Jan 29 2008

FL Primary Results – Rudy Out, Huck Out, Romney On The Way Out?

Published by at 9:01 pm under 2008 Elections,All General Discussions

McCain Wins!: OK Amnesty Hypochondriacs, your either with the GOP nominee or against him. Mark Levin was just livid tonight and I expect him to bolt the party being led by John McCain. McCain won in a GOP-only primary. Levin is going to be in good company with Laura, Michelle and Hannity who must face the fact Mr. Shamnesty is going to the GOP leader. He has the lead in NY and CA polls, and this win is only going to add momentum. As I said in an early post, the anger and insults coming from the far right on Miers, Dubai and Immigration Reform have produced this result. The voters said you insult us and our moderate views and we will give you McCain in return. Mitt went full bore on screaming “amnesty” and I can only say it backfired. And in CA and NY it will not get better. Romney is going to limp into Super Tuesday and get hammered by the McCain express. This is new GOP.

Early Impressions: Two things are becoming clear. First, Giuliani is on his way out after a dismal performance in Florida. But so is Romney on his way out. McCain looks to be heading for a win with 45% of the vote in and McCain continuing to expand his lead. And this will only give him momentum going into NY and CA – where he leads in the polls. And the big story in FL – Immigration. McCain is clobbering Romney with Hispanics – which is going to tell the story of this race. Romney jumped onto the Amnesty Hypochondriac bandwagon as is be getting romped for it. I have watched McCain’s lead go from 22,000 votes at 30% precincts reporting to 40,000 with 46% of precincts in. Romney’s hill to climb is getting steeper and I think he is in serious trouble.

While Rudy may be out of the top slot race, I think McCain would do well to pick Rudy as a great VP who can beat Dems in CA and NY. So we are back to the same calculus. A McCain-Giuliani ticket could beat anything the Dems can bring. And what I hope the dems bring is a bruised and beaten Hillary Clinton. She can still survive and become the best thing for the GOP (again).

I have never been a McCaniac – but you go to battle with the candidate you have, not the one you wish to have.

Update: Looks like my guess about a Rudy VP slot for McCain is not that far fetched – it seems rumors are Rudy will endorse McCain this week.

43 responses so far

43 Responses to “FL Primary Results – Rudy Out, Huck Out, Romney On The Way Out?”

  1. kathie says:

    Terrye……. Many of the hard decisions that the President had to make that McCain didn’t agree with, he disagreed with an edge that is unbecoming of a Statesman. That is my belief, and I didn’t like it.

  2. Bikerken says:

    The absentee ballot was about five times the usual size this year. 20% of people crossing over to vote in the Republican primary says one thing to me. Shenanigans. This sounds like a victory for ACORN and George Soros, who just happens to be paying the salary of Juan Hernandez who is on McCains staff. Hmmm?

    I just want to remind you folks, you got your clocks CLEANED by the ‘purists’ once before, quite unexpectedly I might add. It ain’t over yet. If McCain gets the nom, the indys will go right back to the left, the repub base will not support him at all and he will look like Mondale in 80′. Go read some of the posts on the lefties sites, they are salivating for a McCain nomination, because they know that he will lose so badly. I will not vote for McCain under any circumstances, I will not vote for any congressperson who endorses him. I personally believe it would be better for the dems to win everything and just trash the country for the next four years rather than McCain winning and doing the same thing and having it blamed on the GOP. It would only take the GOP further down the road to oblivian. Lets see how bad Ronald Reagan looks then. After all, it took Jimmy Carter to get Reagan to begin with. If this country wants to go down that road again, they deserve it.

  3. AJStrata says:

    Bikerken,

    I hate to say this but the purists are the ones out of power – hint, hint.

  4. AJStrata says:

    Merlin,

    For me to vote in a GOP only primary I would be one of your temporary registrants. Same thing with The Anchoress. Think before you lash out.

    Or else enjoy purity and all its benefits.

