Things we’ve learned about the 2008 election so far

4)I could never vote for a guy with the name “Huckabee,” but apparently a lot of other people can.
5)Utah voters are the smartest voters in the world (Nevada, Montana,
Wyoming, Alaska, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan and Colorado voters are
also pretty darned smart. Sorry, Massachusetts voters are not very
smart overall — just look at who else they’ve elected over the years).
6)McCain and Huckabee’s maneuver in West Virginia was pretty darned slimey.
7)Or maybe McCain and Huckabee’s maneuver was just good politics, and
if Mitt Romney had been able to pull it off I would have been saying
how smart he is.
8)It looks increasingly likely that conservative Republicans like
myself are basically going to opt out of this election from June until
November. I just can’t see that much of a difference between McCain and
Hillary/Obama. I’ve tried and tried to be optimistic about this, but in
the end McCain is simply unacceptable to me as a conservative. I may
not vote at all for the first time in a presidential election since
1984.
9)I think a lot of liberals, when they look at the desperate tactics
used by the Clintons so far, are starting to understand why
conservatives dislike the Clintons so much. It’s not their stand on the
issues — I think you can make a strong argument that the Clintons are
a moderating influence on the Democrats and that’s not a bad thing —
it’s the complete lack of principles. I have yet to meet a Mormon
Democrat who supports Clinton over Obama.
10)It’s going to be a very long four years starting Jan. 2009.

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About Geoff B.

Geoff B graduated from Stanford University (class of 1985) and worked in journalism for several years until about 1992, when he took up his second career in telecommunications sales. He has held many callings in the Church, but his favorite calling is father and husband. Geoff is active in martial arts and loves hiking and skiing. Geoff has five children and lives in Colorado.

81 thoughts on “Things we’ve learned about the 2008 election so far

  1. what it is like to be a Libertarian or Green third party voter. Even
    though McCain is closest to my political beliefs (closer than Hillary
    or Obama), I cannot in good conscience vote for him because someday I
    will have to defend that vote. His administration, if he is elected,
    will be a huge disaster, and I will have to admit I voted for him when
    the inevitable disaster begins. I’d rather be able to say that I
    couldn’t vote for him because I knew he would be a disaster from the
    start.

  2. reaction to Romney’s candidacy. I’ve always felt like I was a part of
    the mainstream Republican party, though I’ve recognized that I’m more
    conservative than some. I thought the party generally fit my beliefs
    and ideals. However, when I saw how Romney has been received, I
    realized that we (members of the LDS church) are welcomed as a voting
    block but not as recipients of that vote. It’s been frustrating, and I
    have entertained thoughts about the possibility of a third party that
    would include us without prejudice. I really didn’t realize the level
    of animosity and/or fear that is held for us and our beliefs.

  3. I’ve learned that Americans truly are persuaded easily by the media. They don’t read the issues or research the candidates. They do whatever the media tells them to do. And because of that, our country is going to be in a lot of hurt.

    It looks like I’ll be voting for the lesser of two evils. Again.

  4. I’ve learned that Americans truly are persuaded easily by the media.
    They don’t read the issues or research the candidates. They do whatever
    the media tells them to do. And because of that, our country is going
    to be in a lot of hurt.

    It looks like I’ll be voting for the lesser of two evils. Again. —–
    points 1 AND 2 above) that Romney primarily is losing because of his
    religion. I think there are a long list of other factors that need to
    be considered. Specifically, in the South, he did not lose because he
    is a Mormon. That is one factor, but I really think he lost because his
    style of politics simply does not connect with Southern voters.

    Having said that, I know how you feel about the third party situation.
    I have always considered third parties a waste of time because they can
    never win, but a true Reagan conservative third party would get my vote
    in November because I can’t in good conscience vote for the other
    alternatives.

  5. In that case, thanks for giving Minnesota its props.

    I have yet to meet a Mormon Democrat who supports Clinton over Obama.

