Huck's the Goose. Mitt's the Gander.
By Mr. Ed Posted in 2008 — Comments (32) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Mike Huckabee has won the WV convention primary and the 18 delegates it had to offer.
He won it on the second ballot when the vast majority of McCain and Ron Paul voters moved to the Huckabee camp to put him above the 50% threshold for victory.
Already, Mitt supporters, pundits and bloggers are crying "dirty politics" on McCain's part for denying Mitt the victory.
In WV, it came down to a two-man race. That's the strategy both parties have been trying to craft for several weeks. It's happened in the Democratic race.
Mitt has tried to make it a two man race in the GOP for the past week. The strategy has been that if GOP voters realize it's a two man race, then enough Huck supporters will switch to Mitt to stop the "McCain Express."
For the past week, we've been bombarded by talk radio and others saying a "Vote for Huck is a Vote for McCain."
Now, today, these same Mitt supporters are decrying the same strategy in WV.
I find this hypocritical.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
from what the Romney campaign has been saying. The claim has been that Huckabee is staying in the race only to hurt Romney and I think WV proved that. Mitt was way ahead in the first ballot and in the second ballot all of a sudden McCain had no support? Doesn't that seem strange to you? He WAS still on the ballot for the second round and yet he only got 1%.
I think there's a good case to be made here that the McCain camp urged their supporters to support Huck in the second round for the sole purpose of hurting Romney.
*Tagg Romney 2036!*
You . . . you can't possibly mean that . . . McCain supporters don't want Romney to win?!! I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
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the Lord's name in vain.
I was responding to the blog. Either you didn't read the blog and my response, or reading comprehension is not your strong point.
*Tagg Romney 2036!*
But more seriously, I did read the blog and I still don't understand the point you are making:
"I think there's a good case to be made here that the McCain camp urged their supporters to support Huck in the second round for the sole purpose of hurting Romney."
Yes, obviously, that is exactly what the McCain people did. They were trying to deny Romney votes and delegates. I apologize if there is some deeper point that I am missing, but frankly I am at a loss at the apparent outrage by Romney supporters that politicians and their supporters practice politics. Romney needs to start winning and stop whining.
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My point was in response to the writer of this blog who claimed that this situation was somehow invalidated the Romney campaign's claim that Huck being in the race hurts Romney.
If Huck wasn't on the ballot at all, it is likely that Mitt would have taken this in a landslide. That is the Romney camps assertion and I think WV proves that.
*Tagg Romney 2036!*
but I don't think that was Mr. Ed's point. I think his point was that its kinda funny in way that Romney's claim turned out to be so literally true. Life is kinda of ironic sometimes.
David's point is this: unless Huckabee is as delusional as HWSNBN, he has to realize that he cannot win this race. I applaud Huckabee for working for change that he believes in, but the simple fact of the matter is that Huckabee doesn't have a chance outside of the South.
Nobody fretted over Huckabee supporters saying a month or two ago that Fred needed to drop out because he was siphoning voters away from Huckabee. The difference between the two, though, is this: If Fred had picked up momentum in IA or SC, he would have restored viability and had a chance. Huckabee has none.
It is pretty clear to Romney-and even a great deal of McCain- supporters, that Huckabee is staying in this race not to win, but to siphon voters off of Mitt and serve as a security that McCain gets the nomination. It is no longer about winning to Huckabee. He's simply trying to hurt Romney. Yes, it's politics, but it is completely antithetical to everything I believe in. You don't run to deny someone else-you run to offer your services. If it's clear that your services aren't wanted, you gracefully withdraw. Huck isn't doing that.
My prediction, should McCain come out huge today, is that Romney might withdraw in a few days. Within a few hours of that, Huck will withdraw; having met his requirement for admission into the McCain administration, there will be no more reason to continue the charade.
from what the Romney campaign has been saying. The claim has been that Huckabee is staying in the race only to hurt Romney and I think WV proved that. Mitt was way ahead in the first ballot and in the second ballot all of a sudden McCain had no support? Doesn't that seem strange to you? He WAS still on the ballot for the second round and yet he only got 1%.
