Well, Mitt Romney's candidacy is over (but his political future may not be done). Not much more I can say that hasn't been repeated across the blogosphere in the past 20 hours or so. I have to say it's quite jarring to witness an overwhelming Romney win at my local caucus, and in the state of Colorado as a whole, and less than 48 hours later to see his campaign come to an end. But the former Massachusetts governor's withdrawal speech at CPAC only confirmed my confidence in him. The speech was full of class and grace and poise, but also resounded on the pre-eminent theme of victory in the GWOT. Though initially disappointed to see the result of Romney's Super Tuesday performance, hopefully we will look back in months to come and probably … [Read more...]
Second Chance for McCain?
Yesterday, immediately following his successful Super Tuesday showing, I wrote that McCain needs to woo conservatives. A few hours later, we got this:Republican John McCain, buoyed by Super Tuesday wins that pushed him closer to the nomination, told his conservative critics Wednesday to dial back the animosity and focus on issues where they agree. ''I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there's areas we can agree on,'' McCain said at a news conference in a Phoenix airport hangar. [emphasis added] Not exactly a great start. In fact, it sounds a lot like the same old patronizing bit conservatives are used to hearing from Sen. McCain. … [Read more...]
McCain Needs to Woo Conservatives
Since last night's results make it increasingly apparent that Sen. John McCain is not only the Republican front-runner but its putative nominee-to-be, here are some thoughts. Exit polls confirm the obvious - that McCain has a lot of work to do to woo conservatives. Mary Matalin (via KJ Lopez at the Corner) has some concrete ideas for what the McCain campaign can do to make it happen: … [Read more...]