While waiting for the final votes from Lake County, Indiana, I thought I'd check the results from North Carolina. Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the New York Times results page and saw this:
Candidate | | Vote | | % |
John McCain | | 374,112 | | 74.0% |
Mike Huckabee | | 61,711 | | 12.2% |
Ron Paul | | 36,636 | | 7.2% |
Others | | 33,010 | | 6.5% |
That's right. John McCain couldn't get 3/4 of the Republican vote in an uncontested primary.
It's worth remembering that, unlike Indiana, North Carolina is not an open primary state. Republicans can't cross over on election day on a whim. These sad results come from Republicans and the few Independents not crossing in the other direction.
So, while we're biting our nails, let's remember that the Republican remains hated -- yes, hated -- by many activists in his own party. Now, I know that he's hated by those activists for precisely those "maverick" qualities that make him less than a lunatic to Democrats. But he's going to have to win the base back in a big way, to keep them from sitting on their hands. And the more he appeals to the extremists, the less likely Democrats unhappy with the Democratic nominee are likely to sit on theirs. No matter what th exit polls say.