Saturday, January 19, 2008

Romney Wins Nevada

From Reuters:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the projected Republican winner on Saturday in a Nevada race his opponents largely shunned as voters gathered to pick presidential candidates.

From the Associated Press:
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney easily won the Republican contest.

Romney said Republicans had cast their votes for change — and that he was the man to provide it.

"With a career spent turning around businesses, creating jobs and imposing fiscal discipline, I am ready to get my hands on Washington and turn it inside out," he said in a statement issued while he flew to Florida, site of next week's primary.

The Republican caucuses drew relatively little candidate interest. Not so the party's South Carolina primary, the second half of a campaign doubleheader, and a duel between Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Romney was gaining more than half the vote in Nevada, leaving McCain and Texas Rep. Ron Paul in a close race for a distant second place.

...Romney's western victory marked a second straight success for the former Massachusetts governor, coming quickly after a first-place finish in the Michigan primary revived a faltering campaign.

Nevada Republicans said the economy and illegal immigration were their top concerns, according to preliminary results from surveys of voters entering their caucuses. Romney led among voters who cited both issues.

Mormons gave Romney about half his votes. He is hoping to become the first member of his faith to win the White House. Alone among the Republican contenders, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas aired television ads in Nevada.

The first scattered returns showed Romney with more than 50 percent of the vote. Paul, McCain and Huckabee were tightly bunched, far behind the leader.

He also won at least 14 of the 31 Republican National Convention delegates at stake.

Nevada offered more delegates — 31 versus 24 — but far less appeal to the Republican candidates than South Carolina, a primary that has gone to the party's eventual nominee every four years since 1980.

The media are doing their best to discount Mitt Romney.

I think they underestimate his appeal. They certainly dismiss his success.

Bottom line: It's far too early to consider the Republican race a contest between McCain and Huckabee.

1 comment:

Mary said...

I enjoy The Onion.

This piece, however, is a little heavy on the expletives for me. Yes, just a tad.

But I do think that the ramblings of the real Jimmy Carter are as pathetic as the ramblings of this Carter.