primaries | MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Another Obama supporter BUSTED electioneering

Remember this incident where an Obama supporter was videotaped electioneering inside the polling place?

Not that I’m surprised - everyone knows how this kind of thing has always been going on with the Democrats forever. It’s just sort of shocking to actually SEE it, especially with it being done so brazenly. Bitch can’t even pretend she didn’t know, because she hid when election officials came around, and got defensive with the people filming. Bitch.

I’m going to make sure I get placed in heavily Democratic precincts on election day when I volunteer to do poll-watching. I’ve always been sitting at the mind-numbingly boring ones where nothing is going on. Not any more.

Y’all might want to think about volunteering to poll-watch in your area, too, at least for a couple hours. There’s nothing to it, and someone’s got to keep these criminals from cheating like they always do. Apparently these jackasses that got caught on film are used to being “watched” by accomplices. Idiots. Stupid, clueless, bassackwards, dishonest, low-life idiots. You’ve gotta love that they’re caught on film, being shown to the world on YouTube. Finally.

(Cross-posted at McCain Blogs)

Hillary Barely Squeaks Out a Win in Indiana, Obama trounces her in NC

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh is claiming to have beaten the Obama campaign. LOL. Um…not.

Okay, seriously? If Operation Chaos were such a big deal, how the hell did Hillary not clean up in Indiana? I mean, just a week ago, weren’t we all thinking she’d have a double-digit win over Obama because of the latest Crazy Uncle Jeremiah Eruption? But Rush gets some phone calls in to his show and reads liberal rags whining about Operation Chaos, and that translates to the margin of victory for Hillary? No. Don’t believe the hype, kids–it’s about ratings. Nothing wrong with ratings–that’s his job, and he does it well. Just don’t take this too seriously, okay? Especially you silly libs, who are no doubt crying about this as “proof” that you got robbed. STFU. You can STFU too, Sean Hannity–this isn’t your baby, so quit trying to rock it.

So…a week ago, the Wright Eruption happened, and people were suddenly thinking HRC might actually get the nomination after all. People were saying she was getting close to Obama in North Carolina (a state teh Obamination is now calling a “swing state”–LOL), and that her lead was widening in Indiana. Oh, how wrong that turned out to be just a week later. What happened?

Honestly, I’m a little disappointed; I wanted Billary to have a stronger reason to keep in the race until the convention, just like every other Republican voter did, including Rush Limbaugh in particular. Hey, maybe since Rush put Operation Chaos at parade rest a week ago…maybe that’s what had the effect. Heh. (Sorry, he can’t have it both ways.) So this is probably it for the “inevitable” candidate, for all practical purposes–barring another Crazy Uncle Jeremiah Eruption, although I don’t think he can have much more effect on Democrat voters at this point. Certainly Comrade Ayers won’t either, considering his philosophy is neatly aligned with Democrats today. At this point, Barack Obama could probably get caught smoking hash with strange gay men and all his friends in a mosque, and most of his supporters would still vote for him anyway. Hillary has canceled her appearances for this morning, and we’ll see what that means as the day progresses.

Here’s where we are today.

Coming into Tuesday, Clinton was some 415 pledged delegates short of the number needed to clinch the nomination-that count does not include Florida and Michigan. Obama was just 280 shy entering Tuesday. Come Wednesday, Obama will likely be within 200 delegates of reaching the magic number of 2,025 pledged delegates.

If the Clinton campaign decides to fight on, the race for the nomination could enter a contentious and confusing phase as the end of the primary season nears. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is set to meet at the end of the month, where members will debate whether to seat the delegations from Michigan and Florida. Tad Devine says that meeting could be the start of weeks of procedural wrangling between the campaigns, assuming the Clinton campaign takes up that fight.

“Anything from inconsequential action to turmoil can come out of that process,” Devine says. “It’s really up to the campaigns to decide what they want the tone of this to be, because the rules are such that they could go as nuclear as they want if it drags on, especially if it gets to Denver.”

Oh, and Harold Ickes warns of October Surprises. “A curious strategy,” indeed.

Watch Howard Dean go to war with the ~~RAAACISTS!!!~~ Clintons now–and with the superdelegates if they don’t start showing their cards. This is gonna be fun. :D

Election LOL-apalooza

I guess I shouldn’t “LOL,” but it is funny how Democrats are always shrieking about unfair elections when you read stuff like this:

We entered the Crooked Creek Baptist Church in Washington Township at approximately 10:15 AM and noticed an Obama volunteer had set-up directly across from the voter check-in table. We noticed that she was actively speaking to voters. The sign on the table stated “Trouble Voting? Talk to me.” and “Obama for America.” She wouldn’t identify herself and directed us to call the campaign for information. We contacted the County Clerk’s Office and they stated they would contact the Polling Inspector to investigate. See the video for yourself: …

Busted! Idiots.

