FredHeads for Romney

UPDATE: Romney Wins Maine - 5 Delegates Behind McCain UPDATE: In California Romney opens up huge lead in Zogby poll, which has had him leading now in two consecutive polls--

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, however, was ahead in California, expanding his lead there Sunday by six points over McCain, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee places a distant third in the Golden State. Huckabee finds himself in third place in three out of four GOP races, the exception being Missouri, where he stands in second place ahead of Romney.

The RCP average tightening in the key Golden State.
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A father and son FredHeads for Mitt Romney-- their thinking here and this comparison:

	Romney	McCain
GWOT		X
National Security	X
Taxes	X
Cut Spending	X	X
Abortion	X	X
Stem Cell Research	X
Marriage	X	X
Global Warming	X
Immigration	X
Education	X
Health Care	X
2nd Amendment		X
1st Amendment	X
Judges	X
Fighting Congress	X

UPDATE: WaPo take on Mitt's visit to Illinois:

Speaking before a huge banner that declared "Washington Is Broken," a jacketless Romney told an enthusiastic crowd tightly packed into an arts center of the College of DuPage outside Chicago that the nomination had become a "battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party." He asked the crowd, "Which way are we going to go? Are we going to take a sharp left turn in our party, to get as close as we can to Hillary Clinton?"

Few in the crowd of several hundred appeared to be undecided, seeming instead to believe in Romney's message that he is a true conservative. "I'm tired of reaching across the aisle when no one is reaching back," said Jim Strnad, a 63-year-old owner of a computer store.

My take here.

UPDATE: Reuters on their poll with Zogby:

McCain won the last two contests, in South Carolina and Florida, to
seize the front-runner's slot in a hard-fought Republican race despite
qualms among some conservatives about his past views on taxes,
immigration and campaign finance.

"Romney is widening his lead in California and has a really big
advantage with conservatives," Zogby said. "Romney winning California
would give some Republicans pause when they look at McCain as the
potential nominee."

Romney said he would cut short a scheduled trip to Georgia and fly
back to California on Monday for a last-minute campaign visit.

'A GOOD SHOT'

"People there are taking a real close look at the race and it looks
like I've got a good shot there," Romney told reporters.

UPDATE: NY Times story on McCain and a wary party. Some wry remarks from the NY Times reporter:

BOSTON — He says he is not enough of a masochist to listen to Rush Limbaugh. He jokes at a Republican dinner about a looming foreign policy crisis: “I have a four-hour speech on the North Korean nuclear buildup that I know you’ve been waiting for.” And he still treats the media as his No. 1 constituency, plying them with nonstop talk and stories, like one about a date from his Navy days who cleaned her nails with a switchblade. [snip]

With the nation facing the possibility of recession, Mr. McCain’s aides also acknowledge that he will have to become as fluent in economic policy as he is in his specialty, foreign affairs. In the primary races in Michigan and Florida last month, Mr. McCain often had Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, at his side to answer questions from voters about the subprime mortgage crisis. At a hot-tub plant in Orlando, Ms. Fiorina served as Mr. McCain’s moderator at an economic forum.

But even in such a setting, Mr. McCain could not seem to help himself from veering into foreign policy. When he was asked in Orlando about what he would do about rising oil prices, he first wandered into a discourse on the confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz between three American warships and five Iranian speedboats last month and then segued into talk of the evidence that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, was supplying Venezuela with ammunition.

UPDATE: Analysis of California--the battle for delegates--it's not winner take all, and unlike in the Dem primary, independents can not vote in the Republican primary:

Because of gerrymandering and residence patterns, the districts vary wildly in GOP registration. The heavily Democratic 31st District in downtown Los Angeles has 26,724 Republicans, compared with 199,848 in the 48th District (Orange County). Several months ago, a state GOP spokesman told the Associated Press: “It’s a lot easier to communicate with individuals when you need only 8,000 votes to win that area, versus when you might need 80,000 or 90,000 votes to win.” A candidate could grab a disproportionate chunk of delegates by working the hardest where Republicans are scarcest. Mitt Romney has reportedly adopted this tactic.

