Are you tired of the give-and-take of Presidential primary politics? Are you a conservative Republican who needs to step back and take some time to consider whether or not you want to jump on the John McCain bandwagon? Do you want to help the Republican Party down ticket by supporting a candidate with integrity and independent conservative principles? Well, then... How about celebrating the 199th anniversary of Republican forefather Abraham Lincoln's birthday by giving a tangible contribution to Old Abe's legacy? How about showing support for a superb Colorado Republican while you let the national party work on getting back its conservative bearings? How about getting behind sending a candidate to Washington, DC, who … [Read more...]
Huckabee Camp’s Washington Complaints: Nothing There
One of Saturday's three Republican presidential caucuses stirred up some controversy, an unfortunate occurrence that needlessly poured fuel onto the Huckabee campaign's conspiratorial fire, with his chairman reviving memories of Al Gore in Florida 2000:Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is crying foul after John McCain's apparent victory in the Washington caucuses on Saturday. Huckabee's campaign released a statement Sunday saying it will be exploring all available legal options regarding the ''dubious final results.'' Arizona Sen. McCain was announced as the victor in the caucuses with 26 percent of the vote to Huckabee's 24 percent. But Huckabee's campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, said Luke Esser, Washington's Republican … [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...]
Caucus Confusion
Given the timing and popularity of this year's Presidential race, combined with the almost arcane political caucus process in this state, news like this is hardly surprising:State GOP chair Dick Wadhams reported this afternoon that the party had been beseiged with phone calls today, most from people trying to determine where they can caucus. One last time, the story provides helpful reminders for those looking to get involved this evening:Wadams [sic] said the party was expecting "very big attendance," at its caucuses which, as a reminder dear reader, begin at 7 p.m. Caucuses are run by political parties, not counties, but the good news is voters still have time to get to the right place. All Colorado caucuses are tonight. Those … [Read more...]
Super Tuesday Post
Today is Super Tuesday and Caucus Day in Colorado. And that's why I find it surprising that my local blogging colleague Steven appears to be planning to sit out the Presidential vote:Politics as usual does not cut it for me. I need a candidate with true compassion, true conscience, true understanding, and the ability to reason. No candidate for President has demonstrated all these things that I can see. Not that these characteristics comprise anywhere near a complete resume for our nation's highest office. And trying to compare Hugh's show last night to push-polling? Not only absurd - I wouldn't say the MSM is push-polling for McCain - but sounds desperate, too, a lot like Huckabee's rhetoric of late. He's run as good a race as anyone … [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...]
Mitt for President
Sadly - but arriving with an increasing sense of inevitability - Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race to be our next President. A classy departure worthy of an honorable man who ran an honorable, if less than inspirational, campaign. Most telling is his lack of endorsement: a non-endorsement that has to hurt John McCain. Yes, my predictions for South Carolina clearly were wrong, altogether too much made from the heart rather than the head. I'm not ashamed of holding out hope for Fred while hope was still there. Nor should my blogger friend Steven be ashamed of holding out hope for his man Huck (though we disagree on his candidacy). I share the sentiments of Dr. Rusty Shackelford at The Jawa Report (H/T Hugh Hewitt):Dear fellow … [Read more...]