Zogby: Romney-McCain Statistical Tie in California

Welcome news, if it's true. Out of 1,185 likely voters, Romney beats McCain 37% to 34%. It's within the margin of error. Huckabee gets 12%.

Pollster John Zogby: “The Mac Attack appears ready to launch on Super Tuesday. McCain’s leads are commanding, except for in California where Romney leads in Southern California and among women, investors, and voters over 50. Romney holds a double digit lead there among conservatives and leads 56%-18% among very conservative voters. Romney also leads among white voters and among those who say that the war on terror and immigration are top issues.

California is not a winner-take-all state, which means that both candidates will be hanging around past Super Tuesday. It isn't make-or-break for either. Huckabee, on the other hand, is running out of money and will have to realize sooner or later that no miracle is going to save his campaign. The only issue for him is actually admitting that maybe God doesn't want him to be President [heh] and satisfying his greedy little ego.

If we manage to snatch victory from the claws of John McCain, I know one of those groups I highlighted is going to start demanding thank you notes and flowers and "What are you thinking about?" and SHUT UP, woman! But I'll be eternally grateful and forever attentive to their every need if only we can avert disaster. I promise.

The Inevitable Force of Self-interest Update: I've noticed a tendency over the past two weeks for some very prominent conservative bloggers to start giving John McCain a pass on his most important faults. Earlier in the primary season, and for much of the past seven years, McCain was criticized for everything from his temper to his compromised issues. I'm not going to name names, but as McCain was deemed to be in the lead over the last weeks, that criticism has been dropped in favor of studious courtesy.

That polite forbearance is frustrating to see because it represents a decision to chose access to a McCain presidency rather than engage in vigorous and truthful debate about his behavior and policies. These folks run their blogs like businesses and they know that John McCain holds a grudge. They want to keep their access to McCain's media people and things like the candidate's blogger conference calls. These bloggers are also responding to the idea that if McCain has a lot of supporters, some fraction of them will be blog readers. Traffic equals money and there's more traffic in supporting the leading candidate than in opposing him. So they think, anyway.

The same thing happened the first week of January with Mike Huckabee. I turned on the computer in the morning to discover a blogger I once had respected was praising him and recycling the misleading and untruthful statements that can be found on Huckabee's website. I might as well have been reading the New York Times for all the attention that was paid to Huckabee's liberal domestic policies, his foreign-policy confusion, or his repulsive attacks on Mitt Romney.

Ace, you better get with the program if you want any more invites to the White House. Dontcha know McCain is inevitable? At least, that's what I read on conservative blogs this morning.

Oh, yeah: And what the hell is going on around here? Seahorses? There are no pain pills on this earth capable of blunting the psychic pain that LauraW, Russ, and Dave have caused me. Peanutbutter is not a drug...er, or something. More nuts than Planters, etc.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:34 PM

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