Oh, and you stay classy, Clintonistas. (At least they weren’t cheating–just obnoxious.)

As with the Pennsylvania primary election, you can follow breaking news reports of election shenanigans at Election Journal. If you have Twitter, you’ll get even faster updates by following them.

Others to watch at Twitter: Patrick Ruffini, Campaign2008, and Political Ticker.

Election Day American Idol - Vote for None of the Above

I think we’ll do both AI and election snark tonight, because I think the election is far more interesting than Susan, Cookie, and Crazy Carly. So see? You don’t even have to be a masochist and watch AI to jump in and heckle the chumps–heckle the chumps from AI or the candidates with us!

Brooke (who seriously needs to STFU) is the latest target at Vote for the Worst, although VFTW seems to have the opposite intended effect this year. (Thank God!)

UPDATE:
Be here tomorrow night for execution–er, elimination night!

Election Day Twitter Watch

Get all the updates about the election on Twitter. Here’s what I’m watching today:

Be sure to watch updates from Election Journal and Patrick Ruffini in particular.

Arrests and more fun already in PA!

Wanna stay on top of reports of election shenanigans today? Go to Election Journal.
The latest (as of 8:30 Eastern):

At the Police Athletic League Center, Frankford & Ruan, which houses polls for 2 precincts, witnesses report a campaign worker for the local State Rep began ripping down signs for his primary opponent. An altercation developed between volunteers for the rival campaigns. The police were called to calm the situation.

You can report incidents to them here, and you can get updates from Twitter. This being a contentious Democrat primary, I’m pretty sure you can expect a lot of action today. It’ll be like watching hockey. ;)

Post-Super Tuesday Delegate Count

From the LA Times/AP:

Name	Total	Tuesday	7days	30days
McCain	613	+511	+520	+613
Romney	269	+176	+210	+254
Huckabee	190	+147	+150	+160
Uncommitted	23	0	+23	+23
Paul	14	+10	+10	+14
Giuliani	0	0	-1	0
Hunter	0	0	0	-1
Tancredo	0	0	0	0
Thompson	0	0	0	-3

Name	Total	Tuesday	7days	30days
Clinton	845	+584	+596	+670
Obama	765	+569	+584	+690
Uncommitted	75	0	0	-260
Edwards	26	0	-30	-20
Biden	0	0	0	-8
Dodd	0	0	0	-17
Gravel	0	0	0	0
Kucinich	0	0	0	-1
Richardson	0	0	0	-25

Super Tuesday (Thank God it’s over)

Okay, I’m not gonna gloat about McCain winning big last night. Unlike some people, I’m not into insulting supporters of other candidates (except Paulbots). I’m of course happy, but I’ll keep a lid on it.

I thought it was funny as hell that the media pundits were all acting shocked that the South went to Huckabee. I wasn’t surprised a bit. I wish McCain had been able to pull it off, but Huckabee’s a strong force down here, for several reasons. First of all, he’s “one of us.” He speaks our language, and I don’t mean the religious stuff (although that’s some of it). Did you hear him mention “Roll Tide” and “Rocky Top” and the Bulldogs? That’s in Southern blood. But more importantly, Southerners are independent. Rebels, if you will, and they/we hate the media elites telling us how to vote. I think the media and blog jihad on Huckabee strengthened Southern resolve. Keep bashing Huck, and it repels Southerners. Hell, if it weren’t for some of his ideas and his lack of foreign policy credentials, I might have been tempted to vote for him just to poke the elites in the eye. But the issues do matter to me, and I couldn’t reconcile a lot of his with mine. Besides, McCain needed every vote down here and unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Alabama. Congratulations to Mike Huckabee and the Huckabee supporters–y’all had a really good show last night, and your networking efforts have been amazing.

Well, Mitt Romney had a bad night, although I have to admit I’m not really surprised things ended up the way they did. Is anyone? (I mean other than Hugh Hewitt.) I thought California would be closer than it was. He of course won some states, more than Huckabee did, but didn’t meet expectations. We’ll see if Mitt and Huck stick around for the long haul. Honestly, I hope they don’t because I’m ready for this part of the election to be over. (Sorry. Just my opinion.)