    Granted, we have not actually met, but I prefer Clinton, solely because
    I think the likes of Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao would eat Obama for
    lunch. Still, I am seriously contemplating casting my vote for McCain
    next Tuesday, so I am just a lost cause.

  6. there are other horses in the race, run them out using whatever means
    necessary. Hillary and McCain have the same owners, Huckabee, too, who
    is being used to take delegates away from Mitt. Once Mitt drops,
    Huckabee will drop and McCain will get the nomination. McCain’s going
    to take a dive for Hillary in the general election, just like Kerry
    took a dive for Bush. Obama is obviously the democratic choice, so the
    election fixers are having a hard time getting Hillary just enough
    delegates to win. Romney was a useful tool, but not owned by the same
    owners of Hillary, McCain, and Huckabee (and others). When mormons
    realize that Mitt was gamed, that he got votes taken from him, they’ll
    be pretty sore. They are going to realize that having a President
    Hillary or President McCain is pretty scary. Go watch Hacking Democracy
    and learn where the real battle for the elections lie. Pay attention to
    what people outside the establishment are saying about things. Mitt
    unfortunately believed the establishment when he wasn’t even one of
    them. They don’t need him anymore and he is being cast aside, much to
    the astonishment of him and his supporters. That’s what we’ve learned
    about the election so far.

  7. I’ll repost the comment I made at Mormon Mentality because I’m feeling
    lazy and have things to do…

    Even if you accept that anti-Mormon sentiment had something to do with last night, it gets tricky.

    Did they vote against Romney because he’s Mormon? Or did they vote against him because they don’t trust him?

    Well, I’d argue that a large reason Romney comes off fake and untrustworthy is, in-part, due to his Mormonism.

    I’ve been following the internet buzz on Mormonism from evangelicals for couple years now and one thing has become very plain.

    They – don’t – trust – Mormons.

    In their eye’s we are sneaky opportunists who will do and say
    anything to get the missionaries in your door. We will soft-pedal on
    our theology, we will lie about our temples, we will try to pretend
    we’re “just like you.� And over the entire thing, we put out
    those “deliberately� theologically uninformative feel-good TV ads
    “Family – Isn’t it About Time?â€� But of course, that’s just an
    act we put on to lure you into our cult! In fact, the only reason we
    have nice families is a PR stunt, didn’t you know?

    When Mormons try to softpedal on theological differences, it simply
    raises evangelical defenses. They are quite convinced we simply are
    different. When we try to act like we’re the same, it tends to piss
    them off. To them, Gordon B. Hinckley isn’t the forward-thinking
    leader who reached out to other faiths. To them, he was a used car
    salesman (or an Amway salesman, take your pick).

    I hope it’s obvious to most of you how Romney played right into these
    popular stereotypes. Squeaky clean image, nice family, soft-pedaling on
    all theological issues, switching positions…

    This is exactly why there was such a strong polling correlation between
    those who cited his “flip-flops� as a reason for their dislike and
    those who simply dislike Mormons. To these folks flip-flopping and
    Mormonism are synonyms.

    The reason people voted against Romney were for substantive reasons
    that were rooted in, and based on a popular prejudice. Romney is
    feeling the full force of years of anti-Mormon image branding.

    Face it, other GOP candidates have changed their positions on the
    issues before. Why was Romney such a big screaming deal? Because he had
    already been branded by years of overt and subtle marketing in Southern
    Baptist congregations as just the latest edition of “sneaky
    Mormonism.�

  8. the Repubs in states that don’t win for the Repubs in Nov. (NY, NJ, CA,
    etc.) and Obama won Dems in states that don’t win for the Dems in Nov.
    (w/ the exception of IL and two small states, CT & DE). It appears
    that more Dems have turned out to vote in these primaries than have
    Repubs – not a good sign for Nov.

