McCain/Huckabee Backroom Deal!

It's too odd to be a coincidence. In West Virginia, Mike Huckabee somehow surged from a distant second behind Mitt Romney to win the primary, along with the state's delegates. How did this happen?

It all has to do with W. Virginia's primary process. After the first round of balloting, the weakest performers drop out (in this case, John McCain and Ron Paul). Their supporters then vote again among the remaining contestants (Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney).

If you look at the numbers in the article, virtually 100% of McCain's supporters backed Huckabee in the end. Far to many for it to be a coincidence.

Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic reported Tuesday that, after the first ballot, McCain’s campaign called his supporters there and urged them to vote in favor of Huckabee.

“Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney’s campaign of conservative change,” Beth Myers, Romney’s campaign manager, said in a statement.

If antics like this are what cause McCain to win the primaries, then the Republican Party truly will have destroyed itself.

Rush Officially Endorses Romney

It was only a matter of time--and hopefully not too much time. Rush has come out and officially thrown his support behind Mitt Romney. I suppose he regrets his earlier commitment to refrain from endorsing anyone, but I suppose the stakes now are too high.

Hopefully Rush can help push Mitt over the top in enough states. Crossing fingers...

Thomas Sowell on Hillary, McCain

Thomas Sowell has long been my favorite columnist (see his link to the right.) Today's piece assesses the level of "experience" being touted by both Hillary Clinton and John McCain. What is most interesting is that these obvious observations are so easily overlooked by the media and the voting public.

Sowell on Hillary:

For those people whose memories are short, go on the Internet and look up Whitewater, the confidential raw FBI files on hundreds of Republican politicians that somehow -- nobody apparently knows how -- ended up in the Clinton White House illegally.

Look up the sale of technology to China that can enable them to more accurately hit American cities with nuclear missiles. Then look up the money that found its way to the Clintons through devious channels.

Look up Bill Clinton's firing of every single U.S. Attorney in the country, which of course included those who were investigating him for corruption as governor of Arkansas.

Sowell on McCain:

While you are on the Internet looking up the record of the Clintons, look up John McCain's record, including the Keating Five, the McCain-Feingold bill, and the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill.

Senator McCain's trump card is his military experience. Some say his military experience is especially valuable when we are under threat from terrorists. But is it?

John McCain's military service was both honorable and heroic. But let's not confuse that with experience relevant to being President of the United States.

The most charitable interpretation of Senator McCain's constant touting of his military service is that he is simply milking it for political advantage.

It would be truly dangerous if McCain really considers himself a military expert, who can therefore ignore the advice of real military experts as President of the United States.

A man like McCain, with a history of being headstrong and shooting from the hip, is the last thing we need as President, in an age of complex global threats, including terrorists who may get nuclear weapons within the next few years.

I don't think Thomas Sowell has come out and endorsed anyone, but from articles like these, I think it's safe to say he's voting for Mitt Romney.

Thomas S. Monson - 16th LDS Church President

Two days after the funeral of Gordon B. Hinckley, the Mormon church has announced its new presidency, headed by Thomas S. Monson.


On a related note, I had the opportunity to shake Monson's hand back in 1989 at the Boy Scout National Jamboree.

Romney's Super-Tuesday Surge

It looks like Mitt Romney is finding some traction leading up to all-important Super Tuesday tomorrow. In the last week in many areas of the country he has eliminated most or all of John McCain's lead in the polls; especially significant is delegate-rich California, where Romney leads by eight points. This is complemented by his non-binding landslide win in Maine. I'm sure this is due in no small part to the support of the conservative ideologues in the media - the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, Laura Ingrahams, et. al. He may have been helped by comments from Mike Huckabee, who is believed to be siphoning votes from Romney in the South. Huckabee has turned negative toward the talking heads who oppose him, even going so far as to say that Sean Hannity was speaking from his pocketbook because he was on the Bain Capital payroll.

Romney is known to be the most hated candidate among his competition thanks to his Washington outsider status, his money and his evolution on key issues. If he can pull this off, it will be quite the upset. At the very least, I believe Mitt will win enough delegates on Tuesday to continue his run.

Rick Santorum Gets Behind Romney

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum joined Laura Ingraham on her radio show to voice his support of Mitt Romney. From the interview:

If you're a conservative, there really is only one place to go right now. I would even argue farther than that. If you're a Republican, if you're a Republican in the broadest sense, there is only one place to go right now and that's Mitt Romney.

Listen to the interview.

Hugh Hewitt on the State of the Race

Hugh Hewitt insightfully comments on the state of the Romney vs. McCain race.

John McCain saved Romney the trouble of going negative in the debate by putting on open display the temperament that has earned John McCain a measure of infamy in the Senate and beyond, and McCain's refusal to back away from the obvious-to-all low-blow distortion of Romney's Iraq positions left a queasy feeling among even McCain supporters. This was not a display of anything like the skills that would be necessary to defeat Senator Obama in the fall. In fact, just the opposite.

Many heads in the spin room at the debate from which I was broadcasting were shaking after the Giuliani press conference as McCain looked bleached and worn out. They were still shaking after McCain’s shaky debate. On many Republican lips was a familiar name: Bob Dole.

Bob Dole, without the conservative principles, perhaps, or the energy.

Hewitt also reinforces the notion that conservatives media figures are coalescing behind Romney as they realize that a vote for McCain is not a vote for conservatism. In fact, Ann Coulter goes so far as to say that Hillary is right on more issues!

Coulter
by krs601