The Return of RoMentum! Mitt Romney has secured 5 delegates and counting in Wyoming. Duncan Hunter actually got a delegate too! Is this the beginning of DuncMentum?
Reid Wilson has a good article on the battle over New Hampshire’s independents between John McCain and Barack Obama.
Romney hits McCain in NH by saying that there is “no way” McCain will push for change because “he is Washington.” Not surprisingly, back in 2002, Romney claimed that McCain “has always stood for reform and change.” Not only that, but in his 2004 book, Turnaround, Romney said that McCain is “Washington’s number one watchdog against waste.” Oops!
An aide to Mike Huckabee says an unintentionally revealing line about the New Hampshire primary: “It’s all tax, no government there. It’s not ideal.”
Jon Chait thinks that Hillary’s campaign is essentially over. He predicts that she will lose New Hampshire and South Carolina by large margins. After that, he’ll be impossible to stop. I’m slowly coming to the realization that he might be right.
Mark Steyn thinks that Huckabee would prevail in a general election match-up against Obama. I think that’s completely the opposite as independents and moderate Republicans would abandon the GOP in droves with Huckabee as the nominee. Who would you vote for if it came down to Obama vs. Huckabee?
Bill Clinton gets ready to blame the media if Obama defeats Hillary in the primaries and goes on to lose the general. Jonah Goldberg thinks that such an outcome would cause the social fabric of the country to unravel.
Marc Ambinder spotted McCain 2000 and Romney 2006 senior aide Mike Murphy (who is officially neutral in the race) at a McCain VFW rally in New Hampshire and later get into an elevator with John and Cindy. Interesting!
And Jon Martin reports that the latest University of New Hampshire numbers will be out later this afternoon.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Actually, he is up to five.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I would vote for Obama over Huckabee simply because he would not erode the separation of church and state.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
TC- ridiculous. Absolutely absurd.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
The poll is from UNH/WMUR is due out in 2 hrs and 10 minutes and counting. 2 hours prior to the debate.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I would absolutely pick Obama over Huckabee. In my eyes there is no difference between the two except Obama has a better record on crime.
January 5th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
up to six now in the grand state of wyoming
January 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Looks like Romney is having a very good day. From a Rudy Guy my congratulations.
He’s won Wyoming.
But perhaps even more importantly, he just picked up a big endorsement from the leader of the New Hampshire Conservative Alliance in the State House – State Rep. DJ Bettencourt.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
The Obama/Huck matchup would be interesting. As Iowa showed, both would bring new voters into politics who have never participated before. Broadly speaking, Huck brings in Campus Crusade for Christ types who are young, not particularly affluent, and not politically conservative. They just want to vote for the religious guy who is concerned about poverty, AIDS, abortion, etc. I haven’t seen any data on Obama’s new voters, but they’re probably also young, but more white collar and secular than the Huck voters. They want a Mr. Smith or a real-life President Bartlett to come to Washington. So if those new voters cancel each other out, we’re back to parity unless either Huck or Obama loses votes from their own traditional base. Huck would probably have the bigger losses due to his ability to piss off large numbers of sec-cons (secular conservatives, security conservatives, and securities conservatives — heh). But would they vote Obama? Well, all wouldn’t, but some might, particularly light-red or purple GOP leaners. So I would say Obama beats Huck, but it’s not a blow out by any means.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
…seven….with 88% of vote.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Worth reading for the Huck-a-bashers out there.
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=1080
January 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
#2 Texas Conservative:
You won’t have to worry. You’ll be able to vote for McCain over Obama, and freedom will be preserved. The Constitution will be safe. McCain will be President.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Too bad no one cares about Wyoming. I am going to push his solid victory hard on the two sites I run though.
Hopefully, It will at least get a little play in NH and give him a little of the big MO.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Too bad McCain will pass away of old age while in office. How is it that voters are forgetting about what caused John’s collapse last summer. It makes no sense. All of the sudden immigration and taxes are not the most important issues. With Huckabee winning Iowa and if McCain wins NH, obviously voters don’t care about those issues, despite their own rhetoric.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Question about tonight’s debate:
It’ll be available online, and after the actual debate, right? I won’t be around when it’s on tonight and I’d like to watch the “replay” when I get home. Anyone have any idea?
January 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Patrick,
I’m doing it the old fashioned way. I’m programming my VCR.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Who do you guys think would be Mitt’s best running mate? I haven’t heard yet of what I think would be the ideal candidate to run with him. What do you guys think?
January 5th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Adam,
That would be great if I owned a VCR. I’ve gotten so high-tech that I can’t watch half the stuff I want. For example, I’ve got this DirectTV thing and it doesn’t even seem to get the local ABC affiliate.
Which brings me back to the internet.
January 5th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Any update from Wyoming? USAToday, the only one I could find that has something on Wyoming, is still at 67%, with Mitt having 6 delegates from his whoopie 75% votes!
January 5th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I think “whoopie” is a wrong word to use. I mean it in the line of “whamming”, “slamming”, “pow-ed” and “your base are belong to me!!!”
January 5th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
#8 Dave, just from what I’m reading in the blogosphere, if it came down to Huckabee vs. Obama, I think it would be a landslide – for Obama.
Why?
#1 – there are a lot of moderates who would vote for the first African/American candidate for president because he has a hopeful message and it would make them feel good to cast their lot in that direction.
#2 – there would be some conservatives who would vote for Obama simply because, like (#5) Nate said, I would absolutely pick Obama over Huckabee. In my eyes there is no difference between the two except Obama has a better record on crime.
#3 – there would be ALOT of conservatives who love this country and what this country is founded upon and who want to preserve the conservative movement that Ronald Reagan represents and the good name of Conservative Republicans everywhere. Why elect Huckabee and let him destroy it? He is a liberal, not a conservative. Personally, I would rather have a real democrat preside over the country for two reasons: America likes a balance, and we would probably see the Senate and House go Republican; and let a democrat in name and position take the country down the wrong road for four years, not a republican who really is a democrat.
#4 – The Pro-life far-religious right fundamentalists will vote for Huckabee, and probably some Fair Tax folks, too. But they cannot win the election without the other two legs of the conservative stool: Strong military/defense $ Limited Government/Low Taxes & Strong Enconomy.
January 5th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
SGS,
USA TODAY just gave Mitt the win. http://content.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/results.aspx?sp=wy&oi=p&rti=e
January 5th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Fox has called it on their site.