Georgia Results May Give Early Clues to Super Tuesday Verdict, After Tense Day of Campaigning
Georgia voters were expected to give the rest of the country an early clue to where Super Tuesday’s 24 presidential primaries and caucuses will drift once the results stream in from polling stations coast-to-coast.
Georgia’s polls close at 7 p.m. ET, while most other states finish voting between 8 and 10 p.m.
The candidates, meanwhile, headed to their home states to await the verdicts after a tense day of campaigning across the country.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama approached Super Tuesday with caution. Neither predicted a decisive victory once the dust settles.
“I still think that Senator Clinton is the favorite … she had a 20-30 point lead in most of these states,” Obama said in Chicago, where he and his wife Michelle voted Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been closing some ground and my guess is we’ll have a good night and probably end up having a split decision.”
Click here for a photo essay of Super Tuesday.
The GOP contest was less civil.
The race between John McCain and Mitt Romney was approaching the boiling point as the candidates hustled to lock up support in the 21 states holding Republican primaries and caucuses.
Though McCain came into the coast-to-coast battle with a healthy lead in the polls, the feud between him and Romney was playing out like a dead heat. McCain attacked his opponent for having a “terrible record as governor” of Massachusetts, and Romney retorted that he must be in strong contention if he’s so able to get under the Arizona senator’s skin.
Accusations only mounted after former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the West Virginia GOP convention Tuesday, with the help of delegates previously backing McCain. Romney was in the lead following the first round of voting in the state. But after no candidate took a clear majority and voting went into a second round, McCain’s delegates were told to back Huckabee, helping him take the win.
Romney Campaign Manager Beth Myers released a statement accusing McCain of cutting a “backroom deal.”
Click here to read more about the “backroom deal” accusations from FOX News embed producer.
The urgency of the GOP race could be due in part to the fact that nine of the Republican contests are winner-take-all, while the Democratic contests all award delegates proportionally. The enormous cache of delegates at stake on Super Tuesday is not enough to clinch a nomination but plenty enough to mint a runaway favorite, particularly on the Republican side.
McCain and Romney also clashed over comments Romney made about former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, who wrote a letter to conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh telling him to ease off his criticism of McCain.
Romney told FOX News Dole is “probably the last person I would have wanted to have write a letter for me.”
McCain demanded an apology, and Romney later tried to call Dole. But Romney said he had nothing to apologize for.
Meanwhile, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson blasted McCain in a letter read on the Laura Ingraham radio show Tuesday morning.
“I cannot, and I will not vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience,” Dobson wrote the conservative talk show host. “Should John McCain capture the nomination, as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life.”
As McCain has picked up steam — winning the New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida primaries — conservative figureheads have blasted him for being too moderate.
McCain has tried to combat that with a string of endorsements from all points on the right spectrum.
He rallied in Manhattan on Tuesday morning and took shots at Romney on the talk shows, accusing him of having a “terrible record as governor” and pouring millions of dollars into ads attacking him.
Romney said McCain is “so making up facts that it’s really quite extraordinary.”
He told supporters at West Virginia’s Republican nominating convention Tuesday that McCain’s support for global warming curbs “would effectively kill coal,” a lifeblood of the state. The first round of voting in the state showed Romney in the lead but failed to select a winner.
“This is not a long shot,” Romney said of his candidacy. “I am the candidate who can stop John McCain.”
Weather threatened to be a factor in some states. A wintry mess including snow and ice was forecast for New England, and snow was expected along a large corridor from southwest Kansas to northern Michigan, covering several primary states between.
The tightness of the Democratic race and the sheer scale of the voting in nearly two dozen states left Clinton and Obama wary of making predictions as they offered last-minute pitches in a round of early morning network TV interviews.
“We’re all kind of guessing about what it’s all going to mean because it’s never happened before,” Clinton said. “There’s a lot we’re going to find out about how all this works.” She said she found it all “intriguing and somewhat mystifying.”
