McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis has put out a release claiming that it is now, after Tuesday, mathematically impossible for Mike Huckabee to catch him. An excerpt from the release, which you can read in its entirety here:
Last night, after our strong victories in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC, I put together an analysis of the state of the race for the Republican nomination. Including the delegates won last night, John McCain is now close to securing the number of delegates needed to be the presumptive Republican nominee. In addition, it is now mathematically impossible for Mike Huckabee to win enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination; there simply aren’t enough delegates left at stake for him to win.
That’s cool. But something struck me: Mr. Davis sent this out within the context of asking donors for more money for the campaign.
Admittedly, I’ve never fully understood the power of the "bandwagon effect," but logically speaking (and logic IS an entirely different thing) this seems like a poor strategy for fund-raising: The battle is won! Give some more so we can continue the battle!
But if you think that’s a tough sell, how much less sense does it make to keep giving to Mike Huckabee’s campaign, as this release asks? Talk about your empty gestures.
But I’ll admit I’ll never be able to get into the head of the kind of person who gives this sort of money, because I’ll never have that kind of money to spare (totally apart from the fact that I am strictly forbidden to do so by newspaper policy). The very rich are different from you and me, Scott.
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McCain has also decided to forego public funds for his campaign going forward so he can overspend the limits that would be imposed if he accepted those funds.
Back in Decemeber when things were shaky, he was lined up to accept $5M from the fund. Now, it’s back to good old fashioned political methods — spend, spend, spend as much as you can when it’s not your money.
Maybe he just wants to spend it while he still can — McCain is, after all and by his own words, “older than dirt.”
I have never heard of a political candidate that would not take money. They always want more, just in case they might need it. Like, some people, enough is never enough.
Brad, doesn’t McCain have to pay for running against the Democrats eventually? Wouldn’t padding his campaign coffers help him later?
I’d guess Huckabee wants more money so he can stay in the race and force McCain and the party platform more in his direction.
If you’ll pardon the expression, that’s to the right, where the real conservatives are.
Since George Soros is putting millions of dollars behind both Hillary and McCain, do you really think your little donation, or endorsements, make any difference?
McCain-Graham ’08 anyone? The GOP will never be the same after this election cycle, ie, it is finished as a party that can unify its various bases. I love it.
And the Huckster’s supporters should go ahead and put away the yard signs–he will not be on the ticket. Talk about insuring that McCain loses every possible chance of attracting crossover votes.
Perhaps President Obama will reach across the aisle (a very narrow one in this case) and ask McCain to be Sec of Defense.
Now, if Obama will actually articulate some detailed proposals, we might have something.
Obama’s platform is loaded with detailed proposals; they just don’t typically make for exciting stump speeches.
He did make an exception yesterday, however (start at about 1/3 of the way down).
I have read as far as page 8, through his proposals for mandatory universal medical insurance. I have 2 main problems with everything I have read so far:
1. Barak’s description of the problems are shallow repeating of the one-liner pounded into us by the media. Most are totally untrue. They function as propaganda, reinforcing what people already believe. They are just fabricated bogeymen.
For example:
* “Dick Cheney’s secret energy task force”
The truth is that every member was known, and all the major environmental groups were invited to participate. They met behind closed doors in order to get something done, but the discussions and reports are public record.
* “Bush gave no-bid contracts to Halliburton”
Yes, he did, because the GSA said it was unable to quickly manage rebuilding Iraq. Halliburton did not receive a contract to do the work, but to manage the competitive bidding process to thousands of companies who actually did the work.
* “47,000,000 Americans without medical insurance”
The truth is, most of them are only without it for a few months while changing plans.
* “Skyrocketing medical costs”
Mostly in those programs under government control. In the 54% of the medical industry which is still private sector, costs rise no faster than the general rate of price inflation. Many procedures actually cost much less than they did 5 or 10 years ago.
Obama puts together a good sales package, but it is not a blueprint for doing anything that will work. Blueprints have details, and are tied to detailed cost analyses and paybacks.
“McCain – Graham”??? Putting Graham on the ticket in itself would have this long-time Republican putting up a Obama – Clinton or Clinton – Obama sign in my yard.
Now this just makes me sick. Mr. Straight-Talk is nothing but a slick Washington politician trying to win an election. He has no scruples at all. To even suggest this man has an ounce of integrity is laughable given this highly partisan vote. From the Washington Post.com:
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Congress banned any military use of waterboarding and other harsh tactics through the Detainee Treatment Act of 2006, which was co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), now the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.
But McCain sided with the Bush administration yesterday on the waterboarding ban passed by the Senate, saying in a statement that the measure goes too far by applying military standards to intelligence agencies. He also said current laws already forbid waterboarding, and he urged the administration to declare it illegal.
**********************
I guess this week’s indictments of more 9/11 hijackers held at GITMO really makes you sick. All that intelligence they coughed up about WMD and terrorists which the Democrats claim don’t exist, causes real anxiety among the few liberals who are able to connect two dots.
One has to wonder how it is possible that McLame went from a campaign that was nearly bankrupt, with no direction and was universally loathed by far right and even moderate conservatives after his Shamnesty debacle, to front runner.
Conspiracy? Maybe, shocking? To say the least.
Not really shocking.. he jumped in bed with the Bush machine (Karl Rove is now one of his max donors) and tossed aside his ethics for his last shot at the brass ring.
He was quoted yesterday saying that he would talk to Rove but not about the 2000 election in South Carolina. Wouldn’t want to have to confront the man who smeared him and his family, right? Especially when he’ll be needing Rove’s Rolodex in the coming months.
Now that Obama has won landslide victories in S.C., Va., Ga., Ala., La. and suspect there will be more in N.C. and Miss. will the so called MSM stop it’s practice of race baiting in the south just to sell newspapers?
Made another visit to Obama’s web site to see if any substance had emerged. … Still looks like eyewash to me, chock full of appealing catch phrases and promises, with no substantiation of costs and ignoring the realities of presidential power — the existence of Congress, for example.
It’s funny, too, that just about everything Obama advocates represents large (unquantified) increases in public spending but somehow he also would cut taxes, balance the budget and retire our national debt. … Somebody tell me how that works.
It won’t work, but like Clinton, when he leaves office, he will just claim that it all happened.
It’s clear to me at this point that Huck-a-Jim Bobs’ campaign is no longer about winning the republican nomination. So it must be something else…what might that be?
Other than being a mediocre governor in a relatively insignificant state, Huck-a-hitjob has had no time in the national eye apart from his failed campaign to become president. I think he loves the national attention. Sadly, I think he has delusions of grandeur and sees himself as a new “mover and shaker” on the american political scene (of course he is nothing of the sort ~ the MSM is going to drop him like a bad habit anon).
I believe he is keeping his campaign alive at this point purely for the purpose of parlaying a position in the new presidents’ administration next year. And since the next president will be a democrat, he’ll not even be considered for one. This boob cannot even see far enough ahead to realize that he’s been nothing but a useful idiot for the last four months.
It would suit me fine never to hear of Huck-a-duck-a-dingdong again. David
I think McCain-Graham would be an excellent ticket.
I think so too Karen. I think it would be great if when McCain goes down in flames he takes Gramnesty with him. My fervent prayer would be that both are so horribly damaged by this failed candidacy that neither can ever re-enter politics. This is a dream team and an outcome I could root for. David