Upset: McCain wins South Carolina county’s straw poll
posted at 5:14 pm on March 2, 2007 by Allahpundit
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He trailed Giuliani this morning, 158-116, with 81 of 92 precincts reporting. Final tally: McCain 164, Rudy 162.
Those last 11 districts must be where the local media lives.
Divining trends from a single local poll taken a year and a half before the election is stupid, but so is divining truths about Barack Obama’s “blackness” from the fact that his ancestors owned slaves and that’s not stopping anyone. We’re still a year away from the primaries; the press needs something to write about. Voila: the social-con tea leaves of the Spartanburg County straw poll.
If the poll does mean anything, then it’s good news for McCain, the winner; for Rudy, who showed he can compete in a deep red area despite his softness on abortion and gay rights; and for Duncan Hunter, who’ll get a little publicity boost from his close third-place finish. For Romney, though, who finished a distant fifth despite being the most socially conservative among the three major candidates? Dispiriting.
Update: Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore declares his candidacy and goes RINO-hunting. Click the image to watch.
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OK…. 326 people make news???
Must be a really slow news day…
Romeo13 on March 2, 2007 at 5:16 PM
Oh…Dixville Notch is not going to like this one bit.
Slublog on March 2, 2007 at 5:19 PM
How did Duncan Hunter finish? I’d really like to see people give him a chance. He’s about the only true conservative out there.
JD on March 2, 2007 at 5:22 PM
I’m sure some voters were disenfranchised. There’s no way this is correct.
NTWR on March 2, 2007 at 5:26 PM
To answer your question about Hunter— 3rd, with 158 votes.
Here’s the cap from the poll:
Arizona Sen. John McCain: 164
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: 162
California Rep. Duncan Hunter: 158
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback: 85
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: 80
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: 33 (write-in)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: 21
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo: 10
Attorney John Cox: 4
Texas Rep. Ron Paul: 4
Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice: 2 (write-in)
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore: 1
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson: 1
Nethicus on March 2, 2007 at 5:26 PM
I guess Chuck Hagel got zero.
JammieWearingFool on March 2, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Cool deal. I like hunter myself. He’ll get my vote in the Florida Primary, if nothing else. I voted for Alan Keyes in 92 or 96 (maybe both, I forget). So whomever I vote for in the primary never makes it to the general election, but at least I stand on principle!
BTW - I’m still pissed that stupid Florida republicans let Harris be their senate candidate in 2006. Morons! Republicans always shoot themselves in the foot.
lorien1973 on March 2, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Newt Gingrich wins Louisiana straw poll! Here’s the way the vote went down:
Newt: 1
Rudy: 0
Romney: 0
All others: 0
Grats Newt!
Kevin M on March 2, 2007 at 5:46 PM
GO DUNCAN!!!
PinkyBigglesworth on March 2, 2007 at 5:50 PM
*smile*
Rightwingsparkle on March 2, 2007 at 5:55 PM
Is it time to recycle McCain’s Chelsea Clinton, Janet Reno joke yet?
Let’s spread the homophobic faux-outrage around.
Stephen M on March 2, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Huh? What’s not conservative about Tancredo? What’s not conservative about Newt?
http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/7/1/90017117.html
Gregor on March 2, 2007 at 6:07 PM
Must be an unfamiliar act for a McCain supporter lately.
How does it feel?
Whatever, enjoy it while it lasts.
billy on March 2, 2007 at 6:24 PM
billy,
Look, while I obviously like McCain, I will certainly vote for whoever gets the nomination. I just think the blogosphere is so wrong on this. I don’t think they are reading the conservative voters right on this.
He will get the nomination imo. And my only hope is that I can convince enough of you to forgive him enough to vote for him in the general election.
Rightwingsparkle on March 2, 2007 at 6:40 PM
Not a chance in hell….
omnipotent on March 2, 2007 at 6:42 PM
1. McCain-Feingold
2. Gang of 14
3. Foot in the grave
No thanks, I prefer my candidat to have a backbone (and a pulse)!
omnipotent on March 2, 2007 at 6:44 PM
Candidate….D’oh!!
omnipotent on March 2, 2007 at 6:44 PM
NAU. Says it all right? He’ll never get past that little comment a few months ago. It painted him into a very weird corner, at least for me.
Newt is not in yet, so he doesn’t factor until (or if) he announces.
lorien1973 on March 2, 2007 at 6:48 PM
Ron Paul got 4 votes? He’s about two shock therapy sessions short of being straight-jacketed. How much stock should we put in this poll?