And registered Republicans lean right in California.

UPDATE: Bryan at HotAir makes a great point:

From today’s Washington Post. Unlike anti-Mitt stories, this one isn’t based on class warfare. Its central theme is that John McCain is a hothead who yells at and kneecaps fellow Republicans. His chief of staff’s defense?

[Mark] Salter scoffed at the idea that McCain is not fit to be president and said most stories about his temper are “wildly exaggerated.” He pointed to McCain’s success at “across-the-aisle cooperation” with Democrats as an example of how he would deal with Congress if elected president.

Yeah, like McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy, a pair of legislative abominations. If that’s how a President McCain would “deal with Congress,” no thanks. But the McCain camp’s instinctive defense here is interesting. Instead of always touting McCain’s recording of working with liberals, which we all know he can do, how about Salter or someone else in McCain’s camp giving us some evidence that McCain can work with conservatives?

There's more.

UPDATE: AP story with the same info on McCain, in Boston:

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, told voters in a series of coast-to-coast stops that Republicans were telling him, "We don't want Senator McCain; we want a conservative."

McCain leads Romney in national polls and has seized the momentum and major endorsements after two straight wins in South Carolina and Florida. Yet, some conservatives are uneasy with the four-term Arizona senator who has backed a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, campaign finance reform and opposed President Bush's tax cuts although he now wants to make them permanent.

Campaigning at Boston's famed Faneuil Hall, McCain defended his GOP record but insisted he would not hesitate to reach out to Democrats.

"As president of the United States, I will preserve my proud conservative Republican credentials, but I will reach across the aisle and work together for the good of this country," McCain said at a rally in Boston.

We know he doesn't hesitate to make common cause with Dems. Other than prosecuting the war, all his instincts the last several years have been to legislate to the Left. As the WSJ puts it, we at least know how McCain will betray us. He thinks he's already won and doesn't need the conservative base. He's betraying us already.

UPDATE: Rush--We are letting the Drive by media choose our candidate--the Patriots were inevitable until they played the game. Establishment Republicans pushing party unity prematurely.

Me--hey--we haven't voted yet!!!

UPDATE: Rush quoting David Frum on McCain, that he doesn't love the party, he may hate it. If we follow him, fine, he'll lead. His way. Newsbusters has it: "McCain Method: Tell Republicans They're Racist, Wrong and Stupid"

UPDATE: Mitt's up on the air on WLS radio Chicago during Rush--ad going after McCain on his liberal legislation.

UPDATE: Rush says Romney has all 3 legs of the stool that make up the conservative movement. None of the Republicans are going to punt on National Security. If Republicans win by attracting liberals, the party will become unrecognizable. If McCain adopts economic policies similar to Hillary and Obama, let the Democrats take the country down the tubes.

No choice but to vote for Mitt on the merits of the issues that matter to conservatives. Rush says McCain loves America, playing the patriot card, but has no philosophy--he just loves to be a maverick--a maverick is someone in it for themselves. The Drive-by media game him the name maverick, they love it when he bashes his own party. They can't stand a Dem maverick like Joe Lieberman. Rush reminds us being a liberal is the most gutless choice you can ever make. Conservatism is not easy, it takes conviction and courage to buck the conventional wisdom--McCain says we are the problem.

Rush says--here's the dirty little secret--the maverick is not a maverick--he's swimming with the liberal tide.

UPDATE: Rush playing clips from Mitt on Wolf's show on his victory in Maine. Rush playing clip from the Huckster on the Clear channel conspiracy that supposedly Bain is buying votes. Rush says Romney is divested of Bain. Bain does not own Clear channel. And Sean Hannity is not a contractual partner with Clear channel. Rush says Huck is embarrassing and repeating left wing blog conspiracy theories. Rush--this is what's bugging me--we have candidates on our side who are adopting liberal ideas and conspiracy theories---which have no basis in fact! Huckabee peddling class envy.

Previous posts: Romney Turns the Tide in Maine, Mitt Romney, Up Close, GOP Dead Heat, Make it Mitt for America's Future, Hello Illinois, Vote for Mitt!, Debate Take & Updates