Unfortunately IP predicted a narrow victory for McCain yesterday. I say unfortunately because even he admits his predictions rarely pan out. I was hopping he was just going to be wrong on the narrow part... turns out he was wrong on both the narrow and victory part. Drat!
Romney told the people of Michigan exactly what they wanted to hear: a lie, sculpted especially for them. His millions spent on disseminating dishonesty finally paid off for once.
But did he have some help from liberals and Democrats? Absolutely. Though it doesn't appear to be the deciding factor:
Romney pulled a very large amount of the Liberal and Democratic vote considering his current views. It could be that the DailyKos strategy helped solidify his numbers in Michigan. But as I said, it wasn't the deciding factor. He did very well among Republicans and Conservatives with McCain coming in second this time. Compare to New Hampshire where McCain won over Republicans and conservatives in general here: McCain Spin Begins.
Overall very disappointing. Not due to the McCain loss... his numbers weren't all that terrible, just not good enough this time. Also disappointing is the means by which he lost. As one Michigan blogger put it:
Exit polling indicates that the biggest issue... THE issue on voters minds was the economy and they thought that Mitt Romney could do a better job bringing us back than John McCain. Could it be that economic optimism, even if it isn't necessarily rooted firmly in reality, is exactly what we wanted to hear? Looks that way.
Experts agreed: Economists: Romney Full of Mitt
Someone was complaining about the lack of a breathless "Romney Wins Michigan!!!" post on the front page. I think I'll promote this one to assuage them.
Pretty misleading title for a post.
The real story is Romney's strong support from Conservatives in Michigan.
Did Mitt lie? Seems to me he hasn't been elected President and therefore, has not had an opportunity to either uphold or break the promises he's made. Same song and dance as with all of the predictions...no one knows.
IP, please predict a Huckabee landslide in Florida.
b due (not verified) said: "Pretty misleading title for a post.... "The real story is Romney's strong support from Conservatives in Michigan."
You're probably right about the post title. It wasn't intended to be misleading though as it was a follow up to the posts I did on my own blog about DailyKossacks and other liberals pushing for liberals to crossover and vote for Romney to hurt the party generally, but point out that such support wasn't significant enough to change the outcome. I posted it here as well since someone was asking about a follow up post on the MI primary, but I probably should have changed the title since I was taking it out of context of those prior posts. Sorry about that.
"Did Mitt lie? Seems to me he hasn't been elected President and therefore, has not had an opportunity to either uphold or break the promises he's made. Same song and dance as with all of the predictions...no one knows."
The lie wasn't the promise, but how he made it. He lied about having the record to show he could make good on his promises.
He also continued to push the idea that he was much tougher on immigration than his opponents, which neither his record substantiates nor his own rhetoric when pressed by interviewers, admitting at one point that even he considered amnesty reasonable for millions of illegals. Our own Chicago Tribune called him a "toothless hunting dog" on the issue, a rip on both his weak immigration credentials and his lie about being a lifelong hunter.
But you don't have to take my word on it, you can read about his problems with honesty in nearly every major media outlet and his misrepresentation of his economic credentials and misleading promises from economists and conservative pundits that have been ripping on them for the last week.
--
Glock21 Op/Ed
I read this morning in the Tribune that Romney is making the same promises to South Carolina voters about bringing back textile jobs with a new federal industrial policy. Doesn't his new protectionist, big government policies contradict his past free trade support? Isn't this the same guy that wanted an SUV tax and then condemned GM layoffs in Michigan? Is there anything he won't say to, or promise Republican voters to get the nomination?
"Doesn't his new protectionist, big government policies contradict his past free trade support?" Depending on the day, yes.
"Isn't this the same guy that wanted an SUV tax and then condemned GM layoffs in Michigan?" Yep.
"Is there anything he won't say to, or promise Republican voters to get the nomination?" Not that I can tell.
"I just wanted to say to Governor Romney, we disagree on a lot of issues, but I agree, you are the candidate of change." - John McCain
--
Glock21 Op/Ed
If you don't like what you're hearing from Mtt Romney, just wait five minutes!