    For Romney to win, he needs to improve his recognition and reputation.
    Romney, as a good business executive, should cut his losses (monetary
    and delegate) and get out of the race – today is not too soon but after
    04 Mar is too late. Like Reagan, after his loss to Ford in ’76, Romney
    needs to start a national campaign to get the needed recognition and
    reputation. Reagan revived his national radio broadcasts for 3 years
    and won a lot of converts to his next run for presidency. Romney needs
    to do something similar (radio might be too crowded these days – maybe
    something with the internet?) and try again in 4 years.

  9. Romney, as a good business executive, should cut his losses (monetary and delegate) and get out of the race

    +++

    For the good of the party too…

    But he says he’s not. Which is silly since McCain just need convince
    Huckabee to stay in and that’ll divide the anti-McCain vote.

  10. Most of you youngsters won’t get this analogy, but if you’re 50 or
    over, or are good history students, you’ll see the similarities.

    I think we’re going to have a Carter/Ford/Reagan situation again.

    Carter = Obama. Inept newcomer who is elected president based on promises of change and cleaning up Washington.

    Ford = McCain. Pseudo-conservative who the GOP nominated, who then lost to the democrat “candidate of change”.

    Reagan = Romney. Real conservative who lost the nomination one year (as
    Reagan lost nomination to Ford because americans didn’t understand why
    we need a conservative, and as a governor, he was not well known enough
    on the national scene), but who went on to win big 4 years later after
    America realized what a bozo they elected previously.

  11. Bookslinger, you are spot on with #15! Romney may go down to defeat in ’08, but he will be back to clean-up the mess in ’12!

  12. “I just can’t see that much of a difference between McCain and Hillary/Obama.”

    That may be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. McCain in
    pro-life and pro-Iraq War. Does not sound like Obama to me. McCain is
    opposed to increased government spending on health care. McCain loves
    Ronald Reagan.

    Now, I am an Obama fan because I disagree with Republicans and McCain on all of these issues.

    Romney=Reagan. Well, he has for the last two years. Either way, if he
    is the Reagan Republican does that mean the he will use poor minorities
    as scapegoats for our nation’s problems and actively promote economic
    inequality and greed. Or does that just mean the he will support
    military dictatorship around the world. You all must be swelling with
    pride.

  13. “defeat in ’08, but he will be back to clean-up the mess in ’12!”

    That is a big IF. Who is to say Huckster wouldn’t be thinking the same
    thing? Also, you don’t know who will be running in the Republican
    ticket with them. It is a nice daydream, but mostly without facts to
    back it up. My own prediction is that Romney is out big time. He has
    nowhere else to go for name recognition. The one thing I think he could
    do is become governor of Utah, but again unlikely. As for the next
    Mormon to run for Pres.? It will be a Democrat 30 years from now.

  14. This is huge!

    If you consider yourself a conservative Christian and you want someone
    with conservative values in the White House you must vote for Romney.
    Dr Dobson said in a statement yesterday that a vote for Huckabee is
    essentially a vote for McCain and if McCain wins the nomination he
    won’t vote.

    Listen to his statment:

    http://election.newsmax.com/dobson_mccain/

    Now pass this information on to your fellow Christian friends.

    http://www.graceforgrace.com

  15. Geoff,

    Sorry. However, your anti-McCain comments are inaccurate. Does truth
    matter or only preference? I also do not believe that an informed
    conservative like yourself really thinks that McCain is the same as
    Clinton or Obama. It is overblown campaign rhetoric.

    Man! You Romney people are very sensitive and no longer any fun. No more M* for me. Peace.

  16. Chris H.,

    As someone who has lived in AZ under the McCain blight, I can vouch for
    his liberal views: McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, etc., etc., etc.
    McCain, in my view, is wrong on free speech, wrong on immigration and
    wrong on taxes.

    I have a great deal of respect for McCain’s war record and appreciate his sacrifice for our country.

    That said, I don’t want him as my senator or president.

