McCain Wins South Carolina
19 January 2008
I don’t mind saying I’m disappointed. I’ve had harsh words for John McCain and my opinion has not changed. I really thought South Carolinians would not be fooled by him but I was wrong. Of course, independents are what pushed McCain over the top. If you didn’t know, South Carolina has open primaries, something I’ve always disagreed with. Among Republicans and particularly conservatives, Huckabee won. But independents went strongly for McCain.
Because it was still quite close I don’t think second place does too much damage to Huckabee. And, because independents won it for McCain, I’m not convinced that will translate to states that hold closed primaries. I certainly hope it won’t because McCain is many things but conservative is not one of them.
Thompson came in a distant third. Had he been a close third he might have still had a decent position but he was 13-14 points behind Huckabee. In my view that pretty much ends it for Thompson. He may hang in there a little longer but his campaign is effectively over.
Listening to FOX News the consensus seems to be that after today the race has been reduced to McCain, Romney and Giuliani. I pray that isn’t the case considering none of them is conservative. They further believe that if Giuliani doesn’t win Florida it will be down to McCain and Romney If that eventuality occurs, I’ll have to do some serious soul searching about how I will respond. I am a conservative and I don’t know that I could vote for McCain under any circumstances.
I simply do not buy the argument from most of the talking heads on FOX News that this is the end of the road for Huckabee. Second is not what he wanted but the fact is he’s still viable. Florida is next and neither Huckabee nor McCain is going to win there. Next is Super Tuesday and lot of states do not have open primaries. I don’t believe McCain can win in the south without independents and Huckabee will win in those states. What is more likely in my judgement is a spread of delegates following Super Tuesday that has Huckabee squarely in the pack along with others, none with enough delegates to take them over the top.
It’s going to be a while before we know who the Republican nominee is and it could end up in a brokered convention, something we haven’t seen in some time. If that happens who knows what the outcome will be? At that point anyone could get the nomination, even Fred Thompson.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: Conservatives, Elections, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Politicians, Politics, Primaries, Republicans
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January 19th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
those guys on Fox News looked like a bunch of tools to me.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I assume you meant fools. If so, I tend to agree. Of course, some of my predictions haven’t been so good. The problem is the difficulty in separating your bias out and I struggle with that as much as they do.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
no, i meant “tools.” I would think you’d still tend to agree.
January 20th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I see your point and yes, I basically agree.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Hello Ron, thanks for stopping by The Jungle Report. I see you’re backing Huckabee, but I feel your frustration. I disagree with you a little on Huckabee. I’ll post about that a little later on my website.
As you can see from my posts, I’m very dissapointed in the Republican field for this election. As Rush has been dicussing, not one leader has really emerged as the one carrying the conservative mantle. They all seem to have big short-commings.
I totally agree with you about John McCain. I like him as a war hero, but that is where my affection stops. His record as a senator looks very dubious.
Anyways, I’ll have to stop by more often as things heat up this year.
Best wishes,
Lion King from The Jungle Report
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Good to see you here again Lion. Yes, many disagree with me about Huckabee but I believe the primary reason is that he’s been mischaracterized. Be that as it may, the fact is, we’re facinig some potentially difficult decisions ahead as conservatives. If McCain should get the nomination I’m not sure what I will do.
I’ll be looking forward to your comments!