Stopping Romney

Giuliani will reportedly endorse McCain, thereby relieving overcrowding in the "unorthodox quasi-Republican strong on security" niche.

But Huckabee will apparently stay in the race, prolonging the overcrowding in the socially conservative niche Romney entered a few years ago.

This is all good for McCain.  As to Huckabee's motive, I think he does not like Romney.

Comments

[kim]

I didn't think I could trust that out of control prosecutor from the Southern District of New York.
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[Jane]

The biggest problem I had moving right was the whole 'religious right' thing. I finally get over it, and then this.

[Syl]

I finally get over it, and then this.

Jane, that's why I was so shocked at your vehement antipathy towards Huck. You were the one who taught me tolerance over here! I find I can disagree on issues and yet be fond of and admire the skills this man has.

I dunno. I'm obviously going through a bit of culture shock now and am losing a lot of my tolerance but in ways I never would have expected. This is my first primary battle on the right and it's tearing me apart.

[maryrose]

Huckabee is staying in as a spoiler for Romney in the hopes of getting the VP spot. In Ohio if Romney is still in it I will vote for him on March 4th. If McCain is the presumptive nominee I will cross over and vote for Obama against Hillary.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I don't have the time this morning to look for a citation, but yesterday I read someone mentioning a Huck campaign staffer who said Huck would stay in to try and accumulate enough delegates to let him have a say in rules changes and get a good time slot for a speech at the convention.

Jane, I'm with you on Huck. Syl, the thing about the Religious Right's influence isn't really a prejudice, I think, as much as a reaction by Jane, and me, to our experiences with them.

I can't speak for Jane's history, but in my case, being the only Buddhist on the block for lots and lots of blocks around sensitized me to tendency to totalitarianism that much of the Religious Right exhibits.

Huckabee has a serious case of it: it's hard to find a government program he hasn't liked and supported, and he's apparently anxious to use government to "urge" --- read "coerce" --- us to change our lives in ways he would approve.

I just don't want my government to tell me I really must lose weight, stop smoking, get more exercise, cut down on drinking, and be a better person, even if I ought to lose weight and get more exercise, don't smoke, don't drink, and consider myself a saint among men.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

By the way, I'm not going to turn it into a signature on every post like some people do, but I do want to call everyone's attention, once, to my new --- and vehemently non-political --- blog Explorations.

[MikeS]

The Fat Lady does seem to be clearing her throat, but I'm not ready to pronounce Romney dead yet.

Neither Republican has shown me anything that might help retain the filibuster or help any one else on the ticket.

[sbw]

The sound you heard from the fat lady was something other than throat-clearing.

[Appalled Moderate]

Got to say. McCain/Huckabee would be a rotten ticket. Unites all the nanny state ideas in the GOP with profound economic ignorance. Bletch. And I don't see that the appeal to evangelicals is counterbalanced by the revulsion that would be felt by the large number of independents who do not deal well with the political manifestation of evangelicals.

McCain/Romney probably works better --- you have the guy who knows nothin' about econmonics paired with the guy who made a fortune understanding them. And its good for Romney too. It will make his name better known in 2012, when he starts his campaign against President Obama/Clinton.

[Syl]

Charlie

and he's apparently anxious to use government to "urge" --- read "coerce" --- us to change our lives in ways he would approve.

I hear you. But he'd also go after Osama with a water pistol! That counts for something in my book.

I've said over and over and over that I don't agree with his policies and that I'm not and never have advocated that he be our nominee! It's the damn antipathy towards the man himself that I'm upset with.

He gave the best pro-life explanation that I've ever heard. Just a couple of sentences. Tim Russert was left silent. I was left with a better understanding. I still personally believe that a woman has the right to choose not to have an abortion. But Huck explains things in a way that is soooo good for the pro-lifers that I'd think they'd want him to somehow remain in the public eye.

He also shows that not all evangelicals/religious conservatives have to be angry and mean and scary.

And I'm not religious at all.

I don't know why I even care. It's just that the religous are the last target of approved hatred in America and for the good of us all, I'd like to see that end.

[MayBee]

I'm all for Huckabee having a nice slot at the convention. As I've said, he's a great face for Republicans because he's funny and articulate and he goes on The Daily Show and The Colber Report and makes Republicans not look stodgy. Republicans need that.

