If John McCain were ice cream, the media would order a Vermonster. The straight talk, moderate, bipartisan stuff ... might as well be brownies, whipped cream, and chopped walnuts.
But the Straight Talk Express is about to run into the same roadblock it hit in 2000. The first two Republican primaries allow anyone to vote, helping McCain win New Hampshire and finish second in Michigan. Not so in upcoming contests. Josh Marshall breaks it down:
The key is that going forward there are a lot fewer states with open primaries, at least on the Republican side. So if McCain is going to remain in contention for the nomination he'll have to start winning those primaries among Republican voters. And so far he's shown very little ability to do that. In New Hampshire Romney actually edged out McCain by 1% among registered Republicans. Today in Michigan he whipped him by 14% among registered Republicans.McCain's still at the top of national polls, but let's say Huckabee takes South Carolina, Rudy takes Florida, and everybody splits Super Tuesday. If McCain doesn't have the nomination locked up by the convention, can you imagine an arena full of the most conservative people in America selecting moderation and bipartisanship to lead them?Before tonight there was enough momentum brewing in McCain's direction that the party might have coalesced behind him enough to get him over that hurdle. But without that collective agreement to get the nomination process done with, the Republican primaries are about to become a much steeper hill for McCain to climb.