  5. after hours says:

    A vote today for McCain is a vote for Obama tomorrow.

    After Hours

  6. Whippet1 says:

    McCain is the Media darling of the Republican candidates. He’ll get a pass on how liberal he really is until he faces Hillary or Obama one on one. Then the media will turn on him and rip him to shreds to make way for their “true” liberal. It will be a magic carpet ride to the White House for the Dems.

    And it’s not that conservatives can’t compromise on another candidate. I think most of us can. Rudy isn’t as socially conservative as most would like but the man has experience and is well liked. Romney is to the right of Rudy but I still see him as left of President Bush and he has the experience. We’d take either of them, but McCain?

    The War on Terror is the only place he gets my vote if Romney doesn’t make it. And I worry about him being tough enough to fight the long fight. Not so much the actual war/militay aspect, but all the peripheral battles…Gitmo, waterboarding (or I should say, non-torture techniques that save lives), legal representation for enemy combatants, FISA and being tough on dealing with the Dems to get the proper funding. They are all part of the path to winning this war. .

    I don’t see him as Presidential. I see him as a politician. They make the worst Presidents.

  7. Whippet1 says:

    AJ,
    You’re not a purist, right? I’d say you’re pretty close to being out of power also.

    You say they don’t want you, and you don’t want them. Where does that leave everyone? Can you say President Obama? President Hillary? Then next say “immediate Iraq withdrawal.” No one wins. And many more will die…

  8. Klimt says:

    Whippet1:

    I like your posts! If McCain gets the nomination, I think a New Republican Party (NRP) will emerge — and the GOP will become yesterday. Whippet1, do you think Romney still has a shot at winning?

  9. Bikerken says:

    I think Romney has a shot but it remains to be seen how much of a chance he has. McCain is the epitomy of the old school corrupt politician and he’s trying to sell himself as change. The fact is the MSM is covering hard for McCain. If it were on the MSM that McCain actually has a member of MecHa on his staff who doesn’t believe in the border between Us and Mexico, he’d be dead man walking. People are fed up with that NAU crap. But the MSM who wants him to be the nominee, (remember 91% of them vote democrat) they are going to keep it quiet. McCain won among old people and hispanics. Hispanics want, …..more hispanics and old people want, more benefits for old people. He actually lost big among people who called themselves conservatives. DUH. I don’t see how so many people in the US can think that nominating a person for the GOP who is actually hated by conservatives could ever win, unless you really don’t want him to win. That’s why the indy’s are voting for him in droves. Think about it, nobody had any reason to vote in the dem primary at all because someone decided that none of the florida votes were going to count, therefore releasing dems to register as repubs and vote in the weakest candidate. They aren’t really stupid, are they?

  10. Whippet1 says:

    Klimt,
    Thank you! I just wish we had a strong candidate but it doesn’t look like that will happen. I have no idea what may happen with Romney…I hope he has a shot and I wish Rudy had a shot, or Thompson. I can compromise…but McCain? That’s going to be a tough vote to cast but cast it I will…I may need several drinks before I do it though!

    In 2006 my youngest could vote for the first time. My brotherat about the age of 42 and a friend of his had never voted…(I know, many arguments about that one) but we all met up at the polling place and voted. We made it an event so that my youngest would understand the importance. I think she’s going to be dragging me there this time!

  11. MerlinOS2 says:

    AJ

    I’m not lashing out at any one I am just running the numbers no more no less and letting the chips fall where they may.

  12. MerlinOS2 says:

    Tonight just from IMPARTIAL looking at the numbers on each side of the primaries.

    Both sides had about 20% crossover in their voting. About normal for what you will scale to in the general election.

    Republicans turned out a total of about 200k MORE voters than the dems did.

    Rough projections would show that in the general the dem candidate would lose by about 2 % or so overall.

    Once the full results are in and I can run regression lines for each county I will be able to have a better number.

