Comments on: 2008 Election Prediction: McCain over Clinton

By: New Huckabee campaign manager

New Huckabee campaign manager — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:51:54 +0000

[...] Originally Posted by brianhos I think other than Romney, he is about the only viable rebup candidate. I can really see this coming down to Hilary and Obama, and Romney and Huck. I see only one good choice out of those 4. What is a viable candidate? Someone you can support, someone that has the best chance of capturing the Republican nomination, or someone that has the best chance of winning the general election? Most political commentary holds that the Republican nomination is up for grabs. Nevertheless, when pressed, the majority of columinists consider Giuliani to be the front runner. I have also read recent opins that developed scenarios projecting Huckabee, Romney, or McCain winning the Republican nomination. Although Huckabee's popularity has surged, there are few columinists that consider that he is the favorite to win the Republican nomination. I've linked a current opin that claims McCain will win the Presidency. Link: 2008 Election Prediction: McCain over Clinton � Outside The Beltway | OTB [...]

By: Anderson

Anderson — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:27:37 +0000

Not me. I don't want either Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney as president.

Ha! Dave does indeed have the strength to stare the abyss in the face.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:02:55 +0000

I think we're confusing our own preferences with what's gonna happen.

Not me. I don't want either Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney as president.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:57:37 +0000

I think we're confusing our own preferences with what's gonna happen. McCain is the most sensible candidate. When was the last time the most sensible candidate got elected?

Re: Obama, if he loses to Hillary, he is going to need to make a very clear statement that he does or does not want the veep slot. Imagine the damage to Hillary if she's perceived as slighting him & giving a white guy the slot.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:55:19 +0000

My only thoughts on the Vice Presidency is that Hillary Clinton would be imprudent to offer Barack Obama the job and Barack Obama would be imprudent to accept it.

By: The McCain Times » OTB Calls It: McCain Defeats Hillary

The McCain Times » OTB Calls It: McCain Defeats Hillary — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:50:37 +0000

[...] Read his piece here. [...]

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:33:41 +0000

I think that McCain will end up as the Pres nominee on the Republican ticket. He's serious and he'll be very difficult for Hillary to attack because he's been engaged on immigration, campaign finance reform, plus mil experience. But I think this will be a hard swallow for conservatives so I think they will take quite a number of primaries before they decide on the adult candidate. Hillary's a lock because of machine and money she has.

The fascinating piece will be to see who gets the VP nod because I think it will cast a big shadow on election and results. Gore and Cheney have elevated the VP visibility if not stature.

By: yetanotherjohn

yetanotherjohn — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:29:08 +0000

Want to double down and predict the VP picks?

By: legion

legion — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:53:21 +0000

Well, I don't have a firm opinion on who's most likely to win the Dem nomination yet, but I agree that McCain's the most likely for the GOP. Why? Well, as I said a few threads below, he had his moment in the sun & got plastered. Ever since then he's had the sense to keep his head down & his mouth largely shut, letting other candidates take the lumps traditionally delivered to the front-runner. Fred Thompson's out. A lot of behind-the-throne types want him to be the man, but he clearly isn't into it - no matter how good your charisma is, you still need _something_ to actually talk about. Even Reagan knew that. As for Mitt, he's way too schizo in his positions to be considered 'solid' enough for the GOP base to trust. If he had real experience in national-level politics, like McCain, he'd be keeping his head down now too, letting everyone take shots at Huckabee. Instead, he's out making speeches, drawing attention to his single weakest point (at least for the primaries). And Rudy's just a colossal train wreck. Not only does he not have the experience to keep his mouth shut, he's too egotistical and frankly, too stupid also. So barring a Dean-style meltdown or magic skeleton coming out of his closet, yeah - McCain's the GOP nom.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:25:29 +0000

As I suggested in my prediction post, I think that McCain is the Republicans' smart bet. Largely for that reason I don't think they're going to go that way. Too many Republicans just seem to have a very strong (and, in my belief, irrational) aversion to John McCain. If Republicans can convince themselves that losing is just as good as, maybe even better than, winning, they'll follow Huckabee. I don't think they're that crazy so it's between Giuliani and Romney and I see Romney as coming closer to the profile of the typical Republican candidate than Giuliani does.

By: Blogitics

Blogitics — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:20:49 +0000

Newsweek/Blogitics - Outside the Beltway: 2008 Election Prediction: McCain over Clinton...

Predicting the outcome of a messy nominating process weeks before the Iowa Caucuses, much less the presidential...

By: Triumph

Triumph — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:07:46 +0000

2008 Election Prediction: McCain over Clinton

Has OTB turned into the Onion?!? Nice one!

In the spirit of your levity, I'm picking Gravel to beat Duncan Hunter. We'll get another 2000-type recount, except this time it will be in Alaska. It will come down to a manual recount in Pitkas Point which will be surrounded by Gravel's goon squad, preventing the Murkowski machine from disrupting proceedings.

By: The Moderate Voice » Domestic and international news analysis, irreverent comments, original reporting, and popular culture features from across the political spectrum.

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:03:08 +0000

[...] — and also a danger… SOME OTHER VIEWPOINTS: –MUST READ POST OF THE DAY is James Joyner who predicts it’ll be Senator John McCain defeating Hillary Clinton in 2008. (Joyner is a highly [...]

By: Anderson

Anderson — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:57:03 +0000

I too am curious whether McCain can pull it off, but he's kinda old at this point and viscerally unpopular with the Repub base - to their discredit, since he's thoroughly conservative.

I wonder if we're going to see the GOP go into its convention with no clear winner?