Stick a fork in McCain

What happened to the McCain who was willing to stand up to the far right of the GOP? It's like he was replaced with one of the pod people.

 

Then you should be deeply grateful for these developments.

 

Actually, I know someone who did. She was one of the first laid off.

 

Eh.

 

I wouldn't put too much stock in this. The Ames straw poll is a dog-and-pony show where you pay to play. By not wasting large sums of money on this staged event, McCain is no better or worse off. Had he actually put anything into Ames, then sure, you could write him off. Had a similiar event taken place in July 2003, I doubt John Kerry would have finished in the top 3. McCain could easily become everyone's second choice as the other front-runners could quickly prove to be unacceptable to the base.

 

No offense, Poin, but I call BS.

McCain is done. He's behind Obama among registered Republicans in Iowa.

There's no way to spin that.

 

McCain may not be done, but this hurts his fundraising and I don't think he'll be able to hang on long enough as the leaders fall away for various reasons.
I just don't seem him hanging on for another 12 months. He'll run out of money first.

 

That same poll says Thompson is also behind Obama and that Giuliani is just 3.3% ahead of Obama among Republicans.

Which is to say, that poll doesn't mean shit.

I think McCain is pretty close to done, but his numbers in Iowa don't mean squat. He's almost entire pulled out of the state.

 

Actually, that poll's pretty accurate.

Unless you think Fred Thompson's some kind of magical candidate who's going to play in Iowa without campaigning there.

Which I'll assure you, he is not.

You can blow off Iowa if you're a money leader or if you're Clinton in 92 and you're conceding it to Vilsack.

If you're McCain, how do you spin this? He's bleeding staff, he doesn't have enough money to keep the lights on and he's polling behind serious Democrats in the first meaningful election.

He's done.

 

Well, for starters, remember 2000, when everyone thought McCain had such a great shot after New Hampshire and then got sleazebombed out of the race by the Bush camp? McCain got 5% in Iowa in 2000, and I believe that was with an actual campaign staff in Iowa, something he has almost entirely eliminated this time around. He gave up in Iowa a while ago, and the poll puts him 1.8% behind his results from 2000.

And as for the Ames Straw Poll, past winners include Pat Robertson. Not exactly representative of anything.

Like I said, I think McCain is pretty much done, but this poll doesn't mean a thing in the big picture. McCain's slim hopes rest on New Hampshire, not Iowa.

 

Actually...he didn't finish last. I like to think I pay attention, but I've never heard of this guy.

Filling out the field, Rep. Duncan Hunter got 174 votes, while <b> Chicago businessman John Cox got 41 votes.

 

Good point, deskslave.

Some dude no one has ever heard of did finish behind McCain.

I sit, drunk and corrected.