Blitzer: The stars are aligning for McCain
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/02/14/art.mccain0214.ap.jpg caption="Things are starting to fall into place for John McCain"] WASHINGTON (CNN) - Things are beginning to fall into place very nicely for John McCain. With Mitt Romney’s endorsement, his campaign is clearly moving toward the next phase. He has already lined up most of the Senate and House Republican leaders. They gathered with him this week to praise his campaign and to swipe away at the two remaining Democratic candidates. The Republican governors and big city mayors will be next.
Mike Huckabee continues his uphill struggle, but the fact that he is taking some time off to fly to the Cayman Islands this weekend to deliver a paid speech speaks volumes. The former Arkansas governor certainly deserves a lot of credit for what he has achieved – with limited staff and money. He started off with virtually no national name recognition. He came pretty close but not close enough. The stars are aligning for the Arizona senator.
McCain still has an enormous challenge in getting the conservative base on board. He is making progress now that almost everyone assumes he has the nomination wrapped up. But there are still many lingering doubts about his record on campaign finance reform, comprehensive immigration reform, global warming, tax cuts, and other issues. But he has started the process of party unification. His strong stance on national security will help.
His life will be made easier in the coming weeks by the fact that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be fighting it out for delegates. In the process, he can afford to take the high road – at least for now.
Programming note: Watch Larry King’s exclusive interview with GOP front-runner John McCain tonight on Larry King Live at 9 P.M. Eastern.
You guys on CNN are so conservative you'r about ready to overtake Fox news. There is no where to go for balanced reporting. Blitzer (and we all know why ) is so anti Clinton it reeks. Remember his cheap shot at her about being naive in regard to Bush? Your' right wing bossess are scared spitless that we might have a real change and they would lose all their goodies that they have sent out the dogs to undermine Democrats as best they can.
Republicans are coming to terms with unity. Leave it to the dems to squander a great oppurtunity to take back the White House.
Great strategy for the Republicans to back Obama, the man stands no chance against McCain.
I was sad to see Romney bow out, but at least he is willing to admit defeat. My only hope is that he and McCain will mend fences and Romney will be chosen as VP to McCain. Not a big McCain supporter, but cannot throw my support to Huckabee who is a bigot.
He sure will not get my vote because of his anti Mormon lies and I doubt he get any of the Mormon vote for same reason. He will also loss a lot of the conservative vote and the election if he does not get disqualified due to not being a natural born citizen which is a battle he is still going to have to fight.
billary the queen of earmark send to 400 million to NY only this years to get win,i dont know if chealse can talk...
The republicans have no other choice, now do they??? It's sickening what choices they make for the good of their party!
MIT ROAMS TOO MUCH
I can't wait for the color coded terror alert system to come back into play. Every time I go to the airport the intercom comes on to say that the level has been raised to orange. I think someone forget to inform them that it's a political tool, not a warning system.
Prior to this primary I never read a blog. I started because I hoped that I would become better informed. Unfortunately, far too many consists of nothing more than nasty statements. At first I thought these were written by people who had nothing better to do. Well, I maybe slow but I finally learned? Many are paid bloggers! ! ! !
I am an independent. At present, I think that I have decided my vote but who knows what might change my mind between now and election time.
In the mean time, I hope that McCain can successfully compete with Obama who can mesmerize people with his oratory talent. (Also, I have learned things about senator Obama that has convinced me that Obama must not become president.)
Mary,
Do you have a remote?
I support John McCain and I agree with his veiws on having an open border with Mexico and Canada. the peace and prosperity partnership can unite Mexico, Canada and the U.S. into a large country like the European Union. President Bush also supports these things and I believe them to good for all countries involved. The North American Union will be the land we can call home.
I am very dissatisfied with CNN. The only thing you seem to report on is the negativity of Hillary's campaign. You are supposed to report the news, without bias. In the last debate, I seen what Blitzer tried to do, asking Hillary if she was naive. I CHALLENGE CNN to ask the tough questions of both in the next debate. Regardless of who is winning, Americans deserve to know. Ask Obama about is true record on the war, how he compared himself to Bush, how he also takes money from interests groups although he claims not to, ect. Why not report the news and report why Tom Daschle is supporting Obama. You realize its not because he is so inspirational, but really because Daschle is a consultant for the law firm who gives money to Washington and Obama. How about the energy bill? Name one thing hes done in Congress. Ask him about foreign policy? I could express the same concerns with Hillary, but we know you will ask her the tough questions. The difference is she, knows the answers, where as his answer is "We have to change the tone in Washington". Why don't you expose the truth? Afraid? Might not get paid if you do? REPORT THE NEWS, DON'T INFLUENCE IT.
Wolf, you are a wise sage! NOT!
Countries run by the military are destined to failure. Look at Burma, North Korea, Libya, Pakistan, Nazi Germany... Are there honnestly any countries under military rule that have been successful? You can't get any closer to military rule than John McCain, this guy has a very personal relationship with the type of people who if given the chance destroy freedom of speech and kill millions.
I usually really like Wolf but today I switched channels because it was so obvious that all the pundits were pushing Obama and discounting Clinton. The bias was very obvious. Please be more fair!
As the Democrats eat themselves alive McCain's party rallies around him. I
"Hillary complaint about ties of Obama to Exelon"
Now it turns out that Mr. Penn’s company, Burson Marsteller, has also been an Exelon consultant. An Exelon spokesman confirmed a report today on the Huffington Post that Mr. Penn’s firm was recently paid $230,000 for public relations work last year in New Jersey, where Exelon was seeking to renew a license for one of its nuclear plants.
Mr. Penn’s memo also left out another inconvenient fact, one that had been mentioned in The Times story: Mrs. Clinton was a co-sponsor of Mr. Obama’s radioactive-leaks bill.