In the comments earlier today, I wrote:
Well, McCain must now be considered the frontrunner going into South Carolina. As such, I expect Romney to come out swinging. Fred, Rudy and Huckabee are all good friends with McCain and will make subtle jabs here and there, but nothing great. This will be to McCain’s advantage. He will obviously play up the surge and most likely his consistently pro-life record. One thing he needs to do is appear to be above the fray and not get tangled into a pissing match with Romney. As long as he avoids any gaffes, he’ll be sitting pretty.
Even moreso then McCain, I’m very interested to see if Huckabee and Fred Thompson go at it. They will try to outmaneuver each other. Huckabee has sucked up more than half of Fred’s support. McCain has taken support from Huckabee and Rudy, but there is no way Fred wins without taking out Huckabee first.
That’s exactly what happened. It’s quite shocking if you let it sink in for a minute. John McCain is leading in two post-New Hampshire polls. He is the frontrunner in South Carolina. And yet, as both Soren Dayton and Jon Martin point out, McCain was almost untouched the entire time. Both Rudy and Fred landed soft taps on McCain for the surge and immigration, respectively, but they still prefaced it by calling McCain their friend. Fred focused almost all of his fire on Mike Huckabee. This is quite possibly the best unintended outcome of Fred remaining in the race.
If Fred and Huckabee descend into an all out war with each other, they will effectively split the conservative amongst them and allow McCain to sneak up the middle to win a plurality victory. It will be the complete opposite of 2000 where the conservative establishment was unified behind George Bush. But even then, most people forget that McCain still managed to get 42% of the vote, despite enduring on of the dirtiest primaries in American history. As a SC political operative told Michael Graham:
I was talking to one of the best political flaks in SC today, and he sees the scenario laid out perfectly: Fred vs. Huck in SC means that, if Romney stumbles in Michigan, McCain is all but a shoo-in with a plurality win.
IN fact, he openly speculated that Fred is in to keep the conservative vote split so that McCain can avoid the showdown with the Right that he can’t possibly win in SC.
In that case, it’s no surprise that the real winner of the debate was John McCain. Mark Halperin agrees and says that “[McCain's] tone and demeanor reflected the view of his staff: unless someone stops him pronto, he will be the 2008 nominee of the Republican Party.”
Update: Jon Martin echos my thoughts exactly and concludes:
But with Romney moving to pull out of the primary here and Thompson, Giuliani and Huckabee indicating again Thursday that they’re not comfortable attacking McCain in person, he’s on track to enjoy the precise opposite of what he experienced in the South Carolina in 2000.
It appears as if everything that could have possibly gone right for McCain has.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Exactly!! This is the reason to rally around Huckabee. Huckabee will be more conservative all around than Mccain and is still very electable in the general election.
Its too late for Fred Thompson. Conservatives DO NOT have time to rally behind him.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:52 am
I have a hard time believing the two most recent polls. I’m not alleging bias, but some major mistake. How can Huckabee be doing worse in South Carolina (53% evangelical- more than Iowa) than he is doing nationally? Other polls a few days ago showed him in the mid thirties, are we to suppose HALF his voters left him in a matter of days? That he has LESS support in SC than his national average? No way.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:55 am
LJ,
Sounds like a recipe for disaster, an unvetted nominee.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:03 am
No way Fred wins in SC. It was in SC where Fred stated that he didn’t go to church — that plays poorly in that state. This is a McCain vs. Huck race now.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:06 am
I couldnt have said it better myself LJ. It’s looking more and more like John McCain will take this thing, and i couldnt be more excited. I urge you and all of the McCain supporter’s out there to visit my website that i just created http://www.bryanbox.johnmccain.com and become a team member for Sen.McCain and help me raise funds for the Senator, and i would be much appreciative of any donation that you may give. Whether it be 5,10 or 20 dollars, it can go a long way to helping Sen.McCain. So come by and visit and sign up! Once again good post LJ! Take Care!
January 11th, 2008 at 1:07 am
MWS,
Remember that Huckabee split Evangelicals with McCain in New Hampshire. And also that 56% of Iowa’s Evangelicals voted for other candidates. Huckabee well most of Huckabee’s supporters are Evangelicals, not all evangelicals are Huckabee supporters.