So from here…there are a lot of Fredheads like me who have picked a candidate, and some who still haven’t. It strikes me as very strange that just a few weeks ago, we Fredheads were all on the same page, but after he dropped out, we went to war. Well, really, a one-sided war. Whatever. I do hope that the Romney supporters who were Fredheads can remember that, instead of saying (as I’ve heard over the last couple of weeks) that ex-Fredhead McCain supporters are somehow looking to destroy the conservative movement or that we’re not “real conservatives.” We all want the same things in the end; it’s just a question of how we get there. I DO think John McCain can bring about a resurgence in the Republican Party and in the conservative movement, as he brings independents on board. They won’t be invading the GOP, they’ll be joining. That’s how Reagan did it, after all. But I’ll write more about that later.

The big picture: Of the total votes cast, a lot more were cast for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. We have to get our people voting, and we need independent voters. I know Super Tuesday just ended and that there are still nine months until the general election, but we’ve got work to do. There are people who say they will not vote in November. My job is to make you want to vote for John McCain in November (with the presumption being that he will be the nominee), and if you give us–meaning those like me–a chance, I know we can.

“Selected, not elected”

Things might get very interesting on the Democratic side of the primaries. It may come down to uncommitted superdelegates.

Heh. Better start making popcorn, y’all.

McCain wins Florida!

Awww, don’t worry, I won’t gloat. Much.*

Gotta love Rudy Giuliani too.

MIAMI (AP) - Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of next week’s contests across 21 states and lining up a quick endorsement from soon-to-be dropout Rudy Giuliani.

I do wish he’d have run his campaign the traditional way, much like I wish Fred had. I wish he had done better in the race, even though he wasn’t my pick.

*Any gloating on my part is not and will not be directed at the other GOP candidates–it’s solely directed at those with McCain Derangement Syndrome, because it’s well-deserved.

Fred Thompson to skip Florida debate (?)

So says Carl Cameron (via Ace), reporting from the campaign trail:

Fred Thompson sources say the actor and former Tenn senator may withdraw from the race. There are no plans to attend Thursday’s Florida debate.

Staffers have been on partial pay since the NH primary. The Senators plans are very fluid. As of 8:45 this evening, there are no plans for any announcement about whether he will stay in the race or not. The team is wrestling with very few options. The Senator is in Nashville visiting his mother (in her 90’s) who has been ill.

From THE FIRST DAY Fox News broke the story last March of his candidacy, Thompson has always had a vice presidential bid in mind. Today a top aide even mentioned the idea on Brian and the Judge on Fox News Radio.

Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. If that’s true, at least there’s one man who doesn’t insist on disrupting the debate despite having no chance of being elected. (*troll* RonPaul *troll*)

Cameron goes on:

Mike Huckabee, has also kept vice presidential options open by NOT strongly criticizing Giuliani or McCain. Huckabee is retooling his campaign to cherrypick some Super Tuesday states on Feb 5th (notably Ga and Alabama).

Oh, but some of y’all will be pissed that I’m voting for McCain. I suppose Huckabee is your choice? Have you seen the polling data? Didn’t think so.

And for the record: I’m not just supporting McCain just because of Huckabee–Fred’s disappointing South Carolina results just bumped McCain up. I have a lot of reasons for supporting him, which I will outline later. And yes, I fully expect I will get arguments. Just so you know, beating the same tired old negative drums only strengthens my resolve, so it would be wise not to bother attacking. (Negativity is one reason I’m not voting for Romney.)

I’m sorry that things didn’t work out for Fred Thompson. I’m also pretty bitter about it, because basically, conservatives on the internet never put their money where their mouth is. I donated, and ONE other person donated through the donation button I had on my site for months. ONE. How anyone expects a campaign to run without money, I don’t know.

I hate to say it, but I can’t help but wonder about the leadership ability of a man who has so much potential support, but fails to get his campaign off the ground. I’ve been on Fred’s bandwagon for a year now, waiting…waiting…waiting. It’s as if the only people working were the ones on the internet (Jon Henke and Sean Hackbarth), and nobody else. You can’t just announce and expect people to flock to you. Now think about how a Fred Thompson presidency would be. You think the Bush Administration has failed to “sell” the rightness of the war to the American people? How would Fred Thompson do it, if he can’t even sell his own candidacy? He may be the “perfect” conservative, but how does that matter if he can’t or won’t sell conservative issues to the American people? You tell me.

