Some bad news for Sen. McCain:
Arizona Senator John McCain’s (R) support among Likely Republican Primary Voters has slipped to the lowest level ever recorded since Rasmussen Reports began tracking the race shortly after last November’s election. McCain is now the top pick for just 17% of Republicans. That’s down two points from a week ago, five points since mid-January and is barely half the level of support enjoyed by Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani.
The results were as follows:
- Rudy Giuliani 33%
- John McCain 17%
- Newt Gingrich 13%
- Mitt Romney 10%
- Sam Brownback 3%
- Chuck Hagel 2%
- Mike Huckabee 1%
Rudy leads in self-identified “very conservative voters” with 24% of the vote to Gingrich’s 23% and McCain’s 19%. Rudy also enjoys large leads in “somewhat conservative voters” & “moderates”.
February 27th, 2007 at 10:53 am
The McCain campaign is collapsing. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
Check out this article from Dick Morris on News Max:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/2/26/151332.shtml
February 27th, 2007 at 11:06 am
TM,
It’s hard to take an article seriously that is:
1. Written by Dick Morris
2. Suggest everyone is falling apart other than Rudy
As much as I would like to see McCain implode, I think Morris is just a Guiliani fan. I am not willing to accept McCain is out of the running yet. It would be a mistake to write him off.
Its been very funny to see a person like Morris (the “Prostitute Pundit”) attack Romney in nearly every tv cameo he gets. I can’t help but wonder how much Morris hates to see a person of integrity enter the race, when he clearly has never had any himself.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:19 am
IN 1983 Giuliani indicted an arms recketeer named Marc Rich,
who fled the country until Bill Clinton pardoned him
in the last 30 seconds of his presidency. Giuliani will
pummel Hillary with this relentlessly in a way that McCain
cannot.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Peter,
If he gets that far I hope he does.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:24 am
I love Dick Morris as a TV political analyst. The guy is just so darn entertaining. But it’s difficult to put too much weight into what he says due to his schizophrenic changes of opinion.
Remember how after the 2004 election when he insisted to everyone who would listen that Condi Rice is the only person on Earth who could beat Hillary Clinton in 2008? Of course, he did have a book to sell.
He also has appeared to have flip-flopped on Bush’s record now as well. He spent most of 2005 (pre-Katrina) touting that Dubya was a victim of his own success, as he had accomplished almost everything he wanted to in his first term. I remember Morris referring to Bush’s first term as one of the most successful first terms of any American President. Now it appears that he has re-evaluated Bush’s first term success.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Why is Newt’s name still being asked in the polls?
February 27th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Dick Morris is a windsock, going where ever the current political wind seems to be blowing. One could also argue he’s a windbag, though for good measure, he hates Hillary.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Morris is very entertaining, albeit often off-the-mark…
February 27th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I just can’t look at the guy. I think the only reason he hates Hillary is because it makes him money. I sometimes wonder if the guy could make more money by loving her, that he would. And I really don’t get how Fox news uses this guy as an analyst. I mean if they are doing a segment on Hillary fine I guess, but why is he commenting on everything?
February 27th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Sometimes, I wonder if Dick Morris actually WANTS Hillary! to win, just to keep himself relevant.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Morris is an idiot. I agree with Pickett completely. He tries to be relevant but he is not.
He made a big stink 3 weeks ago that Romney was tanking because a FOX poll had him at 3%. Now Romney is
at 10% and he bashes again.
I think all of the Romney bashing on this site has been way over done, but whoever wins out of McCain, Giuliani
or Romney, I will throw my full support behind in the general election.
Hillary would be a disastet for this country.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
This is all margin of error type stuff. Last week Romney was at 8%, now he’s at 10. He should have more bad weeks! I don’t think this McCain slip is necessarily an indicator of anything. Giuliani and Gingrich haven’t budged. I personally can’t see any clear path to the nomination for McCain. Especially not when he’s so viciously attacked conservatives (Rumsfield and Bush) and conservative causes (all his global warming rhetoric of late) recently, but I think that’s generally more a function of him no obvious base, or no clear way of obtaining one, then it is some sort of mythical Giuliani surge. The moment a significant number of conservatives decided Giuliani’s social liberalness didn’t matter, and the moment they decided to give him a pass on his flips on partial birth, parental notification, and gun control, the rationale for McCain’s candidacy disappeared. Why vote for the unorthodox conservative you don’t like, when you can vote for the unorthodox one you do? At this point, flip charges notwithstanding, I think Romney’s the only one with enough establishment, grassroots, and financial support, and with a low enough profile to attempt to define himself, to challenge Giuliani. But that’s likely no more true then it was before this poll or Dick Morris’s silly article.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Did anyone catch the Dennis Miller bit where he pointed out that Rudy attended practically every funeral for firefighters who died on 9/11 and Hillary attended 0. Miller made the point that one commercial on that subject would basically seal a general election for Rudy v. Hillary. Im not wedded to Rudy, but if Hillary is the nominee he almost seals the deal, which is saying something considering the political climate. Rudy’s biggest weakness is his personal life, i.e. marriages, but Hillary attacking him on that front would border on the comical with her family life.
