Comments on: McCAIN NOW CROWNED “MR. INEVITABLE”

By: Bill Mitchell, Raleigh, NC

Bill Mitchell, Raleigh, NC — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:01:51 +0000

Don’t know if it matters, but INTRADE and RASMUSSEN MARKETS has Roney waaaaay ahead.

By: Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator

Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:29:39 +0000

Dirt Starts Flying in South Carolina
…

Both John McCain and Mike Huckabee may have a hard time keeping their promise not to go negative in …

By: zwhite

zwhite — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:01:11 +0000

As Bill said, it’s not looking good for McCain today, but as we saw in NH anything can happen. It seems he can lose either MI or SC but not both. If he wins both, he could win FL, and if he does that, it’s nothing but taillights.

RM: “Romney just went back on the air in South Carolina so it is evident he feels a win in Michigan puts him right back on top”

uh… I guess it could put him “on top”, but it can’t put him “back on top” cuz he’s never been near the top. McCain and Rudy had national name recognition long before the race started; Flip’s (failed) early momentum strategy was all about establishing national name recognition that he needs but doesn’t have (has he ever been about the teens in national polls?).

By: syn

syn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:58:40 +0000

If McCain should receive the Republican nomination he’ll have to rely on country-club republicans to GOTV for him, unfortunately the country-clubbers don’t do door-to-door or phone banks.

But hey, maybe he can grassroot the independent voters however, the problem with this scenario is they like to sit on the fence and wait to see who’s portrayed by the media as most popular.

By: retire05

retire05 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:29:44 +0000

Mr. Inevitable by whose standards? You would think that Iowa, Michigan, South Carolina and New Hampshire are the end all to the Republican races and oh, well, those pesky little states like Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma et al, really don’t count. Let’s pick our nominee by just four states.

The only people pushing McCain as the inevitable chosen one is the media. They want him to run against Obama; the old man v. the kid. Now who in the world would chose the old man of the sea when you can have the new kid on the block? Even Fox News pushes McCain. Fred Barnes being the worst offender.

And how much do we hear about Fred who is considered by the media to be lazy (misjudging his laid back southerness to being lazy) but who is working his tail off and raking in the donations so fast they can’t keep up with them? Fred doesn’t kiss the backside of the media so he, to them, is a non-item.

So all we hear about is John Kerry’s new best friend (McCain) and Elmer Gantry (Huckabee) and a few snipits about Romney who should be getting more credit and less flack.

What is the choice with Independents? A Democratic socialist (Hillary or Obama) or a Repubican socialist (McCain or Huckabee)? Now we have Joe Liberman (who votes strictly along liberal lines except for the war on terror) and Lindsey Grahamnesty stumping for McCain. That should tell voters all they need to know but alas, they would rather have the media tell them who will be the next CIC. It is so much easier than really doing some research on these men’s records, isn’t it?

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:49:26 +0000

All well and good. But, McCain is not a conservative! The only thing he gets right is the war on terrorists! He is so much like Lieberman, they might just be the same person. It would not be a Republican victory to have McCain win. Please, God, let someone sensible win this!

By: michael reynolds

michael reynolds — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:36:22 +0000

It’s a rash man who predicts much of anything this year. I’m prepared to predict tonight’s winner — some time after the polls close.

By: Bill Mitchell, Raleigh, NC

Bill Mitchell, Raleigh, NC — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:35:05 +0000

Romney has EXPLODED to an 8 point lead on Rasmussen Markets. He was down 20 to McCain yesterday.

I know things like Intrade and Rasmussen Markets seem stupid and useless, but so far this season, they have done better than most pollsters at predicting outcome.

By: Bill Mitchell, Raleigh, NC

Bill Mitchell, Raleigh, NC — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:31:46 +0000

Rick,

Sounds very plausible except for one thing. McCain is going to LOSE MI today and probably badly.

Intrade has Romney up 20 points since just the morning as news of light turnout comes in and VERY VERY few Dems showing up on a funky, snowy day to vote McCain.

The Mitchell (no relation to me) Poll, which has been VERY accurate in MI politics for a while, had Romney up 6 today after having him down by 9 (i think) last week.

If McCain gets beat in MI where he had every advantage:

1. NH Momentum.
2. Open Primary.
3. No Dems Running.

He will be mortally wounded.

By: Juan Paxety

Juan Paxety — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:28:47 +0000

The race is shaping up like the NCAA football polls this season - whoever is first or second gets whacked (and that’s figuratively for you Secret Service agents).