Huckabee, Obama grab wins
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON — A defiant Mike Huckabee easily won today’s GOP caucuses in Kansas, picking up support from social conservatives to best his party’s front-runner, Senator John McCain, and giving a breath of life to the former Arkansas governor’s uphill campaign.
Democrat Barack Obama was projected the winner in both the Nebraska and Washington caucuses, building his momentum in his tight battle for delegates with Hillary Clinton.
The heartland win by Huckabee, after a strong showing in the South on Super Tuesday, interferes with McCain’s march toward the GOP nomination and underscores the fractured nature of the Republican electorate. While McCain is well over half-way toward clinching the nomination, Huckabee remains popular with the social conservative wing of the party and insisted he intended to stay in the race.
‘‘It has been a remarkable day in Kansas,’’ he said at a press conference after the results were announced. ‘‘This race is far from being over. ... It’s game on.’’
He said his win was significant because it was in a head-to-head matchup with McCain, and Huckabee declared that while Washington and party insiders are gravitating to McCain, voters are supporting him.
Huckabee captured an overwhelming 60 percent of the vote in Kansas, boosted by a late endorsement from Kansans for Life, a leading antiabortion group. McCain earned 24 percent of the Kansas vote, and 11 percent went to Ron Paul, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won 3 percent, and conservative activist Alan Keyes got 1 percent. Party rules award all of the state’s Kansas’s 36 delegates to Huckabee, but that haul only put him nearly 500 delegates behind McCain.
Still, Huckabee’s Kansas win exposed the Arizona lawmaker’s troubles with social conservatives, who see McCain as weak on taxes and immigration. McCain sought to appease conservatives Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Thursday, assuring them that and assured them he would be a strong defender of conservative principles as president.
Republicans also held nominating contests today in Louisiana and Washington state, with another 38 delegates at stake.
On the Democratic side, Obama and Clinton also fought for delegates in Louisiana and the US Virgin Islands, as well as Nebraska and Washington — with a total of 161 delegates up for grabs. Their contest is likely to last weeks, if not months, longer, and both contenders were already eyeing the next contests, campaigning in Maine, where Democrats caucus Sunday, and speaking tonight at a Democratic Party dinner in Virginia, which is part of Tuesday’s ‘‘Potomac Primary,’’ along with Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Heading into today’s contests, Clinton held a small lead over Obama in the delegate count, 1,055 to 998, according to the Associated Press tally, which includes the results of primaries and caucuses, plus a survey of unpledged superdelegates. It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
In the Republican race, McCain has earned more than 700 delegates toward the 1,191 needed to sew up the GOP nomination, and political analysts say it will be very difficult for Huckabee to come back and win, especially since most of the Republican state contests are not winner-take-all.
But Huckabee — once considered a likely also-ran in a field dominated by better-known and better-financed candidates — has survived to become McCain’s chief rival for the nomination after Romney, who was competing with Huckabee for conservative voters, dropped out of the race on Thursday.
The libertarian-minded Paul, with remarkable fund-raising abilities and a small but dedicated groups of supporters, is still in the race but has yet to win a state. Paul, who has just a handful of delegates, said on his website today that he would not run as a third-party candidate and was aware of his other ‘‘priority,’’ keeping his US House seat in Texas.
While the delegate numbers and a growing number of endorsements McCain has racked up among GOP officials do not bode well for Huckabee, the affable former Baptist minister said he was not discouraged.
"I didn’t major in math. I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them,’’ Huckabee told a cheering audience at the CPAC event today, adding that he would not drop out of the race until McCain mathematically secured the nomination.
I read that Paul won Washington. Is that not true?
Massachusetts is one of the very few states that got it wrong! Barak Obama restores a credibility to the office and the reputation of the country that the Clinton's absolutely cannot.
Either the American people or the media are going to control this country. The media have taken their sacred obligation to be an impartial conduit between the candidates and the people, and turned it into an exercise in controlling the masses. The great task of Americans is now to take back control of the media, by whatever means necessary.
Mike Huckabee is going to have the biggest landside victory over the Democrats in American history!
We like Mike because he is the voice of the American people.
Awesome job Huckabee in your landside victory in Kansas!!
One happy U.S. Marine!
GO HUCK
Again, 90% of African-American votes went to Senator Obama in Louisiana today. I think Bill Clinton's remarks (fairy tale in NH, comparison to Jesse Jackson in Ss) really offended and motivated the black folks in this nation. Sorry, Bill, you should have been wiser -- history can be very ironic, a few words here and there could have profound consequences, or it seems. Question for now is, if Obama keeps the momentum and takes VA, MD, andDC, will the Democratic party be patient enough to wait for the March/April contests? or will it be too late for Clinton? I think Texas, Ohio, or Pennsylvania might be swept by Obama's momentum by then. This is really fascinating to watch, but really want to see it to end soon, so the winner (Obama?) can start uniting the party and get ready for GOP.
If Mike Huckabee and John McCain were running mates, they would win this election. Without Mike Huckabee, the candidate loses many proven votes. Mike Huckabee carries the South and the Evangelical base. This base has been migrating to the Democrat party or sitting out from elections. This teamwork would reverse that trend and open the floodgates to bring in an otherwise side-lined group. With Huckabee the Republican party wins.
Mike Huckabee handily won Kansas today.
