Just this last Tuesday in Pennsylvania, during the Republican portion of that state's primary, 807,000 hard core Republicans cast thier votes. John McCain easily won the 'contest', having wrapped up the nomination seemingly 10,000 years ago. Here's the kicker: out of that 807,000 votes cast, about 220,000 people, 25% of the total Republican vote, cast thier ballots for either Mike (Don't Be A Huckadon't, be a) Huckabee or Ron Paul. That's more than Clinton's margin over Obama. And very few people noticed.
John McCain is royally screwed.
During this current Democratic bloodbath, McCain is supposedly sitting back and watching Obama and Clinton paper cut each other to death, 'reaping' the rewards. All of the idiotic talking heads on that evil picture box are crowing about how much McCain 'gains' from the current trench warfare going over on the Democratic side. If he is 'gaining' so much on the other two, why does his polling top out at 45 percent? If he has 'rallied the base' as GOP figureheads claim, why did so many Republican voters put gas in thier car to go vote in a meaningless primary, and cast votes against the presuptive nominee?
The Ron Paul Revolution, mocked by the mainstream right wing of the party, is very much for real. A large number of evangelical Republicans have no love for John McCain. They fell hard for Huckabee. Let's say that in November, in Pennsylvania, all or most of the 220,000 pissed off Republicans either stay home or vote third party. John Kerry carried Pennsylvania by less than 150,000 votes in 2004. Do we see a pattern here?
John McCain has a very real problem on his hands. His base has not, and probably will not, gather enough excitement to even give him a real shot in November. During his 'Forgotten America' or whatever tour, the Republican nominee for POTUS, is gathering about 400-500 people during his stops. And that's being generous. Obama wades through more people than that when he goes to the bathroom.
I know a few hardcore partisan Republicans who don't think much of Senator McCain. He has a problem with the conservative 'purity' test. They don't trust him. They think he's hot-headed. And more than a few are really worried about how the different factions of the party may contribute to the death of the current version of the Grand Old Party. And it all has to do with Obama.
More that few Republicans are worried that the unchecked factions of the party (the 527's, Limbaugh, Hannity and that Filthy Pirate Hooker Ann Coulter) are going to step over the line. 'The moment that one of these idiots slips up and calls Obama a nigger, all of us are dead in the water' an older conservative confided to me. 'The notion of the GOP being, well, bigots is out there. The ghosts of Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond still exist, and all it takes is one slip up, and McCain will have trouble winning his own state. No one will cast a vote for a party they think is full of racists. Not in this day and age.'
Perception is everything. The Republican aren't a racist party. But they have perfected the art of race baiting. Using the race card doesn't make you a racist or evil. It just makes you an asshole , (do you understand THAT, Bill Clinton?). But can you imagine the giant shitstorm that would erupt should the N-word slip out? You think the right wing media talking heads are going nuts now? You ain't seen nuthin' yet.
Buy the ticket. Take the ride. November's gonna be fun.