Well, blow me down. Mitt Romney, heavyweight champion of investment finance, Winter Olympic management, and Massachusetts politics has thrown in the towel. Who would have thunk it?
Just scant months ago, John McCain “was barely viable, out of cash and losing staff,” according to the AP. Now, all he must do to be the Republican candidate in November is stay above room temperature. With 707 delegates, McCain needs only 484 more to sew up the nomination. Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul are the only Republicans still officially in the race. Huckabee has 195 delegates, while Paul has garnered 16. Memo to Huck and Ron: if Romney can see the light, how about you?
The Democrats have a lot going for them as November approaches. Most voters want change, are tired of the Iraq War, and will naturally look to the party out of power to fulfill their hopes. Moreover, on Super Tuesday nearly twice as many Democrats voted as Republicans. Rank and file Dems are fired up, the last characterization imaginable for many Republicans. Further still, Hillary and Obama continue to rake in huge donations. The AP reported today “Barack Obama’s campaign is on track to raise more than $30 million in February.” Republican candidates are collecting about half of Democratic totals. Unless Republicans get smart fast, look for a Democrat in the White House for at least four years.
Ironically, Romney’s prompt exit from the campaign shines a bright light on the only possible Republican path to victory. As it stands now, Republicans are dispirited, divided, withholding campaign donations, and whining like Democrats. We have just under nine months to fix all that, plenty of time unless socialism has suddenly become attractive to conservatives. Here’s what we need to do to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat:
* Huckabee and Paul should follow Romney’s lead and fold now. Declaring McCain the winner will save Republicans a ton of money, and funds that are spent can be directed at defeating Hillary and Barack, not fellow Republicans. Ms. Clinton has benefited from enormous donations, but she has spent like, well, a liberal Democrat, disbursing cash so heavily she recently had to loan her campaign $5 million. See the picture: let the Dems fight and claw and spend their way to exhaustion, while we Republicans gather money, mend fences, and figure out McCain is better than any Democrat.
* Limbaugh, Ingraham, Coulter, and other conservative mouthpieces need to either get behind the straight talk express and push or shut up. Coulter’s ”I’ll vote for Hillary before McCain” is exactly the kind of Republican insanity that must stop. Killing the party because my guy lost is childish and, with so much at stake, dangerous.
By far, the three most important issues to be decided during the next administration are: victory or defeat in Iraq, appointment of Supreme Court Justices, and whether the federal government continues to expand. We all know McCain is not the choice of conservatives, but he will not fold and run from Iraq, and he will not appoint left-wing whack-job Supreme Court Justices, nor will he push for socialized medicine. Hillary and Obama are on the wrong side of these contentions, more than enough reason to back McCain.
Thank God, Romney had the vision and integrity to put country and party ahead of personal ambition. “If I fight on in my campaign,” said the Governor, “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 surrender to terror.” For his part, McCain said, “I am acutely aware that I cannot succeed [and] prevail over the challenge we will face from either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama without the support of dedicated conservatives.” (Emphasis added)
John McCain will win votes among independents and moderate Democrats. If he can only win among Republicans…
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Campaign 2008, Politics