McCain actually led in South Carolina for all of 2006 and the first few months of 2007. He managed to secure some very strong institutional support in the state (Sen. Graham, AG McMaster, the head of the state national guard, and 40 members of the state legislature, etc). When his poll numbers when down, his support went to Rudy primarily. Now that Rudy’s poll numbers have gone down, McCain’s have gone back up. That’s the inverse relationship that everyone keeps talking about.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Only problem is, Romney won’t stumble in Michigan. McCain will.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:12 am
I didn’t see the debate live, and I have the repeat on (and a repeat of the repeat, as Fox came back from its second commercial break, it restarted the debate tape from the beginning…Stupid network).
I’m catching up on reading posts on another discussion board, not listening closely to the debate (other than when Rudy’s on), but it’s an interesting perspective. Rather than the details, I’m picking up the general tone of the answers and the presence of the candidates in answering. What I’m picking up is:
Fred was actually energized tonight, but sounded a bit forced, and desperate.
Huckabee sounded shallow, like an amorphous vapor with no real substance (and he really sounds like Bill Clinton’s schmoozy ooze).
McCain sounded condescending.
Paul sounded crazy (big news to everyone, I’m sure).
Mitt was like a non-entity. I can’t remember a thing he said. It was like he wasn’t there.
Rudy sounded confident, knowledgeable, spoke with conviction, and with substance….In short, he sounded presidential.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Keven, even Mitt’s Director of Communications, Hugh Hewitt, says that Mitt will likely lose to McCain in Michigan.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:16 am
#8- Your comment about Huckabee shows that you haven’t seen much of the debate at all. Huckabee made me proud to support him tonight!
January 11th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Jason,
McCain unvetted? He’s one of the more vetted candidates in American politics today.
Bryan,
Thanks. That’s a cool site (btw, there’s no “www.” at the beginning of the url). Every little bit of money helps.
Keven J,
Romney faces a real possibility of finishing 3rd in Michigan. McCain will win overwhelmingly among the independents (Obama isn’t on the Democratic ballot and they don’t like Hillary), disaffected Rudy supporters and foreign policy hawks. Huckabee will weaken Romney’s social conservative base of support and has a real possibility of coming in 2nd. What’s left for Romney?
January 11th, 2008 at 1:21 am
LJ,
He was, but frankly time dims the memory. Last time McCain got a real vetting was 2000. He’s been unchallenged in the public eye this whole time. He becomes the nominee, the MSM love affair will be over and the Maverick label will be gone, and we will have cranky old man who yells expletives at his rivals.
It’s ok though, I doubt we will win in 08 anyway.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:22 am
LJ,
There is quite a bit of overlap in MI between western social conservatives and Western Indies. The other good thing is there is no polls so far in MI to draw attention away from the issues.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Chaos and confusion…advantage McCain in the short run, McCain in the long run.
On Fred: There is a good and a bad side t ohis performance. On one hand, this is the enegetic Thompson that many have been waiting for and he definitely helped himself tonight.
That said, I didn’t relaize that Fred had “won” unitl I saw Luntz’s focus group. Watching the debate itselfr, I considered Thompson the highlight of the night, but his smackdown of Mike Huckabee came off as a too negative and dirty for my liking (Though his points were valid, I would have much preferred that the turbocharged Fred version 2.0 talked a little more about himself than other candidates)
January 11th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Correction to #14: I meant to say advantage RUDY in the long run.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:27 am
LJ,
Yea sorry about that there is no “www”. Thanks for visiting the site though man, talk to you later.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:27 am
“That said, I didn’t relaize that Fred had “won†unitl I saw Luntz’s focus group.”
Was Bearded Guy part of the group again?
I don’t know how Fox can have Luntz doing his gig again, and look its viewers in the eye (figuratively speaking).
January 11th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Excellent write-up, LJ, as always.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Enjoy!
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/571gtvok.asp?pg=1
January 11th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Huckabee got smoked by Fred tonight!
January 11th, 2008 at 1:41 am
#20 – O yeah – well Huckabee got potato smacked by Huckabee. Sorry =-) Just thought you deserved a simple response to your simple statement.
