Monday, December 17, 2007
Grumpy Old Men II Strike Back
Joe Lieberman -- the 2000 Democratic vice-presidential candidate (doesn't that seem like forever ago?) -- endorsed Republican John McCain this morning. Call it the one-maverick-to-another endorsement. Still, in 2004, Lieberman came in fifth in the New Hampshire Democratic primary (or, in his words, a "virtual three-way tie for third place"), so exactly what Lieberman's endorsement brings to McCain is highly debateable.
It's true that NH's interesting show-up-and-declare which party you want to vote in helps McCain. But, Lieberman's main reason for supporting McCain is the war and there is little evidence that New Hampshire independent voters necessarily want to go with the guy who is "strongest" on the war. On the other hand, McCain has stormed back to a very respectable second-place in New Hampshire -- and Lieberman's nod is part of a streak of nothing but good news for McCain: He's gotten recent endorsements from the Manchester Union-Leader, The Boston Globe and The Des Moines Register.
This is happening while Huckabee is surging nationally, Romney is battling him, Ron Paul is raking in absurd amounts of money -- and Rudy Giuliani is fading nearly everywhere (even NY GOPers appear to be jumping off the bandwagon).
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It's true that NH's interesting show-up-and-declare which party you want to vote in helps McCain. But, Lieberman's main reason for supporting McCain is the war and there is little evidence that New Hampshire independent voters necessarily want to go with the guy who is "strongest" on the war. On the other hand, McCain has stormed back to a very respectable second-place in New Hampshire -- and Lieberman's nod is part of a streak of nothing but good news for McCain: He's gotten recent endorsements from the Manchester Union-Leader, The Boston Globe and The Des Moines Register.
This is happening while Huckabee is surging nationally, Romney is battling him, Ron Paul is raking in absurd amounts of money -- and Rudy Giuliani is fading nearly everywhere (even NY GOPers appear to be jumping off the bandwagon).
In short, the Republican race is more fluid than ever -- and while the odds are highly unlikely that John McCain will be the GOP nominee, he's in better shape than anyone might have surmised one month ago.
Labels: GOP 2008 President, Joe Lieberman, John McCain