Obama said a “split decision” was likely. “I don’t think today’s going to end up being decisive,” he said on FOX News. “But I think that our message is starting to break through. And we’re very optimistic about our prospects.”
His campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in a memo Monday that the Obama camp’s strategy is to stay close enough in the delegate count on Super Tuesday to proceed to the post-Feb. 5 states.
California has emerged as a key battleground for the Democrats, though, as Obama has recently edged ahead in the polls in the delegate-rich state. Clinton still leads in the polls for the vital New York and New Jersey primaries.
On Super Tuesday, the Iowa-New Hampshire days of retail politicking in rustic diners were a distant memory, although only weeks old. Clinton and Obama each poured more than $1 million a day into TV ads in the last week alone; Clinton bought an hour on the Hallmark Channel for a town hall meeting on Monday night, and Obama saw some $250,000 disappear in 30 seconds in his Super Bowl ad a day earlier.
Clinton voted near her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., accompanied by husband Bill and daughter Chelsea. “You’re a Democrat, right?” election worker Evan Norris joked. Clinton smiled. “I am just very excited about today,” she said. “The stakes are huge.”
In Topsfield, Mass., where a steady stream of voters filed to a polling place in a cold rain, teacher Marcia Spector, 58, said she had made the “very, very tough” decision to support Obama, reasoning he would be more able than Clinton to win the presidency in the fall.
“I just feel that he is dynamic and he is for change,” she said. “He doesn’t bring the baggage. I think he’s more electable, actually.”
It was tough, too, for Mary Jordan, 43, a teacher’s aide — so tough she said she didn’t make up her mind until she was in the polling booth. Voting Republican, she went for Romney, the state’s former governor, because of his business experience, while offering no one a glowing endorsement. “I think he’s the least unlikable,” she said. “I really didn’t like any of them.”
In Illinois, Obama supporters expressed pride for the home-state senator as they voted. “We have something great to vote for today,” said Catherine Braendel, 44, a marketing consultant who lives down the street from Obama in Chicago.
In Grayslake, Ill., registered Democrat Steve Greenberg, 39, decided his vote would be more valuable on the Republican side as he thought ahead to the general election. “I went with McCain because if the Democrats lost, I’d be more comfortable with him,” he said.
McCain struggled to close the sale with his party’s base after coming strikingly far without its solid support. He said he would extend his hand to Democrats, but “I will preserve my proud conservative Republican credentials.”
Romney sought until the end to exploit the right’s mistrust of McCain, who opposed President Bush’s tax cuts when they were introduced, departed from orthodoxy on immigration, favors mandates to slow global warming and led campaign finance reforms that activists say trampled on their freedom of speech.
McCain responded with a TV ad reminding voters that Romney had changed some stripes. It showed Romney in a 1994 debate calling himself “an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”
After months when it was all about expectations and momentum, not to mention confusion, real numbers finally became important.
The two dozen Super Tuesday contests were delivering 1,023 Republican and 1,681 Democratic delegates. The numbers needed to win the nomination: 1,191 Republican and 2,025 Democratic.
John Edwards’ departure after South Carolina’s primary simplified the math but little else on the Democratic side.
Since winning that state, Obama has collected a succession of marquee endorsements — several of them named Kennedy — and pulled into a statistical tie with Clinton in a national poll and in California, Tuesday’s biggest prize with 370 Democratic delegates.
The two were campaigning for history, as well — Clinton seeking to become the first female president, Obama the first black one.
Little separates them on most issues, including universal health coverage, ending U.S. military involvement in Iraq and raising taxes on the rich. And neither has accounted fully for all their proposed spending.