Read this:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/571gtvok.asp?pg=1
2 out of the 3 commentators said Huckabee won the debate.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:42 am
#21 – oops jokes on me. I meant “Fred got potato smacked by Huckabee”.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Huck won tonight. None of his Michigan competitors did particularly well. Fred will be a distant memory when the Michigan primary rolls around.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:57 am
#21 – “2 out of the 3 commentators said Huckabee won the debate.”
Were those the same commentators who said that Obama was running away with NH by double digits? Just checking. The fact that ANYONE gives the pundits ANY credibility at this point is ridiculous. EVERY talking head has an agenda, and for every person that says Huckabee won tonight, I can find 3 that said he lost.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Shawn, you’ve got quite the pair of Huckabee-tinted glasses…
January 11th, 2008 at 2:00 am
25# O yeah – Well your wearing Thompson undergarments… Again – we can trade simple comments all day if you want.. But I would rather talk about real stuff.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:11 am
#24 Yeah – You are mostly right about this. I know for so long they were wrong about Huckabee. Some are starting to get it now.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Shawn
Are you a Huckster? Fred killed the Pastor in Chief, or Tax Hike Mike. He called him out on his record and all of his lies.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:20 am
#28 – Looks like I got the late night guys that say less than they type.
You must be a liberal to go after Christianity like you just did.
Second of all. Thompson’s prepared written down mini speech was full of general lies. People will not forgive him for this act of desperation. But I guess its easy for senators to get away with the stuff they do since they have never had the burden of actually running a government.
Think harder..
January 11th, 2008 at 2:22 am
SC should be very interesting.
McCain with the vets, Huck with the evangelicals, and Fred with the good debate performance and the Rush endorsement (it’s gonna happen tomorrow).
I’m hoping for Fred but expecting McCain.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:22 am
Mittens is scared of McCain and the rest of the field respects him too much. I love it.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:27 am
#30 Rush will endorse himself tomorrow and then choose Thompson for VP. And then of course he will continue to call liberal Romney a conservative.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Jason: “we will have cranky old man who yells expletives at his rivals.”
I think you messed up on your verb tense. Dont you mean “DO have”. You’re talking about Dick Cheney, right?
LJ, have you read McCain’s books? My fav is ‘Faith of my Fathers’ and the chapter Maverick in ‘Worth the Fighting For’
January 11th, 2008 at 2:31 am
How about this?
Mitt wins Michigan. McCain 2nd.
McCain wins SC from Huck & Mitt.
Who wins Florida? I think whoever does wins the whole thing (and I doubt it’s Rudy or Huck).
January 11th, 2008 at 2:32 am
A Rush endorsement is in the works? Uhh… He blasted Huckabee for days before Iowa and Huckabee won there. He blasted McCain for years before New Hampshire and McCain won there.
I think David Brooks has something to say on that:
Amen David!
January 11th, 2008 at 2:33 am
#34 I think it will be either Mccain or Huckabee to win Michigan and SC. Whoever wins SC I think will win Florida as well. SC is the key.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:37 am
34, i’m not gonna lie. With Michigan being an open primary and Obama and Edwards not on the ballot, Michigan scares the crap out of me.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Jason, McCain has definitely been hammered and hammered by Rush, I have heard
Glenn Beck hammer him recently. I imagine Savage and the other hosts have
hammered him quite a bit too. Surely you don’t think he had his big colapse this
spring without having come under fire.McCain has come under fire more than
anyone save Huckabee on the Blogosphere. So to say McCain has been let off easy
since 2000 seems to be really stretching things to me. I would tend to agree
with LJ he is one of our most vetted candidates. However, if we keep tearing all
of our candidates to pieces to make sure they’re well vetted were apt to have a
very bloodied candidate coming into the election with a very fractured party.
