The Three Stooges (Michigan GOP) Primary (Update: And the Winner Is ….. Apathy!)
As of 9:20 p.m., per Drudge:
Larry Mitt Romney — 37%
Moe McCain — 31%
Curly Huckabee — 17%
Romney has been projected the winner. The question is how close the margin will be, and how much of it he owes to the Kossacks.
Update: The numbers at 12:45 a.m., with 100% counted had Larry, Moe, and Curly at 39-30-16, respectively.
So now that the Three Stooges have had their fun in an open primary of relatively little importance (and — see below — pitiful turnout), it’s on to a state with, as I understand it, rules that work to ensure that real Republicans vote in the primary. I predict a bit less hospitality will be forthcoming to at least one of the Three Stooges — and I’m sure you can guess which one.
________________________________________________
UPDATE, 12:30 a.m., Jan. 16: Betcha nobody else has brought up what I’m about to cover, and they have a 4-hour head start on me.
Objectively Unfit Mitt Romney didn’t win. Apathy did — and by a very wide margin.
Now I realize that this chart uses a percentage of the entire population (not just 18 and over), and that New Hampshire more than likely has a higher percentage of registered Republicans than Michigan. But those factors don’t change the overall huge point this chart illustrates (the chart used available info I had for 96% of the NH vote from this post last week and estimated what the final totals were, and 100% of MI):
Romney got a much, much lower percentage of Michiganders to vote for him that he got to do so in New Hampshire. Some “victory.” More like “BFD.”
Why such apathy? How about the lack of a genuine conservative candidate who put forth an effort to win in Michigan?
Who, between Larry, Moe, and Curly, is going to be able to draw out otherwise apathetic conservatives in South Carolina, or for that matter in the later primaries? The biggest thing Mitt Romney proved tonight that is that he couldn’t do it, even in his “home” state. McCain clearly faltered badly tonight, and Huckabee has laid nothing but goose eggs since Iowa.
For now, the bettors have what they think is the answer to that question. On Saturday, South Carolina’s voters will tell us. I get the sense that they are not amused by the Three Stooges.
I seriously doubt Democrats made a very big difference - and if they voted in the Republican primary, they voted for McCain or Paul.
You need to focus your I-hate-Mitt spin on his being from Michigan.
Comment by Phil — January 15, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
I seriously doubt the Michigan thing is what did it as much as the heavily concentrated firepower directed at McCain during the past week (Limbaugh, Steyn, Levin, etc., etc.).
And I don’t hate Mitt. I despise how he governed, often unconstitutionally, in MA, and his fundamentally dishonest presidential candidacy.
Comment by TBlumer — January 15, 2008 @ 9:48 pm