CNN Breaking News

Republican Mitt Romney will suspend his campaign for the presidential nomination, sources tell CNN.

Comments

[Brendan Loy]

"Suspend" -- that means his delegates remain pledged, yes?

So, if Huckabee can win enough delegates to deny McCain an outright majority (doubtful, but not impossible), Romney can jump back in at the convention... or try to play kingmaker. Right?

If so, will Rush Limbaugh now urge conservatives to vote for Huck -- who, as I recall, Rush hates -- in order to produce precisely this scenario, create a brokered convention and allow delegates to pick a "real" conservative (Fred Thompson? Haley Barbour?) instead? Hmm...

[4-7]

I was impressed with Huckabee Tuesday night. My affection for him has been suppressed by the superiority of Romney. I will definitely, i.e., MOST DEFINITELY, shift my support to Huckabee in light of this event. I think Huckabee has potential. I hope Romney shifts his delegates to Huck. Man, how much is McCain wishing he had cemented a deal with Huck for VP before Super Tuesday ?

[Aaron]

I can't help but bask in the warm glow of schadenfreude as conservatives argue about who does or does not suffer from McCain Derangement Syndrome. (Check out The Corner)

Here's James Wollcott , commenting on Mary Matalin's suggestion in NRO that McCain should promise his CPAC audience that he'll take some lessons in real conservatism from Newt Gingrich:

"Just a guess on my part, but I suspect John McCain didn't survive the Hanoi Hilton so that he could listen to the free associative visionary bullshit of some Beltway savant who didn't have the balls to get into the Republican presidential race himself. I hope McCain addresses the CPAC crowd tomorrow with an evil chuckle that says, "My friends, I may not be your ideal candidate, but you bastards are stuck with me now... Should have been nicer to me while you still had the chance."

Indeed.

[Brendan Loy]

Not very much, I'm guessing. McCain is still going to win the nomination. The latest Green Papers estimate shows McCain needing just 492 of the remaining 1,274 "available" delegates to win the nomination. That's 37%. He'll get that.

[Brendan Loy]

You know, I was trying to compose a post about how easy it will be for McCain to get the necessary delegates in the upcoming states, but actually... there is some reasonably-friendly Huck territory coming up. Big questions:

* Can he win >50% in Louisiana, and thus get the benefit of that state's quasi-WTA rule?

* Can he win Virginia? It's WTA, and it has 63 delegates. This is HUGE for him. Huckabee must win Virginia on Tuesday, or it's over.

* Can he steal a decent chunk of delegates from McCain in the more conservative areas of Washington state, Maryland, Wisconsin and Ohio? These are a California-style WTAs, with each congressional district having its own WTA. I assume McCain wins statewide, but Huck needs to win a goodly number of districts.

* Can he get a majority in Texas? (He gets all 41 at-large delegates if he does; otherwise it's proportional.) And can he get a majority in most of Texas's districts? (Same rules on a district level.) In other words, can he clean up in Texas? It has 137 delegates in all. He needs to get the vast bulk of them.

If he can do all of those things, this may still be a race when March 5 dawns.

[Sandy Underpants]

Folks, Washington is broken... And Mitt Romney isn't going to fix it.

[CD]

McCain will get the nomination. If he decides to pander to the christian right, it will be a major tactical error for November as he will risk a large portion of his indie and centrie support as those people *hate* the christian right, and would rather burn in a hell that they don't believe in than support any such candidate (especially given McCain's age issue).

I think that he says 'screw off' to them as he has done in the past, risks some of them staying home on election day (knowing many of them will still vote and vote for him over Obama or Clinton) and win huge accolades from the swath in the middle that love his maverick, independant nature. He has the nomination coming down he pipeline, and he has always known that once he got the Republican nomination, he would be golden to move forward in reaping the rewards of his wide moderate appeal.

I think the most politically shrewd move would be for him to go whole independant hog and take Lieberman or Bloomberg... or to balance out his perceived weakness on the economy and sort of mollify the base without freezing out anti-christian-righters by taking on a fiscal conservative yet social libertarian or at least socially quiet candidate.

I repeat... a Huckabee or Brownback kind of capitulation to the right will be a BAD move for the general election. Once he has the nomination, his need to make that part of the party happy is less important than his need to maximize his wide-spread appeal.

[Brendan Loy]

I am assuming, BTW, that McCain will win D.C. and Puerto Rico, which are WTA. But they have just 41 delegates combined. Similarly, he'll get the bulk of Rhode Island's 17 (proportional) and all of Vermont's 17 (WTA).

Suppose Huck nabs 2 out of the 9 districts in WA (probably a stretch), 3 apiece in Maryland and Wisconsin (which each have 8 districts), and 6 in Ohio (out of 18). And suppose he wins McCain-in-California-like sweep in Texas, holding Mr. Straight Talk to just 3 districts out of 32. And in Kansas, another CA-style WTA state I forgot to mention, he sweeps entirely, winning all 39 delegates. Ignoring Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa, which I have idea what to do with (they're 9 delegates apiece), that would bring us to... let's see...

