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January 15, 2008

McCain Inching Toward Inevitability?

Rick Moran
There's a long way to go yet and anything can happen in the GOP race for president - including the McCain Express being derailed in Michigan today by Mitt Romney.

But two new polls out show just how far McCain has come since his New Hampshire win a week ago.

First, a fresh New Jersey poll, right in Rudy Giuliani's backyard:

Monmouth University/Gannett GOP New Jersey Primary

  • John McCain 29%
  • Rudy Giuliani 25%
  • Mike Huckabee 11%
  • Mitt Romney 9%
  • Ron Paul 5%
  • Fred Thompson 5%
And here's the latest poll from California - a state Rudy was up by 8 points last month:

SurveyUSA GOP California Primary

  • John McCain 33% (14%)
  • Rudy Giuliani 18% (28%)
  • Mike Huckabee 14% (20%)
  • Mitt Romney 13% (16%)
  • Fred Thompson 9% (13%)
  • Ron Paul 4%
  • Other 3% (7%)
  • Undecided 4% (3%)
(HT: Race42008)

Are the rank and file in the GOP beginning to make up their minds? It appears that way to me. Much could change in the next 48 hours but if opposition to McCain's decidedly unconservative policies hasn't coalesced as of yet, it's hard to see just where it might.

The Arizona Senator has a comfortable lead in South Carolina and leads Giuliani slightly in Florida. Only Mitt Romney has the resources to bring out the contrast between McCain and other conservatives in the race and so far, he has been unable to do so. Jonathan Martin at Politico has noticed the same thing:

His opponents aren’t going after him. There isn’t a single third-party group hammering him in broadcast TV or radio ads. Even anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, a longtime adversary, is taking it easy on John McCain this time around.

In short, McCain is getting a free pass, and it’s beginning to show. In campaign events across western Michigan, voters are once again being reminded of the qualities of character that have made him an admired figure on the national political scene, without the distraction of ads designed to muddy that image
It appears to me that "The Straight Talk Express" is becoming a juggernaut that soon, may be impossible to stop.

Posted at 8:48 AM | Email | | | Share Share
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