Politics::Election2008: February 2008 Archives
"As long as the race stays friendly, few Republicans see much harm in Huckabee's sticking it out a bit longer. 'I think he's gained enormously over the course of this, and strengthened his position for whatever he chooses to do next, and at the same time, he may play a pretty powerful role in reunifying the Republican Party,' said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who runs the GOP's House campaign committee. 'The personal vitriol that can sometimes occur in these things just seems to be absent between these two, so that's sort of a nice way to end up a pretty spirited process.'"
RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Some Reflections on Polling in the Primaries
Primary polling is so volatile because the most reliable predictor of uninformed voter behavior -- party affiliation -- is out of play: "If you think about all of the attention political junkies have paid to this race since last January - it is almost unbelievable to think that voters would not have decided months ago. But, if we put ourselves in the shoes of the average voters, and try to recreate their thought processes - it makes a lot of sense. Their partisanship cannot serve as a quick, easy guide. Thus, they have to take a good, long look at the candidates as people. Given their typical inattention to politics, the time when this happens is the last week or so."
Byron York on Mitt Romney on National Review Online
"Romney's run from his past left a lot of voters asking: Who is this guy? He says he believes certain things deeply now, but he believed other things deeply not that long ago. And each time, it seems, his deeply-held beliefs jibed with what was most advantageous politically."
Mona Charen on McCain on National Review Online
Nice: "He flatters himself that his colleagues in the Senate dislike him because he stands up for principle, while they sell their souls for pork. Not exactly. He is disliked because on many, many occasions he has been disrespectful, belligerent, and vulgar to those who differ with him.... At first, McCain grasped [former FEC Commissioner Bradley] Smith's outstretched hand (Smith was in a wheelchair recovering from surgery), but when he recognized his campaign finance opponent he snatched his hand back, snarling 'I'm not going to shake your hand. You're a bully. You have no regard for the Constitution. You're corrupt.'"
RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - The Romney Campaign, RIP
"How might these negative attacks have hurt Romney? My sense is that it likely kept him from winning over those who supported McCain or Huckabee. That is, at its most basic level, it backfired; not only did it fail to convince Huckabee or McCain voters to back Romney, it alienated those voters from him.... I think the fact that Romney was viewed so poorly by McCain and Huckabee voters, but not Giuliani voters is a consequence of his attacks on McCain and Huckabee. I see no other plausible way to explain this pattern - especially in light of the fact that Romney worked for most of 2007 to woo the social conservatives who comprise Huckabee's base."
WSJ.com: Alfred S. Regnery: How McCain Can Convince the Right
The legendary conservative book publisher advises McCain to "take a firm no-new-taxes pledge... get specific on spending... pick a fight with the press... pick a conservative running mate early... get specific on judicial nominations." "[W]ith his record as a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution, his generally strong stand on spending, national security and pro-life issues, he is in a position to correct much of the damage that's already been done."
JunkYardBlog: Working Through The Anger: Bumper Stickers I Should Have Made
"Haven't those poor detainees suffered enough? CLOSE GITMO -- VOTE JOHN MCCAIN" "¡Si, se puede! McCain '08"
My Adventures in Voting Irregularities - Advertising Age - Campaign Trail
Ken Wheaton reports from Brooklyn: "So I slide into the voting booth and go to the pull the lever [for a Republican candidate] and ... nothing. It doesn't budge. I try again. Out of curiosity I lightly pull on one of the Democratic candidates' levers. That seems to be working fine.... I suggest maybe the big lever that registers the vote might have to be reset for this to work. At first he says no, but then changes his mind. 'Well, we'll just have to throw in a vote,' he says. At this point, he selects Hillary Clinton then pulls the lever. Ka-ching. One more vote for Hillary."
RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - On McCain's Voting Coalition
Jay Cost crunches the numbers: "I do not think one can argue that McCain's wins have been dependent on a divided field. Independents, moderates, and Bush disapprovers have certainly formed the core of McCain's voting coalition. However, McCain has done what most winning candidates do: win his base by large margins while stealing plenty of voters from the other guy's base."
Wonder Land - WSJ.com: What McCain's Got
Daniel Henninger observes John McCain on the campaign trail in Florida: "This week one saw why John McCain is basically five points better than Mitt Romney, or Rudy Giuliani, at the most fundamental job in politics -- connecting. When Mr. McCain took the stage in Sun City, the applause was polite. When he finished, he got a standing ovation. He has been at this game a long time, and his ability to sense and ride the emotional flow of an audience is astonishing."
Victor Davis Hanson on GOP vs. McCain on National Review Online
"If Hillary Clinton does end up winning her party's nomination, November's vote may hinge on whether moderates and liberals are nauseated enough by the Clintons' brawling and character assassination to cross over and vote for a decorated Republican war hero -- that is, if his own flag-waving party doesn't destroy him first."
The American Spectator: Arise, Ye Favorite Sons
Quin Hillyer calls on popular Republicans in later primary states to put their names on the ballot. "The way to force an open convention is for conservative candidates to amass delegates pledged to themselves rather than to McCain or Huckabee. And the way to do that is by reviving the old stratagem of the 'favorite son' candidacy. Rather than having a candidate try to run nationally, a candidate can compete just in his own home state. Win the state, or at least a majority of the delegates thereof, and you go to the convention with some bargaining power." The last time any state tried this, as far as I can remember, was Illinois in 1976, giving its delegates to Adlai Stevenson III.
