Ehem… WTF?
Exit polls found 64 percent of Tuesday’s Republican voters still support the conflict — and Romney, whose criticism of President Bush’s management of the war has been muted, outpolled McCain in that category.
But among the 34 percent who said they disapproved of the war, McCain had a wide advantage over the GOP field — even over Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the sole advocate of a U.S. withdrawal in the Republican field. [A ‘very personal victory’ for McCain in New Hampshire. CNN. January 9 2008]
The anti-war Republicans voted for a pro-war candidate?
I know, I know. Ron Paul has no chance in this world but anti-war Republicans for McCain? That is just out of this world. But yeah, yeah. I know. There are issues other than the war.
After the New Hampshire’s primaries, I think an Obama-Clinton, or a Clinton-Obama campaign is inevitable. Those combinations are most popular at the moment. That is, unless, of course, for some reason, Obama and Clinton hate each other enough that they would not work with each other. There is no doubt that there is still a long way to go but most polls for future races show first and second place for Clinton and Obama respectively or vice versa. Even a poll conducted over a month ago for South Carolina, the state which Edwards was a senator once, shows that Edwards is behind you know who.[1] It is another story for the Republicans though.
As I have said earlier, if I cannot have Paul, I will back Romney. Having Mankiw as an adviser is too cool a factor to resist!
Oh, Mankiw is an adviser to Romney, in case you did not know:
Mitt Romney gets advice from some of my favorite economists.
Update: Several readers have asked for more details about my involvement here.
I first met Governor Romney several years ago, but only briefly at that time. Recently, I have talked with him more substantively about a range of economic policy issues. I was impressed by his intellect, open-mindedness, and overall economic philosophy.
I was honored when he asked me to serve in a more formal advisory capacity. My role will be that of an outside adviser. My teaching at Harvard will continue to be my main responsibility and the focus of my attention, and the posts on this blog will reflect those priorities. [Advisers to Mitt. Greg Mankiw’s Blog. November 29 2006]
[1] — From the NYT:
[South Carolina’s Primaries. NYT. Extracted January 8 2008]
