Buyer’s Remorse? McCain Has Nomination Locked Up, But One Third Of Republican Primary Voters Still Pick Another Candidate.

Even after locking up the Republican nomination, nearly a third of Republican voters in Idaho last week voted for another Republican candidate. Nearly 38,000 voters came out for another candidate, 6 percent
voting uncommitted and 24 percent supporting Ron Paul—his best showing yet. [Boston
Globe, 5/28/08]

Business Leaders Not Backing McCain.

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal showed that McCain’s fundraising among business leaders, a key constituency for Republican candidates, has lagged. In fact, McCain had raised only $13.1 million from seven major industries through February of this year, while both Obama and Clinton had raised over $20
million each.

Now, the WSJ said, the “Republican standard-bearer’s attempt to claw back financial support from the GOP’s business base could be a pivotal factor in determining the outcome of the presidential race.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/2/08]

Evangelicals Still Not Rallying Behind McCain.

According to a recent column by Robert Novak, McCain still “has a problem of disputed dimensions with a vital component of the conservative coalition: evangelicals” and that “[s]ome U.S. Christians are not reconciled to McCain’s candidacy.” And while he is winning the evangelical base, his lead is 22 points
less than Bush’s advantage with evangelicals versus Kerry in 2004. [Washington Post,
5/12/08; LCG Election Monitor Blog, 6/2/08]

In Home State, McCain Can’t Rally Republicans.

After representing Arizona for more than two decades McCain won just 47 percent of the vote in his home state's February 5 primary and turned in big losses in two other potential swing states that surround Arizona. And a new poll out last month showed that McCain “could face a tough fight in his home
state.” His lead was described as “narrow for a ‘favorite son’...running in a state he has long
represented in Congress” by the research director for the center that conducted the poll.
[cnn.com, accessed 5/13/08; East Valley Tribune, 5/22/08]

Republican Voters Looking For Alternatives.

McCain’s lack of appeal to conservative voters has brought in not one, but two alternative candidates. Bob Barr, a former Republican and Georgia Congressman, is now running for president as a Libertarian, saying that McCain is a “‘status quo’ candidate.” Barr also said that people voting for him “would
not likely fall into the category of people who would be enthused about voting for John McCain —if such exists.” Similarly, Ron Paul’s continued presence in the race and support at the polls shows that many Republicans are looking for an alternative to McCain. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/13/08; cnn.com, accessed 5/13/08]