McCain credits Crist, Martinez for victory

John McCain, heading out of Florida on his campaign plane, was asked by a CNN reporter what accounted for his victory. "I'm not at very good at analysis but obviously Gov. Crist and Mel Martinez were very helpful," an exhausted looking McCain said on TV, going on to name the economy and other issues. (AP photo)

Comments

How many votes does an endorsement get your candidate? None.

How many votes did letting independents vote in a closed primary get McCain? Enough to win FL.

would you like some cheese with that wine 12:43?

[Stewart]

McCain won in a closed Republican primary, where Republicans voted in larger numbers for McCain over the rest of the field. My fellow conservatives need to condider their remarks about our presumptive nominee, and about any candidate for that matter. Wild-eyed, crazy accusations are the province of our countrymen on the Left, no the Right. As the President might say, don't be a bitter ender.

Florida has a closed primary. Only Republicans voted. And McCAIN WON - in a closed primary. Among only Republicans. McCain will be President. Get on board or get out of the way.

What did Cristi's endorsement cause you John? Did you promise her she'd be the VP?

Viva Vice President Crist!

yes it was a closed primary, but nearly 20% of the voters yesterday were independents who switched to R either by the 29 day deadline or on election day at the polls - so try another pitch

McCain is going to crush either Billary or Obambi. So all of you purists out there: shut up! Unless you want Hill in office?

http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/john_mccain_match_ups/election_2008_mccain_vs_clinton_and_obama

Dear Conspiracy Theorists:

If you think:
1) someone (WHO? - EVIDENCE?) got all the Independents to switch & vote for McCain; or

2) McCain was secretly in cahoots with all the Supervisors of Elections to let Independents vote in the Republican Primary (only as long as they were going to vote for McCain, though)

Please to seek professional help. There is medication that can help you.

Why does McCain look like the goon who gets soaked with acid in RoboCop in every picture taken of him???

Why??

12:58 - your feeble attempt to minimize my argument failed - i am not a black helicopter person

1) it's very likely that independents wanting to play in FL's historic primary switched to R prior to the 29 day deadline instead of switching to D due to the "meaningless" D primary

2) there are news reports of I's switching to R at the polls yesterday - browning even commented on them - may not be conspiracy, but it is highly probable that due to the new database glitch that removed their party affiliation poll workers just took people's word that they were R's - again not claiming D due to the "meaningless" primary

so, all perfectly "legal" - not conspircacy - but extremely likely that I's swung this for McCain (plus throw in the exit polls which pretty much confirm this)

[President McCain]

The first thing I do as President will be to confer with Senator Kennedy and push through all the social liberal bills that need to be push through including another amendment to McCain-Feingold that will outlaw talk radio and silence Rush Limbaugh forever. It is good to be me and with all the power. I love it. You all will be silenced because I know best and debate is meaningless and troublesome for someone like me who knows best. So deal with it. I will build the bureaucratic empire that Rome would be envious of.

Lots of paranoid people on here that feel that they must come to the defense of CC at every corner. These staffers need to try getting a real job!

@:10 It is hard to minimize your issue. Clearly, the problem is great which is why I suggest you seek profesisonal help.

On a more mositive note, your problem may be ignorance rather than mental illness. Clearly you don't know that in Florida you can't change your registratin on election day at the polls and expect to vote your new way. Here, the rolls close 30 days prior.

Is there a new "Maestro" in town?

George's chair at the Governor's office isn't even cold yet and it looks like Brian Ballard pulled off a palace coup. While George was secretly meeting with the Giuliani and Romney camps (even helping prep Romney to debate McCain), Brian quietly strode in and convinced Crist to make his 11th hour endorsement. George found out like the rest of us, on the evening news.

Brian posted up against LeMieux, and WON. Just a month ago, George was the Governor's Maestro. Looks like Brian just made a power play to usurp that role.

People like 12:50 cling to the vain hope that "real" Republicans will come charging over the hill any minute to carry the day for their beloved (this week) Romney. Joe Scarborough and Sean Hannity and suffering from wounded "man crushes" as we speak.

Well get it:

REAL Republicans voted for John McCain.
REAL Republicans believe in CONSERVATIVE values like fiscal responsibility, small government, low taxes and strong national defense. So does McCain.

So who are these "REA:" Republicans you idiots are pining away for? Who decides who is a "REAL" Republican?

REAL Republicans want to win in November. That's why REAL Republicans are going to keep voting for John Mcacin the length and breadth of the land until he is President.

1:41 - get a clue and a dictionary - the state recently got a new state voter registration database that had some glitches that erased people's party registration - browing admitted as such and he gave the okay to poll workers to allow people who showed no party affiliation to declare it on the spot on election day at the polls - so even though the registration change deadline passed, people "switched" on election day - hope you're happy in your mindless bliss of ignorance

do you even know who browning is? do i need to teach you that? geez - so many idiots posting and they have no clue

1:56: You're the moron. There is no 1:41. Besides you can't spell either: You spelled Browning as browing.

ah, the mccainiacs (1:56, 1:54) are now acting like their liberal counterparts on the democrat side - run out of arguments and resort to playground name calling - liberalism is obviously an infectious disease

[President Obama sounds good to me.]

