McCain and Obama Win Virginia, Maryland and DC Primaries

For Barack Obama, it was a sweep. And Mrs. Clinton may want to think twice about her campaign.

McCain won Virginia, Maryland and DC also although his margin wasn't as wide as Obama's in the state of Virginia.

I have to admit that I had to think long and hard about how I voted. Huckabee better represents my beliefs in a number of areas but realistically, in a general election, McCain would pull in more independent voters. And if the Democratic nominee is Obama then in a McCain/Obama matchup, McCain has a much better chance of winning.

If I thought my vote would jeopardize McCain's standing, I would have likely voted for him. But voting for Huckabee let me say to McCain that I prefer a candidate with conservative opinion on issues like abortion and stem cell research. Mr. McCain needs to know why many who vote Republican still hesitate to throw our hat in the ring.

As I said in last night's post, we are not so "easily led".

McCain vs. Huckabee in Virginia

Here in Virginia we have a split in GOP types between voters in more liberal Northern Virginia, which is basically a suburb of Washington, D.C., and, by and large, the rest of the state. Many voters in the state of Virginia went for Huckabee and thousands in Fairfax alone (part of Northern Virginia) went for McCain. As happens in these instances, this split leans toward the very large population in Northern Virginia.

Right now, half the vote is in and the numbers are 47 to 45 in favor of McCain. CNN is cautiously projecting McCain the winner in Virginia.

I think most us conservative/evangelical Christians voting in Virginia would support McCain but many of us voted for Huckabee to make our voices heard.

We will not go quietly into that good night.

And contrary to liberal belief, we are not "easily led" by the GOP establishment. Huckabee better fits our beliefs but we recognize that McCain will likely be the nominee. We would hope that the McCain campaign pays attention to numbers like tonight's and the primary concerns of this voting block.

Barack Obama Wins Three; Huckabee Takes Two in Saturday's Contests

Obama won Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state-- he also won in the Virgin Islands.

Huckabee won Louisiana and Kansas; McCain won Washington state.

Even with these wins, McCain still has a significant lead in the number of Republican delegates. Barack Obama has a slight lead in delegates over Hillary Clinton but she has more superdelegates which puts her ahead.

As I mentioned before the Kansas win by Huckabee yesterday, McCain's real test will be whether he can appeal to the party base. For conservatives, there is still a choice in candidates. Right now, it looks like McCain still has some fences to mend with this voting block.

More Election 2008

One of the worries conservatives have about McCain is his on-again, off-again relationship with them. He has been more than willing to snub conservatives in the past. This may endear him to independents but frustrates his party. He has been called a maverick and the moniker fits him-- the conservative branch of the party has found him to be unpredictable.

As of this writing, the Chicago Tribune announced that Huckabee has won Kansas but I don't know the percentages yet.

UPDATE:

CNN is reporting 79% of Kansas precincts in with 62% voting for Huckabee, 22% for McCain and 11% for Ron Paul.

McCain Redux

Okay, I know, I know. I can hear social conservatives across the country groaning about the likelihood of a McCain nomination.

On the plus side, the strong possibility that McCain will be nominated means that he has some fence-mending to do with conservatives.

For example, McCain spoke at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) yesterday assuring the audience of his conservative credentials. He also apologized for not attending last year.

McCain also sent a letter to the Federalist Society assuring them that he will only nominate judges who will interpret the Constitution not create law.

Going on record about conservative policies will help McCain but the real test will be to see what happens in the next few primaries. Will Romney conservatives think McCain is the better candidate or will they throw their support behind Huckabee?

Romney Suspends Campaign

If Huckabee left the presidential race, I predicted that Huckabee voters would be more likely to give their votes to Romney than McCain. However, Romney's announcement that he's putting his campaign on hold throws a monkey wrench in the works.

Many, many conservatives don't like McCain. McCain appeals strongly to independents, undecideds and even liberals. The press likes him.

I think this is one of his problems.

When liberals and the press have nice things to say about you and your record, conservatives take a few steps back and prepare to run in the other direction.

Huckabee said that he would vote for McCain should it come to that. This may sway some Huckabee supporters to support McCain down the road should he win the nomination.