  13. wiley says:

    Whippet,
    We seem to be on the same plane – I’ve agreed with everything you’ve posted here recently.
    AJ – your “analysis” is downright silly. McCain doing well has nothing to do with a blowback against the “purists” or “amnesty hypochondriacs”. Case in point: AJ Strata, pissed-off against purists (aka core conservatives), would have voted for …. Rudy! (or Romney). McCain was basically your last choice. There are a few McCain supporters in your camp, but most held similar views as you. And immigration was not a huge issue. Those who said immigration was key favored Romney! Yes, McCain got the hispanic vote, but that was becasue of Martinez and some other key hispanic pols/leaders in his campaign.

    This is all about the GOP moving left and the various campaigns and personalities of the candidates. The nomination was really Fred’s for the taking, but he didn’t get serious (energized) until it was already over. Rudy had the next best shot but he bailed on the early states and was then out of the headlines and dropping in the polls. His momentum was in the wrong direction, and as Huck & McCain & Romney picked up wins and media attention, Rudy looked more & more like a non-factor. And the rise of Huck in the early states side-tracked Romney and continues to hurt him. Of course, McCain has been helped all along by a supportive MSM. Why? because they like his “straight talk” and his maverick ways. In other words, he goes aginst his own party and conservatives. McCain was helped immensely by the order of the primaries, with indies & even dems voting (heavily) in Iowa & NH, and even SC.

    And what about McCain as the nominee? Since the conventional wisdom is that he was the one repub who could beat the dems, my gut reaction says that’s bogus. Against Obama I think he gets crushed. A tired, old, cranky entrenched inside-the-beltway pol versus the fresh-faced eloquent, graceful black candidate with the uplifting oratory — no contest. Against Hillary, it will be much closer, but I think he loses again. And the GOP could be in shambles since they decided to embrace the candidate who is not just the least conservative of the bunch, but one who has consistently and openly thumbed his nose at them. And what if McCain were to actually win & become pres? I don’t like it at all (I would plan to vote for him, though, over any dem). Yes, he’s been stalwart on Iraq, but Iraq is only part of the GWOT. His view on Gitmo and interrogations and open borders and other related issues indicates he’ll be sorely lacking when compared to our current president. His environmental views and tax record and drug re-importation all portend for a sour economy. Maybe this will be a worse outcome for the GOP, but I’m getting to far ahead.

  14. MerlinOS2 says:

    Speaking of Fred he was polling near 12 % in the polls but only 1% of the vote showed up for him tonight so most of the absentee and early votes went to the top 3 guys on our side and we didn’t have a bunch of locked up early Fred voters like many thought would have happened.

  15. Terrye says:

    Kathie:

    Like it or not like it McCain is what he has always been. That is more than can be said for the backstabbers who profess such undying loyalty and then accuse the president of the United States of selling us out to Mexico.

    I have been called a Bushbot by people on the right and left both and if I can support McCain then apparently he has not been all that obnoxious.

  16. Terrye says:

    Whippet:

    I read that anchoress post. She is really good isn’t she?

  17. Rich says:

    The conservative hate machine has been defeated!

  18. Terrye says:

    And btw when Romney says Washington is broken, he is talking about Bush just as much as he is anyone else.

  19. Bikerken says:

    >>>Both sides had about 20% crossover in their voting. About normal for what you will scale to in the general election.

    Merlin, what in the blazes are you smoking???? First, they have already shown that 40 percent of McCains votes were liberals and independants who switched over. But what on gods green earth makes you think that conservatives voted over to Hillary? Are you out of your mind? I will admit that some will in the general election just as I will to make sure McAmnesty loses. but Jesus Christ, are you really stupid enough to believe that 20 percent of repubs crossed over to vote for someone when their parties votes were not even eligible to be counted????? What a moron!!!

  20. Bikerken says:

    Rich, you sound like a fag, “the conservative hate machine has been defeated!.” Get a nutsac dude.