Instead, the campaign has turned on Clinton’s experience and Obama’s vision of change, debated intensely but with more civility in the latest round than when former President Clinton brought racial sensitivities to the surface in stumping for his wife in South Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
barack!!! your the best!! get ready to win!!
brooklyn latina,,,you are sooo mis-informed. Get your head outa the ground and get right with GOD. Mike Huckabee is a Christian and a GOD fearing man. He would NOT vote for same sex marriage, he would NOT vote for immigration amnesty”GOD FORBID” and he would not vote for abortion rights. You are a sinful person, if you believe that. It is people like you who makes this country of mine, so mixed up in their sprirtual beliefs. If our future President is going to turn my country around, it’s gonna have to be done by someone with a spiritual background. It’s not gonna get done with someone with a staunch political background. Politically correctness is eating this country’s very fabric of our societies once greatness, and turning it into a circus of clowns and puppets. brooklyn latina, I will pray for you so the LORD will give you guidance and wisdom and understanding of what his word is and means. If you discern his word, then you will realize the iimportance of Mike Huckabee’s victory and what it would mean for my country. I am a Christian and I forgive you for your statements. GOD’S will be done.
Hillary is the devil do not vote for her!!
I love America, where we each get a single vote, regardless of whatever we might say about who we like or dislike. Let’s keep it the greatest Nation in the world for our kids by voting wisely, not based on what others are saying or doing.
Timeline Documents Romney’s Role in Creating Same-Sex “Marriages”
I. Mitt Romney demonstrates his commitment to homosexual “rights” before becoming Governor of Massachusetts in January 2003:
1994 Campaign vs. Ted Kennedy for U.S. Senate: Romney pledged he “will provide more effective leadership” than Kennedy on homosexual rights; endorsed by Log Cabin Republicans.
2000-2002: As head of Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, Romney banned Boy Scouts from participating.
2001 Called first citizens’ petition to define marriage “too extreme” and “bigoted” because it banned civil unions.
2002 Campaign for Governor: Romney makes promises to GLBT community, according to leading Boston homosexual newspaper; endorsed by homosexual activist Log Cabin Republicans.
II. Nov. 18, 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) rules that same-sex marriage is protected in the Mass. Constitution, and gives the Legislature 180 days to act (“Goodridge” ruling).
Nov. 18, 2003 Romney responds to SJC ruling with four-sentence statement implicitly recognizing SJC’s authority, says only remedy will be a constitutional amendment: “I disagree with the Supreme Judicial Court. Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. I will support an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to make that expressly clear. Of course, we must provide basic civil rights and appropriate benefits to nontraditional couples, but marriage is a special institution that should be reserved for a man and a woman.”
Nov.-Dec. 2003 Romney reportedly working with Legislators promoting “civil unions”.
Jan. 2004 Romney silent on proposal to remove four SJC justices through Bill of Address (put forward by Article 8 Alliance / MassResistance).
Feb. 4, 2004 SJC tells Legislature that civil unions for same-sex couples will not satisfy its interpretation of the Mass. Constitution; only full-fledged marriage will do.
Feb. 5, 2004 Romney publishes editorial in Wall Street Journal laying all blame on the SJC for problem in Massachusetts. Suggests other states strengthen marriage statutes and pass constitutional amendments. Says don’t “attack … gays, singles or non-traditional couples.”
Feb. 2004 Justices of the Peace are told by their professional association they will be able to claim “conscientious objector” status and refuse to perform same-sex marriages — though this was never agreed to by Romney administration.
Feb.-May 2004 Pro-family leaders and columnists urge Romney to defy court, and issue Executive Order to block same-sex marriage; no public comment from Romney.
March 12, 2004 As Legislature postures on constitutional amendments, Romney continues to say amendment to Mass. Constitution is solution.
March 26, 2004 Word leaks out that Romney’s Dept. of Public Health (DPH) and attorneys are planning training sessions for Town Clerks and preparing same-sex marriage licenses.
March 29, 2004 Romney tells Republicans in Mass. legislature to vote for Travaglini-Lees “compromise amendment” which would ban same-sex marriage but establish civil unions (and would not go to voters before Nov. 2006). Republican legislators had earlier opposed this amendment because of the civil unions clause, and it passed only due to their changed votes.