  17. much the same. I understand where you are coming from. But if you knew
    more about how conservatives think and act and what we want in a
    president, you might be more empathetic. Let’s put it this way: I
    firmly believe Bush’s failure is that he was not conservative enough.
    He cooperated with the Dems way too much (unnecessary and costly
    prescription drug bill) and did not use conservative principles in too
    many areas. I firmly believe if he had vetoed more spending bills his
    approval ratings would be above 50 percent. So, when I look at McCain I
    see another Republican who will ruin what the party should stand for. I
    see massive spending increases, bad choices on judges, and a contempt
    for social conservatives. In short, just what I’d get from Clinton and
    Obama. Sorry, to me they are the same thing politically.

  18. Geoff B.,
    For what it’s worth, you seem to equate spending with Democrats, which
    has been clearly shown to be false (or, at best, partially true). You
    argue that, because Bush spent, he’s not a true conservative. While
    this may be true (or may not; I’m not at all interested in what
    constitutes a “true” conservative, any more than I care what it is a
    “true” liberal believes), he is clearly a true Republican; just because
    he isn’t doing what you want him to do doesn’t mean he’s agreeing too
    much with the Democrats. I can’t, as a matter of fact, remember more
    than two or three substantive things he’s done (I’m not counting saying
    nice things about the troops or other nonsubstantive things) in which
    he agreed with the Democrats (although the current Congressional
    Democrats have caved to him way, way too often; the problem, though,
    was them agreeing with Bush, not his agreeing with them).

  19. cooperates and agrees with Republicans on the war in Iraq. Democrats
    wanted him out of office because he “cooperated with the Repubs” way
    too much.

    Sigh. 🙂

    It cuts both ways.

  20. Brian,

    I thought that the Dems were acting as psycho about Lieberman as you
    all are about McCain. I am glad to see that you are using the actions
    of Moveon.org to justify your own actions. I am too their left and do
    not condone such tactics. In a two-party system we need wide coalitions
    to win. I thought the right understood that better than my side. Oh
    well, good for me.

  21. the Romney obituaries. I consider myself a right-leaning independent,
    if I had to give myself a label, but I think I’d vote for your man
    Obama this year. The Republican Party is an embarrasment right now. I
    think Obama (not that this is any comfort to you) would moderate as a
    president when the realities of office replace campaign rhetoric. At
    the very least, he’s a fresh face and an inspirational figure, and
    sometimes that quality is as important for a president as being
    ideologically driven. Also, I like that he is the only front runner
    right now that isn’t an enchrenced Washington insider.
    There’s my two cents. See you at basketball.

  22. what the Dems did to Lieberman. I was simply pointing out that both
    parties have members that act outside the confines of what the party
    finds acceptable and the party and/or its members sometimes react.

    In McCain’s case, it is the talk show hosts and party members that are
    against him being president. By in large, I think a lot of his peers in
    the Senate (with a few exceptions), support his bid to become president.

    I find McCain’s views to be more liberal than I can agree with
    (especially on immigration), so I did not vote for him. It is my
    opinion and my right to disagree with him.

    Should I embrace him simply because of the “injustice” wrought by the McCain opposition?

  23. Just a random thought… What if Romney loses (likely) and ends up running as an independent (probably unlikely)?

    The malicious liberal, and the disenfranchised Mormon, in me would LOVE to see that happen.

    And while I’m dreaming, I’d like a pony…

  24. Brian,

    I do not think that anyone should vote for McCain, nor do I really
    care. I never said that you or anyone should embrace him. I do not have
    a problem with disagreeing. How you handle those disagreements is more
    interesting to me.

    Sheldon,

    Shouldn’t you be working? I tend to agree with you. I am not a moderate
    in policy or philoshy, though I appreciate moderation in style. That
    must be why I like you.

  25. running as an independent. As much as a dislike McCain’s stand on many
    issues, I would not support an independent bid by Romney.

    If it comes down to a McCain v. Obama race, my vote goes to Obama. 🙂
    Sure, I disagree with Obama on several issues, but I would enjoy
    hearing him speak. He is a heck of a public speaker!

  26. I’m a semi-Romney supporter, but what I’m learning is that some Romney
    supporters are sore losers. So what? Your first choice lost? Join the
    club along with the Giuliani/Thompson/Edwards/Hunter supporters. That’s
    life.