Personally, Hillary and Barack are what we're working against. I disagree with those Republicans who are saying they will campaign for Hillary or Obama if McCain wins the nomination. McCain may not be our ideal but another Hillary or Barack Obama he is not.

Super Tuesday-- The Analysis

Well, we walked away yesterday with no more a presumptive Republican nominee than we had on Monday.

Huckabee had a good showing in Southern states. Romney failed to capture the delegates he needed to really declare a lead but even McCain didn't capture enough to claim the title of presumptive nominee.

In states where McCain won, polling is showing that conservative, pro-family, pro-life voters weren't jumping on his bandwagon. I believe that these voters likely voted for Huckabee with some going to Romney but I haven't finished digging through published polling reports.

If, and this is a big if, all three candidates stick it out to August, we will find a three way battle on our hands. However, if Huckabee bows out at some point, I predict that a vast majority of Huckabee supporters will throw their hat into Romney's ring. Pro-life, pro-family voters would have less of a problem with a Mormon in the White House than with someone who did not share their values. The press has repeatedly focused on the issue of whether these voters could support a Mormon but the press has it wrong. Pro-life, pro-family voters could support a Mormon if he shares their values. After Huckabee, Romney comes closest to traditional pro-life, pro-family beliefs consistent with conservative Catholics and Evangelical Christians.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, does Romney's late pro-life conversion bother me? A little, but as with all converts in the pro-life movement, there had to be a defining moment for that conversion to occur. Romney says that he has had that moment and he has given no cause since to doubt his sincerity.

McCain's big problems with pro-life, pro-family voters have been embryonic stem cell research, which he still supports, and campaign finance reform, which hindered free speech rights. This bloc of voters takes both of these issues very seriously so it will be difficult for McCain to pull votes from this group. However, that said, if McCain were the nominee, many of these voters would vote for him over Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. McCain has promised to nominate judges who are in the mold of Scalia, Thomas and Alito. Pro-life, pro-family voters would take him at his word.

Obama pretty much cleaned Clinton's clock in some states. These two candidates are still so close in the number of delgates that neither can claim to be the presumptive nominee.

NOW's sniping at Obama aside, the Clinton campaign is running short of major supporters. This does not help her campaign.

The GOP Candidates on the Right to Life

Last night's CNN/Politico debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, allowed moderators another opportunity to quiz the candidates about several issues including Supreme Court appointments. Anderson Cooper specifically asked the candidates what their opinion was of Reagan appointee, Sandra Day O'Connor. Justice O'Connor turned out to be far from the strict constructionist Reagan and others thought her to be. She repeatedly voted to uphold abortion on demand in her later years on the Court.

This comes straight from the CNN Transcript where Anderson Cooper asks:

This one goes to Governor Huckabee. On July 6, 1981, which is actually Nancy Reagan's birthday, Ronald Reagan wrote in his diary about Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. And the Reagan Library has graciously allowed us to actually have the original Reagan diary right here on the desk. I'm a little too nervous to actually even touch it, but that is the Ronald Reagan's original diary.

And in it, he wrote by his hand, he said, "Called Judge O'Connor in Arizona and told her she was my nominee for Supreme Court. Already the flak is starting, and from my own supporters. Right-to-life people say she's pro-abortion. She declares abortion is personally repugnant to her. I think she'll make a good justice."

That's Ronald Reagan's words from his own book. Governor Huckabee, was she the right choice?

HUCKABEE: History will have to determine that, and I'm not going to come to the Reagan Library and say anything about Ronald Reagan's decisions. I'm not that stupid. If I was, I'd have no business being president.

I think we need to talk about why the issue of right-to-life is important. For many of us, this is not a political issue; this is an issue of principle and conviction. And it goes to the heart of who we are as a country.

If we value each other as human beings and believe that everybody has equal worth, and that that intrinsic value is not affected by net worth, or ancestry, or last name, or job description, or ability, or disability, then the issue of the sanctity of human life is far bigger than just being anti-abortion.

It's about being pro-life and exercising that deep conviction held by our founding fathers that all of us are equal and no one is more equal than another, recognizing that once we ever decide that some people are more equal or less equal than others, then we start moving that line, and it may include us some day.

And that's why for many of us -- and me included. Let me be very clear: I'm pro-life. I value every human being. And I would always make every decision always on the side of life every time I could, without equivocation.

