McCain Can't Close the Deal

If the media were doing their job, this is a headline we'd see. (We've seen plenty of stories claiming that Obama can't "close the deal" in his party). As I indicate in my article, posted this morning, since he became the presumptive nominee on March 4 -- after Huckabee, Guiliani, Romney, and Thompson had all dropped out -- McCain still hasn't been able to rally Republican votes behind him. In the primaries since March 4, between 21% and 27% of voters in the GOP primaries have delivered protest votes for Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and even Alan Keyes. There are obviously lots of rank-and-file evangelicals and libertarians within the GOP who don't like McCain, even though he's been doing everything possible to pander to the party's right wing. Now that Bob Barr, the extremely right-wing former Republican Congressman from Georgia, has announced his intention of seeking the Libertarian Party nomination, McCain could lose lots of votes in some key swing states. Barr could be a real spoiler and help Obama win the White House. Let's hope so.