It appears that McCain has locked in his status as a front-runner. Romney dropped out of the race today at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, being that if he continued, he would "forestall the launch of a national campaign and be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win," he said to the crowd. He was very well spoken as he continued on, stating that "if this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country."
It seems that he understands the division of the Republican party at its current state, with many unhappy claiming that McCain is not a true conservative, and is trying to get the GOP together to beat Obama or Clinton in November. While the crowd still cheered Romney on claiming that there were issues on which they still disagree with McCain, the Republican Party has set itself up with plenty of time to 'heal' and come together before then, all the while focusing on McCain's strengths to get his party to go the voting booths in November to vote for him. It will be interesting to see how long it takes and if the Republican Party unites behind McCain.
*All quotes from CNN.com with CNN's Robert Yoon contributing to the report.
Showing posts with label Romney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romney. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Much Ado About Nothing?
It's an exciting time to follow politics, for sure. But it's also a confusing one. As the primary period approaches the crucial "Super Tuesday" voting and millions of Americans prepare to simultaneously cast their votes for their party's general election candidate, there's one large, glaring, yet strangely familiar figure that must be dealt with first: Florida.
For Republicans, the stakes are clear: win Florida, and you, most likely, become the "front runner" for your party's nomination. With McCain and Romney, the best performers thus far in the race, virtually tied in current polls in Florida, a win would be huge. Not only would they be victorious in a "winner take all" contest and collect all of the at-large delegates, but this victory, coming exactly a week before "Super Tuesday," would give the winner huge momentum and, presumably, a good number of new donors that could give them the edge in those crucial contests the next week. It's clearly a big deal.
But what does Florida mean for the democrats? Well, that depends on who you ask. Because of the state's decision to move its primary up before Super Tuesday, the Democratic Party punished the state by taking away its delegates. The candidates, therefore, agreed to follow the rules of this punishment by not campaigning in the state. There will be an election for the democrats on Tuesday, despite all this, but really, who cares?
Clinton, that's who. While Obama is now focusing on Super Tuesday states and passing Florida by, because of the state's temporary status as a meaningless contest, Clinton realizes that there is a great opportunity here to recapture the spotlight, with her name still on the ballot, and claim victory in a key general election battleground right before Super Tuesday. Even before votes were cast in South Carolina on Saturday, Hillary Clinton, presumably expecting a large defeat in SC, had already begun to try to shift the focus to the Sunshine State. She even says she'll be there Tuesday night as the results come in, knowing she'll, most likely, easily claim victory.
Why this is so interesting is that Florida, the star of the 2000 election, and key to any presidential general election victory, is being treated like an afterthought by Obama, as he was told to do by his party, and Clinton is using this unique opportunity to her advantage. It's even been said that the Republicans have loved watching this recent show of "Florida-dissing" by the democrats, as come November, democratic voters who felt they may have been ignored in the primary period may not be as enthusiastic about showing up at the polls and supporting Obama, or Clinton, for that matter. Clinton sees both this danger, and the possibility of a large, symbolic victory over Obama, and she is ready to capitalize on this Tuesday night. So what does Florida really mean for this election? We'll soon find out.
Link to article
For Republicans, the stakes are clear: win Florida, and you, most likely, become the "front runner" for your party's nomination. With McCain and Romney, the best performers thus far in the race, virtually tied in current polls in Florida, a win would be huge. Not only would they be victorious in a "winner take all" contest and collect all of the at-large delegates, but this victory, coming exactly a week before "Super Tuesday," would give the winner huge momentum and, presumably, a good number of new donors that could give them the edge in those crucial contests the next week. It's clearly a big deal.
But what does Florida mean for the democrats? Well, that depends on who you ask. Because of the state's decision to move its primary up before Super Tuesday, the Democratic Party punished the state by taking away its delegates. The candidates, therefore, agreed to follow the rules of this punishment by not campaigning in the state. There will be an election for the democrats on Tuesday, despite all this, but really, who cares?
Clinton, that's who. While Obama is now focusing on Super Tuesday states and passing Florida by, because of the state's temporary status as a meaningless contest, Clinton realizes that there is a great opportunity here to recapture the spotlight, with her name still on the ballot, and claim victory in a key general election battleground right before Super Tuesday. Even before votes were cast in South Carolina on Saturday, Hillary Clinton, presumably expecting a large defeat in SC, had already begun to try to shift the focus to the Sunshine State. She even says she'll be there Tuesday night as the results come in, knowing she'll, most likely, easily claim victory.
Why this is so interesting is that Florida, the star of the 2000 election, and key to any presidential general election victory, is being treated like an afterthought by Obama, as he was told to do by his party, and Clinton is using this unique opportunity to her advantage. It's even been said that the Republicans have loved watching this recent show of "Florida-dissing" by the democrats, as come November, democratic voters who felt they may have been ignored in the primary period may not be as enthusiastic about showing up at the polls and supporting Obama, or Clinton, for that matter. Clinton sees both this danger, and the possibility of a large, symbolic victory over Obama, and she is ready to capitalize on this Tuesday night. So what does Florida really mean for this election? We'll soon find out.
Link to article
McCain-Romney Tensions
Almost lost in the coverage from South Carolina is an increasingly close battle between two leading GOP candidates. As Senator McCain and Gov. Romney each compete for the upcoming Florida primary it is increasingly apparent that both sides see the other as their primary challenge for the nomination.
Some highlights of the recent coverage:
Some highlights of the recent coverage:
- The NYT's John Broder argues that McCain is gaining support from the mainstream GOP (login required).
- Sasha Issenberg and Michael Levenson of the Boston Globe detail how McCain is challenging Romney on questions of setting deadlines for withdrawing from Iraq. CNN's Jeffrey Toobin checks in and disputes the McCain allegation.
- Elizabeth Holmes of the WSJ argues that recent economic turmoil is shifting the focus to Romney.
- Michael Luo, also of the NYT, reports that Romney is disliked among other GOP candidates. Enjoy this quote
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Mitt Knows who Let the Dogs Out
I thought this was pretty funny. This video is of Romney in Jacksonville, FL trying, and failing, to relate to voters. Enjoy...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Conservative Divide
Fred Thompson has dropped his bid for the Republican nomination with a simple three sentence statement which was released to the Associated Press earlier today. For a campaign that began with an appearance on The Tonight Show just a few months ago, this was nothing short of a major disappointment for the GOP. It was this man, many believed, that could unify the party behind the three principles of what has been called Reagan Conservatism. These pillars of the modern conservative party bring together fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and foreign policy conservatives. While all remaining candidates stand for at least one of these principles, none can claim with any honesty to hold all three. The danger now lies in the possibility that the party will be divided causing many Republicans to stay home in November. Will a social conservative vote for Rudy? Will a foreign policy conservative vote for Huckabee? The fact is that many will be alienated one way or another. Romney is good on the economy, McCain and Giuliani are good on foreign policy, Huckabee is a social Conservatives dream, and Fred....well, Fred is going home for now only to reemerge later as a possible running mate.
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