is dead, why did the Democrats run a bunch of Conservative Democrats in order to win the majority in both chambers of Congress?
John McCain is not going to do the movement any good. He will govern as a Liberal, at least more Liberal than not. Just remember, it took a Jimmy Carter to give us a Ronald Reagan.
Finally, by your accusations of Rush's listeners being "followers" and Rush being a Mitt fan, you have revealed your hand--which is really weak. Rush has never said who he is for. He has made it pretty obvious that he is not for McCain and Huck. And his listeners do not take marching orders, some thing you would realize if you were a movement Conservative.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go log into Rush's website and hear what I missed this afternoon.
Great work.
Post a Comment
<< Home