SailorDave on March 2, 2007 at 6:57 PM
No doubt about it for me, if McCain is the nominee, I’ll vote for him over a Dem without thinking twice.
I just think we will do a lot better with either Romney or Rudy.
billy on March 2, 2007 at 6:58 PM
Einstein said “insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result each time”. John McCain is INSANE. He really believes he can get enough Conservatives to nominate him.
Maybe a remake of the Manchurian Candidate is appropriate. This time it will be about McCain, and can be called the “Hanoi Candidate”. His actions really make me wonder if he was “turned”.
Helloyawl on March 2, 2007 at 6:58 PM
Helloyawl on March 2, 2007 at 6:58 PM
That’s way out of line. Whatever you think about McCain’s politics now, what he did in Hanoi took a pair of brass ones.
billy on March 2, 2007 at 7:01 PM
McCain wins. The country loses.
jaleach on March 2, 2007 at 7:01 PM
Anic-dotle…as the spelling goes…
I live near Columbia, SC. McCain in my church is loathed, Much like lindsey, coming up for re-election I might add. We have many problems with Rudy, but McCain has worked against conservatives throughout the short decade of Republican control of congress.
We are waiting for Newt, whether AP thinks he can be elected or not.
sunny on March 2, 2007 at 7:48 PM
McCain can’t win a general. He’s a foil, a tool for the media, not a darling. As soon as he’s up against a Democrat for President, there will be a bonfire of McCain (his temper, Keating 5, his triangulation, his age, etc.) the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Nixon, and most of it will stick. McCain will fold like a cheap lawn chair.
If we nominate McCain, we’ve elected Hillary.
spmat on March 2, 2007 at 8:11 PM
Might as well Wait for Godot, sunny. Newt ain’t gonna be nominated. I undertand the longing, but re-focus it towards Rudy
Janos Hunyadi on March 2, 2007 at 8:14 PM
I’m glad you are, because I’m sure his political advisors are not. He won by two votes in a very conservative state that most people felt Rudy would lose big.
A win’s a win, sure, but this doesn’t bode well for McCain’s future prospects among Republican voters.
One and the same. The blogosphere is full of the conservative voters that drive the party - we’re the geeks who volunteer, give money and knock on doors.
That most of us are not doing so for McCain is rather telling.
Slublog on March 2, 2007 at 8:15 PM
Okay let me clarify my post. Tancredo and Duncan are very close on the issues, and Newt is right in there too. Newt speaks his mind on Fox News, but Dunacan Hunter is the only one I saw go on CNN and take them to task over the sniper video. I’d vote for any of them, but prefer Hunter. The rest of the pack is pretty wimpy as far as I’m concerned.
JD on March 2, 2007 at 8:22 PM
Janos,
“We’ll get an erection!” (from the play, relax)
Newt would get the better part of 70 million votes(Damn Christians). I don’t mind settling for Rudy, but Newt would blow everyone out (at least in the SC primary).
sunny on March 2, 2007 at 8:27 PM
Okay, sunny, I’m still reeling from gregor’s Unwanted Advances, so no erections, SVP
The media has only one real power in its dwindling arsenal: the power to destroy. They were tearing into Newt even before he took office as Speaker. This is how the media ‘makes their bones’: make a conservative either un-appointable ( Ken Starr ) or un-electable ( Newt and others )
Too many Americans–most of whom do not pay much attention to politics–have been inculcated with Newt-Angst, and there is nothing you or I can do about it
Janos Hunyadi on March 2, 2007 at 8:43 PM
Very good sir…
You mention the media influence on the election which is no doubt valid. Newt has been hung, hanged, in the press.
But, Is there any doubt, however, that Newt would win primaries? (He would win SC)
I like Rudy, I’m willing to overlook certain choices made in the past. I will vote for him before McCain.
sunny on March 2, 2007 at 8:59 PM
Yeah, sunny, the media hates Rudy but he’s much better at outmaneuvering them than Newt. The NYT has been on a “Get Rudy” crusade since he began running for Mayor; Rudy knows these a++holes very well; watch him at a press conference; he looks like Ali against Foreman, bobbin’ n’ weavin’ and doing the rope-a-dope
Janos Hunyadi on March 2, 2007 at 9:06 PM
Being born and raised in SC, I don’t think this is good news for McCain at all despite the media making it that way. The “Upstate” (Greenville-Spartanburg) of SC is the most conservative part of the state (except maybe Lexington County…a Columbia suburb county, but I digress). The fact that Giuliani finished second to him (and a close second) says volumes about the lack of enthusiasm for McCain. I actually find it shocking that Rudy finished so well.
