Calling Out Super Tuesday

My voting predictions for Super Tuesday are listed below but first, I’ll digress briefly on another subject. There’s been a lot of debate lately as to which candidate will win the Republican nomination and which candidate is best positioned to take us to the WH. My vote – while a deviation from my earlier posts – is that the McMan can, and will, win both. I thought his nomination for the party would be shut down by the far right – enough to kill his bid and I thought he would have difficulty in the general elections with left leaning liberals and everyone to the right of the conservative moderate.

So my opinion with respect to his chances – obviously - has done a complete 180. Call me fickle.

Now will I vote for McCain? As yet undecided. Generally speaking, I like McCain better than Romney but I'm having difficulty getting past some of his more liberal positions on issues where my views are most conservative. For months now I've been struggling between two voting paths and I'm hoping that at some point lightning will strike and I'll know which way to go. Question is: Do I vote for the candidate that most reflects my conservative values (which, at this point is Romney) or do I vote for the candidate that has the best chance of putting a Republican in the White House...?

AAHHHHH. Dilemma.

Here’s my thinking on Romney: Perhaps in 2012 Romney will have a name and an image strong enough that people – conservative and liberal – will feel comfortable with what he stands for. Knowing exactly where your future President stands on key issues is critical to winning over moderate voters and independents. It's precisely why GWB won - whether you count the first time around or the second. Maybe you liked him..maybe you didn't, you may or may not have agreed with his politics but in the end, a lot of people felt comfort in the fact that they just knew where he sat on every issue. The Bush brand image was a strong one. For Romney though, there was a lot of confusion that surrounded a good chunk of his campaign and a lot of that quickly evolved into a profound dislike of the man - even after the confusion passed-over. And I think those sentiments lingered just long enough to kill his chances here. In another four years maybe he’ll have better luck with folks on both sides of the isle similarly to the way McCain's image has evolved with general voters since campaigning against George Jr. back in 02.

With Romney out of the picture for '08, that leaves us with the McMan. If he wins the Republican nomination, I just hope he’s wise enough (and Republican enough) to elect a running mate who will serve to strengthen the conservative platform, not dilute it-- further.

With that said, here are my turnout predictions…

McCain
Alabama
Arizona
Delaware
Georgia
Minnesota
Missouri
New Jersey
Tennessee
New York
Oklahoma
Montana

Mitt Romney
Alaska
Connecticut The independent vote will make it a close draw between McCain & Romney
Illinois A strong union state; Pro-growth policies & economic issues will position Mitt for a win
Massachusetts
North Dakota
West Virginia
Utah

Mike Huckabee
Arkansas Eventhough he's really out of the running - the guy's gotta win his own state


I think I got all the Republican primary states but if I missed one lemme know.