Andrew Boucher, whose claim to fame may be that he is a Colorado conservative with blogging credentials to the Democratic National Convention, made a great point yesterday about the larger significance of John McCain's upcoming selection of a vice-presidential running mate:There aren't many "natural" McCain volunteers. There will be even fewer if he turns off the base with his VP pick. Or, as I put it bluntly in a campaign planning meeting last week: If it's McCain-Ridge, we'll have 25 new GOTV volunteers in Fort Collins. If it's McCain-Romney, we'll have 250. Remember: the Romney team made thousands of grassroots volunteer phone calls in Larimer County for caucus and won with 60 percent. (As a frame of reference, Bush-Cheney … [Read more...]
Endorsements Likely Key Factor in Lifting Wil Armstrong into Close Race
I've written very little about the 6th Congressional District primary since my endorsement of Wil Armstrong nearly four months ago. Since then, many prominent Republicans have followed suit with their public endorsements, including Senator Wayne Allard, former Governor Bill Owens, Attorney General John Suthers, former state senate leader Mark Hillman, former Secretary of State Gigi Dennis, and even former Massachusetts governor and possible vice-presidential candidate Mitt Romney. For the longest time, Secretary of State Mike Coffman has been viewed as the prohibitive frontrunner in this four-way race, which also features state senators Ted Harvey and Steve Ward. But then today comes interesting news from the campaign - also reported at … [Read more...]
Ron Paul Supporters Numerous Among National Delegate Candidates
From the GOP Convention in Broomfield... Balloting is ongoing from state delegates. One of the things they are deciding on is the slate of delegates to the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities. There is a list of nearly 400 candidates for national delegate in the Colorado Statesman along with their Presidential preference. About 40 percent have no preference listed - nearly the same amount (155) are pledged to John McCain. Poised to wreak havoc are 74 Ron Paul supporters, followed by a handful each listed for Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. State conventions can be strange things, though this is a particularly strange year. On a different note, Sen. Shawn Mitchell just compared Bill Ritter to Jimmy Carter ... ouch. … [Read more...]
Blogging the GOP Convention
FYI to readers: I will be blogging from the proceedings at tomorrow's Colorado Republican State Convention in Broomfield. Among other activities, the GOP will nominate Bob Schaffer as the candidate for U.S. Senate, adopt a state platform, and entertain a guest speech from former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Other confirmed bloggers: Slapstick Politics and Night Twister. Stay tuned. … [Read more...]
Who Would You Pick as John McCain’s VP Running Mate?
NewsMax is hosting a poll to help John McCain choose a Vice Presidential running mate. Fellow Colorado blogger Steven Nielson (welcome back!) will be disappointed to learn that there is no way to vote for Sarah Palin. I went with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, but thought about choosing Mitt Romney - who I supported for almost 3 weeks until he dropped out less than 2 days after so many Colorado Republicans cast a vote for him in the February 5 straw-poll. The two former rivals campaigned together today in Utah. Warning about the NewsMax poll: Participation automatically puts you on their email list, and the only way to find out the poll results is by waiting to receive an email. Fifteen minutes after I cast my vote, I've yet to … [Read more...]
Romney Out: Let the Unifying Begin
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...]
Arvada West Republican Caucus: Romney Territory
From my own little corner of the Colorado caucus: I've just returned from a gathering of six Republican precincts held at Arvada West High School. The turnout of 141 shattered all records from recent memory, though probably was outdone by the Democrats who met on the other half of campus. If our six precincts are anywhere near representative of the state of Colorado, it's a lock for Romney. I confirmed this unofficial vote tally with the district captain: Mitt Romney - 94 (67%) Mike Huckabee - 20 (14%) John McCain - 12 (9%) Ron Paul - 10 (7%) Uncommitted - 5 (4%) In a night across the country that looks to be less than decisive for any candidate in either major party, Colorado should go into the Romney column. We'll wait for … [Read more...]
Rasmussen: Romney 30, McCain 30 … Where’s the Momentum?
Any fellow Romney for President supporters (or anyone not too excited by the prospect of McCain at the top of the GOP ticket) looking for a little good news heading into the Super Tuesday showdown, look here (H/T Michelle Malkin):In the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination, it’s John McCain at 30%, Mitt Romney at 30%, and Mike Huckabee at 21%. Ron Paul is supported by 5% of Likely Republican Primary Voters....Romney leads by sixteen percentage points among conservatives while McCain has a two-to-one advantage among moderate Primary Voters. Considering the "no-bounce" trend of this race over the past month, the McCain momentum meme may be mostly a myth (how do you like the alliteration?). This race isn't over yet, and may … [Read more...]
John McCain?
Sen. John McCain wins Florida and all 57 of its delegates - well, congratulations then. Rudy to drop out and endorse McCain? Conservatives should feel used. Though one of Rudy's biggest supporters, Patrick Ruffini, makes a compelling case for Republicans to get on board with Romney:When it comes to the electability question, don’t focus on horserace numbers. Focus on the fundamentals. After weeks of fawning coverage, and weeks of seeing the press swooning for Obama and beating down Clinton, John McCain is no better than tied against Hillary. When it was last Clinton vs. McCain as the frontrunners, he ran worse than Giuliani and was seen as less dynamic. I expect that with either Romney or McCain, the race would settle into a 3-6 point … [Read more...]
Florida Forecast
Based on my track record for predicting primary/caucus results this year, I don't think anyone wants the jinx of being predicted a winner of today's Florida primary. But here goes anyway: Romney ... 33% McCain ... 31% Giuliani ... 17% Huckabee ... 14% Paul ... 5% Romney builds his delegate count lead, gains an edge in the momentum, and further coalesces the conservative coalition in his favor heading into Super Tuesday. McCain continues to lead in some of the February 5 primary states, but his advantage slips in many polls. Giuliani hangs around, but sees his supporters slip away more-or-less evenly to the two frontrunners. Huckabee can only count on picking up some spare Southern state delegates and hope to have a little sway at … [Read more...]