I’ve got a lot more to say along those lines with regard to John McCain, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I wrote this at Red State last week, basically because there’s more discussion there and it’s civilized, respectful discussion. You can comment on it here if you don’t have a Red State account, but remember–you won’t win me over with disrespectful nonsense or hysteria.

I only ask that you listen with an open mind, because I was once anyone-but-McCain myself. No more–I am fully on board with John McCain now after doing a lot of analysis of all the candidates. He is the right man to lead us in these times.

links for 2008-01-20

Race 4 2008 Early Morning Essential Reads

All the post-SC and post-NV commentary

(tags: politics election 2008 candidates)
Cal Thomas - January 18th 2008 Commentary

Cal Thomas: “If conservatives can’t unite behind a single candidate instead of demanding political purity, we are going to get Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama with all of the problems they will cause.”

(tags: politics election 2008 conservatives GOP)
Bill Kristol: Waiting for Reagan

Zombie Reagan wouldn’t be endlessly carping about the current candidates; why are you? Did you forget that Reagan voted for Republicans who were less than “perfect” himself?

(tags: election 2008 politics candidates GOP conservatives Reagan)
Mona Charen: Can Conservatives Still Win Elections?

“A fascinating new book, Comeback, by former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum, offers what may seem to some a startling answer: Drop Reagan. He is no longer relevant to the challenges we face as a party or a nation. He was perfect for his time. But

(tags: politics conservatives elections Reagan books GOP)
How the White House may be won — in the West

On Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when 22 states will hold primaries or caucuses, a third of them will be in the West, including the big enchilada, California.

(tags: politics election 2008 primary campaigns Democrats Republicans)
Remarks by John McCain on South Carolina Primary Victory

Text of his South Carolina victory speech, with video.

(tags: McCain election 2008 primary politics)
SurveyUSA - Election Polls

Current election polling data, including head-to-head general election POTUS preferences

(tags: politics 2008 polls candidates primary presidential election)
Online newspapers of the USA listed by each state

Pretty self explanatory, isn’t it? Links to all newspapers with an online presence.

(tags: news newspapers internet)
MyrtleBeachOnline.com | 01/20/2008 | McCain win no surprise to locals

Local reactions to the election

(tags: politics 2008 election primary McCain candidates GOP)
McCain avoids 2000 repeat, takes South Carolina

Reactions from locals in Spartanburg, SC

(tags: politics 2008 election primary candidates GOP)
(Las Vegas) ReviewJournal.com - Romney’s legwork in state pays off

“Landslide” is not a strong enough word for Mitt Romney’s victory in Nevada’s Republican caucuses Saturday.

(tags: politics 2008 election candidates primary GOP)
(Las Vegas) ReviewJournal.com - SKY-HIGH TURNOUT: Clinton hails win in the West

“Candidate also tops Obama at controversial Strip precincts,” while Silky Pony got a whopping 4%. Stick a fork in him, he’s done.

(tags: politics 2008 election primary Democrats Clinton)
Romney Parses Role of Religion at the Polls - The Caucus

Mitt Romney was asked by the Caucus if he had any reflections about the role of religion in the presidential campaign on a day that its influence was so striking in Nevada and South Carolina.

(tags: politics 2008 election primary Romney Republicans GOP religion)

South Carolina goes to John McCain

Just caught it on teevee, and here’s the story:

John McCain took the early lead in the South Carolina primary Saturday, and never lost it.

With 82 percent of precincts reporting, McCain had 33 percent and Huckabee, 29 percent. Fred Thompson had 16 percent, Mitt Romney had 15 percent. Ron Paul was polling at 4 percent and Rudy Giuliani at 2 percent. Duncan Hunter, fairing poorly in both Nevada and South Carolina on Saturday, was returning to San Diego and planned to drop out, FOX News learned.

At this point, I’m hating it for Fred–he may stay in it for Super Tuesday, but I think he’s done. If he couldn’t do better than this in South Carolina…well, you know. :sigh:

Meanwhile, the McCain campaign celebrates.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican John McCain called his victory in South Carolina’s presidential primary on Saturday evidence that his campaign “can carry right through” Florida into the giant round of caucuses and primaries on Feb. 5. “I know it’s not easy,” he told The Associated Press, “and we’ve got a long way to go.”

South Carolina was where McCain’s presidential prospects died eight years ago, and he savored the victory this time.

“It just took us awhile, that’s all,” he said in the interview. “Eight years is not a long time.”

This time, he said, “It sure was nice to have a lot of our old friends be happier that we won.”

