Some Serious Warning Signs For John McCain

There were some distressing numbers for John McCain in the Virginia primary on Tuesday night, and not just the length of time it took for the networks to feel comfortable calling his victory.

Nearly one-third of voters who said that they believed McCain would be the candidate most likely to beat the Democratic nominee come the general election nevertheless voted for McCain's opponent, Mike Huckabee. In other words, 30 percent of Republican primary-goers were willing to risk the White House rather than vote for the Arizona Republican. By contrast, those who thought Huckabee was best equipped to beat a Democratic challenger voted for him 98 percent of the time.

The warning signs don't end there. Voters who described themselves as "conservative" sided with Huckabee over McCain by a margin of 58 percent to 32 percent. Those who said the attribute they most value in a nominee was that he "shared their values" also went to the former Arkansas governor: 68 percent to 48 percent. And those who said the quality that mattered most to them was a candidate who they believed in, split their votes between the two GOP candidates: 48 percent each.

While McCain may have shored up the nomination with his win in Virginia, evidence of conservative discontent is plentiful. Voters who made up their minds in the last week chose Huckabee by a margin of 52 percent to 43 percent. Those who decided in the last three days, meanwhile, went with the former Arkansas governor by a smaller gap of 49 to 48 percent, even though McCain has been labeled the presumptive nominee since Mitt Romney's departure from the race.

And then there is this, for the stat lovers. In what has become a consistent head-scratching feature of exit polling, McCain was the preferred candidate among those voters who disapprove of the Iraq War: 48 percent to 34 percent.

Comments

[sugarmoes]

McCain was the preferred candidate among those voters who disapprove of the Iraq War: 48 percent to 34 percent.

proving that yes, most republicans are idiots.

[nellie]

Republicans have a remarkable ability to fall in line when the time comes. I doubt votes for Huckabee translate into votes for Obama—or people staying home. I think democrats will need to bring on their best game in November.

[Davwbaird]

the democratic turn out at all events dwarf the Repugs mightily. An omen that bods badly for the party of war and greed.

[JSquercia]

Don't discount the ability of the Republican's to disenfranchise Democratic Voters through devices such as purging registration lists of felons , requiring voter ID cards , having the Secreatry of State serve as Chair of the Republican State Camapign and then assign too few voting machines to Democratic Precints . If all that fails there is still the machines themselves which strangely lose votes or switch votes and ALWAYS in favor of the Republican . Of course we can't examine the source code that's proprietery and we all know the rghts of the Corporations trump the rights of the citizens under this Administration and today's courts
My big hope is that the Evangelicals will run Huckabee as a third Prty canidate which has been suggested

[kramskoi]

who knows what the republicans are galvanizing around...t­he party is out of touch with the current political climate...­do they have anything to run on besides the debacle in Iraq?...po­rk-barrel, immigration and war?...Dem­ocrats own the more pressing issues in the country right now...Romn­ey expoused on all we need to know about Mc Cains' proficiency with economic issues...m­aybe he needs an "idiots guide to the american economy"..­.

[larry278]

The majority of right wingnut trolls may not be up yet, or they didn't get paid yet, or their paymasters are out of money. The subprime bubble is causing discomfort for the monied of the reactionary persuasion. Those who pay trolls have been cutting expenses for months; they no longer fund weekly revisions of the TROLL'S LIST OF LOADED QUESTIONS, PEJORATIVE TERMS & STYLESHEET. That leaves trolls at a distinct disadvantage. Neo-cons are facing up to the end of W & Co's 8 years of misrule too.
Yes, I'm off thread.
I wonder if right wingnut trolls will try sleeping under bridges along with homeless veterans now that the trolls aren't being paid well. The homeless veterans could drive the trolls from spaces under bridges. Oh, the humanity, the distress, the poetic justice...

[Rockwell]

I'd like to believe that Conservatives will stay home if McCain gets the nomination, but you have to remember they are not the brightest pennies in the bag.

McCain will bat his eyes at them and make all kinds of promises about keeping Gays, women and Mexicans in their place. His surrogets will keep the whispering campaign going about the dangers of a Black president. He'll wine and dine Coutler and Limbaugh and then the conservatives will come running back to him, throwing flowers in his path.

Even so, what we have to remember is that conservatives are a sad little minority. Long as Democrats and Independents get off their butts in November (as they have been during the primary season!) we can overcome any opposition from the right wing!

