Michelle Malkin » McCain’s Democrats: Not enough in Michigan

McCain’s Democrats: Not enough in Michigan

By Michelle Malkin • January 16, 2008 10:26 AM

On Jan. 11, Crooked Talker John McCain denied he was going to woo Democrats into voting for him in the Michigan GOP primary.

Yesterday, a Power Line reader reported that he received a phone message from Sen. Joe Lieberman urging Democrats to vote in the Republican primary for John McCain.

In a follow-up, the McCain camp denied that the message targeted Democrats. But Scott Johnson points out:

In a message to us last night, the McCain campaign acknowledged that it used a recorded message from Senator Lieberman, but denied that the message was targeted to Democrats or that it expressly invited Democrats to vote in the Republican primary. But that was nevertheless the obvious implication of the message, and Senator Lieberman expressly appealed for Democrats to vote for Senator McCain in the Republican primary during the day yesterday. Senator Lieberman, for example, appealed to Democrats in Ypsilanti to vote for Senator McCain in the Republican primary:

[I]n Ypsilanti, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., joined McCain on the stump and urged independents to vote for his friend.

“This is a tough and close fight here in Michigan here today. But Republicans, and I want to say specifically independents and yes, Democrats……I urge them to come out today and stand for a man who is a great American patriot.”

Senator Lieberman made the same appeal to Democrats in Ann Arbor as well. We invited the McCain campaign to comment on the text of Senator Lieberman’s recorded message as reported above. It has so far declined to do so.

Straight talk, eh?

And so much for McCain’s power to draw a broad coalition to the polls. Turnout among independents and Democrats was down:

Mr. McCain countered with stronger support among independents and Democrats, but they accounted for a far smaller share of the electorate than in 2000. This year, 32 percent of voters here described themselves as independents or Democrats, down from 52 percent in 2000 when Mr. McCain defeated George W. Bush.

Not enough.

Next? Patrick Ruffini looks ahead:

It’s unclear what this means at the end of the day, and if McCain’s national (and South Carolina) momentum now dissipates. There was a great deal of hoopla over Michigan in 2000, with a great deal of talk then about Mac being Back after a bruising South Carolina defeat a few nights before. But it wasn’t to be. South Carolina was what mattered.

Since the media has mythologized South Carolina so, will we back to square one if McCain prevails against an opposition that increasingly looks like the Clampitts? Any two of Huckabee, Romney, and Thompson could easily gang up on McCain to take him out, but they are divided almost evenly, it’s unclear who has real momentum, and Romney had abandoned the state (to get the Michigan win). Will tonight give him enough traction to be the chief conservative rival? Even if it could, I’m not sure Romney wants a direct confrontation with McCain in SC. He has not won on Southern accented ground before, and has done no better than hold his own among Evangelicals, though we did see McCain run well behind with them tonight, so maybe that’s grounds for reconsidering.

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Comments

#1

On January 16th, 2008 at 10:41 am, meatpieandtatters said:

Poor John McCain.
Thought he’d win.
He’s got no game.
#2

On January 16th, 2008 at 10:45 am, hatelibs said:

Anything that will trim down the candidate list is fine by me. Anything that will get rid of RINOs and unelectable candidates (like Paul) is great by me.
#3

On January 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am, mlnicosia said:

Why is everyone ignoring this very big story:

While born-again and evangelical voters constituted almost 40 percent of Michigan’s total vote, they actually broke for Romney by five points, 34 to 29 percent.

I see nothing but a blurb on CNN – this was more important then the story of the independents.
#4

On January 16th, 2008 at 10:54 am, Michelle Malkin said:

I noted that last night.
#5

On January 16th, 2008 at 10:56 am, blues said:

hatelibs-I agree we must thin the field.This making me dizzy.
#6

On January 16th, 2008 at 10:58 am, blues said:

The Republican Primaries are beginning to look like an Abbot and Costello routine.
#7

On January 16th, 2008 at 11:04 am, meatpieandtatters said:

Rawmoney 337,847 39%
McCain 257,521 30%
Huckabee 139,699 16%
Paul 54,434 6%
Thompson 32,135 4%
Giuliani 24,706 3%
Uncommitted 17,971 2%
Hunter 2,823 0%

Where were Fredulons were Gulingons supporters? Kucinich must have drawn them away…
#8

On January 16th, 2008 at 11:04 am, Azygos said:

Michelle,

Do you think you could find a more appropriate picture of McCan’t. This one is staring to creep me out. Maybe a picture of a horses rear, or perhaps pond scum?

