I’ve stayed out of this story until recently because of the focus on the Dems race in South Carolina, but now Florida is upon us and so it’s time to turn attention back to the GOP.
Basically, McCain said that Romney wanted a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. But did he?
First, here’s what Romney said…
ROBIN [...]

This podcast looks at (1) results of the South Carolina Democratic Primary; (2) a brief discussion about the media coverage of identity politics and (3) a look ahead to the Florida and February 5th primaries…
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Looks like they’re incredibly scared of what a McCain nomination would look like, so they’re rallying around Mitt. It’s puzzling to me, especially when they railed Kerry for being such a flip flopper in 2004, but these are the times we live in and what was wrong then is now, ahem, right.
Personally, I think it’s [...]

In this video, I discuss the content and tone of 2008 election coverage. In my opinion, yellow journalism has returned and voters must be cautious, wary and skeptical. Most importantly, they must demand more…

Part 1 and Part 2

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. This liveblog on Donklephant will be updated periodically. For the latest please visit the active liveblog at 2008Central.net]
7:30: Time Russert and Brian Williams (henceforth, Bri-Wi) are moderating this debate, and participating are John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul. I’m looking for Huckabee and Giuliani to [...]

It’s still close to call, but Huckabee probably won’t be able to close the 34% to 30% gap.
The story out of all of this? Two front runners have emerged: Romney and McCain. They better pick McCain if they want to have any hopes of winning the general election. The Dems would destroy the empty suit [...]

The Mormons came out en masse for Mitt today and he won Nevada handily. That’s two wins in a row for the former Governor, but there’s no doubt he’s going to lose in South Carolina today.
Also, some good news for the Paulites today. They may just get some delegates after all! Presently, they’re leading McCain [...]

This would be a very important win for Romney to maintain momentum after Michigan, but since Nevada is new to the early primary schedule, will it matter THAT much for the GOP nomination? Or is South Carolina really the biggest prize?
In any event, Mitt leads McCain by a wide margin, so it’s fairly likely [...]

Yesterday I went to a Mitt Romney rally at the University of South Carolina. At the very beginning, the former Massachusetts governor/ champion of family values displayed his unbelievably cute baby grandson to the crowd.

Sorry for the sarcasm, its just my nature. Anyway, what do you think…was Governor Romney using the child as a [...]

Looks like he’ll pull 39% to McCain’s 30%. Huckabee pulled in a relatively strong 3rd at 16% considering the lack of evangelical support in Michigan. Ron Paul is pulling in 4th right now with 6%, with Thompson running a close 5th with 4%.
From The Detriot News:
Mitt Romney won a crucial victory in Tuesday’s Michigan Republican [...]

And the news is that the turnout isn’t just low. It’s really low.
Understandably, the McCain campaign thinks this doesn’t bode well for their candidate, and they’re already spinning…
Senior Adviser Steve Schmidt strolled back into the press section of their charter plane en route from Traverse City to Yspilanti to start framing potential results. [...]
Predictably, Schmidt [...]

Romney may pull out a win yet. McCain only leads him in this latest poll by 1%, 31% to 30%.
ARG has some details:
Mitt Romney leads John McCain 33% to 30% among Republicans, while McCain leads Mike Huckabee among independents (and Democrats) 37% to 21%, with 16% for Romney. Romney leads McCain 45% to 33% among [...]

To describe the following as clueless is actually an insult to the clueless.
From The Boston Globe:
“I do believe we should take action to keep the economy from falling into a recession,” Romney told reporters when asked if a stimulus package was needed. “We do need to forestall the growing credit crisis and the subprime mortgage [...]

His numbers are awful against Obama or Hillary in a national race. Both would beat him handily by double digits.
As Michael Medved points out…
In the head-to-head contest with Barack Obama he is utterly wiped out, losing by a margin of 22 points (59% to 37%). Against Hillary Clinton, Romney fares little better, falling 18 percentage [...]

NBC just called it since McCain has 37% with 11% of the precincts reporting.
15 minutes after the polls close? Wow.
Romney can’t be happy.

Earlier today I wrote about Romney holding strong over the weekend, and now I find a column from Joe Klein talking about McCain potentially missing his chance to land a legitimate deathblow in favor of personal jabs.
Is a meme emerging?
From TIME:
Meanwhile, McCain was nowhere. His answers lacked zing. He seemed tired. He was unable [...]

Looks like McCain is pretty much neck and neck with Romney. He pulls 34%, while Romney takes 29%. That’s pretty much right where the numbers were at before the caucuses. If Romney can tie McCain it will really help him make a “comeback” story.
From Zogby:
“Among Republicans, McCain leads Romney among Independents 43% to 26%, voters [...]

If Mitt Romney had won Iowa, things would be so different. But he didn’t and he’s seems to be suffering a very similar fate to Hillary right now. Still, some polls show he’s holding his own.
McCain’s gains?
A 6 point gain from CNN.
A 4 point gain from USA Today.
An 8 point gain from Strategic Vision.
A 2 [...]

How do you know your campaign is going down the toilet? When your supporters don’t even care if people film them committing dirty tricks.
Watch…

Why would they keep doing it with cameras there? It’s amazing how nonchalant they were. And one blog thinks that the woman in the video was actually a Romney staffer.
What’s pathetic about [...]

Wyoming caucuses?
Exactly…
While it’s been under the radar, the state has gotten some attention from the candidates. Sansonetti says that only three candidates have not visited the state at all: John McCain, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Giuliani. In addition to the candidate visiting twice, Romney’s wife Ann and his sons have visited. Direct mail and phone [...]