This man is a great speaker. This man has vision. If he is the VP pick, Republicans will have a very energized base, will not be stopped, and will win in November.
When President John McCain is ready to leave office, whether in four years or eight, Vice President Huckabee will be more than ready for any challenge in policy foreign or domestic. He is ready now, but all doubt should be dispelled by then.
Both John McCain and Mike Huckabee benefit from a continued campaign. This gives them both more media exposure than they would get if a nominee is selected. It also tests the viability of each candidate in the remaining states. It also serves to identify their potential supporters in the general election.
Once there are enough delegates to lock up the nomination, and the campaigning stops, people will pay even less attention to the Republican nominee that before it is done. Look at how coverage has dropped to near nothing already, always referring to the "presumptive nominee."
The McCain campaign and the Huckabee campaign will each benefit most by running on a positive message that does not detract from the other candidate. Each should concentrate their efforts on states where they could hope to bring voter into the GOP camp at the polls in November. I suggest this with the hope that these candidates will become running mates.
In continuing the campaigns until the nomination is clinched, I see more opportunity for the candidates to build their base of support in the states where they campaign. There needn't be much crossover between campaigns. The team will benefit by continuing the effort. I would wonder whether it would still be worthwhile to continue running until the last state has voted or until the Democrats have their nominee, whichever comes first.
It will not benefit the GOP nominee by having the Democrats constantly in the news and himself having no coverage.
It is beneficial for the 2012 or 2016 race to have tested Governor Huckabee's support more by continuing this nominating process.
LETTER TO AN OBAMA SUPPORTER
Dear Voter
I don't know how old you are -but I find it hard to believe that anyone, particularly young voters can extrapolate a "keen mind" and "great spirit" form a speech made by a then-state legislator who had no responsibility for this country's well-being (or access to national intelligence" when he made the speech. He was simply "lucky" that the occupation of Iraq turned sour- if it had not- we wouldn't even know his name!
Aside from the fact that, since becoming senator, he has voted to continue the war and voted against a resolution in bring the troops back in 2007 (the same as Hillary(--Obama has shown very little of himself besides rhetoric. His positions are similar to Hillary's (although, at least, she puts her "on the table" during debates while he does not!
Unfortunately ,The current focus of the media is on "style" rather than substance and many voterds are being influenced by this.
Look- I understand peoples (particularly young peoples) unhappiness with the war and Bush's policies- but please, guys, don't "throw out the baby with the bathwater". Hillary is not soon to be ex-President Bush- and Obama (see the Congressional Quarterly) voted more for Bush's positions than Senator Clinton since becoming a Senator!!
Hillary's experience and savvy will serve us well in a complex world with nations whose interests are inimical to ours. Contrary to the statement of some Obama supporters- putting a black/non-caucasian face on our President is NOT going to "redeem" us in the eyes of the world or make all the anti-american hostility go away.
Even Barack is starting to caution his followers that "change will be hard". He knows that he is not a black messiah and is now trying to reduce their expectations of his ability to "deliver" the changes they so desperately want.
This country needs unity- but it needs UNIFICATION- WITHOUT DEIFICATION. We need someone who has been proven to be SUPERIOR WITHOUT HYSTERIA-- that someone is not a young community organizer- who was elelcted only because he had minimal opposition when the incumbent withdrew. While he poses as a populist, most of his votes come from the black community (who understandably are proud of him) and AFFLUENT whites (particularly men who can afford to be "politically correct" (albeit sexist)) since their incomes and well-bring are not on the line. In aaddition, His so-called "grass roots" support comes not from the disadvantaged and disenfranchised- but form the enthusiastic young- many of whom are from the MTV generation and who do not subject his statements and rhetoric to critical analysis, preferring to treat him the same way they would a rock star"
Buy a video of his "inspirational" oratory without substance if you must- but DON'T elect him President. The world is a perilous place, the economy is heading south- and we don't have the time for him to "learn on the job"! We need someone (like Hillary) who can MAKE a wave of changes happen- not someone who (according to his own words) is just trying to just RIDE" a waveof/desire for change he did NO)T originate into the White House! He speaks rhetorically of WE having power once he is elected- but, in point of fact- it is only HE that will have that power (if we elect him) and WE don't really know what who he is or what he really stands for! Obama plays the underdog and says "clinton is better known"-- if he feels that- then why doesn't he define himself? Will he allow more debates and will there ever be more even-handed critical questioning by the media so WE can really get to know him- or will he rely on people who depend on sound bites and catch phrases to determine their vote.?
I doubt he will debate Hillary again- he prefers to utilize the "pulpit" of his stump speeches where his non-criticial "followers" (with glazed eyes) chant along with him!
I have been a life-long democrat, (despite becoming a reasonably affluent white male- thru hard work--- but I would rather vote for a maverick and war here like McCain than put Obama, who, to me at the very least is an ambiguous candidate who counts Louis Farrakhan among his supporters, in the White House!
I hope that no "traditional" hard working democrat is put to that choice and that Hillary prevails as our candidate, despite media hostiile to her candidacy-but, it will not be easy since, Obama is already stating that his " grass roots" adherents i.e.; young, suggestible people packing the caucases who are NOT the traditional democratic base--will be so "unhappy" if he is not the Democratic candidate-that they will not turn out in the general election or vote for any other Democratic nominee.!! (I wonder what the Media would say if Hillary made that kind of a thinly-veiled threat?)
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