Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
GOP Voters in LA, KS, WA: McCain isn't the One Despite Romney's plea for Party unity, GOP Kansas primary voters pick Huckabee, Louisiana and Washington State split their vote.by Bob Nightingale
(libertarian)
Sunday, February 10, 2008
When I saw the video this past week of Mitt Romney bowing out of the presidential race, I thought just like most of this year's punditry, "that's it, McCain's got it." Instead of unifying the party behind McCain, conservatives are looking around and seeing who else is left.
Voters in Kansas gave the biggest thumbs down on McCain. Kansas has 39 total delegates, in which 36 are decided by primary voters. Kansas 36 delegates are split between congressional district and state-wide preferences. 12 are distributed 3 to each of the states congressional district. The remaining 24 reflect the vote of the state. Huckabee finished first in each of the districts, with over 50% of the vote in each. State-wide, Huckabee got 60%, McCain 24%, Paul 11%, Romney 3%.
Although Huckabee didn't clinch the 20 delegates available in Louisiana's primary, his strong showing denied them to McCain. Of Louisiana's 47 delegates, 20 of them were available to the primary voters, IF one candidate got 50% or more of the vote. By Huckabee finishing first with 43% and McCain finishing second with 42%, neither candidate got those delegates, and those delegates will go to the national convention officially as unpledged. Ron Paul finished in fourth place at 5%, behind Romney at 7%. Perhaps the picture will become clearer next Saturday at Louisiana's state convention? At the caucus last month, the slate of state delegates that got the most vote were "uncommitted, pro-life", followed by McCain and Ron Paul. Earlier that day (1/22/08), Fred Thompson announced he was leaving the race. Huckabee has a good chance to get those delegates in the convention who he didn't get originally in the caucuses, if the pro-life slate turns his way.
Washington caucus goers have given most of their vote to McCain, but barely. With 87% of the precincts reporting at the time of this writing (2/10/08 7 a.m. EST), McCain is ahead of Huckabee 26% to 24%. Ron Paul is a close third at 21%. But Romney, who is no longer running, received 16%, and uncommitted got 13%. By formula, only 18 of Washington's 40 delegates are determined by the caucus. They go to the national convention as unpledged. Three delegates are reserved to state party chair people. The remaining 19 will be determined Washington's primary on Feb 19.
At this point, supporters of Ron Paul and Mitt Romney have a great deal of influence on the rest of this primary season. They can get behind the front-runner and coronate John McCain now, or give their protest vote to Mike Huckabee. So far Ron Paul has not won a single state. Properly motivated, Paul's grass roots could come out and support a different protest candidate. Huckabee could use the cash. At the end of 2007, Huckabee had $1.9 million on hand, with $98k of debt. Ron Paul's supporters were able to raise nearly that much in one day last month. McCain had more debt (about $4.5 million) to cash ($2.9 million) at year end. Romney's delegates from those states he won, such as Michigan, will be going to the convention as unpledged. Last week, in West Virginia, Ron Paul caucus goers were willing to support Huckabee in exchange for 3 delegates of the 18, in order to give their candidate a second place finish in that state.
This race will get interesting quickly if a coalition of conservatives suddenly say, "anyone but McCain," and give their vote and their dollars to Huckabee. DC, Virginia and Maryland primaries next Tuesday (2/12/08) will be the next opportunity to see if this trend takes root.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 13 thumbs so far
The views expressed in this
article are those of Bob Nightingale only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Bob Nightingale is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Steven T. Cramer
Date: 2008-02-10 12:05:59
Since denying McCain the victory is the key point your making why should Romney and Ron Paul supporters vote for Huckabee? A vote for either Huck or Paul or Romney is against McCain. When will we stop telling people who to vote for based on some strange strategy?
I have a suggestion. Vote for the guy you want as president, and maybe someday you will get what you want!
The reason I'm suggesting voting for Huckabee to defeat McCain is he is the only candidate left who has the best chance of winning against McCain. Beside Paul and Romeny, there are several other candidates you could vote for who also don't have a chance of winning against McCain. Sure, if any of them get 1191 delegates, they can get a lock on the nomination too. But it isn't going to happen.
I guess if one beats his head against a brick wall, the wall may give way, or one will get a nasty concussion.
Ron Paul has no more events scheduled before Feb 28. He cut staff. He says his goal is to retain his seat in Congress and focus on his Texas constituents.
Today was the worst day in fundraising at $10,780.31. Tomorrow will be less.
ronpaulgraphs.com / best_days.html
There is no more blimp. The more money bombs are defused. It's over. It was fun.
Vote for Huckabee in the next primaries and caucus, or listen to Mr. Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran and Stay-in-Iraq-100-years until November. Sad, but those are your choices.
I'm sorry if I sound like a spoiler but, McCaine AND Huckabee have NO chance this fall. America is semi-awake and through the crust on their eyes they see an end to the war via-Obama. I know the CFR will probably make HIM stay there but Ron Paul would get us out quick, and that factor alone makes him the ONLY GOP candidate worth a chance in the general election. We all know the "terror" crap spewed by the "frontrunners" is mostly, crap, and the "insurgents" are people too, mostly people protecting their homeland. Ron Paul seems to me the only sane choice, among a bunch of profiteers, and CFR Globalists. When America does wake up all the way, I just hope they're not too late to stop the Genocide from reaching another country.
I can't imagine why anyone would want to vote for McCain in the first place -- unless they're living in a closed compound somewhere away from electricity. They've either not seen or have forgotten about the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill. Or, how about McCain and the Gang of 14?
Ron Paul is the only candidate that is NOT connected to the CFR is one form or another. An added plus is the fact that he's a constitutionalist!
It's a shame the masses are led by media hype instead of doing their own research.
Want to comment on this
article? Leave your comment here. Your email address is
required to track your comment. However, we will neither
publish your email address nor distribute it to other
organizations or persons. The only reason we might use
it would be if we needed to contact you regarding your
comment. All comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