[Davwbaird]

There is something afoot when 5 year olds in grocery stores ask who are you voting for and when you say Obama, they jump up and down and say alright! and their mom, relates yea, I finally got my husband registered to vote.

[funkmeisterD]

Your way of thinking is pathetic. Thank God you are part of a dying breed. If it were left to those who think like you, there would never be any change in this country.
What you still don't get is that AMERICA is sick of how it's been led by the Republicans.
And many of you still have no clue how radical of a difference the voter turnout is going to be this time. The college age voters are turning out in record breaking numbers, which is part of the reason why Obama WILL be the next president.
Keep thinking and talking like a brainwashed cult member.
McCain doesn't stand a change come election day.
He's in his 70's, he speaks from the podium like a robot with no emotion, and he's a grandpa version of the asshole we've had to suffer these past 8 years.

A change is gonna come....

[Marrob]

And how old was Reagan when he became president? The problem I have with your post is you think the White House is going to the democrats no matter what. We thought that same bulls*** in "04" and what happened? McCain, who I can't stand, is no George Bush. The "Wacky right" loved Bush and the HATE McCain because he would not follow Bush like a brainwashed idiot. What worries me about McCain is that Moderate Republicans and Independent really like the guy. Just think back to the New Hampshire primary, the independents had a choice between McCain and Obama, they went to McCain and it cost Obama that primary. Also take a close look at what happened last night in the open primaries. McCain has the republican nomination locked up, the independents and moderate republicans went to Obama and gave him HUGE wins. Whenever we had a closed primary Obama has had a problem beating Hillary. The general election will be simular to a closed primary in that republicans will vote for McCain and Democrats for Obama. The "Wild Card" is the Independents, if the New Hampshire primaries are any indication of how they will break, we lose again unless the youth vote turns out to make up the difference. The White House isn't a "Done Deal" for us in November so you had better stop listening to the talking heads and start using yours or else you'll be here in November posting that the election was stolen.

[shaggles]

I think you're (mostly) right. McCain still attracts a lot of independents and even some Dems. That could be a big problem come November. I'm thinking (hoping) that the evangelicals will refuse to turn out for him though. That would be a huge blow to any republican candidate.

[biglover]

Guess what Marrob - The White House is going to the democrats. Save your spit and wasted breath here. The republcans will lose so big, they can't even steal that many votes. Just face it - you are on the losing side unless you come on our side.

[Davwbaird]

The change is here,Yes we can!

[Kane]

In the general election, McCain will be hit by a political landslide.

[markusmarkus]

Amen, bro! Amen.

Obamo08

[jacklambert]

The word Tsunami comes to mind.

[WilliamGossett]

You folks are crazy - the Republicans always win...

Don't get too cerebral and start counting your chickens - by November, John McCain will be the next President.

I don't like it but I see no alternative. The GOP always wins... Essentially has done since '68 and will continue to do so "forever"

[markusmarkus]

"Don't get too cerebral and start counting your chickens - by November, John McCain will be the next President.­" Yeah, of the Podunk, Iowa Rotary Club.

"The trophy for 2nd place is in the ladies room."

No offense to the ladies.

[mikelartist]

Let me guess, you spent the 8 years of Bill Clinton (D) with your head under a rock?

How about 4 years of Jimmy Carter (D)?

Is that going back too far? Does it hurt to think?

[starboymikey]

Let me guess, you spent the 8 years of Bill Clinton (D) with your head under a rock?
How about 4 years of Jimmy Carter (D)?

Jimmy Carter=4 years of incompetence

Bill Clinton=8 years of Republican lite.

Why do you think Republicans hated Clinton so much? He stole their best material and got credit for writing it.

[Rockwell]

Carter, Clinton. Let's also not forget that Chimpy actually lost the election in 2000 and nearly lost in 2004 and that's running against the lackluster campaigns by Gore (sorry Al) and Kerry.

So let's stop this self defeating mentality that Republican's own the White House.

Not this year.

[Davwbaird]

Not ever again after the dirt finally comes out.The current white occupants name will become unmentionable.

[Davwbaird]

They steal close elections, this will not be close,and there will be election observers in America from the EU.

[doubleplusgood]

At this point I say McCain has no chance. The GOP as defined by the last 8 years is finished- stick a stake in em, they're done! The Neocons are dead forever with any luck. The republican base doesn't know which end is up, and the best they can do is a cranky geriatric who mentions being a POW every chance he gets and a clown who doesn't believe in evolution.­. I mean c'mon!.. Even with the Democratic bickering, progressives should feel pretty darn good.. The current frontrunner would have been insanely risky even a short time ago, is the most liberal senator we've got, AND beats McCain in a head to head nationally. Even if the Republican base gets its act together, it's still only going to represent the same folks it always did.. The whackos always vote- the democrats don't.

