GOP's up-hill climb?

Posted: Saturday, February 16, 2008 2:25 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Democrats, Republicans

From NBC's Ron Allen
After a few days on the Huckabee campaign bus recently, we walked into a Hillary Clinton event outside Cleveland last night. What a difference the possibilty of winning versus the likelyhood of losing makes. The Clinton event is in a packed gym with a gospel choir and a marching band. I don't think the cumulative audience at Huckabee's four events in Wisconsin matches the size of this one Clinton event. The Huckabee campaign just rented a sound system and played a few CDs...so few the songs repeated a few times.

Here, they just announced a crowd of 2,500, with some 800 more watching a live feed in an overflow room. Yes, McCain draws much bigger crowds than Huckabee. We were with him in Florida and elsewhere. One of Romney's largest crowds was one of his last in Long Beach, Calif. That was smaller than this.

Just a moment on a long trail. But the contrast is striking -- moving from one side of the aisle to the other. On the Democratic side, there have been even bigger gathering for Obama. It's all perhaps another reminder of the enthusiasm and huge turnout on the Democratic side through the primary season, and what the Republicans could be up against in November.

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Comments

Which one drew the most flies?
Yawn......

HP Boston (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 2:51 PM)

I think if the media would have gave Mike Huckabee as much coverage as Clinton Obama and Mccain we would have Hucabee as the front runner not Mccain. I think Mccain will run this country the same way Bush has WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER BUSH

Anthony Lucas Nitro WV (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:17 PM)

Hmmm...no mention of the 8,600 that packed into the gymnasium at Liberty University this week.....oh wait...that was for ron paul....sorry,

Gin, Martinsburg, WV (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:32 PM)

It is unfortunate that Huckabee does not have the resources that Clinton, Obama, and McCain do. Huckabee must earn his campaign money the honest way while the senators collect their handout money from America's working class via taxation. Huckabee is the only candidate that has a true understanding of what this country needs to be successful once again. Huck does not draw larger crowds because he does not get the same media attention of a liberal candidate.

Ryan Hoskin, Grass Valley, California (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:35 PM)

I am looking forward to removing the republicans from power in November. They deserve a strong reprimand for all they have done (or not done). That said, it will be an ugly campaign. I support Obama because I think he will perform better than Hillary under pressure and because the republicans have been scrimmaging against the Clintons for years and they now have a very thick playbook. Against Obama, they have little. I expect that they will incessantly call him Barack Hussein Obama to conjure up fear of Muslims, but I have a theory on this. That is, the talk radio guys will say it so often that people will get used to it, and it will become a natural and benign moniker, much like what occurred in the 1990s when they referred to Mrs. Clinton as Hillary Rodham Clinton, to emphasize her liberalism. In the end it will lead to more of an acceptance of Muslim culture rather than the revulsion they wish to create.

Jim, Santa Cruz (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:37 PM)

See, Obama and Clinton are not leaders, they are celebrities. Leaders stick around for the long haul. Celebrities like Hillary, Barack, Paris, and Britney fade as quickly as they showed up, and in the end, no one really cares about them.

Cory Stewart, Fresno Ca (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:57 PM)

im pretty sure it was mccain--he is the moldiest looking and and that is no joke.What happened to his top lip?It is gone.How come he and George have those fish lips?Is that a sign of R?not nice but listening to him say how much George cares about us and even offered to stay home from africa to push fisa through was not a nice thing to say---he knows it is a lie.He has turned into such a suckup to everything he was once against.Why anybody would worry about him beating Clinton is a freakin joke.

anti-msnbc (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 4:26 PM)

The undemocratic party is going to make it easier on the gop than you think. We'll just need to show up for one day.

Dave, Tn (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 4:41 PM)

Face it ReTHUGlicans, most of America is SICK to DEATH of these so-called "values voters" who can't imagine that we are no longer in the 19th century. The mess "YOUR President" (George W. Bush is not My President -- I didn't vote for the clown) has made of this countryhas left a BITTER taste in the mouths of so many. Do you get that GOP??? AMERICA is finally SICK of you! Sick of your fearmongering and your divisiveness! Sick of your hate-filled politics and the single track issues that seem to matter most to you. Personally, I hope there never is another Republican President. The world just can't take it.

Joe G. White Bear Lake, MN (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 5:35 PM)

As a life long Republican I can only say....it's OVER!!! What George Bush and his neocon henchmen have did to the party is devastating. It'll take years to rebuild..if it can be done at all. Nominating John McCain will only make it worse! How can anyone in this party vote for a known liar and flip-flopper!
In John McCain's own words..."I don't care what the majority of American voters want!"
Let me give you some 'straight talk', McCain......KISS MY ASS!!
We'll be back someday. Maybe after 10, 15, or 20 years from now, we'll be able to get our heads out of our asses and 'cleanse' the party of the idiots who highjacked it and used it for their own purposes.
But, as for now....it's OVER!!!!!!!!!

James Finn, Clyde, Ohio (Sent Saturday, February 16, 2008 5:50 PM)

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