McCain Locks It Up!
Reuters.com is reporting that John McCain has won the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, far surpassing the target of 1,191 delegates.
Mike Huckabee withdrew from the race, emphasizing his need to stick to his morals. He threw his support to McCain.
The Arizona Senator's only remaining competition is Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who won his voting district in his home state, but wasn't even in contention for its popular vote. The win was significant enough to Paul, however, that it warranted a "victory" party.
Huckabee now joins the list of possible McCain runningmates. Certainly Huckabee would help solve the "conservative" problem, but his emphatic religiosity might be a turn-off for voters in the general election. Joining him on the list of potential veeps are Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who would bring fashion, femininity and a minority perspective to the race; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who could help deliver the all-important Midwest vote; South Dakota Sen. John Thune, whose good looks would bring a Mitt Romney-esque image to the campaign -- only without Romney's flip-floppedness (Thune is the conservative who knocked off Tom Daschle in 2004) and last but not least, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who delilvered his state to McCain despite stiff competition from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Meanwhile, on the Democrat side, Hillary Clinton is vowing to stay in the race after winning soundly in Ohio and Rhode island and by a slim margin in Texas. Barack Obama handily took Vermont, reeling in more than 80 percent of the vote.
Let the games begin.
Comments
If Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, then I’m voting for McCain, no questions asked. If Obama gets it, then I’ll wait and see how they stack up in the debates before I make a decision. Since I’m getting my Naval commission in 2011, I tend to vote Republican for job security reasons (since Republicans tend to expand military personnel), but in the case of this vital election, I’ll hear the case of the other side.
No matter what, though, I’m happy with the Republican candidate. He’s more consistent than Romney, more pragmatic than Paul, and more progressive than Huckabee. Not to mention the fact that he’s an independent voter magnet and a war hero.