Getting Off the Straight Talk Express

John McCain is now the front runner for the Republican primary. He won a close Florida primary over Romney, getting a bump just before the election thanks to Governor Crist's endorsement and his lies about Romney on Meet the Press. McCain has been roundly criticized by the media for his claims that Romney supported the Democrats' demand for a timetable for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. McCain made the charge on Sunday to Tim Russert, twisting a Romney quote regarding secret timetables that President Bush and the Iraqi government should have to measure progress. Very Clintonian. I'm so upset, I could find a group of like-minded citizens and run an ad letting the American people know about this distortion. Oh wait, McCain-Feingold made that illegal.

Romney has his work cut out for him, especially since Huckabee hasn't gotten the hint that he should drop out, which hurts Romney in the South. However, based on CNN's exit polls of the Florida primary, Romney won the pro-lifers, the Protestants, the pro-Bush voters, those identifying terrorism, immigration, or taxes as their most important issue, and those identifying themselves as conservative or very conservative. Romney was the second choice of most Giuliani supporters. In short, Romney won with Republicans, but McCain won the primary because of independents that register as Republicans.