Romney loses in Florida to McCain...

[_dartagnan]

Yes, McCain accused Romney of trying to set a time table and then stated that would be a disaster since Al Queida would know our plan and declare victory. This is dishonest because Romney's comments were taken out of context, and he never suggested setting a publicly declared timetable. McCain had this arrow in his quiver for months but decided to unleash it right before the Florida Primary when he needed it most. What a scumbag.

Romney is right. McCain has been in Washington for too long. He can't change anything.

And McCain's Mom can't stand Mormons either. I just can't see this guy in the whitehouse.

He believes in securing the borders? What the hell does that mean exactly? Everyone says they believe in securing the borders. This platitude is like saying he supports the troops. Who doesn't?

[_Calculus Crusader]

I'm glad McCain won. I plan on casting my vote for him here in CA. I think the clobbering he received previously on immigration has caused him to rethink his position in that area.

[_CaliforniaKid]

He couldn't even beat George Bush for crying out loud.

1) McCain lost to Bush in the primary, which is not surprising given that he is the more progressive candidate. Moderates almost never win primaries, except when-- as in the current election-- the righties are divided. Fluke of nature or not, I'll take it.
2) Bush (or at least some overzealous supporters) ran an ugly smear campaign against McCain in 2000 that shifted the race decidedly in the former's favor.

[_DonBradley]

I'm glad Romney didn't take Florida. I'd very much prefer McCain to Romney.

Romney has generally been something of a mystery to me in his actual views on things, but lately he has pandered to the extreme conservatives. Neither of these builds my confidence in him.

McCain has proved himself over time to be a moderate Republican, if something of a hawk. He has long been more realistic about global warming than most Republicans, and he is the only candidate whom I think is really, really, really serious about campaign finance reform. He has shown himself to be such. Also, you actually know where the man stands on things. Even where you may disagree with him, he's a known quantity. In choosing McCain, one wouldn't be, say, voting for a "compassionate conservative," and electing a plutocrat.

This doesn't mean I've decided who to vote for. I haven't. Obama is promising. And, although he won't win, Huckabee is a surprisingly and sincerely caring person. He is also--and I didn't know such a thing--a sort of Republican populist. I'm interested in the Fair Tax he endorses, and the like. Obviously, I'd prefer to leave behind the Christian-rightism, but in the world of realpolitik, we vote for candidates, not unalloyed ideals.

Don

[_DonBradley]

He couldn't even beat George Bush for crying out loud.

1) McCain lost to Bush in the primary, which is not surprising given that he is the more progressive candidate. Moderates almost never win primaries, except when-- as in the current election-- the righties are divided. Fluke of nature or not, I'll take it.
2) Bush (or at least some overzealous supporters) ran an ugly smear campaign against McCain in 2000 that shifted the race decidedly in the former's favor.

Don't forget Bush's obscenely bloated campaign fund, provided by corporations eager for a candidate who would pursue their interests above that of persons, and who would support their ability to buy future presidents as well, by stridently opposing any real campaign finance reform. And then, of course, there's the Bush PR, or, more accurately, propaganda, team, which could sell shoe polish to a man with no legs, or a 'defensive' war against a military incapacitated nation.

Don

[_Sethbag]

Don, I find myself surprisingly well-inclined toward Huckabee as well. Every time I've listened to him I had the same impressions as you. He's a sincere, decent, caring person. If he weren't also a fundementalist Christian, holding Creationist views and whatnot, I could possibly find myself voting for him. As it is, however, I can like Huckabee a lot, but I could never vote for him.

[_dartagnan]

We need a new face and new blood. Even Bill Maher had to admit Romney is essentially a Ronald Reagan clone. Isn't that what real conservatives want?

McCain is a spin meister who has no integrity. Just look at how he spun his mother's comments about Mormons.

This is what she said about Romney:

"As far as the Salt Lake City thing, he's a Mormon and the Mormons of Salt Lake City had caused that scandal, and to clean that up, again, it's not a subject."

McCain then went to damage control mode by insulting our intelligence:

"What she meant was the Olympics were screwed up by the people in Salt Lake when Romney came in and fixed the problems there. But I know my 95-year-old mother is certainly in favor of Mormons."

Oh yea, we could tell she was in "favor" of Mormons.

What the hell does that mean anyway? It is about as meaningful as saying you're "favor" the troops or you're "favor" of securing the border.

Do we need another lying idiot in the white house?

[_Boaz & Lidia]

I like to follow the republican primaries for the same reason I like to watch olympic ice skating.

Such build up, so much on the line, so much time and energy put into winning and then BOOM! down on their ass and its all over!

In the end I don't care which party wins, I just want to see Romney twist his ankle as he tries to land the trick that he thinks will win all.

I wonder if the look on Mitt's face when he is defeated is the same look that Gordon had Sunday at 7:01 PM MST.

[_Sethbag]

I couldn't give a fig about what McCain's mom said about Mormons. Talk about spin, go back and look at the video of Romney pandering to the people of Massachusetts when he ran against Kennedy for his Senate seat, and then compare that with his views today. I have nothing against a person changing their mind on something after honest reflection, but I cannot hear Romney's radical changes of mind over social issues and believe his change of mind was honest. It was pandering, and on a grand scale.

[_guy sajer]

I think that none of us really have a clue how this'll play out in the end.

I see a lot of certainty expressed here over something that appears to me still highly uncertain at this point.