Actually I allready think we will have a fractured party the question is just
whether the Dems will have a more fractured party.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:39 am
#35 Great post. I don’t agree totally with David Brooks to the extend that he “took on” those listed but Huckabee definetly does not follow conventional wisdom compared to those listed in the article.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:45 am
Shawn,
the only pundit that has a clue what’s going on in this election is David Brooks. All others are clueless compared to him. He just posted a new column about 30 minutes ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/opinion/11brooks.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
January 11th, 2008 at 2:45 am
#38 Beck hammered Mccain this morning.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:54 am
If the right cant stop one of it’s own from getting votes, what makes people thing the left would be any more successful?
On the flip side, if the Right can’t get republicans to go out and vote for Romney, what makes us think they’ll be able to convince moderates and independents to in the general election?
These guys are worthless blowhards. People don’t care what they have to say. That’s what Trent Lott was talking about when he said talk radio was ruining America.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:55 am
#40 I haven’t read him enough to know. I am not saying that I completely disagree with the post you took out from him, but just because Huckabee and Rush don’t speak the same language all the time does not mean that Huckabee is taking on Rush by choice. Same with the others.
I am a long time Rush listener but he has given Romney a pass too much for me to consider him credible anymore. Same with Beck and Hannity to an extend. I am still glad they are out there but I am disappointed that they are not nearly as reliable as I thought they were.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Sampo – I just noticed that you were a Mccain guy. At least you see the truth about Romney. I am not a Mccain fan at all but Romney scares me more than Mccain.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Shawn
Why does Romney scare you?
January 11th, 2008 at 3:07 am
I think a McCain-Huckabee ticket would be a much needed kick in the butt that the GOP needs right now.
Is it any coincidence that the only demographics that Romney was competitive in New Hampshire were:
1. The 65 and older crowd
2. The ones making over 150k/year
Not on your life.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:08 am
#45 A friend of mine made this website to illustrate how inconsistent this guy is. I know about most of these before but this just puts them all together. That is what scares me. We don’t know who will show up as President if he gets elected. He also seems like he is for sale as to what he will do.
http://www.trueromney.com/
January 11th, 2008 at 3:09 am
I would support a Romney/Thompson ticket all day long. McCain and Huckabee would be a liberal Republican ticket. I wouldn’t want us to move in the direction as a party of conservatives.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:10 am
I would support a Romney/Thompson ticket all day long. McCain and Huckabee would be a liberal Republican ticket. I wouldn’t want us to move in that direction as a party of conservatives.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Shawn, what’s your beef with McCain?
January 11th, 2008 at 3:16 am
#46 Well of course I don’t want that to happen but I understand that you do. I would vote for Mccain if he had Huckabee as VP so I think that would be a good move for Mccain if he won.
I gotta tell you though, after seeing the double standards from my long time conservative talk show hosts I will have no sympathy for them if Mccain wins. They have lost so much respect from long time conservative listeners like myself.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:30 am
#50 – He would be the oldest 1st term president. He doesn’t communicate as well as Huckabee.
But on the issues. I haven’t read this whole blog – I just googled something and this came up:
http://www.rightwingnews.com/category.php?ent=5365
Some of the issues here are the typical ones and I probably have problems with more than half of them.
He is not a strong enough pro-life candidate for me. Better than Romney but not enough for me.
He didn’t vote for the traditional marriage amendment while in the senate. How is he on the 2nd amendment?
Not sure I trust him enough on illegal immigration or cutting taxes. I know he would cut spending, but I am not sure about taxes staying low.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:33 am
#48 I would have said a Huckabee/Thompson ticket would have been good. But after Thompson went on his crazy distorted rant on Huckabee today, I think that will not happen.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:36 am
sampo – You will love this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HotMWgYVm2Q&eurl=http://www.trueromney.com/
Where is Rush on this stuff? Silent. So sad..
January 11th, 2008 at 3:47 am
2nd amendment:
Prosecute criminals, not citizens for gun ownership: Strongly Favors topic 10
Don’t hold gun manufacturers liable for crimes: Favors topic 10
Opposes restrictions on assault weapons and ammunition types: Strongly Favors topic 10
Ban cheap guns; require safety locks; for gun show checks: Opposes topic 10
Voted against Brady Bill & assault weapon ban: Strongly Favors topic 10
Punish criminals who abuse 2nd Amendment rights: Favors topic 10
Repeal existing gun restrictions; penalize criminal use: Strongly Favors topic 10
YES on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks: Strongly Favors topic 10
YES on loosening license & background checks at gun shows: Favors topic 10
NO on background checks at gun shows: Strongly Favors topic 10
YES on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence: Strongly Favors topic 10
YES on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers: Strongly Favors topic 10
http://www.ontheissues.org/John_McCain.htm
He never voted to increase taxes.
Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003) He took a hit on ESCR, but says it maybe be “academic” after the new breakthru.
on immigration i think huckabee and mccain and bush are basically in lock step.
he supports a gay marriage ban at a state level, and campaigned for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DHscURg3E
January 11th, 2008 at 3:58 am
that rightwingnews link is the talking point of every talk radio hack in the country. as a huck supporter you know how they spun his record too..
January 11th, 2008 at 6:53 am
On the flip side, if the Right can’t get republicans to go out and vote for Romney, what makes us think they’ll be able to convince moderates and independents to in the general election?
Brilliant. Rush has been pimping Romney to a shameful degree. It’s not fair for Rush to go back 8 years and criticize McCain and call him a worthless RINO and then continue to tout Romney as the “conservative choice”. Rush has simply jumped the shark and at least for this listener, he’s lost my respect. Rush is all about Rush all of the time. If McCain wins then Rush will have to admit he and Shrill Laura Ingraham and Sean “I’m Dumb As Sludge But a Good party Man” Hannity will all have to admit that their power has diminished considerably since 2000. These talk radio blowhards are what strengthened Bush’s ability to off McCain in 2000 – that and the fact that Bush had his surrogates play filthy dirty in SC.
Shawn,
I am a long time Rush listener but he has given Romney a pass too much for me to consider him credible anymore. Same with Beck and Hannity to an extend. I am still glad they are out there but I am disappointed that they are not nearly as reliable as I thought they were.
We agree on that point. At least it’s nice to know some of us are starting to see through this crap. I cancelled my subscription to the Limbaugh letter.
And I listen to O’Reilly now on the radio a lot more. Sure he’s a blowhard, but he is a lot more honest and an independent thinker and doesn’t always just carry the water for National Review and the GOP Establishment the way Rush does. You should have heard his show yesterday – he was whining about McCain winning NH that liberals and moderates were deciding our nominee.
I’ve got news for Rush. The best you could say for Romney is that he beat McCain among self-described “conservatives” by seven points. Well if Romney was clear and away THE best choice for conservatives then he would have been able to have a more decisive showing among that bloc. This just proves Rush’s diminished clout. He was a lot more instrumental in changing voter attitudes and mobilizing turnout in 1994.
January 11th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Sorry,
To be more clear. In one of the increasingly more rare times that I still put his show on…
You should have heard his show yesterday – he [Rush] was whining…
January 11th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Dean Barnett said Huckabee was the big winner last night:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/CampaignStandard/2008/01/barnett_a_big_night_for_huckab_1.asp
January 11th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I agree with Dean Barnett, I just read the article. When Huckabee started defending Israel, I could feel the Evangelicals getting in line for Huck! Go Huck. Fred Thompson seemed like a mean old bag of dirt last night. I know alot of Evangeilcals who dislike Fred Thompson more than McCain. Go Huck!
January 11th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Adam, I totally agree. The radio chatterboxes somehow see themselves as the keepers of the “conservative” flame (whatever that is), but to me they just come across as nagging, badgering, and bitching. Something like 90 to 95 percent of the public never listens to them, yet they get a lot of attention for being noisy and controversial. They’re better at generating heat than light.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Conservatives still listen to Rush? I tuned in like four years ago and he was calling himself El Rushbo and I changed the station that instant.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Ignoring McCain is the best strategy. He is inherently a bore. All he has to offer is righteous indignation (when confronted with his many failings). They are all hoping the voters will realize his inherent irellevence – as they had earlier this year. And they are right. At some point his boringness will defeat him. All he has to attract anyone’s attention is his crazy anger.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Everyone pushing Grumpy, Gomer, and Rudy are not died in the wool conservative Republicans. Many of you here pushing your guy are making the big mistake of pushing people who are moving this party further to the left. The GOP is going to be Center and then the Dems will be mostly left. I’m looking for someone who will continue to keep things in the GOP conservative realm – Right of center. I can’t for the life of me understand why many of you are willing to move this party toward the Center to win. You don’t have to, yet you push people who are. With Grumpy and Gomer you are witnessing the biggest of flip flops over a host of issues. These are the guys telling us what we want to hear. These are really good politicians.