More voters voting = country moves left. Simple as that.

A popular, galvanic leader on one hand and a pack of criminals having run the show for the last two terms on the other, and you have the recipe for the beginnings of truly progressive change in this country. By the time my youngest is in high school the US might be recognizable again.

[Nyland8]

Without Turd Blossom behind this year's race, it seems that Republicans really can't come together. Even after they have already all-but selected their candidate, dissension in the ranks abounds. So all of the polls showing McCain beating the Democratic Party rival have become suspect because McCain can't even pull huge segments of his own base - the talibangelicals.

Once you've had visions of Jesus riding across the sky on a Pteranodon, everything else falls short of glory.

8

[jayesel]

Well said, love the Jesus comment at the end. Nice!

GOBama '08

-J

[starboymikey]

Without Turd Blossom behind this year's race, it seems that Republicans really can't come together.
__________­__________­__________­__________­_

McCain has already said he would welcome Karl Rove's help with his campaign. Unfortunately for McCain, Rove seems to think he's way too liberal. Maybe Rove will change his mind when McCain names Huckabee as his running mate.

[jubo]

Huckabee is more popular in the South than we progressives realize.

Some people put mustard on their fried squirrels, others ketchup.

[Davwbaird]

not among persons of color and not among the truly educated, there is a change that will only show on election day and the youthy will say its time to put the civil war and all that crap behind us once and for all.

[Counterglow]

Maybe the long-disen­franchised centre of the Republican Party will do what the "Reagan Democrats" did, and start voting for the other guys. That would leave the Republican Party as a rump controlled by the militant right, powerless and futile. It is only the cowardice and moral bankruptcy of the Republican centre that allowed the current crop of holy rollers, neo-con chickenhawks and big-business blow-boys to take control of their votes. With evidence of their failure to stand up for their principles all around them, perhaps they'll come to their senses. Then maybe the country might have a fighting chance.

It took the fundamentalists less than 10 years to bring the United States to its knees, a task no enemy army has ever been able to accomplish. Let them sulk at home and hand control over to the Democrats. They owned the House, the Senate and the Presidency, and all they managed to create was ruin. Time for the people with intelligence, heart and a moral code that transcends orders issued by some hedge-priest with a megaphone to clean up the mess they left behind. And those three Republican candidates who raised their hands to indicate that they didn't believe in evolution should go join their spiritual brothers in the Taliban.

[gravyday]

Absolutely! Obama is poised to become the Reagan of the Democratic party. Conservatives of all stripes are already talking about coming over. And if Rock manages to pull us out of this economic tailspin, those "Obama Republicans" might just decide to stay.

[Davwbaird]

Obana, will transcend Reagan by miles, along with Roosevelt, both and JKF, truman,and Waswhington, what is about to happen will rock the nation and the world and bring the greedy to their knees.

[Dvmx]

"And then there is this, for the stat lovers. Yet consistent head-scratching feature of exit polling, was the preferred candidate among those voters who disapprove of the Iraq War: 48 percent to 34 percent."

something wrong with that last paragraph of the column.

[asl3676]

McCain is doing very well with albinos...­.Latest exit poll shows him gaining strength among albinos and POW's....

[pizzmoe]

Does McCain have the mumps ?

[jayesel]

That was not nice. He shows stern resolve with those jowls.

Actually I think he had a bout with cancer so his face has some damage. Time and the ravages of war have not been kind to McCain.

He seems to be a very nice man really, a decent legislator and for a long while the typical Goldwater Republican. Unfortunately the straight talk express took a detour on Evangelist Blvd. and never found it's way back to the main highway. The funny thing is when they took that detour they found one abandoned church and not much else. They been trying to find their way back ever since.

[konchster]

Some of his fellow Senators might dispute his being a nice guy many of his own party portray him as a vicious lout

[biglover]

He has had more than one bout with cancer. His jaw and face are full of the scars. He is a loser

[Pjsandiego]

The Republicans have conceded this election because they are leaving power with the country is such a horrible mess that they thing that in four years they can swing in and claim that they need to return us to the good old days. McCain is the Barry Goldwater of the 21st Century.
The real issue is whether Obama will be the LBJ of the 21st Century.