Romney Wins Maine Caucuses

Mitt Romney carried the state of Maine over the week-end. Like the Wyoming Caucuses before, he won’t get much credit in the media for it, and all eyes are on the states voting tomorrow, so-called “Super Tuesday.” Still, the governor does deserve some credit for winning big despite the efforts by the media and the GOP to crown Senator McCain.

Governor Romney secured about 52% of the vote. Senator McCain was a distant second with 21%, and Ron Paul was third at 19%. Mike Huckabee seems to be fading as he managed just 6%; Fred Thompson, who pulled out of the race, managed 4%.

The Romney campaign quickly got on the air to tell their story. “Conservative voices, both from radio and from publications, are saying, ‘You know what, we’ve got to get behind Mitt Romney. We really can’t afford John McCain as the nominee of our party. And that kind of groundswell is what led me to win in Maine yesterday,” the governor said on CNN.

That appears to be wishful thinking. The latest polls are showing Senator McCain with almost a 20% lead nationwide. In California, it’s much closer, but it is a winner-take-all state, so getting to within a few points of Mr. McCain doesn’t do Mr. Romney any good. He has to win.

And that is getting to be harder. There are no states voting tomorrow where Mr. Romney has a comfortable lead. Massachusetts, his home state, is likely to go his way, but everywhere else, there is a McCain lead he must overcome. If he fails to do that, there will be no stopping Mr. McCain.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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