A couple hours ago, I started writing a post entitled “Virginia starting well.” Then I got interrupted, and … well, … it’s not worth posting anymore.
There’s no way to pretend that tonight’s results are good for the Huckabee campaign.
I thought we were going to do better in Virginia than we did. I thought about breaking down the exit polls and showing that Gov. Huckabee won among the voters that will really vote Republican in November, but it doesn’t matter. The results are what they are.
I didn’t expect Maryland or DC to be very good to us, and they weren’t. There are other states ahead, and there is time to build the campaign in the coming states. I have relatively little to say at the moment, so instead I’ll post the e-mail sent by Gov. Huckabee earlier this evening.
“The first question”:
The first question I am often asked these days is: “Why are you still running for President?”
It is because I believe that I am the best candidate to represent you in the fall against the Democrats. Why? Because I have core conservative beliefs that I have never wavered from:
I believe in the Human Life Amendment and I will fight for it from Day 1 of my Presidency.
I believe in the Marriage Amendment.
I believe in massive tax reform and am an advocate of the FairTax.
I believe that President Bush’s tax cuts should be made permanent.
I believe in the Surge, our troops and General Petraeus.
I believe the best judge is a conservative judge that won’t legislate from the bench.
These are some of the reasons why I am running for President and let me also say that YOU are another reason. I am running to give you a voice in the process. To lift up your voice with mine and to tell our Party and our government that we need to do better. We need to think big and fight for our ideas.
There’s lots of voting left to be done before our Republican Party’s nominee is decided. Tonight, I ask that you help our campaign prepare for the race ahead with a contribution of $25 or more.
We have important states to fight for in the coming days: Wisconsin, Washington, Texas and Ohio to name a few. Unlike the last few states, we have time to build our base of support in each of these states, contact new voters and prepare to turnout the vote. Wisconsin and Washington vote on Feb. 19. Texas and Ohio on March 4.
Help us finish strong.
With deep gratitude,
I’ll run numbers later and comment on delegate counts, the possibility of brokered conventions, and such.
For the moment … congratulations to Sen. McCain and his campaign. We’ll move on to other states. Wisconsin comes up next week, as does the Washington primary (not to be confused with the Washington caucuses, which were on Saturday). We move on.
February 13, 2008 at 12:02 am
Guess it depends on one’s perspective– here in Florida my local news station (usually biased against Huckabee) presented the Virginia results as good for Huckabee, that he did better than polls expected, that Huck momentum did a lot of catching up in the last couple days. There’s a lot of military and D.C. people there. But I personally think McCain is weakest on national defense–that being a war hero doesn’t mean his overall WOT approach is the right one. I’m hoping that Huck will speak out more on his own vision for facing the Islamofascist threat, since I truly believe that’s where McCain is getting a lot of votes due to popular, but mistaken, perception.
February 13, 2008 at 12:07 am
Actually, the exit polling agrees with you. Huckabee actually did better among strong supporters of the war in VA than McCain did. That and pro-lifers, conservatives, people who attend church, people who see immigration as important, and just about anything else that could be remotely construed as Republican.
February 13, 2008 at 12:41 am
I was really shocked at the Virginia results (especially since earlier Huckabee was ahead). of course, everyone should keep in mind that McCain tends to always perform better in the more urban areas (which also tends to be slightly more liberal). I think one of the best way to reach and convert those voters is the FairTax…
February 13, 2008 at 11:35 am
I think you’re right. I was hoping that the rural areas would be late, and that it would pull out the win. I guess it didn’t work out that way.