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Romney led the first ballot, but failed to get a majority. In the second round, McCain pulled a little political trick to throw his support behind Huckabee and put him over the top:
Huckabee won with the support of 52 percent of the state’s GOP convention delegates on the second round of balloting.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in second with 47 percent of the vote, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona was backed by 1 percent of the delegates.
Romney was ahead in the first round of voting in Charleston but failed to get the majority needed to win.
It appeared supporters of McCain, who placed a distant third on the first ballot, moved over to Huckabee, helping him carry the day.
Romney’s campaign was furious over the “Washington backroom deal.”
“Unfortunately, this is what Sen. McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: He cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Gov. Romney’s campaign of conservative change,” read a statement from Romney campaign manager Beth Myers.
Huckabee chuckled at the remark.
“I thought he was saying yesterday, ‘No whining.’ So is it no whining or whining? He can’t even keep a straight answer on the ‘whining or no whining’ question,” Huckabee said.
“There was no backroom deal,” he added. “There wasn’t even a front room deal. There was no deal.”
Given how much the Huckster spins (and he does, a lot), you can bet there was a deal of some sorts made. It may not have been official, but there probably was one.
The Romney campaign issued the following press release:
“Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney’s campaign of conservative change.
“Governor Romney had enough respect for the Republican voters of West Virginia to make an appeal to them about the future of the party based on issues. This is why he led on today’s first ballot. Sadly, Senator McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party.”
Update: Marc Ambinder:
[S]ources say that representatives for John McCain called many of his reps in WV and asked them to vote for Huckabee…in order to thwart Romney on the second ballot.
This was several hours ago, before the results were known. So yes, a deal was made.
Popularity: 9% [?]
John McCain is an unprincipled self serving politician who has been in Washington far too long. He thinks he’s entitled to the nomination. He will lose the election because true conservatives can not stand him. He could never have won the Republican nomination without the Giuliani-Huckabee forces helping him. He does NOT represent the majority of the Republican party. However, he may be the guy that tears apart the Republican party as I suspect that many others like myself will refuse to vote for him. I think it is high time for conservatives to start a brand new party that sticks to true conservative principles. I voted for Romney but I will have to admit that the one and only true, authentic man of ethics, morality and pure truth is…Ron Paul. When you examine his positions, you will find they are absolutely correct on every single point. It is truely unfortunate that most Americans base their votes on who looks and talks the slickest while totally ignoring the real issues at hand. Therefore, I guess a sick, perverted America gets what it deserves. Does anyone know where true patriots who love freedom can go in this world to avoid this mess? Likely nowhere, we are just screwed. God will punish this pathetic excuse of a country. That, you can take to the bank!
February 5th, 2008 at 10:04 pmHold on…I’ve seen this movie before.
“Mr. Smith Goes To Washington” anyone?
February 6th, 2008 at 8:53 am