General

Hitting the internets now. Mitt Romney might withdraw from the race for the Republican nomination today during a speech at CPAC today. We’ll know in a few minutes.

UPDATE: CNN reports that Romney will “suspend” his campaign. OK, so how is that different from quitting?

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will suspend his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, GOP sources tell CNN.

A candidate may “suspend” his or her campaign rather than dropping out, and technically remain a candidate. In this case, he or she is entitled to keep any statewide pledged delegates as well as their district-level delegates.

Candidates who officially drop out must forfeit statewide delegates.

BREAKING: 1:07 PM EST: Mitt’s out.

“If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or (Barack) Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror,” Romney planned to say in a speech to the conference, according to excerpts of his speech.

“This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters … many of you right here in this room … have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming president. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.”

Tags:
2008 Election, Mitt Romney

Mark Levin speaks for a lot of conservatives, including myself, with this thought.

I wonder how many of us believe that if John McCain is the nominee, which is looking more likely, whether he will win New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California. This was the Giuliani strategy. He’s losing the conservative vote in virtually every state other than New York and New Jersey. He had won South Carolina but last night lost all the southern states that were in play. He’s also losing some of the small but critical red states in places like the mountain states. Moreover, even though there are essentially three candidates in the primary race, McCain as the putative front-runner should be building enough strength within the Republican Party to win core Republican states (or at least more of them). If we look forward to the general election, it’s hard to see how he wins the popular vote and it will be very difficult to cobble together the right combination of electoral college votes.

While today’s narrative is mostly about the lack of true conservative belief within the heart of John McCain, the end of the day will be all about who can win. And winning is defined not by popularity (ask Algore), but by votes in the electoral college. Levin is correct to question the McCain strategy in this regard. As it stands today, it’s a losing strategy. The question is, could it be turned around if McCain picks a conservative running mate, like Fred Thompson, for example? It could if the veep nominee is positioned to replace the position Dick Cheney has held. Problem with this is, it’s not clear at all that McCain would want to share power, or the camera lens, with anyone.

It must be made clear to McCain that he can’t win with just moderate Republicans and independents. His strategy must include conservative Republicans, and while they won’t line up with him, they might if they knew a true conservative running mate also had a hand on the wheel.

Tags:
2008 Election, Conservatives, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Republicans, Vice President, Dick Cheney

Sen. Harry Reid is a piece of work.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the possibility of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) becoming president “sends a cold chill down my spine.”

Reid made his remarks Tuesday outside the Senate chambers when a reporter asked him about McCain, who is running for the Republican Party nomination for president.

Pulling out his wallet and removing a white piece of paper, Reid told the reporter: “All I have to say about that is this. I have it right here, and you can put it in your little recording devices.”

Then, reading aloud, and quoting Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) from an interview last Friday, Reid said: “The thought of him [McCain] being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper, and he worries me.”

Reid then placed the piece of paper back in his wallet and continued taking reporter’s questions.

You don’t think he planned that, do you?

There’s nothing Reid would like more than to cause a riot among conservatives in the hope that we’d sit out of the 2008 cycle in protest against McCain. So, why not use one of our own as a tool to that end?

A Democrat playing offense is a dangerous thing. No matter who our nominee is, conservative Republicans need to ensure we’re not pawns of the Democratic party.

Tags:
2008 Election, John McCain, Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Harry Reid