Florida fallout: McCain wins... and Giuliani leaves?

The Associated Press

John McCain beams as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist enjoys the show.

Featured Topic | Posted 24 weeks 4 days ago

Florida fallout: McCain wins... and Giuliani leaves?

John McCain won the Florida primary, beating Mitt Romney in a closely run contest. But the Arizona senator prevailed for the most part without the help of conservatives. Yes, the win gives McCain a big boost. He has delegates, he has momentum. He even has respect. But does he have love?

Meantime, Rudy Giuliani's Florida gambit failed spectacularly and the former New York mayor is reportedly set to bow out and throw his support to McCain. Should he?

The outcome of the Florida primary sets the stage for a Republican showdown next Tuesday. Will 2008 transform the GOP the way the elections in 1964 and 1980 did? Does the struggle between conservatives and moderates give an advantage to the Democrats? Do the differences between conservatives and liberals sharpen in a match between John McCain and Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?

And is it too soon to count out Mitt Romney?

Ben likes: From Rudy to Romney

Patrick Ruffini/Townhall.com

Despite the outcome in Florida, Republicans across the nation should spend the next week thinking long and hard about the demoralizing prospect of a McCain nomination.

There has been a fair amount of discussion of flip-flopping in this race. Well, McCain has changed a few of his positions too. He changed away from conservatism. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was a solidly credentialed member of the Reagan-Goldwater coalition who was right in line with the people of Arizona. In the late 1990s, when he saw that he could get better press for his dark horse Presidential aspirations as a “maverick,” he changed. McCain could fairly point out that he stood on “principle.” But it is equally fair to point out that those principles aren’t ours.

Joel likes: The win he needed

John Nichols/The Nation

Florida was the win McCain needed -- and with it all of the 57 delegates awarded in the winner-take-all contest. But it was not the win McCain wanted.

The senator Florida won on the basis of the strong support he received from the state's large blocs of moderate and liberal Republican primary voters. Unfortunately for McCain, liberals are definitely not the essential players in the Republican nominating process. Moderates are not the heart-and-soul players in the Republican Party. Conservatives are. And McCain is still struggling to win their loyalty. Indeed, even now, former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett says, "The anger and bitterness toward John McCain is extraordinary among conservatives."