I just don't like his brand of politics.

[hit and run]

More pesky exit polls. From an email I sent to my second favorite blogger

The conventional wisdom seems to be that Rudy supporters will go to McCain and Huckabee supporters go to Romney.

Makes a lot of sense for Rudy supporters, given that he is endorsing McCain.

I have a harder time with the Huckabee thing, though I guess Romney has picked up a lot of social con endorsements.

But…looking at the CNN exit polls…

People who voted for Rudy identified their second choice as:
* Romney 47%
* McCain 46%

Now, those numbers are pre-Rudy dropping out and pre-Rudy endorsing McCain. But looking the exit polls from last night, where Romney actually beat McCain with voters identifying Terrorism as their top issue, and with Rudy right behind, it makes sense.

People who voted for Huckabee identified their second choice as:
* McCain 55%
* Romney 32%

Well, McCain and Huckabee certainly have a near fawning relationship on the campaign trail.

[Sara]

Wait until McCain is no longer the media darling and has to give up that stage entirely to Obama. You think you got tired of hearing Bush is dumb, when you knew he got better GPAs than his opponents. Well, McCain graduated near the bottom of a class that he only got into in the first place because his Daddy and Granddaddy were Admirals. Put that against either Hillary or Obama, both incredibly smart. Then look at Romney, Valedictorian of his BYU class, simultaneously earned an MBA and JD, cum laude at Harvard. It will be McCain's lack of smarts and his incredibly vicious temper that will do him in. Get his back to the wall and he lashes out with lies, distortions and vicious personal attacks. It will be a blood bath. Enter stage left President Obama. God, I think I'm going to be sick.

[Sara]

First there was the phony claim that Romney supports a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, and now this outrage:

The day before polls close in Tuesday's critical Florida primary, some voters in the Miami area received automated phone calls in Spanish falsely accusing Mitt Romney of supporting an opening of relations with Cuban President Fidel Castro.

A key member of Romney's Latin American policy team, Ambassador Roger Noriega, had been on local radio on Monday morning talking about Romney's anti-Castro stance. "It was obviously a dirty tactic and strategy to rebut the efforts we made to let the [Hispanic] community know our position," said Al Cardenas, Romney's Florida state chairman.

Asked if he suspected rival John McCain, Cardenas responded, "Obviously it's a camp of one of our opponents," later adding "I can't specifically state with certainty it is John McCain's campaign, all I know is there are two campaigns making these calls, ours and his and these calls started immediately after our programming on that issue."

Link

[MayBee]

I don't want Hillary to be president.
Other than that, I simply do not intend to fall victim to __DS. I've seen how that looks.

[Jane]

Syl,

Everything about Huck reminds me of the very worse of Clinton plus he veils it with his religious stuff. You are right, I don't have a problem with religion these days, but I have a HUGE problem with holier than thou hucksters, and he's the biggest one I've run into in a long time.

[Syl]

Hit

People who voted for Huckabee identified their second choice as:
* McCain 55%
* Romney 32%

In So. Carolina the second choice % was even higher for McCain. As Fred dumped on Huckabee, Huck's votes peeled off and went to McCain. I think it was even visible in the later polling...as Huck went down McCain went up.

So Huck isn't really stopping Romney, no matter what the pundits say.

[Patrick Tyson]

Syl—

Huck isn't really stopping Romney

He is in the sense that by staying in he prevents Romney from getting a "him or me" shot at McCain. He'll be part of every debate even if Paul isn't and he'll win delegates that Romney might otherwise have a shot at.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I hear you. But he'd also go after Osama with a water pistol! That counts for something in my book.

Um, I'm not getting the conjunction choice: I count "going after Osama with a water pistol" against him, and I think you do too.

On the other, you know I'm not a religious-person hater, nor even a Christian-hater, but this isn't an issue of hating something, it's apprehension. I don't foresee Huck doing anything that would blatantly attack those of us who are differently religioned, I just remember the last nanny-state populist preacher who got in the office.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I don't have a problem with religion these days, but I have a HUGE problem with holier than thou hucksters, and he's the biggest one I've run into in a long time.

+1. With a bullet.

[Elliott]

I won't be able to blog the Republican debate tonight. I hope there will be some fireworks, though.

[Syl]

Patrick

What I was talking about is the fact that Huck's votes, if he weren't in the race, would go to McCain not romney. but you're right in that Mitt doesn't get the chance to change their minds.