Hunter, Hunter, Hunter. Don’t let the LSM decide who our RINO candidate is going to be.
#9

On January 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am, uhangtight said:

blues: actually it is the media that are looking like Abbott and Costello. The big losers: The Media. Why? Cause they want the primaries over by one or two states instead of letting the process allow the outcome. THEY want to predict the outcome. They are the Abbotts and Costellos. Look who’s won, he has momentum now, oh.. look who’s won over here, he has momentum now, oh look who’s won, will he finally have momentum?

All the media marketing of Huck and McPain has not really given them the ‘momentum’ the media talking heads had hoped. How much they had wished they could change the face of the Republican party to Huckleberry or McPain. Now, we will wait and see what the primary process concludes moving on to February. We will see if the Abbotts and Costellos can decide who is the frontrunner after February 5. My Bet, they can’t…
#10

On January 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am, Charles B. Simpson said:

Forget the Drive-bys. Listen to”El-Rushbo” young Skywalkers; he sets us straight. Romney or Thompson equals zero RINO’s on the way to the Republican nomination.
#11

On January 16th, 2008 at 11:45 am, SheetAnchor said:

Gov. Huckabee does an about face on the nationwide smoking ban. The article link is below.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/huckabee-about-face-on-smoking-2008-01-16.html
#12

On January 16th, 2008 at 12:02 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

When will people wake up and realize McCan’t is a liberal?

1. He’s against tax cuts
2. He believes in man-made global warming
3. He’s against so-called torture
4. He sponsored the McCain-Kennedy bill
5. He’s against free speech with McCain Fiengold

I’m sure I missed several other items/issues.

So what part of him is actually “conservative”?
#13

On January 16th, 2008 at 12:29 pm, ACHefty said:

And one other thing while we are piling on McCain. Would everyone who disagrees with him please stop blathering over how they respect him for his service to our country?

Yes, he was a Navy pilot. Yes, he was a POW. Yes, he suffered mightily. And yes, we admire his courage and thank him for fighting for us. But we do not need to lick his boots to be allowed to disagree with his policy. It’s very easy. Repeat after me: “Senator, you are wrong on [insert issue here].”

As my USMC Drill Instructor used to say: Don’t thank me. The government thanks me twice a month.
#14

On January 16th, 2008 at 12:33 pm, commonsensemom said:

No amount of spinning by McCain can erase this simple fact: a state with 3-4 times the votes of New Hampshire, and a far more Republican voter turnout, gave Romney a decisive win last night, with the largest margin of victory so far in the primaries. So if McCain can’t spin the loss to his arch-enemy, he’ll dodge it, saying it doesn’t matter ‘cuz he’s going to win SC and still keep trying to convince us he’s a conservative. So much for the “Straight Talk Express”…
#15

On January 16th, 2008 at 12:40 pm, davenp35 said:

“I think the Democratic Party is a fine party, and I have no problems with it, in their views and their philosophy.” – John McCain

Actual McCain quote from 2004!
#16

On January 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pm, AlohaGuy said:

I noted that last night.

Oh yeah Michelle, and you’re one of those people who doesn’t want to slow down the honors class so everyone can keep up…
#17

On January 16th, 2008 at 1:21 pm, madchef said:

Fred Dalton Thompson is our best hope of winning the election and steering this great nation in a positive direction. We need to support him with our time and donations to keep him competative. Otherwise he will get pushed to the wayside the way Duncan Hunter has been, If they aren’t in the top Four they get barred from the debates and from the media spotlight.

Fred might not be perfect, but he is our only hope.

Go FRED!
#18

On January 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pm, yohannbiimu said:

I voted for Thompson yesterday. I think it is noteworthy that Huckabee probably grabbed not more than a few of McCain’s hoped-for Democratic voters. Listening to some interviews of folks voting yesterday, I heard one voter who, until very recently, was going to vote for Hillary, but went for Huckabee.

I only heard radio ads (in the Lansing, Michiga area) from Romney and Huckabee, so frankly it’s not surprising to me that McCain didn’t finish better.
#19

On January 16th, 2008 at 2:03 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

Looks like the NYT is puffing up again for McCan’t. They really, really want him to win.
#20

On January 16th, 2008 at 3:45 pm, Papa Louie said:

McCAIN: I’ll stop wasteful spending by Congress and restore Americans’ trust in their government. I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

So why have you waited until now to stop wasteful spending by Congress, McCain? Why didn’t you do something when you and your pals were in charge?

FactCheck.org takes apart claims by “Crooked Talker John McCain” here.