I think there's a good case to be made here that the McCain camp urged their supporters to support Huck in the second round for the sole purpose of hurting Romney.
Vote for the ulti-Mitt conservative. Romney '08!
DISCLAIMER: I am loosly affiliated as a volunteer for the Mitt Romney campaign. All viewpoints expressed are my own, not the campaign's.
I agree with you. Huck has no chance. Huck in his heart of hearts probably knows he has no chance. McCain's voters tactically voted for Huck because they know Huck has no chance. Hell, my cats know Huck has no chance.
That being said, Huck is playing a weak hand very well right now. He is showing that he can win votes and thus is a potentially viable candidate for the future. He is earning some chips with the McCain team which he may use to bargain for a VP or cabinet slot, or maybe he may just bargain for influence on those things he cares about. That is good politics and there is nothing unethical about it. By gaining visability and a better bargaining position, Huck is better able to fight for the issues he cares about. Thats politics.
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McCain's going to win the nomination.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
McCain is my second choice and Romney a distant third... but at least I would buck-up and still vote for Romney even though it would be difficult voting for someone with no intellectual integrity.
the only reason McCain voters might vote for Huck is to reject Mitt. What a spin move. I wonder if it enters anyones head that Huck might be the actuall second choice of many of them.
Go Huck...If Huck's out I vote McCain - not because he's the anti-mitt but because I trust him more. Better the devil you know....
OK, so those were imaginary signs being held up instructing the McCain voters to switch to Huckabee. Because it was each individual's first choice. Right........
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
Still you have no way of knowing who had Huck as a second choice and who didn't. My argument is the implication that Romney supporters are making that if there had been no official suggestion that some (fill in the blank here) number of McCain supporters would have cast their ballot for Romney. I sincerely doubt it.
Huck doesn't have any use for these delegates. I don't see how these delegates not going over to Romney helps McCain any either, since it is extremely likely that McCain will have more delegates than Romney. The only thing he has to worry about is reaching the magic number... and these delegates aren't going to help him do that.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
For more than a week, Romney and his supporters have been urging Huck supporters to vote for Mitt in order to stop McCain.
Now these same Mitt supporters are crying foul that McCain urged his supporters to vote Huck to stop Mitt.
Mr. Ed
Straight from the Horse's Mouth
The complaint from the Hannity types is that it's a few hundred state delegates doing the strategic voting, not individuals. The individuals who sent those delegates to the convention to vote for McCain or Ron Paul or whoever have nothing to say about it.
Now I don't see anything wrong with that... because that's how the process works... but they aren't being hypocrites.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
I'm not calling it a dirty trick but it's OBVIOUS why McCains supporters switched to Huck. You're in denial if you don't see this. McCain was still on the ballot during the second round, only Paul was out, and McCain supporters were holding signs telling their people to vote for Huck.
*Tagg Romney 2036!*
McCains supporters switched to Huck.
Where else were they supposed to go? Romney?
If things were a little softer between the two maybe.. that would be like Obama supporters voting for Clinton to spise Edwards people. With the bad blood between the two - not gonna happen.
Telling voters that a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain... is true. It's like saying that a vote for Nader was a vote for Bush, which was also true and was the reason Bush won in 2000. There's nothing wrong with trying to winnow it down to a two man race because it IS a two man race.
What happened in West Virginia, on the other hand, is a perversion of the democratic process. Elections are not held to allow the 2nd most popular candidate to win because the 3rd most popular candidate doesn't like the candidate who actually has the most support. I would have no problem if the voters just happened to prefer Huckabee in the final round, but the McCain voters went 100% for Huckabee when if they had voted for who they actually preferred the split would have been about 50/50 among those who didn't just go home.
There is nothing wrong with this kind of wheeling and dealing at the convention. That's how conventions work. I just don't see the big gain or loss here for anybody.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
We all agree its obvious. What is your point.
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NT