Posted by
Steve on Sunday, March 04, 2007 2:01:10 AM
At the CPAC convention of conservatives, Mitt Romney won the straw poll. Rudy Giuliani came in second place. Mitt had 21%. Rudy had 17%. That is good news for Mitt Romney and his campaign. John McCain came in way back in the pack. That may spell doom for his campaign.
Mitt Romney showed that he has the support of conservatives. That is important in a Republican primary. He can take this straw poll victory and build upon it down the line. He may start polling better in the opinion polls after this important victory. He needed to win this poll in order to stay viable. Rudy Giuliani needed to do well to show that he could get conservative votes. Both came out of this straw poll looking very good.
The big loser was John McCain. He will have a difficult time getting his campaign off the ground at this juncture. He has the support of the liberal wing of the party. Unfortunately for him, the liberal wing is very small in number. The conservative wing of the party is the one where the majority of the primary voters happen to be.
I happen to think it is good for the country that John McCain's campaign will be in trouble. He has been a good Senator, at least in the early years. Lately, he has been all over the map. I would not have voted for him in his last election, except the Democrat party put up an empty suit. John McCain no matter how bad, was better than the Democrat. I did not vote for John McCain in the primary in that election. Almost any conservative would be better than John McCain.
I hope that Mitt Romney uses this straw poll victory and starts making moves in the important early states. He needs to do well. I believe he is the best option for 2008.