March 29-31, 2004 Romney seeks stay of SJC ruling until constitutional amendment issue is settled, but Atty. General Reilly refuses to take Governor’s case before SJC. [Did Romney believe that same court that issued Goodridge ruling would seriously consider his request for a stay?]
March 30, 2004 Romney says he’ll “abide by the law of the land as it exists on May 17” and says he would not order town clerks to defy court edict. Romney says he’d not explored the Constitution section giving him power over “causes of marriage” and whether it gives him any legal power to stop same-sex marriage (according to spokesman).
April 12, 2004 Romney spokesman says training sessions for town clerks will begin “with plenty of room to spare before May 17.” Ron Crews of Mass. Coalition for Marriage states hope for an Executive Order to halt the marriages.
April 15, 2004 Romney files emergency bill in Legislature to seek stay of SJC ruling, and is rebuffed and reprimanded by Senate President Travaglini.
April 15, 2004 Romney’s DPH Registrar of Vital Records informs town clerks by letter of training sessions before SJC ruling becomes effective.
April 16, 2004 Romney announces his administration is scheduling training sessions for May 5-12 with licenses changed from “husband/wife” to “Party A/Party B”.
April 17, 2004 Mass. Dept. of Revenue (under Romney) declares SJC ruling the new “law”.
April 22, 2004 Romney does not comment on Rep. Goguen’s filing of Bill of Address for Article 8 Alliance/MassResistance to remove the 4 SJC judges, or Article 8’s revelation of Chief Justice Marshall’s violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct. (Marshall had appeared as keynote speaker at homosexual advocacy group dinner in 1999 advocated extension of “rights” for homosexuals, and failed to recuse herself from ruling on same-sex marriage though she had publicly expressed her bias.)
April 26, 2004 Romney’s chief Legal Counsel, Daniel Winslow, issues directive to Justices of the Peace to resign (or be fired, fined, or sued) if they are unwilling to perform same-sex marriages (exact date not given on document).
April 29, 2004 Romney writes to 49 other Governors to inform them he’ll uphold section of Mass. marriage statutes banning same-sex marriages for out-of-state couples.
May 5-12, 2004 Town clerk training sessions held. [GLAD – Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders -- is only source on content of sessions; perhaps they were responsible for content?]
May 15, 2004 Romney issues proclamation: May 15 is “Gay/Straight Youth Pride Day”. Romney’s “Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth” events include parade, GLBT activism (with prominent transsexual radical activists), and a GLBT prom – two days before same-sex marriages are to begin.
May 17, 2004 Same-sex marriages begin across Massachusetts. Romney issues brief statement: “All along, I have said an issue as fundamental to society as the definition of marriage should be decided by the people. Until then, I intend to follow the law and expect others to do the same.” [What law? Original marriage statutes clearly defining marriage as between a man and a woman were –and are -- still on the books, unchanged by the Legislature. So Romney is not enforcing the actual law—just a court opinion.]
May 18, 2004 Romney begins enforcement of section of marriage statute banning out-of-state couples marrying in Mass. if that marriage would be illegal in their home state, while other intact sections of the marriage statute (“man” and “woman”) are ignored.
June 22, 2004 Romney testifies before US Senate Judiciary Committee for federal marriage amendment and blames Court for situation in Massachusetts.
Oct. 29, 2004 Romney signs new law eliminating blood test for STDs as requirement for marriage license (Ch. 388 of Acts of 2004). [Note: this is the only part of marriage statutes changed to satisfy demands of same-sex marriage]
Dec. 2004 Romney has no comment on bills filed by Article 8 Alliance / MassResistance for 2005-6 session: to remove four SJC judges; strengthen definition of marriage in statute; and declare same-sex marriages since May 17, 2004 null/void and without statutory basis.
Feb. 21, 2005 Romney makes speech before South Carolina Republicans, then is accused of “flip-flopping” on civil unions by homosexual lobby. Romney also negatively refers to demands by the homosexual activists that birth certificates be changed to read “Parent A/Parent B” (instead of “father/mother”), arguing he had no authority to make such a change [though he had no such qualms about changing the marriage license].
