…if you want to send a message. If you want to win an election, consider:
The RCP head-to-head polling average shows McCain beating Obama by 2 points and Clinton by 4. By contrast, it shows all the other Republican candidates losing to both Obama and Clinton — Romney by almost 20 points to Obama, and by almost 9 to Clinton.
Now I like all the candidates (OK, except Ron Paul) and I still haven’t made up my mind who I like best. I’m still not committed to any of them, I can still be sold.
It’s also true that I disagree with McCain on many issues.
That said, it does seem worth emphasizing that a candidate who wins the nomination this spring and then goes on to lose the election in the fall will have achieved nothing – no matter what he says in his concession speech.
And should the Republican candidate lose in November, that almost certainly will mean that the White House, the Senate, the House, a majority of governorships and a majority of state legislatures will be in Democratic hands for a minimum of four years – much longer if the Democrats use their monopoly power creatively, e.g. by gerrymandering House seats and/or making Washington, D.C. a “state” with two senators. And don’t forget about the Supreme Court. An appointment there is a gift that can keep on giving for a generation or more.
Now I know polls are just snapshots and all that. Even so …
All I’m saying is: Electability has to be a top-line consideration.