KS: Huck 39, McCain 0
LA: Huck 20, McCain 0
VA: Huck 63, McCain 0
TX: Huck 128, McCain 9
DC, PR and VT: McCain 58, Huck 0
RI: McCain 12, Huck 5
WA: McCain 31, Huck 6
MD: McCain 28, Huck 9
WI: McCain 31, Huck 9
OH: McCain 70, Huck 18 (okay, this is worse than I thought - maybe he actually needs to win Wisconsin and Ohio, like he won Iowa - not likely in a two-man race, says I)

Huck 297, McCain 239

Yeah, nevermind, that's not good enough to close the gap. It would keep McCain short of the "magic number" for a while longer, but he'd still get the nomination. Huck needs to actually win states like Ohio and Wisconsin if he's going to have a chance. Can he do that?

[4-7]

If McCain doesn't cater to the base with the VP nod he is through. Through. Finished. I don't care how much irrational hate people have for the "Christian right" and its nation-saving principles. McCain is done if he chooses Lieberman. I suggest he tickets with Huckabee based on MH's powerful performance in the primaries, albeit surprising. It would be nice to see the Fairtax marginally on the ballot too.

[4-7]

(he is finished because indies will vote for Hillary or Barack. If you hate the Christian Right, why would you vote for a Republican over a Democrat?).

[Mike]

?If you hate the Christian Right, why would you vote for a Republican over a Democrat?"

Perhaps because McCain is not seen as a member of the Christian Right? Many independents do not treat the two major parties as monolithic structures, and someone with the maverick reputation that McCain has will appeal to many people like that. If you would always pick a Democrat over a Republican, you're not actually an independent. Same if you'd always pick a Republican over a Democrat.

[CD]

4-7,

You clearly have no grasp of how much potential support McCain has already or within his grasp outside of the Republican party. Again, the party will not shoot themselves in the foot. *Most* of the party will rally behind him when they have to accept him as their reality because he is, factually, a Republican and very different from either Democratic candidate on all of the major issues.

This country is leaning anti-Republican right now... thanks you W and the last seven years for at least that. McCain is literally the only chance in hell the party has to keep the White House. Once he has the nomination wrapped up (pretty much already), he shifts his focus to courting the nation, not the party. And the nation, more than not, wants nothing to do with the Huckabees and Brownbacks of this country.

Hell, the success of McCain in the primary season this year even shows us that the Republican party is leaning away from it's own base. There is just no denying this reality. McCain loses more than he gains by compromising what has made his career. It has backfired on him everytime. I'm not saying it isn't possible he does it, because he is desparate to win and might exercise poor judgement as a result. I maintain, that to pander to the christian right with the VP slot is a fatal mistake for his candidacy.

[Aaron]

Mitt Romney, all class.

[4-7]

I agree that Republicans will end up voting for McCain over Hillary unless Mac turns psycho mid-campaign. That is indeed a sad reality, and one that we purchased for ourselves by being serenated by this lying loose cannon named John McCain. I also agree he is desparate to win. If he thought he could beat Hillary and Obama by running as democrat, there is no doubt in my mind that this self-centered opportunist would have. I am sad.

[4-7]

I agree that I am ignorant of how much support McCain has outside the party. As far as inside the party, I think what support he has comes from (1) RINOs; (2) opportunists who want to leverage position and influence for contemporary endorsements; (3) fools tricked by his superficial appeal; and (4) those conceding to perceived (perhaps actual) inevitability. I order those in rank of their grotesqueness - (4) being almost zero grotesqueness.

I have to admit that Ann Coulter's plan has some superficial appeal. Vote for Hillary, she'll so embarass liberalism that we'll have a lasting return to conservatism. Vote for McCarter and we'll have 30 years of Democrat rule. I fear this.

[CD]

It's actually kind of amusing to me to get this kind of inside peak at the irrational, not at all factual-based *hatred* of John McCain. It is so similar to what Hillary Clinton is subjected to by so many. This kind of position always speaks so much more about the *hater* than the *hated*. It would be fascinating to study, but I fear too depressing for what it would reveal about the subjects.

[4-7]

John McCain is lying about who he is to become president and he took a kick-em-in-the-balls approach to his opponents, namely Romney. www.anncoulter.org lists some of the wonderful reasons why McCain is worthless.

CD, you're only scandalized by the hatred of John McCain you call "irrational" because you worry that dissatisfaction with McLame's credentials might actually jeopardize his nomination, which you don't want either because you support him or you support his Democratic opponents, who will likely cakewalk over him.

