Thursday, January 31, 2008

McCain vs. Romney

The Republican primaries are down to essentially a two man race. As much as Ron Paul supporters would love to hang on and see if he can pull out a miracle, he's never won much more than 10% of the vote in any race. Huckabee hopefuls are also hoping (or more likely praying) for a miracle. He hasn't made a decent showing since Iowa. There is a glimmer of hope for Hucksters and that is the South. Huckabee has been polling well down there and he may pick up a few more delegates to make it interesting. I personally think that he's merely hanging on for a chance at VP with McCain... but that's just my opinion.

So really it's down to McCain and Romney. Two candidates who didn't look like they had much of a shot 6 months ago. Here's a small break down of their differences.

McCain has many years experience in the US Senate and ran an unsuccessful campaign in 2000 against Bush and was rumored to have sought out a VP post with John Kerry. He is known for being a POW during the Vietnam War and as a big proponent of the War on Terror. He is credited with strong foreign relations and famous for his temper. He introduced a few controversial pieces of legislation, McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy which were very unpopular with core Republicans. His current run for president was almost derailed by McCain-Kennedy which granted illegal aliens a fast track to citizenship. 

Romney is known as a successful businessman having made a fortune running companies. He also saved the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City from scandal. He ran for governor of Massachussetts and won in a very liberal state. He's credited with creating a health care plan that doesn't depend on hug government oversight. During his tenure he initially supported the woman's right to choose an abortion, and then back tracked and changed his mind. This also has caused some dis-ease among the Republican base.

So who is going to win? Well according to the huge media push for McCain, he's a shoe-in right? Maybe. First, he has to make a better showing at debates. He seems to be indecisive and more focused on attacking Romney than making his policies clear. He also won't win all of the upcoming primaries on Super-Tuesday. Also, reports are surfacing that he's all but bankrupt and in need of fundraising on a major scale. But he has the heart of the media and some good endorsements in some big states.

So is it hopeless for Romney? I don't think so. I think if he hangs tough this will go to a brokered convention. And no independent or democratic votes to help McCain along. Also if Huckabee drops out then he would pick up a few more votes. Either way this has been one of the most interesting primary elections in a while. It's only gonna get better.

1 comment:

Li said...

You need some new posts! I want to read more from mind of luckedout. :)