    And he lost fair and square. What happened in West Virginia was
    perfectly fair. The McCain people want McCain to win nationally and
    recognized that Romney was his greatest threat, so they did what they
    could to avoid a Romney win. Romney supporters would have done the same
    if the tables were reversed. If you don’t like it, move to West
    Virginia and try to change the system.

    And as for Huckabee ruining things and splitting the anti-McCain vote,
    you could probably make the same argument that Romney should have
    dropped out and let Huckabee have the vote. Last night I looked at the
    vote counts and my rough count was 2-3 states that Romney would have
    won over McCain had the Huckabee voters voted for Romney, and 2-3
    states that Huckabee would have won had Romney voters voted for
    Huckabee. So who’s the blame for McCain winning? Romnney or Huckabee?
    The ideal situation would have been for Huckabee/Romney supporters to
    get together and consolidate their votes in individual states, thus
    making it a 3-way race at this point. That wasn’t likely to happen
    though, but that’s not all Huckabee’s fault.

    And maybe I’m just not a conservative as I thought, but I don’t see
    McCain being horrible. Not ideal, yes, but there could be a lot worse.
    And considering the fact that we have a President that has been
    horrible for the republican party, I’d say having a legimate shot at
    the presidency again is not something to be crying about, even if that
    person doesn’t lean as far right as some would like.

    But I too hope Romney runs again in ’12, assuming Clinton or Obama is elected or I’m wrong and McCain really is horrible.

  27. Oh, and one more thing.

    Romney said conservatives would rally to him…

    AND THEY HAVEN’T!

    Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I really thought that was a terrible slogan
    from the beginning. I think even the rally goers must be getting really
    tired of chanting that. It’s a negative tone, and a conjunction just
    doesn’t work for a chant. Whoever thought of that should have been
    fired a long time ago.

  28. If it weren’t for the fact that Hillary Clinton is running, I could
    have at least taken comfort in the idea that bitterness and acrimonious
    personal assaults in blog comment threads would take a vacation after
    November. Is anyone else already looking forward to November 2009, when
    we can all vote on school levies and uncontested races for county
    auditor?

  29. proportionately–then we’d see a much closer race between McCain and
    Romney. I think that as much–if not more–than anything else has been
    Romney’s stumbling block. Must be frustrating as H.E. double hockey
    sticks.

  30. Chris H: (#21)
    “Man! You Romney people are very sensitive and no longer any fun. No more M* for me. Peace.”

    I thought you were leaving.

    You young guys just haven’t been paying attention long enough. McCain
    has been betraying republicans, the republican party, conservatives,
    and conservatism for about 20 years or so.

    When McCain says “Reach out across the aisle” he really means “Give the democrats what they want.”

    If voters had wanted what the democrats want, they would have elected all democrats.

    It looks to me like Obama is going to be elected president. And I
    predict he’ll be just as inept, if not more, than Carter was. And then
    America will come to its senses, like in 1980, and vote in a
    republican.

  31. Some of us are old enough to know that once McCain is the nominee, the
    Democrats will have a field day with his past, including being one of
    the censured “Keating 5” congressmen during the Arizona S&L scandal
    of the ’80s.

  32. To paraphrase Rumsfeld:

    You go to an election with the candidates you have, not the ones you wished you have.

    Great. So the successes of our foreign policy in Iraq will now
    become equivalent successes in domestic and foreign policy for the next 8 years.

  33. I’ll reprise two comments I made on MM.

    1. Regarding the comment I have yet to meet a Mormon Democrat who supports Clinton over Obama.

    I have activist Dem relatives in Utah. From what they tell me, the LDS
    dems largely went for Hillary, the non-LDS dems went for Obama.
    Remember, in a DEMOCRATIC primary in Utah, there’s not a huge religious
    majority.

    2. Regarding the Southern governor comment … what if Romney had been
    the governor of Alabama and an Espicopalian? Would it have made any bit
    of difference? I don’t think so.