Asked if he was now the front-runner for the GOP nomination, McCain demurred.

“I don’t know,” he said, “we like to run from behind.”

Still, he expressed optimism going forward.

“I’m very confident that we’ll win in Florida,” he said.

“We showed that the first-in-the-South primary is a very important victory, and it gives us a very important progress that we can carry right through Florida and February 5th,” he said.

McCain said he planned to stress pocketbook and national security issues going forward.

“People care about our nation’s security and they’re worried about our economy,” McCain said. “I’m going to be talking to them about those issues and how I’m best qualified to lead the nation.”

A few thoughts:

Looking around the blogosphere, I’ve seen people going for the “stupid voters” thing again, as they did after Iowa. Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves, and frankly smacked upside their narrow-minded heads.

Whatever. They can tell that to the military who are voting for McCain. Maybe they aren’t as wound up about illegal immigration or whatever as others are. So they’re stupid now. Got it.

Apparently some people don’t realize it, but the military is NOT as monolithically conservative as people on the blogosphere are. Mostly, they’re defense hawks and pretty socially moderate/agnostic. I suppose it’s news to the civilian world that people in the military really do care about the war too. The fact that they’d vote for McCain is absolutely no surprise to me, and after having served for 11 years, I assure you, it’s not due to their being “stupid.” In fact, I’d say a lot of them know more about the issues and real life than even the geniuses in the blogosphere (and especially the media) do.

Some seem to think people are voting for CMDR John McCain, POW. Those people would, of course, be wrong. In fact, I’d say that some (not all, but many, based on the things I’ve read) of those attacking McCain haven’t even bothered to do any real, honest investigation of the issues. Well, I think it’s time to do just that, starting now.

Congratulations to John McCain, and to Mitt Romney for his resounding win in Nevada. Well done!

A brokered convention? Let’s hope not.

God, I hope not. In the Washington Post’s The Trail blog, the possibility is considered.

Yes, yes, we know. Every four years, the political class, including wise-acre journalists, gets all caught up in breathless speculation about the prospect of a brokered convention. After all, no presidential nomination has required more than a single ballot since 1952 and the prospect of actual drama seems like such a refreshing thought at conventions that in recent times have been sucked dry of any suspense whatsoever. And then every four years, the notion evaporates as modern political reality takes hold again.
…
The talk has only escalated as Iowa and New Hampshire voters weighed in. “None of our candidates seem to be able to break through,” former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum said on Fox News last week as voting began in the Granite State. “And if you look at the candidates, all have serious problems. I think, it’s my prediction, I think we’re headed for a brokered convention. I don’t think we’re going to get a nominee.” Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) even postulated that a contested convention could be a useful thing for a Republican Party trying to find its way after President Bush. “I just think there’s nothing unhealthy about the Republican Party having a serious discussion,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “We are at the end of the George W. Bush era. We are at the end of the Reagan era. We’re at a point in time where we’re about to start redefining … the nature of the Republican Party in response to what the country needs.”

The conventional wisdom, of course, is that a brokered convention is good news for political journalists and junkies but bad news for a party. While the opposition rallies around a single leader in the spring, your party is divided and wasting resources with internal fighting all the way until the end of summer.

Well, why the hell do you think Kos wanted Romney to win Michigan? (For the record, I doubt they had much effect on the outcome–I think Romney would have won without the idiotarian help.)

But the point is correct: the longer this drags out, the faster the candidates’ campaign war chests drain. Well, except Romney’s, of course, but I’m not yet confident that he can win in November anyway. And let’s face it–Hillary and Obama have massive war chests. Our guys? We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and we won’t catch up until we have a nominee, if we do at all. Remember, Bush had a huge pile of money going in to the primaries in 2000. This time around, we’re scraping around to get money for ad buys in each state because the big donors are waiting for a sure thing. I mean, if you’re looking to wisely invest big bucks, which one do you bet on? Thompson, who hasn’t even come close to a primary win (yet)? McCain, who has only won New Hampshire and has issues with many conservatives, but as of now is the only candidate who polls a win against the Democrats? Huckabee, who’s only won Iowa but has a dedicated base? Romney, with his “two golds and two silvers” but whose support looks soft? Or Giuliani, whose campaign looks dead but promises to come to life in Florida? A year ago, I figured Giuliani would be the nominee. Hell, two years ago, I figured George Allen would be the nominee. Who knows? Michigan didn’t decide anything, and apparently, neither will South Carolina.

