Feb 05 2008

The “True Conservative” Romney Loses In WV

Published by at 4:24 pm under 2008 Elections,All General Discussions

I tell you, it is becoming the ‘anybody but Mitt’ race as Romney loses WV to the combined forces of McCain and Huckabee:

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.

Huckabee won the contest on the second ballot with 567 votes, or 51 percent, to Romney’s 521 votes, which put him at 47 percent. McCain finished the second ballot with 12 votes.

For those who may have misunderstood democracy to be a ‘purity’ test this is what is known in the business as a ‘governing coalition’. This is what the hyper-partisans threw away with their ranting insults against all those ‘traitors’ to the cause. All those ‘traitors’ are now joining forces to neutralize the purity zealots. I said this was the year the middle told the hper-fringes to take a hike. Welcome to democracy folks – where badgering loses elections and coalitions of allies win them.

17 responses so far

17 Responses to “The “True Conservative” Romney Loses In WV”

  1. Whippet1 says:

    AJ,

    The “hyper-fringes”, the “ranting insults” and my favorite, “neutralize the purity zealots.” You have become nothing more than those you claim to despise.

  2. Terrye says:

    Back room deal my behind. All of these delegates will end up somewhere, if Romney was not so disliked maybe he would be the one getting them. They resent his money and they resent talk radio on his side I am sure.

    The truth is this is politics, and Romney knows that.

    And btw, after the remarks he made about Dole, I doubt if he can count on much from Kansas. They may not be voting today, but I am sure Romney’s remarks about Dole will be in McCain ads there in no time.

    We are a Republic, not a pure democracy. That means our representatives are supposed to represent us. If Romney wants one man one vote he can lobby to change the system.

  3. Terrye says:

    Whippet:

    That is so lame. If it is true why don’t you follow your own advice and just ignore him?

  4. MerlinOS2 says:

    I will be doing my best to maintain a summary spread sheet on goggle docs tonight. 

    Follow the link below and click the tab in the upper left corner labeled Super Tuesday to watch in another tab in your browser.

     Link

     

  5. AJ, I think you are missing something in this case.

    Article6blog.com has documented what seems to be a fair amount of anti-Mormon bias at least among Huckabee.

    More accurately, you could say that Mitt Romney is a victim of religious purists who cannot abide the thought of a Mormon as President.

    Just take a look at the Vanderbilt study, and then try to make the case that Romney’s not suffering from a bit of “impurity” of his own.

  6. Whippet1 says:

    Terrye,
    Again, making no sense…too much wine maybe?

  7. Terrye says:

    Whippet:

    I thought you were not speaking to me.

  8. Terrye says:

    Harold:

    I do not think that is fair, I know a lot of people who like Huckabee who are not religious purists. It is just easier for Romney’s people to blame it on that.

  9. SallyVee says:

    Love the “back room deal” accusation. This from the candidate who, along with surrogates like Mary Matalin and Hugh Hewitt, have been instructing Huckabee supporters to vote for Romney because “a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain.”

    This thing is off the rails with bizarro antics and insane rhetoric.

    Time to pop some corn, sit back and enjoy the show.

  10. SallyVee says:

    P.S. Just a little tip of the hat to Huck supporters in Alabama. I am on Huck’s email list, nationally and locally. The level of enthusiasm and grass roots organization here is astonishing. Lots of small biz owners are involved and they’ve been doing mini and major events every day for the past two weeks. The support for Huck is real, and there is a ton of blood, sweat and tears going into his campaign.

  11. SallyVee says:

    P.P.S. Many of the same people complaining about the “back room deal” are threatening to bolt the party if McCain wins the nomination. So they are allowed to tilt the equation by any means necessary, but everyone else must sit politely on the sidelines? How typical of all the other hysterical stunts and tyrannical edicts.

  12. Whippet1 says:

    SallyVee,
    At least those “threatening to leave the party if McCain wins the nomination” happen to be registered members of that party. When you truly believe in the conservative principals and you feel outside sources are trying to change them it is always an option to leave. A party with no core principals will not survive.

    It seems to me the ones complaining the most about the “party purists” can’t bring themselves to align with either party or its principals. They have marginalized their political power by choosing to be on the outside looking in and they are trying to consolidate that power to have an affect on the established parties.

    So who really are the ones pulling “hysterical stunts and tyrannical edicts”?

  13. The Macker says:

    Whip,
    To “leave the Party” is to go nowhere. It’s right that we have these debates within the parties. And they can be consequential. But in the end, one’s principles are not likely to be advanced by conceding to the other party.

    I would suggest that whether it’s McCain or Romney, Romney, is the future of the Party. His appeal is broadest, he is young and,arguably, the brightest.

  14. Whippet1 says:

    Macker,
    I totally agree with you.

    What I am saying is that at least those threatening to leave are actually a part of something that they can leave. Many of those criticizing them here are not a part of any party. What exactly are their core principles? It appears that those who are uncommitted to any party are the most vocal about trying to change one of those parties.

    It’s like telling your mechanic how to fix your car when you’ve never picked up a tool.

  15. SallyVee says:

    Whip, do you ever write your own term papers or do you only grade other people’s papers obsessively?

    Please don’t answer! Can’t take it.

  16. Klimt says:

    Conservatives are not threatening to leave, they are adamant about staying in the GOP (a very typical attitude of a conservative). McCain is in the NRP.

    In any case, McCain is FAR better than Hillary or Obama! I’ll find something I like about him, though I can’t admit I will ever admire him. But remember: it ain’t over till AJ sings!

  17. Whippet1 says:

    SallyVee,

    Are you going to grade the teacher for all the red marks on your page?