UPDATED Delegate Totals
The latest figures from the Maine Caucuses.
68% of towns in Maine reporting results:
Mitt Romney -- 52% of the vote.
John McCain--- 21% of the vote.
Ron Paul ----- 19% of the vote.
Mike Huckabee- 6% of the vote.
Fred Thompson - 4% of the vote. [Thompson dropped out last month]
CNN projected that Romney will win all 18 of Maine's delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Although much of Maine saw bad weather during the voting, it wasn't a factor in suppressing voter turnout.
Despite a sleet storm the night before, which left much of the state coated with slush and ice, cars jammed the car park outside an Augusta elementary school where Kennebec County municipalities were caucusing.
Kim Pettengill, who has been a party activist for more than three decades, said it was the largest Kennebec County caucus turnout since 1980, the year Ronald Reagan won his first Republican nomination for president.
The "unstoppable" John McCain, anointed press darling of the MSM, struggled to keep his vote totals in Maine above 20%.
It seems that when presented with a choice between the MSM's (including Robert Novak on this particular issue) "unstoppable" McCain and anyone else, Republican voters are choosing "anyone else"--as 80% of Maine Republicans did.
[Romney] told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday that conservative Republicans were rallying to his banner to block McCain, whose stances on tax cuts, immigration and campaign finance reform have incurred the wrath of much of the party's activist base.
"Conservative voices, both from radio and from publications, are saying, 'You know what, we've got to get behind Mitt Romney. We really can't afford John McCain as the nominee of our party,' " Romney said. "And that kind of groundswell is what led me to win in Maine yesterday."
DELEGATE TOTALS (at the moment) [delegates OFFICIALLY pledged to each candidate] - Republicans John McCain -- 97 delegates Mitt Romney -- 92 delegates Mike Huckabee- 29 delegates Ron Paul ----- 6 delegates Delegates Needed to Win - 1191 Amount of Delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday - 1027 [delegates OFFICIALLY pledged to each candidate] - Democrats Hillary Clinton -- 232 Barack Obama ----- 158 John Edwards ----- 26 Needed to Win - 2025 |
So tomorrow's voting might clear the picture a bit.
OR, it might not.
It may put off the day of decision in both parties until the later primaries, in which case it would be ironic that all the states that jumped to the front of the line in order to "make a bigger impact", will not.
It may very well be that the states that refused to bolt to the beginning of the year and kept their tradidional primary dates will be the ones which garner the MOST attention--both by the candidates and the media.
It would be fitting that the the states which didn't participate in goofy moving of their primaries will be the ones which will hold the keys to selecting the presidential nominees.
The ones that fought, like grade school kids to be first in the primary line, will be--fittingly--long forgotten by the time the national choices are made.
by Mondoreb
image:
Sources:
* Romney Wins Maine GOP Caucuses, CNN Projects
* Romney Wins Maine Caucus Vote
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