I think it shows that most Republicans believe Rudy’s the only one who can beat Hillary/Obama, Obama/Edwards, Gore/Obama.
SouthernGent on March 2, 2007 at 9:14 PM
Most presidential year elections have a “Dying Swan”: someone who the media has accepted or appointed as an “early front runner” who fades quickly: John Glenn in 1984, William Scranton in 1964, George ( father of Mitt ) Romney in 1968, and my favorite, Gary Hartpence in 1988.
This year it’s McCain
Janos Hunyadi on March 2, 2007 at 9:20 PM
southerngent,
Thank you for acknowledging Lexington. The absolute center of conservatism in SC.
Sunny
sunny on March 2, 2007 at 9:46 PM
Won’t vote for Rudy or McCain, voted for the sake of the party twice and got screwed over bad on the border and criminal aliens. I will vote for Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo or Newt but if Rudy or McCain show up in the General election I’m staying home. It would be just like voting Democrat as far as I’m concerned.
Buzzy on March 3, 2007 at 12:31 AM
Thanks, man. People like you have already given us one Clinton, and are headed towards giving us another.
Janos Hunyadi on March 3, 2007 at 12:39 AM
The Newt got 33 in write in? That’s 20% of what the vote leader got. If I’m not mistaken, that’s huge. Plus Chuck Norris has his back.
- The Cat
MirCat on March 3, 2007 at 12:57 AM
Somehow I think McCain’s face is more appropriate in the caveman thread.
infidel4life on March 3, 2007 at 1:43 AM
The word at CPAC is that this is a disaster for McCain who, apparently, has a ground operation in SC while Rudy does not.
Karol on March 3, 2007 at 1:56 AM
You have to love any poll where you and your buddies could write in Jack Bauer and give him a respectable finish.
Ferris on March 3, 2007 at 7:42 AM
I admire your tenacity, RW. However, I think you’re underestimating the animosity many GOP’ers feel towards McCain.
Besides, It’s time for President Thompson.
BacaDog on March 3, 2007 at 8:50 AM
I hope this means good things to come for Rep. Duncan Hunter. He is the conservative candidate in this race, as far as I’m concerned.
SisterToldjah on March 3, 2007 at 9:13 AM
Wow, ST is right. Check him out. He sounds as good as Newt to me. Can’t tell if Hunter is fiscally conservative though. Does anyone know?
Kevin M on March 3, 2007 at 9:44 AM
Forgive him? He didn’t leave my copy of Sports Illustrated on the floor of a public mensroom. I’m not mad at him for breaking wind during my wifes birthday toast. He has no positions on anything that I agree with. He’s a Kyoto fan. Gang of 14. Civil rights for terrorists. Media Suck-a$$. Once he gets what he wants, he’ll ride right over the people that believed this ‘I’m actually a conservative’ hooey he’s now spreading. In that, he’s worse than a democrat. I KNOW they hate me. Difference is, he does too, only he’s lying because he needs my vote. He’s not getting it.
austinnelly on March 3, 2007 at 9:56 AM
Uh Oh. I really thought Rudy had a chance. But now seeing that he lost by 2 votes, in a straw poll in Spartanburg, SC, a mere 18 months before election, I guess its all over. We all know how coveted the Spartanburg nomination is, as it may very well set the political climate for the nation. I know that the Presidential candidates go out of there way to get to Spartanburg each year, and now seeing the results, I’m in tears. Excuse me.
amerpundit on March 3, 2007 at 10:07 AM
austinnelly, I don’t even want to know where you came up with those examples, in the beginning of your comment.
Hillary’s getting my vote, before McCain ever will. Or better yet, there’s a write in spot on the ballot, maybe my dog will get my vote.
amerpundit on March 3, 2007 at 10:10 AM
For me, its not the fact that McCain has some liberal ideas, I’m voting for Rudy. Its the fact that he has told us he would ride with us, then when it comes down to the wire, he’s off like a shotgun. I could deal with his immigration stance, he shares the same view Bush does, we would just need to put in a Congress which would stop any of his amnesty fantasies.
amerpundit on March 3, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Lyndsey Graham is from South Carolin…get the picture?? Graham is hoping to ride McCains coat tails into the White House. I’ll bet he called in some markers to achieve this . McCains chances have all but disappeared of late. His reputation for being the man in the middle overwhelms his chances. I prefer to think of him as
“The Man Without a Country“…which is what he will be if he gets his proposed amnesty with Kennedy.
Mellen on March 3, 2007 at 11:45 AM
You think that old “MCain has a black baby” thing would work again? God knows, that never gets old!
honora on March 4, 2007 at 12:17 PM