I have seen countless articles in recent weeks purporting McCain’s supposed weakness among Republicans owing to primaries held in April and May. Most critics will point towards Indiana (McCain fetched 77% of the vote), North Carolina (74%), and Pennsylvania (72%) and decry the fact that 1/4 of Republicans are voting against McCain! Egads!
The leftist noise machine would be well served to take a short walk back to the 2000 Republican primaries. McCain is doing no worse than George W. Bush was in the same primaries back in 2000. Here are Bush’s totals in some of the April and May primaries from the 2000 Republican nomination cycle:
Wisconsin – 69%
Idaho – 73%
Indiana – 81%
Montana – 78%
North Carolina – 78%
Pennsylvania – 72%
So the next time someone tries to make the argument that McCain is a weak nominee because he’s struggling to break 80% in these late primaries, remind them that he’s doing no worse than a Republican candidate who scored nearly 100 million votes in 2000 and 2004.