Dick Morris has some interesting things to say but is for the most part an entertaining blowhard. That being said, he is entirely correct McCain will (is?) falling apart due to his Amnesty Bill. It shows colossal bad judgment.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Another silly bit about Morris’s article is that he shows a woeful disregard for facts, suggesting that prior to his 1994 senate run, Romney was actively pro-life (as a non-public figure at the time, one wonders how Morris would know this?). He also seems genuinely unaware that the botched abortion death in Romney’s family occurred in the 60′s, not recently. If he is in fact aware of this, one wonders what relevance Morris’s charge has. Does it matter if Mitt was pro-life when he was 19, only to change after a tragic event? Many have suggested that Romney’s conversion’s legitimacy is harmed by the fact that he’s changed in his 50′s. But surely no one would suggest that a 19 year old, who’d had little interest in politics, ought to retain all of his positions for 30 years. So what we have here is a 1994 Mitt Romney telling people he’d been politically pro-choice for a quarter of century. Then we have a 2004 Romney telling people, after another event of some significance, that he’s now pro-life. Believable or not, at worst its a flip, not a flip-flop, and Morris does himself no good by insinuating otherwise. Then again, Morris would have to cease to be Morris to himself some good.
February 27th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Every Republican in the country knows McCain and he’s at 17%? Stick a fork in him.
It looks like it will be Rudy against somebody for the GOP nod, but it probably won’t be McCain. If Gingrich ends up running, it might be him. If he doesn’t, Romney is the only one who would have enough money to compete.
February 27th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I saw that in the Zogby Poll, Obama is now beating Giuliani and McCain by 7 points, while Shrillary loses by 7 point to both.
Obama could win the primaries with numbers like these. We may be facing Obama instead.
February 27th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Guys, I am no political analyst and I certainly don’t have the writing skills as many of you. I just want to say that THIS is my kind of blog. The give and take on the polls and opinions here and there. I personally want to say that if I have offended any Romney supporters with my distrust of the guy – - I apologize. I will make a pledge from now on, to not say anything negative about Romney, as in, I will keep it to myself.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
KT,
Considering how often I call you on your posts, let me just say a few things (speaking for myself only).
1. I’m not a political analyst.
2. It’s very difficult to offend me.
3. Don’t refrain from saying negative things on Romney if you are willing to back up and defend such things with facts from his record.
Honest vetting of the candidates is necessary (and fun!). What bothers me is when people throw false accusations at candidates, and then refuse to admit that they’ve got the facts wrong and knowingly push the same false meme in the future.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Murphy thanks for the advise. I will try to back up my statements with more facts in the future. I really was just going by what is obvious, and printed in the news and all over the blogs. By the way, I did say something I liked about Romney, under “Judges is Not Enough” incase you did not see that.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Murphy thanks for the advice. I will try to back up my statements with more facts in the future. I really was just going by what is obvious, and printed in the news and all over the blogs. By the way, I did say something I liked about Romney, under “Judges is Not Enough” incase you did not see that.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Yes, KT, I noticed that. Were I not paralyzed with shock I would have responded sooner.
jk
And just FYI, I’ve taken note every time I think we get to one of the “roots” of your distrust with Romney…it helps me get a better picture of where you’re coming from. Much as I disagree with (and would be happy to debate the merit of) these reasons, they are subjective opinions that you’re entitled to. And so far I’ve noticed that the recent list includes:
1. Romney lived in Michigan, Utah, and Massachusetts
2. Romney is ambitious and desires the presidency
3. Romney is mormon
February 27th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
MURPHY…Oh, God, I dont care about romney’s religion at all. He could be a purple, blond-haired muslim with a yarmakah on his head for all I care (WELL, MAYBE NOT). What I care about is personal integrity and honesty….throw in true, strong leadership and communication skills (good riddance to GWB).
February 27th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
KT,
http://race42008.com/2007/02/21/more-on-romneys-abortion-acrobatics/#comment-96715
I’m not sure what motivated your recent change on that point, but I welcome it and will keep that in mind.
February 27th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
McCain will not be happy with those numbers, it does suggest a campaign that is struggling to gain traction. However when he went to Iowa the other day it apparently went very well, so maybe his numbers will pick up as he switches from being a senior Senator defending a very unpopular war & President to a campaigning potential President.
Romney can be happy with 10%. He obviously has a lot of potential, and we can expect to see that number to grow over time. He knows there’s no point peaking too early…
i think the race is interesting enough that Gingrich might not enter the race. If he stays out where do his votes go? You’d think it would go to Romney, although the poll reckons 24% of conservatives back Guiliani?! That sounds dodgy. Are conservatives willing to ignore his RINO status?
February 27th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
So, that has to be one of the most hyperbolic Dick Morris columns ever. Remind me again how he actually makes money on this?