  34. Bookslinger, after eight years of one of the most highly qualified and
    impressive-on-paper Executive branches we’ve had, I’m more than ready
    to try someone with a bit less of a resume.

    Experience didn’t stop Cheney and Rumsfeld from acting like utter
    dingbats. I honestly would have preferred the Carter administration to
    the Bush administration over the past eight.

  35. For someone who said that Romney supporters are sore losers since they
    aren’t rooting for the other (i.e.McCain) Republican candidate, you
    haven’t been paying attention. It isn’t that we wouldn’t support other
    candidates. There were some real good ones I thought, including the
    underestimated Hunter. Even Thompson would have been someone I could
    support if it wasn’t for his lazy attitude. Even Guliani wouldn’t have
    been that bad of a choice I think in the end, even if his liberalism
    gives pause.

    No, the problem is McCain pure and simple. How that Democrat (I mean
    Republican with a grain of salt) can be picked is simply shocking. It
    is a slap in the face toward all Republicans. It is a slap in the face
    to all that Ronald Reagan Republicans worked hard to build. Romney
    supporters are not the only ones that are “sore losers” toward him.
    Even those who are late Romney supporters don’t like him . . . at all.
    His nomination is the sign that Republicanism is, to the great pleasure
    of the Democrats, no longer in existance. He is a traitor that our own
    put into the position he now sits.

    The good news is that he is going to be trashed in the coming election.
    Why? Because those who support him now I suspect will end up voting for
    the Democrats in the general. Those who don’t support him won’t vote
    for either side other than a very small group who vote no matter what.
    The dislike among Republicans (and this makes it doubly confusing why
    he got nominated. I hate Huckster, but I would at least understand why
    he would get the vote) for him is almost equal to the dislike of
    Hillary Clinton. As I heard someone else say, it is going to be a very
    long and depressing four years.

  36. become equivalent successes in domestic and foreign policy for the next
    8 years.

    Pretty much. But the only thing we can do is acknowledge that and then
    go from there. Grumbling about how McCain isn’t a real conservative and
    all that (despite his high ACU ratings and his low ACLU ratings)
    doesn’t change the fact he will be more conservative than the
    Democratic choices.

    And for me, Supreme Court judges are the main issue. McCain may not
    pick people like Alito, but unlike Clinton or Obama’s possible judicial
    picks, his judge picks will likely at least be somewhat moderate.

  37. The repub race confirmed to me that there are three types of repubs.

    1. religious Conservatives Huck
    2. national security MCCain
    3. Economic conservatives Romney

  38. Tossman #40:

    MP- I’m curious as to why you think it would be
    Clinton/Edwards. I was thinking Clinton/Obama if they can heal their
    rift. I think Clinton/Obama would be unstoppable.

    I agree with you, but I think that rift is inhealable. Hillary and Obama really, really hate each other.

    Oh, and I agree with miguel #56. Republicans who are running on
    platforms of big spending, big deficits, big regulation,
    extra-Constitutional powers, anti-privacy, and an interventionist
    foreign policy are the ones who are not “true Republicans.”
    Neoconservatism, with its leftist, “do-gooder” roots, has radically
    changed the Republican Party into a shadow of its former self.

  39. re: 57

    But do you really think hatred would stop Hillary from picking someone
    as her running mate if she thought it in her best political interest? 🙂

  40. I’m surprised that it doesn’t seem to bother people that McCain dumped his first wife to marry someone else.

  41. MikeInWeHo #59: Good point. I revise and amend my previous remarks.

    willf #60: People have an amazing capacity to overlook flaws in
    political candidates they support, while overemphasizing the flaws in
    candidates they oppose.

  42. Mike #62: Yeah, they even turned lookin’ good into “car salesman” and speaking well into “too slick”

  43. and speaking well into “too slick” —–
    Jettboy:

    “How that Democrat (I mean Republican with a grain of salt) can be
    picked is simply shocking. It is a slap in the face toward all
    Republicans.”