I don’t want a brokered convention–at all. Nor do I think there will actually be one. Sure, it’d be fun to watch, but I want to WIN. Badly. I just wonder if other Republicans want to win as badly as I do–or more to the point, as badly as the Democrats do.

What this year’s primary season is showing, though, is the huge diversity of views in this country; the issues important to Michigan voters, for example, are not the issues important to Iowa or New Hampshire voters. And as we’ll see in South Carolina, Florida, and on “Super Tuesday,” those states’ issues will be different as well. Whichever candidate can best represent the issues of all regions should rightfully be the nominee. This is why I think Fred Thompson made a mistake getting in to the process late–he didn’t have the early months for his views–approved of by most conservatives–to become well-known. This is also why I have doubts about John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and especially Mike Huckabee: they all have things that are objectionable to most Republican voters to varying degrees. But so does Mitt Romney, and I have doubts about Romney’s electability in November. I personally can live with the disagreements I have with each of them, some more than others, but can and will other Republican voters?

How badly DO Republicans want to win? And are those like me the only ones who think a Democratic presidency in 2008 would be a disaster, not “good for the GOP” as some conservatives say (wrongly, IMHO)? Why are we demanding perfect candidates now when we never did before? I say that it’s because we’re more informed about the candidates’ voting records and things they’ve said, thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and the internet (especially with blogs and YouTube). No longer are we stuck with the spin machines and sound bites; we can do our own research and either confirm our biases or find things that are “unacceptable. I’d say that even if Ronald Reagan were running in 2008, there would be people who would find things “unacceptable” as well. Remember, Reagan was once a Democrat, and a union president (the SAG) at that! (Oh noes, a flip-flop!)

Again, I don’t think we’ll have a brokered convention, but if voters insist on perfection and we end up with no candidate having enough delegates, it could happen–and this won’t be a brokered convention like those that existed decades ago, not with 24-hour news and the internet. We also won’t end up with a “perfect candidate,” either. If it happens, I assure you, we will not win in November.

(Note: I left out L. Ron Paul Hubbard and sadly, Duncan Hunter, because they’re irrelevant to the discussion, obviously.)

Kos wants to play with the Michigan Primary, “endorses” Romney

Typical Democrat election shenanigans: Desperate jackass Markos “Kos” Moulitsas wants Democrats to vote for Romney in Michigan, saying, “Let’s have some fun in Michigan.” Elections are just a game to him, I guess, like football for nerds. What an asshat.

Michigan Democrats should vote for Mitt Romney, because if Mitt wins, Democrats win. How so?

For Michigan Democrats, the Democratic primary is meaningless since the DNC stripped the state of all its delegates (at least temporarily) for violating party rules. Hillary Clinton is alone on the ballot.

But on the GOP side, this primary will be fiercely contested. John McCain is currently enjoying the afterglow of media love since his New Hamsphire victory, while Iowa winner Mike Huckabee is poised to do well in South Carolina.

Meanwhile, poor Mitt Romney, who’s suffered back-to-back losses in the last week, desperately needs to win Michigan in order to keep his campaign afloat. Bottom line, if Romney loses Michigan, he’s out. If he wins, he stays in.

And we want Romney in, because the more Republican candidates we have fighting it out, trashing each other with negative ads and spending tons of money, the better it is for us. We want Mitt to stay in the race, and to do that, we need him to win in Michigan.

Two polls the last couple of days show a tight race: Strategic Vision (R) shows Romney within striking distance with 20 percent to McCain’s 29 (Huckabee is third with 18), while Rossman Group shows Huckabee with the lead — 23 percent to Romney’s 22 and McCain’s 18.

Now here’s the thing — without a real Democratic contest on the ballot, and a lack of party registration in Michigan, this is an open primary. Anyone can pick up a Republican ballot. So Michigan Democrats and independents who want to see the Republican battle royale continue should just take a few minutes on Tuesday, January 15th to cast a ballot for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary.

If you know someone in Michigan, send them the email I’ve included below the fold. If you don’t know someone in Michigan, send the email to your liberal friends and see if THEY have friends in Michigan. Get the word out, whether by blog, mailing list, MySpace or Facebook page, or whatever.

If we can help push Mitt over the line, not only do we help keep their field fragmented, but we also pollute Romney’s victory. How “legitimate” will the Mittster’s victory look if liberals provide the margin of victory? Think of the hilarity that will ensue. We’ll simply be adding fuel to their civil war, never a bad thing from our vantage point.

I wouldn’t worry if I were Kos–I think the word is out.

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