Last night my fighter (Romney) came to this debate spent because he’s been fighting for over a year now with a strong conservative message that he thought could unite but because he’s a Mormon it’s only divided conservatives further. He’s spoken until he was RED in the face for every debate with passion about conservitive strength and principle with conservatives standing by him only half heartedly. Grumpy, from the beginning new what he was coming up against with Romney so he with the MSM pushed this phony “flip flopper” label when he himself was standing by his shady record. He got smoked by it early (illegal immigration, McCain-Feingold) and now the MSM revives him. Grumpy is now hiding his recent record and flopping and flipping on taxes and immigration right before our eyes. He doesn’t apologize to the GOP but rather says I’ll give you what you F’ing want but I’m going to do my own thing even if it is liberal.
Gomer hides behind the MSM whose protecting him for the General’s where there will be no mercy. He himself flipping and flopping in front of our eyes trying to get you so called conservatives not look to the left or to the right but focus on his “Evangelical charm”. This guy is an Evangelical pastor and it couldn’t have shown more last night. Using government as his pulpit to save us from the evils of the World is blasphemous.
Rudy’s a non-entity to me right now because he has his own problems namely shooting himself in the foot to think Gomer or Grumpy was going to do him any favors…talk about overplaying your hand. If he can’t do anything now to stop the Gomer and Grumpy show, that train which may start in Michigan is going to run him over.
Fred is now going to see how hard it is to fight Gomer and Grumpy. His fight is going to be too little too late. The MSM is not going to let him get too far and the GOP Elites and Rush and everyone else who was waiting for him won’t have enough time to help him recover. He has too big of a hill to climb.
My hope is still with Romney to bring conservatism back to the GOP. Romney needs to contact Fred and take a stand much like Gomer, Grumpy and Rudy have helped each other. It may be late but it can work to keep the GOP from moving left to the Center.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:46 am
[...] of life and the emerging frontrunning campaign of John McCain was given a pass by many candidates in favor of taking down social conservative upstart Mike Huckabee. Here is some local reaction to the [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Everyone pushing Grumpy, Gomer, and Rudy are not died in the wool conservative Republicans.
Thus, true “conservative Republicans” abandon argument in favor of solipsist definition. Keep purging anyone who disagrees, by all means. The GOP can then go the way of the Whigs and the Federalists.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Conservatism in its truest form leads to three things – Liberty, Independence, and Morality. Grumpy, Gomer, and Rudy do not get us there.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Conservatism in its truest form leads to three things – Liberty, Independence, and Morality.
No idea what that means. It sounds a lot like the definition of pornography: I know it when I see it. But I think I’d replace Morality with Mortality…
January 11th, 2008 at 11:31 am
MarkG makes my point in 63…you are a Center guy.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:32 am
MarkG either is a Rudy or a Grumpybot.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:34 am
A Rudybot: Giulty as Ciarged!
January 11th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Thank you…it’s great to hear that his people are so loyal that they’ll work for free. I hope things work out for him on the 29th. Gomer’s the one your people need to worry about right now.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:49 am
[...] the aftermath of the South Carolina debate on Thursday, January 10. LJ of Race42008.com – “The Real Winner” – here’s an [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Hello, all (McCain-site publisher)-
LJ – great post, with a very optimistic assessment of the political future for Senator McCain. I’ll remain cautiously optimistic.
I couldn’t get the trackback to work, so here’s my link to it:
http://blog.electionnighthq.com/2008/01/11/what-others-are-saying-on-mccain-post-sc-debate-mccainmitt-in-nh-cartoon-etc/
Per the debate itself – I mentioned in the comments yesterday that while I don’t agree with Fred on all of the issues, I think that he turned in a very strong performance…
January 11th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Actually, as I can now see, the trackback DID work…