Giuliani Wins - Nothing
There is nothing sadder than someone who thinks that they are smarter than everyone else then they find out publicly that they ain’t so smart. Early on, mayor Rudy Giuliani thought up this plan that he wouldn’t campaign any where except Florida. He was going to focus like a laser on Florida. He wasn’t going to “piddle” with Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina. Those were “unimportant”. He was going to be American’s mayor to only a select few and those few would put him over the top. It was a VERY risky strategy and tonight it fell flat on its face. Placing a disappointing 3rd in a state that he campaigned in for about 6 weeks straight has shown what I thought from the start, when you disagree with Republicans on social issues, you aren’t going to do so well. Reports are coming out that Rudy is going to throw in the towel tomorrow. (Maybe the Republicans have moved past 9/11 as the single motivating factor for everything. Quit laughing. No seriously. Oh, forget it.)
What’s up with Mitt Romney? He hasn’t gotten any of the major endorsements. It seems that he is having a big case of the Mike Huckabee Syndrome - the more that the public knows about you the less that they like you. Here’s what you have to be worried about if you are Romney 45% of the voting Republicans said that their number 1 issue was the economy. Romney lost to McCain on the Economy?!?! Mr. Investment Banker couldn’t convince conservatives that he knew what was best for the economy. This is in spite of the fact that McCain only 2 weeks ago stated that he didn’t know very much about the economy.
Mike Huckabee seems to be fading. He isn’t drawing the huge crowds that he once drew. Although he won some counties (3), he didn’t win any major metropolitan areas. Super Tuesday will be putting some southern states into play but since Huckabee didn’t win in South Carolina I think that it will be hard for him to pick up a significant number of states. With him running out of money he will have to be very selective about where he spends his money. BTW, another sign that Huckabee is in serious trouble is that he split with Romney those Republicans who described themselves as Born-again or evangelical Christian. For Mike Huckabee to have a chance he has to win this segment by a huge margin.
John McCain continues to look better and better (to Republicans). I find it funny that a man who said that he was thinking of getting out of the Republican party back in 2000 and who has opposed so many Republican “principles,” is now being embraced by the Republican party. Remember all the way back to Iowa. Pat Buchanan was the Republican talking head on MSNBC. Buchanan was almost seizing anytime that someone mentioned the fact that McCain was seeming like a good option to many Republicans.
Finally, this isn’t over. Super Tuesday should help around out the field but again I don’t think that there will a nominee crowned on Tuesday - for either party.
Psst - Hillary won the democratic primary. No one campaigned in the state. There were no delegates because of spat between the DNC and Florida legislature which is dominated by Republicans who believe in party first.
