Mitt Romney (left) and John McCain
Listen to the pundits talking in the so-called Mainstream Media this weekend, and it sounds like Sen. John McCain practically has claimed the Republican nomination for president, and the Super Tuesday primaries are just to make it official.
But if you listen to the various right-wing radio talk shows and read through various Republican-leaning blogs, you’ll notice a rather strong backlash against McCain ever since his Florida win turned the remaining contest largely into a two-man race with Mitt Romney. For good summaries of this, check out Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly from Friday; and Jim Nintzel at Salon.com. The Washington Post looks at the issue from the angle of conservative Republicans in Arizona who don’t like McCain.
The conventional wisdom is national polls show McCain opening up a lead over Romney. But national polls are worthless. Convention delegates are won state by state. Romney has the lead or is close in several states. Mike Huckabee might steal a southern state or two.
More importantly, this primary season has been filled with twists and surprises. So I won’t be surprised at all if Romney actually picks up some momentum on Super Tuesday and McCain has to pick himself up again to keep going.
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