Redstate

exactly which third party candidate is it that takes 15% of the vote away from Rudy? AND how is it that this third party candidate does NOT take 15% away from McCain?

McCain's alliance with Ted Kennedy on the Kennedy-McCain immigration bill probably means that an anti-illegal immigration 3rd party candidate would be likely if McCain is the GOP nominee.

This probably makes McCain the weakest Republican nominee once the general election is underway.

The Left thinks that the "axis of evil" is Wal-Mart, Haliburton and Enron.

What is it in YOUR fevered mind that suggests that an anti-illegal immigration candidate can peel off 15% of the vote if McCain is the Republican candidate? And the name of that candidate would be...?

I guess what I am asking is -- why do people keep making WILD unsubstantiated claims about [insert candidate name here] that he will trigger a third party candidacy that will actually win votes?

I didn't not predict that a 3rd party candidate would garner 15 percent of the vote in a McCain-Clinton race. I simply stated that McCain's position on illegal immigration would leave many voters who might be open to a Republican presidential candidate ("independents" and moderate Democrats), who are also very concerned about illegal immigration, to either (a) sit out the election, (b) vote for Hillary Clinton based on agreement on other issues or (c) find some obscure third party candidate who trumpets and end to illegal immigration as central to his or her platform.

I don't think such a 3rd party candidate could get 15 percent of the vote because even Ross Perot, with a billion dollars available, only got 19 percent. Still, I think it would be wise for Republican primary voters to reject a candidate like John McCain who has spent that last 10 years publicly splitting with the majority of his Senate Republicans on high profile issues like taxes, immigration, the Kennedy-Edwards Patients' Bill of Rights, the Byrd option to end the Democrats' minority veto over judicial nominees.

Sure, some people will vote for the Republican nominee no matter who it is. But to appeal to "swing" voters and "soft Republican" voters, we should select a candidate who is more in line with the views of Republicans.

The Left thinks that the "axis of evil" is Wal-Mart, Haliburton and Enron.

Okay, we get it. You hate John McCain and live for the chance to say so in every post.

1. The danger with McCain is not a third party, but that independents and Reagan Democrats who want to stop illegal immigration will just go ahead and vote for the Dem since they are unlikely to get a good immigration control policy under McCain. Conservatives will vote for McCain, although perhaps reluctantly. However, a person who wants universal health insurance and a stop to illegal immigration would vote for Hillary instead of McCain but might well vote for Rudy or especially Fred in preference to Hillary.

2. If Senator Kennedy voted for it, VETO IT! Any Republican president could probably do a pretty decent job by simply vetoing every bill that Senator Kennedy has voted for and that has passed the Senate with a less than veto-proof majority.

Please don't insult us with this conclusion.

When Reagan signed the '86 immigration bill NO conservative headed for the hills.

In fact, nobody asked Bush I if he would be strong on immigration; but folks wondered if he would stand up for life.

McCain stands for life, he has done so consistently throughout his career. He made a mistake on immigration and now he acknowledges he hears conservatives loud and clear. Rudy doesn't stand for life and his conversion on immigration is recent. Romney's conversion on life was recent, as was his conversion on immigration.

Who, then, do you back?

Who, then, do you back?

I am torn between Thompson, Romney and Giuliani. I guess right now, I prefer them roughly in that order.

By the way. You mentioned that Romney is a recent convert to the pro-life side. Remember that back in 2000, when McCain ran for president the first time, McCain was asked about Roe versus Wade. His response was that he would not want Roe versus Wade overturned. Later, he reversed himself.

But when you consider McCain's 1993 vote for Clinton nominee Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the ACLU General Council who was on record supporting lowering the age of sexual consent to age 12, you have to wonder....... How pro-life is John McCain anyway? Why did he announce that he would vote with the Democrat Senators to maintain the Senate Democrats' abilities to use the 60 vote cloture rule to block Bush's nominees to the federal courts? We all know that the courts are the one branch of government that really counts when it comes to abortion, right? Right?

The Left thinks that the "axis of evil" is Wal-Mart, Haliburton and Enron.

Molon Labe!

You make a lot of the right points

He is not only the most electable, he is the most likely to re-generate strong majority support for winning the Iraq War and for fighting the war on radical Islam generally.

the endorsements of some other senators and governors, especially from the South.