Report From McCain's Victory HQ in FL
By GreatDarkSpot Posted in Archived — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Wow - that's all I can say. I just got back from Sen. John McCain's FL Victory party down in Miami. That place was just electric. Everybody in that room felt that McCain won the nomination tonight and it showed. The buzz started to grow as the early results came in and it just got bigger. Many of the early returns came from places where Mitt Romney was strongest but McCain held a narrow lead and as some of his strong points started to report his numbers grew.
I think at the end of last week, Romney was either tied or slightly ahead. What turned the corner was the one-two punch of Sen. Martinez and Gov. Crist endorsing him. This gave him the Cuban vote which defected from Rudy in huge numbers. I also think this gave him a lift in the central region. McCain closed well and he ended up in the winner's circle.
I can't tell how the speech went over on TV, but the people in the room ate it up. I personally liked how he hit many conservative themes in it. I'm sure the Romney supporters are just as disappointed as I would have been had the result been reversed, but I think everyone was gracious to each other.
Of course the race goes forward, but with Rudy out I would expect that McCain is now a lock for all those winner-take-all states in the Northeast and is looking good in the south based on his performance in the Florida Panhandle. Mitt Romney will aim for the west and try hard to win California I expect, but it'll be an uphill fight. My call is that McCain becomes the official winner after Super Tuesday.
For me, this was fantastic. To actually be in the room and shake John McCain's hand on the night that most people will consider that he won the nomination - all I can say is the same word I started this post with - Wow!!
I wish I could have been there ... I saw it on TV, but I know it is not the same as being in the room. Too bad I always live in states that tend not to matter too much. Nice report. When did the crowd start to yell for the networks to call it? When it got to 44% of precincts, I started yelling at my TV.
MOlsen6
Proud supporter of McCain '00 and McCain '08
When CNN put up the map and showed that based on the results that were in, McCain was winning the I-4 Corridor and that the bulk of the votes were in for Southwest and Northeast FL, we all felt really good. We knew that big numbers would come in for McCain in the Southeast and panhandle so Romney had to win in the center and it wasn't happening. We were content for the networks to take their time - let Hillary get off the air and Rudy give his speech. We knew it was coming soon - Fox went first with CNN about 30 seconds later and the room just exploded.
John S. McCain III
We've come a long, long way together/Through the hard times and the good
I have to celebrate you, baby/I have to praise you like I should
... I hope you enjoyed the ride.
Hang all traitors and secessionists! Hang them high!
- Me
I am really happy McCain won and am an enthusiastic supporter but he really does need to work on that motivating skill (may be military man in him) and I do wish he said some things in spanish I think it would of been a great plus to Cuban community and Spanish community at large.