vote continues to power John McCain to the Republican nomination. If we take a look at the Florida exit polls, we see that Romney handily defeated McCain 35% to 31% among GOP voters who have a positive opinion of the Bush Presidency. But McCain crushed Romney 2-1 among those voters who are not satisfied with the Presidency of George W. Bush. This huge negative on Bush vote provided McCain with his comfortable victory margin over Romney in Florida.
And one has to think this has something to do with it: Florida Republicans are split just about 50-50 over whether reducing the budget deficit is more important, or if additional tax cuts are more important. Romney narrowly edged out McCain among voters who see tax cuts as more important, but McCain topped Romney by a full 15 percentage points among those who identify the budget deficit problem as more important.
Romney also had problems with the Hispanic vote and the amnesty for illegal aliens vote. Romney narrowly edged McCain among white voters, but lost to McCain more than 3-1 among Hispanic voters. Romney also edged out McCain among voters who are opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens, but McCain's 2-1 edge among voters who favor amnesty gave McCain more than the margin he needed to win Florida.
If Romney is going to win the Republican nomination he must find a way to pull in the significant segment of Republican voters who have a negative opinion of the Bush Presidency, and who are now turning to McCain as their hope for a significant improvement on Bush's performance in the Presidency. Closely tied to this, Romney must attract the large segment of Republican voters who are more concerned with the nation's enormous and growing budget deficit than they are with George Bush-style tax cuts promises, in the face an out of control political class and a retiring baby boom generation. Finally, Romney needs to do much better among Republicans who are opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens. During the campaign McCain has represented himself as a "control the borders first" guy, in contradiction to everything he's ever done on the issue of amnesty for illegal aliens. This false pose has won McCain a big slice of the anti-amnesty voters, a vote Romney must take back if he is to win the GOP nomination. And no where is this more true than it is in California, the biggest delegate prize of them all.
And one has to think this has something to do with it: Florida Republicans are split just about 50-50 over whether reducing the budget deficit is more important, or if additional tax cuts are more important. Romney narrowly edged out McCain among voters who see tax cuts as more important, but McCain topped Romney by a full 15 percentage points among those who identify the budget deficit problem as more important.
Romney also had problems with the Hispanic vote and the amnesty for illegal aliens vote. Romney narrowly edged McCain among white voters, but lost to McCain more than 3-1 among Hispanic voters. Romney also edged out McCain among voters who are opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens, but McCain's 2-1 edge among voters who favor amnesty gave McCain more than the margin he needed to win Florida.
If Romney is going to win the Republican nomination he must find a way to pull in the significant segment of Republican voters who have a negative opinion of the Bush Presidency, and who are now turning to McCain as their hope for a significant improvement on Bush's performance in the Presidency. Closely tied to this, Romney must attract the large segment of Republican voters who are more concerned with the nation's enormous and growing budget deficit than they are with George Bush-style tax cuts promises, in the face an out of control political class and a retiring baby boom generation. Finally, Romney needs to do much better among Republicans who are opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens. During the campaign McCain has represented himself as a "control the borders first" guy, in contradiction to everything he's ever done on the issue of amnesty for illegal aliens. This false pose has won McCain a big slice of the anti-amnesty voters, a vote Romney must take back if he is to win the GOP nomination. And no where is this more true than it is in California, the biggest delegate prize of them all.
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