Charlie

Well, I'm sure it's a water pistol from hell. But I guess you don't watch Colbert.

Jane

I don't find him 'holier than thou'. Quite the opposite in fact which is refreshing. ::shrug:: He is obviously very religious so I guess that assumption goes with the territory.

But, whatever, we've all made our cases. I like the man, dislike the policies. That's all.

[Clarice]

Syl, I think he is disarming, charming and the best debater of the lot. But I'm with Charlie--he's another Carter.

[Nick Kasoff]

I don't like Romney either. But I don't like Huckabee even more.

Nick Kasoff
The Thug Report

[Jane]

Syl,

I know you like Huckabee, but all I hear from the man is doubletalk and lies. For example he went on and on about how he and McCain were so nice and polite, all the while implying Romney wasn't. The implication was neither nice or polite and downright dirty - a little like Clinton comparing Obama's win in S. Carolina to Jesse Jackson. He doesn't invoke religion as much as hide behind it, - he's a preacher man so the fact that he lies about his positions can be forgiven - and that's the part of many religious people that always fried me - it was okay to lie, cheat and steal because they loved Jesus. That's what turned me off to religion and that's what turns me off about Huckabee. I think he is at least equally as dishonest as Clinton if not more so.

[hrtshpdbox]

"..so the fact that he lies about his positions can be forgiven"
Sheer nonsense, the people who did the most lying about Huckabee's positions were Thompson and Romney. Huckabee was a good governor who was re-elected twice by people who recognized what a compassionate conservative looks like; of course, Huck didn't anticipate the flack he'd get from the tiresome GOP elites and punditry, who insist on strict conformity on issues (and wind up with their hopes pinned to a second-tier candidate like Romney). People who don't like religion are always going to see "holier than thou" everytime sometimes mentions Jesus - that's their problem, not Huck's. It won't take long, no matter who's elected this year, for Republicans to a) miss George Bush, and dearly and b) long for a Republican who can think outside the box, like Huckabee (instead of insisting on a Republican who'll carry their water on every single issue). Two, and only two, Republicans have waged a successful campaign this year, one because he started with near-universal name recognition, and the other because he actually had something to say. Maybe next time around you'll be able to hear it.

[Jane]

Huckabee is a liar in the class of Bill Clinton. He lied about his record and everyone else's. And hopefully there will never be a "next" time.

[SunnyDay]

I'm with Jane on Huckabee. If you have been around southern preachers, and those gospel singer types, it's easy to recognize - showbiz types who went into the ministry or gospel music - there is a ready-made unquestioning audience.

I am a Christian, I grew up around it, and learned by being disappointed many times. Huckster is right, and I would not want to see his ideas in the Republican party platform.

Thompson is still on the ballot here. I want to see him working on the republican platform. I guess this is the conservative's last stand - Hannity seems to have gone over to Newt's "change" philosophy. Compassionate conservatism, global warming, rights for terrorists, John McCain was right all along. I'm not believing this. I would turn it off, but I keep thinking he's going to make a point with it somehow, that he doesn't really mean it. Newt Gingrich had his chance - they had it all, and they threw it away. No one should be listening to him.

[Pofarmer]

I've gotta believe Hannity is joking. Had to come in the house with no radio.

I just remember the last nanny-state populist preacher who got in the office.

Now THAT ought to make people stop and thing. But, heck, I'm 37 and just do remember those years. There's an awful lot of people who weren't paying attention in those days that are voting today.

[Sue]

I've gotta believe Hannity is joking.

Yeah. I love it when he does this. And some people are calling in buying it.

[SunnyDay]

Sue - What is he doing? I've never heard him do this before. Sounds to me like he's saying "hang a left or go off the cliff and die."

[SunnyDay]

Oooooooooh ok you're right - he's stopping it now. relief. I was about to change the station my blood pressure was going up up up.

[Sue]

Sunny,

::grin::

[Ralph L]

he only got into in the first place because his Daddy and Granddaddy were Admirals.
His father was still a Captain, and his gf was 9 years dead, but I agree with the rest of your point. Funny how Bush got the "dumb" label, with Yale and Harvard degrees.
We've had 20 years of Yale Presidents, can we take 4 more, or can we try Hahvahd?