'STRAIGHT TALK' EXPRESS TAKES SCENIC ROUTE TO TRUTH
January 23, 2008

John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism and youth. Like McCain, pollsters assured us that Dole was the most "electable" Republican. Unlike McCain, Dole didn't lie all the time while claiming to engage in Straight Talk.

Of course, I might lie constantly too, if I were seeking the Republican presidential nomination after enthusiastically promoting amnesty for illegal aliens, Social Security credit for illegal aliens, criminal trials for terrorists, stem-cell research on human embryos, crackpot global warming legislation and free speech-crushing campaign-finance laws.

I might lie too, if I had opposed the Bush tax cuts, a marriage amendment to the Constitution, waterboarding terrorists and drilling in Alaska.

And I might lie if I had called the ads of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth "dishonest and dishonorable."

McCain angrily denounces the suggestion that his "comprehensive immigration reform" constituted "amnesty" -- on the ludicrous grounds that it included a small fine. Even the guy who graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy didn't fall for this a few years ago.

In 2003, McCain told The Tucson Citizen that "amnesty has to be an important part" of any immigration reform. He also rolled out the old chestnut about America's need for illegals, who do "jobs that American workers simply won't do."

McCain's amnesty bill would have immediately granted millions of newly legalized immigrants Social Security benefits. He even supported allowing work performed as an illegal to count toward Social Security benefits as recently as a vote in 2006 -- now adamantly denied by Mr. Straight Talk.

McCain keeps boasting that he was "the only one" of the Republican presidential candidates who supported the surge in Iraq.

What is he talking about? All Republicans supported the surge -- including Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. The only ones who didn't support it were McCain pals like Sen. Chuck Hagel. Indeed, the surge is the first part of the war on terrorism that caused McCain to break from Hagel in order to support the president.

True, McCain voted for the war. So did Hillary Clinton. Like her, he then immediately started attacking every other aspect of the war on terrorism. (The only difference was, he threw in frequent references to his experience as a POW, which currently outnumber John Kerry's references to being a Vietnam vet.)

Thus, McCain joined with the Democrats in demanding O.J. trials for terrorists at Guantanamo, including his demand that the terrorists have full access to the intelligence files being used to prosecute them.

These days, McCain gives swashbuckling speeches about the terrorists who "will follow us home." But he still opposes dripping water down their noses. He was a POW, you know. Also a member of the Keating 5 scandal, which you probably don't know, and won't -- until he becomes the Republican nominee.

Though McCain was far from the only Republican to support the surge, he does have the distinction of being the only Republican who voted against the Bush tax cuts. (Also the little lamented Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who later left the Republican Party.) Now McCain claims he opposed the tax cuts because they didn't include enough spending cuts. But that wasn't what he said at the time.

To the contrary, in 2001, McCain said he was voting against Bush's tax cuts based on the idiotic talking point of the Democrats. "I cannot in good conscience," McCain said, "support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief."

McCain started and fanned the vicious anti-Bush myth that, before the 2000 South Carolina primary, the Bush campaign made phone calls to voters calling McCain a "liar, cheat and a fraud" and accusing him of having an illegitimate black child.

On the thin reed of a hearsay account, McCain immediately blamed the calls on Bush. "I'm calling on my good friend George Bush," McCain said, "to stop this now. He comes from a better family. He knows better than this."

Bush denied that his campaign had anything to do with the alleged calls and, in a stunningly magnanimous act, ordered his campaign to release the script of the calls being made in South Carolina.

Bush asked McCain to do the same for his calls implying that Bush was an anti-Catholic bigot, but McCain refused. Instead, McCain responded with a campaign commercial calling Bush a liar on the order of Bill Clinton:

MCCAIN: His ad twists the truth like Clinton. We're all pretty tired of that.

ANNOUNCER: Do we really want another politician in the White House America can't trust?

After massive investigations by the Los Angeles Times and investigative reporter Byron York, among others, it turned out that neither of the alleged calls had been made by the Bush campaign -- nor, it appeared, by anyone else. There was no evidence that any such calls had ever been made, which is unheard of when hundreds of thousands of "robo-calls" are being left on answering machines across the state.

And yet, to this day, the media weep with McCain over Bush's underhanded tactics in the 2000 South Carolina primary.

In fact, the most vicious attack in the 2000 South Carolina primary came from McCain -- and not against his opponent.

Seeking even more favorable press from The New York Times, McCain launched an unprovoked attack against the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, calling them "agents of intolerance." Unlike the phantom "black love child" calls, there's documentary evidence of this smear campaign.

To ensure he would get full media coverage for that little gem, McCain alerted the networks in advance that he planned to attack their favorite whipping boys. Newspaper editors across the country stood in awe of McCain's raw bravery. The New York Times praised him in an editorial that said the Republican Party "has for too long been tied to the cramped ideology of the Falwells and the Robertsons."

