Quick reality check on the other side: Indiana and North Carolina voters are giving Huckabee and Ron Paul up to 30% of the primary vote - even though neither is actually running. The so-called "base" of the Republican party is clearly rejecting McSame in large numbers . . .
More details, and a pointed question, after the break.
Ok - so CNN's nifty county by county results pages:
Indiana
and
North Carolina
demonstrate that McCain is not likely to even squeak out a B- on today's report card.
Going county by county, the reddest of the red counties give McCain a failing grade (64% in Buncombe, NC in the heart of Appalachia), and the McCain average for the state might not even make 75%. The same county, alone amongst its neighbors, went for Obama, who typically doesn't perform well in Appalachia, but perhaps the Democrats in Buncombe were voting Barack in part as an anti-Hillary protest, instead of the many reasons he carried the eastern and more populous counties in NC
That's a quarter of the Republican faithful casting protest votes for Huckabee, Paul, or Romney (in Indiana, but his Royal Mittness is not on the NC ballot). That's a quarter of Republican voters that much more likely to stay home in November, or to cast a "if you can't beat them, join them" vote for Barack.
The pointed question . . . If a fourth of Republican voters are unhappy with McSame - and are proving this by voting for Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee - how many of these are also in the 29% of Republicans who actively disapprove of the job Bush (McSame's policy soulmate) is doing (page 3)? Or are these two DIFFERENT unhappy constituencies that might not overlap - but add up to an even larger "staying home and pouting" non-voting block in November?