    But it IS a majority of Republicans who are voting for McCain in these
    primaries. No one is forcing him on anyone; he’s the one the
    grass-roots voters are pulling for. More Republicans polled so far like
    McCain than liked Romney, Huckabee, or anyone else.

    So the inevitable question: Which ones are the ones who are
    out-of-touch with their own party, the McCain-lovers or the
    McCain-haters? Has the Republican party left conservative voters in the
    same way some say the Democrats left moderates behind? Is there a
    third-party split in the offing?

  44. votes and McCain about 4.7 million to date. Throw in Huckabee and
    you’ve got a clear majority voting to the right of McCain (who has been
    lucky enough to win more “winner take all” states than Romney and have
    his buddy Huck dividing the anti-McCain votes).

  45. your bottom dollar Mitt being Mormon affected his vote. I’d would wager
    religious bigotry against LDS is probably the roughest in the south.

    Throughout my life-before and after my mission (I’m 28), I’ve had
    plenty of friends who were initially interested in the church. I’d hand
    them a BoM, a few days later I’d get it returned-or they wouldn’t
    accept it at all, saying they wouldn’t read a word of it b/c their
    minister said it was of the devil.

    Not but 2 years ago, after visiting my parents on a weekend, driving
    home from church they turned on the AM radio for news. I’ve rarely
    read/heard anything more anti-mormon coming out of the ministers mouth.
    The southern ministers don’t even have to rail against Mitt, they’ve
    taught their congregations that over years, so they don’t even have to
    mention it.

    I have a friend in Virginia, he can’t stand McCain-he recently told me
    he might write in a random name. I asked him about Mitt, he claimed “he
    doesn’t have enough experience”. Okay . . . considering I’ve spent long
    hours talking with him about religion-he’s a born again-and doesn’t
    think I’m Christian. He won’t say it to my face, b/c he doesn’t want to
    be seen as a religious bigot, but believe me, the subtle things he has
    done over the years, he won’t vote Mitt b/c he’s Mormon.

    Let’s see Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkanasas-all went to Huckabee
    and Huckabee would have won SC if Thompson hadn’t been in it.

    You think the South wants McCain? Not really, but they’ll take McCain over a Mormon.

    Mitt dropped out b/c he realized he has no chance to win in the South,
    now if Mitt were a born-again or a baptist, or shoot just a plain
    protestant, he would have destroyed McCain in the South.

    Honestly, though I’m actually really pleasantly surprised how well Mitt
    did in the South, slowly but surely religious bigotry is working its
    way out.

    ps. The above is NOT a slam on any religion, I wish no ill-will on
    those who say things against LDS. I really do love the people in the
    south, they are very religious, deeply moral, god-fearing, wonderful
    people, I just wish they’d recognize the same for LDS.

    pps. I’m actually not a Romney supporter, but out of all the rest of
    the candidates besides mine I had hoped he’d win the nominee. I’d might
    have just voted for him in the General.

    Not anymore, if Ron Paul doesn’t win the nominee, I’ll still be writing in his name, Ron Paul, thank you very much!

  46. Jack,
    Surely any of us who made it through the Election of 2000 understand
    that the nationwide popular vote is mostly irrelevant when
    electors/delegates are what count. Call McCain’s lead a plurality of
    Republicans if you’d like, but the gist of my question still stands.

  47. 49. For someone who said that Romney supporters are sore
    losers since they aren’t rooting for the other (i.e.McCain) Republican
    candidate, you haven’t been paying attention. It isn’t that we wouldn’t
    support other candidates. There were some real good ones I thought,
    including the underestimated Hunter. Even Thompson would have been
    someone I could support if it wasn’t for his lazy attitude. Even
    Guliani wouldn’t have been that bad of a choice I think in the end,
    even if his liberalism gives pause.

    No, the problem is McCain pure and simple. How that Democrat (I mean
    Republican with a grain of salt) can be picked is simply shocking. It
    is a slap in the face toward all Republicans.