Though McCain generally votes pro-life -- as his Arizona constituency requires -- he embraces the loony lingo of the pro-abortion set, repeatedly assuring his pals in the media that he opposes the repeal of Roe v. Wade because it would force women to undergo "illegal and dangerous operations."

Come to think of it, Dole is a million times better than McCain. Why not run him again?

1:09 -- It was probably the beatings he received from the communists. He looks pretty good considering what he went through for us.

Laugh it up fools... If McAmnesty wins, we all lose.

So Charlie wins agin--both with McCain and with the amendment.
Some of you should think more about what these numbers show: that Florida voters are tired of the ultra-conservative and mindless partisan politics you're promoting. They're looking for something new.
You should be glad they're with McCain, regardless of when they named themselves Republican (and surely you don't want to turn away all those new R voters, do you?) and not with the Dems.
But I guess some people want to have it all their way. This time, your way was soundly rejected.

Actually Senator Martinez's endorsement was the big one. Even without Gov Crist, I don't think it would acct for nearly 100,000 votes.

1:52

This is the talk of the town. Recent chatter says that Ballard was chatting up his "genius" at the McCain event. I guess the fellowship is splintering. Maybe Charlie doesn't think he needs George anymore.

[UF Student]

I like how all the same experts that are saying McCain can't win the presidency are probably the same people predicting Mitt to win and A1 to fail miserably. Don't you get it yet? You have no idea what you are talking about. Anybody that knows anything about politics knows that McCain has the best chance to beat a Democrat, if you can read a poll you would know that.

GET BACK TO WORK STEALING MY TAXES, STAFFERS!

4:01 - i hope that's not true. i've worked with george, he's a good guy. i don't think gov. crist would drop him for some filthy lobbyist.

4:01
You just proved that you don't know what your talking about.
Ballard would never say anything negative about anybody especially in front of people he didn't know or in a crowd.
Do you think he's a rookie or something?

1:56 you are talking about a handful of people whose party affiliation (heretofore declared) was somehow erased by a computer glitch.

In your earlier posting (12:54) you indicated (groundlessly) that 20% of the voters in the Republican Primary in Florida were Independents. That would put the number at about 250,000. That would be more than a glitch. More like the conspiracy theory I previously debunked and suggested you seek professional help.

Now how about it? There are some fine psychiatrists in Florida...

UFSTUDENT

New Poll shows McCain will beating both Hillary & Obama

http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/john_mccain_match_ups/election_2008_mccain_vs_clinton_and_obama

[zenator]

Your lowly zenator enjoys reading all of the post-election spin written by those who infer that (1) they know the players, such as the Governor, George , Bryan etc., and (2) they know what actually happened.

The post I like the best though is the anon at 1:52 PM, which takes the form of an Ode to Bryan, which I suspect was written by none other than Bryan himself.

Defeat is indeed an orphan and victory has many fathers.

[Charlie Brown]

McCain won't win super Tuesday with out the Republican base - Florida's electioneering in democratic precincts won't help him in the other states next Tuesday. He is riding high now, but it won't last beyond Tuesday's outcome. Other states arent't so stupid as to care one wit about what Charlie Crist thinks. What Republican base you liberals and "moderates" ask? The base that forced Harriet Miers to drop her nomination to the high court, the base that causes people like John McCain and Charlie Crist to claim they are Ronald Reagan, the base that made McCain admit he needs to build the border fence (sorry Mel)and the base that defeated his ridiculous amnesty bill --- THAT base.

"I'm not at very good at analysis..." said Senator McCain.

---

I sure hope that he is great at analysis - otherwise he should not only NOT be President, but also he should not be a U.S. Senator.

Better than flip-flopper Romney or Socialist Hillary

8:34 Being consistently wrong is not a virture.

[Charlie Brown]

Continued from 6:01 - Oh, and the base that sat out the 2006 election in disgust over the Republican moderate candidates and gave control of Congress over to the Democrats rather than "hold their noses and take it" (to use McCain's mother's words) THAT base too.

[Gene Smith]

zenator,

I like your take on everybody who is now claiming they know what made Charlie make up his mind to endorse McCain at the last minute. I don't claim to know anything about who might have written what anonymous comment here, but I'd just venture to guess that the truth about the endorsement decision is not likely to find its way onto this blog anytime soon.

Charlie Brown
I find it interesting that you think the 'base' defeated anything other than themselves. The 'base' cannot vote on any of those matters.
And if you are proud of the fact that you would rather have a Democratic Congress than an even moderate Republican Congress, then your 'base' has really lost sight of what it means to participate in the political process.

[Publius]

McCain reminds this old sage of someone who shall remain unnamed. Let's see if we can figure him out though. McCain strength is military honor. So we have a strong nationalist as a candidate. But he also favors a bureaucracy to tame the private sector in all areas including taxes, mandates, restriction of speech, and central government control. So strong militaristic qualities with strong centralized control emanating from the elite ruling class of bureaucrats

Zen--- Just read this thread funny that you think Bryan would need to brag in this forum. I think you probably no thats foolish. He and George are friends and will stay that way no matter what the idiots on this blog write. Charlie won not Bryan and trust me he knows it.