COOPER: Yes or no, Congressman Paul, was Sandra Day O'Connor the right choice? PAUL: I wouldn't have appointed her, because I would have looked for somebody that I would have seen as a much stricter constitutionalist.

COOPER: Senator McCain?

MCCAIN: I'm proud of Sandra Day O'Connor as a fellow Arizonan. And my heart goes out to her family in that situation that they have today. And I'm proud of her.

The judges I would appoint are along the lines of Justices Roberts and Alito, who have a proven record of strict interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America. I'm not going to second-guess President Reagan.

COOPER: Governor Romney? ROMNEY: I would approve justices -- I would have favored justices like Roberts and Alito, Scalia and Thomas. I like justices that follow the Constitution, do not make law from the bench. I would have much rather had a justice of that nature.

COOPER: We're going to pause for a quick commercial break. The debate continues when we return.

Commentary on Huckabee from Catholic Online

Excellent commentary at Catholic Online from Saturday, the 26th, on Mike Huckabee's presidential run. Even though Huckabee is a former Southern Baptist minister, he appeals to many Catholics because of his social conservatism on issues such as abortion and his social justice approach to other issues-- such as how America should help the poor.

Unfortunately, Huckabee is being branded by the press and many in the Republican Party: he's not a "true" conservative or shrill voices insist he will turn our nation into a theocracy (which is ludicrous). All of this simply because he is an Evangelical Christian who doesn't always walk lock-step with the Republican establishment.

Evangelicals like Huckabee for much the same reasons as Catholics. The Republican Party needs to listen to what both groups are saying. They may not make up the whole of the party but, come election time, a defection could make a significant dent.

Arizona Right to Life PAC Endorses Huckabee

Today, Mike Huckabee picked up the endorsement of Arizona Right to Life PAC. From the Huckabee campaign press release:

According to Arizona RTL PAC leaders, the endorsement is based on Huckabee’s strong pro-life record and ongoing activism on behalf of the right to life movement.

Where the Candidates Stand on Abortion

Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle gives a decent summary of the Republican presidential candidates' stands on abortion. Romney, Giuliani, McCain, Huckabee and Paul are all mentioned.

I Am Not Endorsing Anyone--Yet

My last post explained how National Right to Life would have gone about finalizing the endorsement of Thompson from an internal perspective.

Personally, I am holding off on endorsing anyone. I think it's still too early to make any kind of judgments regarding who the most viable candidate will be. I do understand why others have made endorsements but as a writer I feel I need to hold back.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did make a $25 donation to Mike Huckabee and plan on donating to a couple of other pro-life candidates as well. We have a long haul in front of us and it makes better sense for us to focus on the Democratic candidates than who among the Republican frontrunners is more pro-life.

The Democrats have a strong chance of winning with one of their candidates and we have to make sure the American people know that each candidate vehemently supports abortion on demand.

Yes, there are varying degrees of pro-life among the Republican candidates. Some have come to the issue late in the game, others are more politically correct in their approach. Still others have been trusted friends of the movement for their entire political careers. But the enemy is in the other camp. Let's use our ink to expose the lies and misstatements of the pro-abortion left.

I Like Mike

Mike Huckabee is highly thought of in the pro-life movement and with good reason-- he has consistently worked to protect human life and has been a great friend to the movement. For this reason alone I like him a great deal.

But after his comments about Hillary Clinton, George Soros and MoveOn.org, I have to say he's moved up several notches in my estimation.

The Washington Times reports today that "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee gets uncharacteristically angry when talking about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's failure to condemn by name the billionaire backer of Moveon.org's attack on Gen. David H. Petraeus. 'If you can't get your lips off the backside of George Soros long enough to use those lips to say it's wrong to declare a sitting general ... guilty of treason,' the 2008 Republican presidential hopeful said, 'how would you ever expect to have the support of the very military you might have to send into deadly battle?'"

Mike Huckabee's criticism of Clinton, MoveOn.org and George Soros is right on the money (no pun intended). Like most extreme left-wing liberals, Soros is willing to throw millions of dollars at anything that moves as long as it opposes all things perceived to be conservative in principle or thought.

Way to go Mike!