    A slap in the face toward all Republicans? How is it then that he is
    winning the nomination? Obviously many Republicans don’t consider it a
    slap in the face. It may be a slap in the face to people who think like
    you do, which clearly is not representative of all republicans.

    I called some Romney supports sore losers (ok, I’m sorry for calling
    names) because they keep blaming Romney’s loss on something other than
    Romney. It’s West Virginia’s fault (what happened was perfectly legit),
    or it’s Huckabee’s fault (The conservative vote split was just as much
    Romney’s fault as it was Huckabee’s), or it’s those states that are
    winner-take-all (that’s how it works, deal with it). I think we (and
    yes, I’m somewhat of a supporter also) need to accept the fact that
    Romney wasn’t the top choice of most Republicans, and that’s all there
    is too it. He’ll have a better shot in the future now that he is known,
    and because the perceived flip-flops will be further in the past
    (assuming he doesn’t make any more). The big question now is what does
    he do to keep himself somewhat publicly visible so he can jump right
    back into it in the future.

    As far as McCain goes, I don’t think he is as bad as Hillary or Obama,
    and he has to pick a conservative VP, and my gut says it won’t be
    Huckabee. That’s just way too old-white-man to win against Clinton or
    Obama. We’ll see. It’s likely to be irrelevant anyway, in my opinion.

  48. was only hanging around to save America from a Mormon president? I have
    no problem with him staying in up to this point, and I thought the
    calls for him to pull out to give Romney a chance against McCain were
    obnoxious. His showing Tuesday and before that wasn’t as good as
    Romney’s, but it was good enough that he had as much claim to stay in
    the race as Romney did.

    Now, though, it is plain that he can’t win, just as it was for Romney.
    There is no point in going on, but if he announces today that his
    campaign is over, then it will appear that he was only hanging on in
    order to damage Romney. He has to wait at least another week.

  49. Chad Too,

    Re: #69–According to that logic then most American citizens were for Bush even though Gore got the majority of popular votes.

    Mike L.,

    Just for the record, when I point out that Romney lost because of a
    disproportionate spread of delegates or a division between he and
    Huckabee, I’m only saying that he didn’t lose because he wasn’t liked.
    He lost–for the most part–because he wasn’t positioned well
    logistically.

  50. Jack,
    You’re dodging the question over semantics. More Republicans have
    chosen McCain as their man than any other single candidate. He holds
    far more delegates than any other. Will you address the question or
    not?

  51. Chad Too,

    I’m not trying to dodge. I’m saying that I don’t buy the idea that a *majority* of Republicans have chosen–to date–McCain over any other candidate, basing that argument in the delegate count. The numbers simply don’t add up. That’s why I didn’t think your allusion to the Bush/Gore race as an analog was applicable. Plus, I don’t think the workings of the Electoral College make for a good analogy regarding the distribution of delegates in the Republican Primaries.

    You’re right that McCain has swept the delegates. But, IMO, that has as much to do with the “luck of the draw” as with anything else.

  52. I’m not trying to dodge. I’m saying that I don’t buy the idea that a
    *majority* of Republicans have chosen–to date–McCain over any other
    candidate, basing that argument in the delegate count. The numbers
    simply don’t add up. That’s why I didn’t think your allusion to the
    Bush/Gore race as an analog was applicable. Plus, I don’t think the
    workings of the Electoral College make for a good analogy regarding the
    distribution of delegates in the Republican Primaries.

    You’re right that McCain has swept the delegates. But, IMO, that has as
    much to do with the “luck of the draw” as with anything else.

    —–

  53. If Mitt’s faith and how it affected the race is of interest to you, I
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    http://www.article6themovie.com/

    Article 6 is a fascinating film about how faith affects politics, and
    on how people truly see LDS. —–
    (politically). Thy are leftover southern Democrats which is sort of
    like saying a born and bred bigot with a hand out. (Sometimes this is
    called a populist). These Huckabites have been left behind and they are
    about to face the tribulation.

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