June 16, 2005 Romney joins VoteOnMarriage (VOM) amendment effort, which would recognize same-sex marriages prior to amendment taking effect, and not ban civil unions. (Romney says VOM is superior to the Travaglini-Lees compromise amendment.) Romney also announces support of VOM’s proposed bill promoting partnership benefits for any couple wanting them (see “Benefits Fairness Act” filed Jan. 2006). Romney says he’s opposed to removing the four SJC judges. Calls for a “high degree of respect and tolerance for people whose lifestyle and choices and orientation is as they may choose.”
July 22, 2005 Romney says only Legislature can change birth certificates from “father/mother” to “Parent A/Parent B”.
Sept. 14, 2005 Travaglini-Lees compromise amendment defeated in Legislature.
Nov. 2005 Romney tells Federalist Society that judiciary must be grounded in Constitution and law and precedents, and only the Legislature and people can change that base.
Jan. 2, 2006 Boston Globe reports Romney issued special Governor’s ceremonial marriage licenses to 189 same-sex couples in 2005 (including to homosexual activist state senator), claiming he did not refuse because he was evenly applying the “statute”. [Note: There is no new statute establishing same-sex marriage.]
Jan. 11, 2006 Romney files “Benefits Fairness Act” with VoteOnMarriage, which is roundly criticized by GLBT lobby, and shelved in Committee as late-filed bill.
March 10-14, 2006 Romney says laws require Catholic Charities not to discriminate against same-sex parents in its adoption placements [but there’s only an administrative regulation]. He says same-sex couples have “a legitimate interest” in adopting children.
June 2, 2006 Romney sends letter to US Congress arguing for federal marriage amendment.
June 28, 2006 Romney urges Legislature to vote on VOM amendment, and addresses importance of following Constitution.
Sept. 30, 2006 Romney says he has to “follow the law,” and accept Mass. Superior Court ruling stating Rhode Island lesbian couple can marry in Massachusetts (following an earlier SJC ruling addressing Rhode Island’s lack of prohibition of same-sex marriage).
Oct. 15, 2006 Romney addresses nationally broadcast “Liberty Sunday” (Family Research Council) event in Boston. Blames SJC for Mass. problems, says we need an outpouring of respect and tolerance for all people regardless of different choices they make, and as a nation we must reject discrimination and bigotry. Calls for support of federal marriage amendment.
Nov. 19, 2006 Romney holds rally on State House steps announcing he’s delivering a copy of the Constitution to every Legislator who voted to recess the Constitutional Convention (to avoid the vote on the VOM amendment required by state Constitution). Romney also announces he’s appealing to the courts. [But he says nothing about the SJC precedent of Dec. 20, 2002, ruling that the Legislature must vote in this situation, which already affirms that he should call Legislators back.]
©2006 MassResistance (11-23-06)
It’s now official, a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain is a vote for Hillary or Obama!
Even Carl Cameron admitted that West Virginia was won by Huckabee only because McCain’s supporters were ordered to vote Huckabee.
Only Mitt Romney can take on the Democrats. McCain’s way over his head, that’s why so many liberals are endorsing him.
I voted for Mitt Romney today.
http://www.mittromney.com
http://mittromney.townhall.com
We love Huckabee down here! Who says it is a two man race.
Well, a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain and a vote for McCain is a vote for Huckabee-just look at West Virginia where the McCain camp was TOLD to vote for Huckabee, and most of them did it although some came out and complained about it. Unbelievable. Glad this is coming to light. Probably too late though.
It’s frustrating to me that the photos today focus on Mike Huckabee, the winner of West Virginia, yet the articles say nothing about his win or his campaign. Huckabee is the best candidate the conservatives have, yet the media is rehashing the bitter campaign between McCain and Romney. I proudly voted for Huckabee, and if McCain and Clinton are the candidates in November, I will not vote.
We love Huckabee! Who says its a two man race!