- Daily Photo: Obama Jokes Around at G-20
- Blackwater gets replaced in Iraq
- Daily Photo: U.S. Marines Look Out for Taliban in Afghanistan
- Hillary Clinton the Tomboy and Her "Ah-Ha" Moment
- Obama Administration Sudan Envoy Headed to Region
- Daily Photo: Potential Flashpoint in Iraq
- Clinton Says New Afghanistan-Pakistan Plan Depends on Diplomacy
- Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan
- Additional 4,000 Troops to Be Ordered to Afghanistan
- Daily Photo: Navy Submarine Trains in the Arctic
- Alarm Over North Korea Missile Prep
- Anti-Terror Stimulus? US Offers Rewards for Top Terrorists
- Daily Photo: Pakistani Women in Refugee Camp
- Condoleezza Rice Appears on "The Tonight Show"
- Diplomat and Aid Group Sound the Alarm on Darfur Camp Situation
- auto industry rescue
- Ballotwatch
- Biden, Joe
- Bush, George W.
- Clinton, Bill
- Clinton, Hillary
- Dodd, Chris
- Edwards, John
- Giuliani, Rudy
- Gravel, Mike
- Huckabee, Mike
- Hunter, Duncan
- Inauguration
- Iraq
- Kucinich, Dennis
- McCain, John
- Obama, Barack
- Palin, Sarah
- Paul, Ron
- Romney, Mitt
- Tancredo, Tom
- Thompson, Fred
- Veepstakes
- Vote 2008: Democrats
- Vote 2008: Republicans
- Washington
- White House
« Previous | Main | Next »
McCain Is Victorious in Home State, But Not By Much
Email
ShareFebruary 06, 2008 12:13 AM
ABC News' Ron Claiborne Reports: The primary election in his own home state shows just how deep Sen. John McCain's problems are with conservative voters.
In early returns, McCain was getting just under 50 percent of the vote. With 56 percent of the GOP ballots counted, McCain led former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney 48-33 percent.
In his last re-election bid, in 2004, McCain got 77 percent of the vote.
ABC News analysis found that about two-thirds of Arizona Republican voters were conservatives and Romney beat McCain among that voter demographic 47-36 percent.
It's also possible the immigration issue could be to blame. Anti-immigrant sentiment is strong among many white Arizonans.
Still, as a winner-take-all state, McCain garnered all 53 of the state's delegates.
February 6, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Palin, Sarah | Permalink | User Comments (5)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
McCain's problem in Arizona isn't conservatism, it is the large percentage of the population that is Mormon. That didn't matter in his reelection campaign, but it certainly does when he is running against a member of the church...
Posted by: W Johnson | Feb 6, 2008 12:54:11 AM
I agree with poster Johnson's comments. Arizona has a huge mormon population, and the Church is practically 100% behind Romney. If it were possible to parse out the mormon vote, McCain's victory would have been huge.
Frankly, the conservatives that fit the Bush vein will find themselves lacking any candidate that fits their fairly narrow vantagepoint. I do not believe that McCain will inevitably suffer given that the choice for "most" consertaives will either be McCain or a democrat: Obama v. Clinton (2008).
The Bush ideology is in trouble so, it is inevitable that a counter position is established. That being either McCain or one of the democratic candidates.
Posted by: mmellin | Feb 6, 2008 2:24:54 AM
mmellin: Just a clarification - you said that the Church is practically 100% behind Romney." This is just semantics, but the correct wording should be "Church's membership". The LDS (Mormon) Church has a strict policy of political neutrality and no amount of digging by reporters will ever uncover an official Church statement supporting Romney. You are perfectly correct in that there is a large Mormon population in Arizona and nearly 100% of Mormons support Romney, despite his blatant flip-flopping on certain issues such as abortion. No different than the herds of Evangelicals supporting Huckabee just because he's Baptist.
Posted by: genlin | Feb 6, 2008 8:12:55 AM
It's the illegals, stupid.
McCain has zero chance to win in November.
Posted by: Jason | Feb 6, 2008 12:42:16 PM
Jason is right. Arizona just implemented a law to crack down on employers hiring illegal immigrants, and enter McCain and his amnesty plan. I'm surprised he didn't lose it to Romney. Thank the Christian God that Romney lost! Anyone who believes in Magic Underwear shouldn't be allowed to run for any office.
Posted by: shortnativetexan | Feb 7, 2008 9:12:58 PM
Post a comment
