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McCain Weakness Among Conservatives Shows in Arizona

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February 06, 2008 12:25 AM

ABC's Ron Claiborne and Gary Langer report: Sen. John McCain's narrow win in his home state of Arizona shows just how deep his problems run with conservative voters during this Republican primary battle.
                                    
In early returns, McCain was getting just under 50 percent of the vote. In 2004 during his most recent Senate re-election, McCain got 77 per cent of the vote in a state he has represented since 1987.

ABC News analysis found that in Tuesday's primary about two-thirds of Arizona Republican voters described themselves as conservatives. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney beat McCain among those voters 47 to 36 percent.

It is also possible the immigration issue may have hurt Arizona's senior senator. Anti-immigrant sentiment is strong among many white Arizonans. Romney often criticized McCain in debates for his more moderate immigration stance.

Still, despite the narrow margin, statewide party rules declare that the winner of the popular vote in Arizona takes all of the delegates. And so McCain has earned all 53 of the state's delegates.

Even with his win in California, McCain demonstrated continued weakness among conservatives there as well.

According to exit oplls, self-described conservatives voted 46 to 30 percent for Romney over McCain in California, the same share of conservatives for McCain as he won nationally.

McCain was stronger among moderates -- winning them in California by 2-1 over Romney, 48 to 24 percent, similar to the national picture where McCain won moderates by 52-24 percent.

But he is not winning conservatives, in many ways the core of the Republican Party -- they account for more than six in 10 Republican voters nationally and in California alike.

February 6, 2008 in McCain, John, Romney, Mitt | Permalink | User Comments (11)

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It would be great if the News Media who report their polls and projections that turn out to be WRONG would have to report how many times they have been wrong during this election cycle thus far. Perhaps that would keep them from slanting the facts to suit their bias. Otherwise, it would be great if they talked less and the media just aired the candidates themselves speaking for themselves.

Posted by: Cindy | Feb 6, 2008 1:06:14 AM

McCain doesn't even get enthusiastic support from his own state, yet he has a lot of people endorsing him.....amazing.....His immigration policies as well as his blatant lies and volatile personality are definitely concern, and the people of his state are all too aware of that!!

Posted by: Sylvia | Feb 6, 2008 1:26:06 AM

What happens if either Huckabee or Romney drop out and support the other. Do delegates transfer to the other. I
could see the republican leadership forcing this if they don't want McCain to get the nomination.

Posted by: Jack Hillyer | Feb 6, 2008 1:48:42 AM

Huckabee is already sucking up to be McCain's VP. He's not going anywhere. Romney and Huckster are spliiting to vote enabling Democrats to vote for McCain. NONE of these guys have a majority of support fom their own party. And the media won't let Hilliary fail, no matter how hard she try's. The writing's on the wall. Thanks to big media for kicking alll of the REAL conservatives out of the race. You just paved the road for Hilliary. Yuck!

Posted by: cba | Feb 6, 2008 2:27:07 PM

I think the media would be happy with either choice from the dems...i can't tell who they want to win more though...They seem to undecided.

Posted by: Jim | Feb 6, 2008 2:58:01 PM

Talk about a dream team...liberals can't lose with Obama, Hillary, or McCain.

Posted by: Jim | Feb 6, 2008 3:00:31 PM

Hey, wait just a dadgum minute! John McCain is a champion of ethics and campaign reform. He's a proud and prominent member of the Keating Five, which all bloggers need to know about.

Go search on this and get yourself educated before you hang labels on him. If you must, then label John McCain as one of the exclusive Keating Five principals!

-Truthincampaigns

Posted by: truthincampaigns | Feb 6, 2008 7:32:47 PM

So, let's all get out the Republican Vote so that we don't have to suffer having McCain as our Nominee. We do have an alternative, let's vote Romney.

Posted by: Cindy | Feb 6, 2008 9:06:28 PM

Why are some many republicans endorsing McCain. Who would want another career politician? John McCain III has crashed over 7 multi-million dollar planes. The man isn't even going to vote for his own bill on amnesty that he is promoting. He is no war hero! He sold out his own country as a P.O.W. and continues to as a Senator, (immigration). He is not a patriot! We should focus on why Huckabee and Paul have not gotten the media coverage that the other two have gotten... I know it is freedom of the press, but with the media only reporting on two. This nomination for republicans was over before it started.

Posted by: Tom | Feb 7, 2008 10:56:09 PM

For those of you conservative extremist out there still bemoaning the down-fall of the republican party, your “Thou shalt not have any other point of view than our radical version of the republican party!” smacks of the very extremism we’re trying to eradicate across the world today; in case you’ve forgotten, there are these other folks called “democrats” who vote as well, and since there’s not a overwhelming majority of republicans in the U.S., we ARE going to need to a significant number of their votes as well. Furthermore, even many of your “die hard” republicans recognize this fact, and as such, knows that the only way we’re going to keep “flaming liberals” out of the White House, the Senate, and the House is to “tone down” the republican message, and yes, be willing to work with the other side for the good of America; in case you people missed this little fact, it IS the responsibility of every politician to do what’s best for their ENTIRE constituency, not their party…they are NOT the ones who elected them, the PEOPLE did! To this end, those of us who TRULY care for the Republican Party and do not want Hillary or Obama as our next president, your “gloom-and-doom” message, personal attacks on Sen. McCain, and your “if you don’t think and do what we say, then we’re gonna take our toys and go play somewhere else” message has gotten old real fast; since it’s not working, what’s next, IED’s? By the way, don’t despair too much though, if you want to take your toys and extremist point of view and go play elsewhere, I hear Al Qaeda and the Taliban are still recruiting; don’t go away mad… just go away!

On a more personal note, those of you who seem bent on smearing Sen. McCain’s military service to this country, what is your major malfunction; are you mad because you didn’t serve, or is it that your life is just so petty and insignificant that you can’t do anything else but to try and bring someone down to you level? I don’t recall one time Sen. McCain ever referring to himself as a “hero”, that label was placed on him by the media and the public; albeit, by today’s distorted definition of the word, certainly much more deserved than some over-paid so called professional athlete. Just the same, I feel pretty sure that Sen. McCain feels the same as the rest of us who served in combat about the “hero” label, yes, we’re proud of our service to our country, but reserve that distinction for those who risked their lives to save others, and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice; we’re the lucky ones, we got to come home! If the label “hero” placed upon him has helped Sen. McCain’s post-service political career so what, in case you missed it, he did give more than his standing in service to his country, and that fact, at the very least, deserves him a little more respect than some of you seem to be able to muster… what have you done for your country?

Posted by: MarcMyWords | Feb 8, 2008 1:36:45 PM

Btw, do a fair comparison, please. IS Sen Obama any much better, eh?? Does 'he' deserves to be entitled the post.. Go google ad finds out which of the two tells more lies to date. Then decide over it. To err is human... so.. where is unity?? where is self-conscience?? Think hard.. WE all cares and love America. This me also know. So why dont we start to unite first before giving out so much nonsense critics,eh?? Do your own personal research on both candidates and the media is always full of 'shits'. Dig deeper yourself.
Be Bless & Stay Bless.
GOD Bless America.

Posted by: Winnylyn | Jun 25, 2008 9:17:36 AM

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