My opinions of Super Tuesday 2008

Warning: political post ahead. Skip it if politics bore you :)

 

Sadly, Super Tuesday proceeded as predicted, and by day’s end the death knell was sounded on Mitt Romney’s campaign. McCain is now the true frontrunner and barring a miracle will be the candidate in the fall. If Romney doesn’t give up the ghost officially this week I’d be surprised.

 

But . . if I were a McCain fan – and if I was, please shoot me – I still wouldn’t do my happy dance quite yet. McCain aced a few states – California, New York, etc – that will certainly fall to the Democrats in November while losing or struggling in the core ‘Red’ states.

 

That’s not a great omen for the man.

 

Plus, I’m just plain shocked at Mike Huckabee’s performance, especially in the south. I can see his home state giving him a futile pat on the back, but how do you explain his showing in other states?

 

Look, I’m a moderate on some positions, conservative on others, and overall I probably drift to the middle of the road in the GOP, but let me just come right out and say this:

 

The support for Huckabee is downright embarrassing.

 

It isn’t about the man himself, if my opinion hurts your feelings, it’s about the fact that America isn’t going to elect the guy.

 

Period.

 

And I know he’s no longer aiming for the Oval Office, instead hoping for VP, but the pundits are right: put him on the ticket and folks are going to point to the old man from Arizona and say “if he dies that Huckabee is in; do you really want a President Huckabee?”

 

The answer is no, and undecided voters are going to vote in droves for the other candidate.

 

On the other side of the table it sure looks messier for the Democrats, with Obama and Clinton still neck and neck and Super Tuesday deciding not much of anything at all.

 

Well, maybe it decided more than it first appears. They both essentially tied in delegates and the popular vote, but Obama carried more states and seemed to disprove some worries that his appeal was limited by his race.

 

{One site, pro-Dem, argues that race is a non-issue because Obama’s father is Kenyan. Thus he isn’t a descendent of slaves and doesn’t carry the stigma and contempt inherent with that title.

 

I’m thinking that’s a wee bit of a stretch, as even a decent newshound like me didn’t realize his heritage, (so how prevalent could the notion be?). Besides, the idea, right or wrong, sounds a wee bit Birth of a Nation-esque.

 

If a Republican had said the same thing . . . look out.}

 

Right now I think it’s legitimately anyone’s game, but Obama certainly looks to be on the upswing. Clinton is short on cash, physically tired, facing a youth movement from within her own party, winning tiny battles at far too high of a cost in effort, and she’s not the person who can pull off outstanding if meaningless rhetoric like Obama’s “the people we’ve been waiting for are us”.

 

On the other hand Obama failed to win the big prizes like New Yorkand California, and believe me, that nifty ten-point Clinton win in CA still paints her as the one to beat. Plus Obama did a McCain and scored big in states that are probably going to stay Red in ’08.

 

I still think it will be Clinton and McCain in November. As far as who would have the edge in that contest . . well, I’ll debate that another day.

 

 UPDATE:

 

Since I wrote that piece last night, Romney has indeed bowed out; the story is breaking across the web as I write this . . . 'tis a shame.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney will say at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country," Romney said.

Tags: Mitt Romney, John McCain, Obama, primaries, Clinton