Super Tuesday has copper fastened John McCain’s position as the strong favourite to secure the GOP nomination. He has c700 delegates. He needs 1,191 to win the nomination at the convention in St. Paul, Minn. He won the most states and scored impressive victories in the delegate-rich states of California, New York and Illinois. In general McCain did best amongst Republican moderates. Voters who said they were most concerned about the economy, the Iraq war or terrorism tended to favour McCain.
Whilst a week is a long time in politics it would take a major political faux pas to deprive him of the nomination. McCain has risen phoenix like from the ashes of political irrelevancy. Six months ago his campaign- bereft of finance-was on the verge of collapse. Campaign staff was laid off. Political analysts considered McCain a busted flush. His victory in New Hampshire was the catalyst, which ignited his fight back. Independents and moderate Republicans provided the necessary support to buttress his campaign. This was particularly significant in New Hampshire and Florida. Victory in Florida ensured that he was now the front-runner on Super Tuesday.
He still faces major difficulties. Campaign finance is scarce. However victory on Super Tuesday should alleviate the problem. Donors like winners.He faces problems from the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter have been particularly critical. Some extreme right wing elements are likely to abstain. Anne Coulter has stated that she would vote for Hillary Clinton in preference to John McCain. She argues that Clinton is more conservative than McCain. Of course this is utter nonsense. McCain is a moderate conservative whilst Clinton is a Socialist. McCain favours a balanced budget. He strongly opposes abortion and he is strong on national security -all good conservative issues. There is increasing evidence that most conservatives within the GOP are preparing to rally to the McCain cause.The extreme right is blinded by a rigid ideology. Many are further to the right than Barry Goldwater.McCain must endeavour to compensate for the loss of some elements on the right by appealing to the centre and to conservative Democrats.
Super Tuesday has been an unmitigated disaster for Mitt Romney. Romney has 260 delegates. This is a very poor return on the massive financial outlay. He secured most support from more right wing conservatives and from those strongly opposed to illegal immigration. Romney told his supporters in Boston that the Republican race would continue. "One thing that's clear is, this campaign's going on!" he said to cheers. Of course Romney can continue to the convention in the forlorn hope that he may yet secure the nomination. He has a personal fortune of $250 million. Romney in the interests of the GOP should withdraw and accept the inevitable.
Mike Huckabee whose campaign has been hamstrung by a chronic lack of funding scored stunning victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Georgia, the biggest Southern state to vote Tuesday. The charismatic Huckabee would make a strong vice presidential candidate. He could face competition from Newt Gingrich for the vice presidential slot. So far he has 190 delegates to the convention.
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