[Aaron]

There has been a feeling among many liberals that Romney might actually have been the least-bad potential president among the GOP nominees. The idea was that even though he's a blatant liar and flip-flopper, and has been throwing red-meat to the wingnuts throughout the campaign, that he's really still the fairly moderate technocrat he was during his governorship.

His withdrawal speech seems specifically designed to destroy that impression. I suppose it's possible that he's still pandering, but if so he's really laying it on think.

Seriously, go read the whole thing. Conservatives are loving it, if KLo and Hemmingway at The Corner are any barometer. It just makes me enormously happy that there's no more chance he will become President.

[Brian Foster]

he thought he could beat Hillary and Obama by running as democrat, there is no doubt in my mind that this self-centered opportunist would have.

Yes, just like when he proved all the pundits right in 2000 and launched a third-party presidential bid after losing the nomination to W . . . and just like when he gave serious thought to the idea of being Kerry's running mate when pundits floated the idea.

Except he didn't do either of those things, dismissing the first one out of hand because, as he said, he was a Republican first and always will be, and with respect to the second, said only that he would take seriously any request of that magnitude but that he could not imagine it happening because it was so unlikely.

Yes, let's crucify a man for remaining loyal to the party whose activists by and large hate him, and for having the gall to treat a fellow Senator's (hypothetical! and completely unrealistic!) request with honor and respect.

[4-7]

Why should a conservative want to support a candidate who voted for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. That is true blue antithetical to modern conservative values.

The Romney flip-flop was a complete invention. At least Romney flips, as Coulter says, and stays there. If liberals thought Romney would betray conservatives and flip back, why did they villify their trojan horse ??? Why do they love McCain ? He IS their trojan horse.

Everyone who loves McCain, go suck on a lolli.

[Aaron]

Here is a report from McCain's CPAC speech. Some things I found interesting, in no particular order:

- Apparently George Allen helped introduce McCain. I have a feeling that if the GOP loses in November, there's going to be a movement to rehabilitate Allen for a 2012 run. Some advice to my conservative friends: don't do it. The man is a racist asshole, and will only drag your party further down.

- McCain's critique of Democratic foreign policy: "timidity." Now, I disagree with McCain's aggressively militaristic approach to foreign policy, but at least this charge of his doesn't make me want to punch him in the face, the way Romney's "surrender" theme does.

-McCain on immigration:
McCain had only to utter the words "on the issue of illegal immigration..." before he was cut off by boos. But then something strange happened. A broad smile appeared on McCain's face, as if to say, "trust me," and the crowd's boos turned into applause. He then elaborated on immigration: "I would consider it among my highest priorities to secure our borders first" before focusing on the "rule of law" concerns of conservatives in the audience in order to, in his words, "prevent another wave of illegal immigrants."

- And apparently, he won the crowd over enough that "By the end, the crowd was actually chanting "John McCain! John McCain! John McCain!""

[Aaron]

4-7, if it makes you feel any better, very few liberals still like McCain. We don't like any of the people your side is putting up, but it's true that McCain doesn't piss us off in quite the same way the others do.

If you want some McCain bashing, how about this from libertarian Will Wilkinson. Here he's reacting, not to McCain directly, but to an adoring piece on McCain from the Weekly Standard. Wilkinson's "translation" of the piece goes like this:

Libertarianism is dangerous because it discourages juvenile romantic attachment to higher things — meaningful things – like Honor, Virtue, and the indescribable joy of sacrificing one’s life to the service of the American Volksreich. All libertarians care about is superficial shit like not starving, living a long time, and being creative and happy. Blah blah blah. But, really, what’s the point of living to 200 if all you do is enjoy yourself the whole time? I mean, don‘t you want to know what it is like to kill a man? DON’T YOU WANT TO TASTE BLOOD!? Besides, virtue.

Vote John McCain.

Or... was that not the kind of McCain bashing you were looking for?

[4-7]

Look, I witnesses McCain catch a bat in his mouth in the dead of night and swallow it whole. How can I vote for this man ?

[kcatnd]

When I first heard the word "suspend," I assumed he was going to cryogenically freeze himself and reemerge in November or something.

[Brendan Loy]

Heh.

That -- much like super-superdelegates -- would be AWESOME.

[Andrew]

After reading your comments in this thread, 4-7, I'd normally ask, "Are you for real?!?!?", but I know you are for real here, and I know a ton of conservatives that closely follow national politics feel the same way about McCain. The thing is, statistically, by the time November comes around, I'm quite positive that the vast majority of you will hold your nose and vote for McCain as the lesser of two evils. Also, I can't believe you consider yourself a serious conservative and you take Ann Coulter seriously.

What amuses me more are all these cites of hatred by Rush Limbaugh and company? How many of you actually listen to Rush? HRC as president might be good for Rush's business, but I guarantee you his distaste for McCain does not run deep enough to oppose him in November.