Honestly, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but John McCain is far ahead in the first poll of Virginia voters conducted after the departure of Mitt Romney from the race:
One day after Mitt Romney withdrew from the Republican race for President, John McCain collects approximately two-thirds of Romney’s support, according to before-and-after tracking polls conducted by SurveyUSA for WJLA-TV Washington DC, WDBJ-TV Roanoke, and WTVR-TV Richmond. In SurveyUSA interviews conducted on 02/06/08, before Romney withdrew, McCain got 45%, Romney 22%, Mike Huckabee 20%. In interviews conducted on 02/07/08 and 02/08/08, immediately after Romney withdrew, McCain gained 12 points, to 57%, Huckabee gained 5 points, to 25%. McCain led Huckabee by 25 points before Romney dropped out. McCain leads Huckabee by 32 points now. McCain leads in all regions of the state, though Huckabee runs slightly stronger in the Shenandoah and in Southeast VA than he does in the DC suburbs and in Central VA. To the extent that Republicans in Virginia see John McCain’s nomination as a foregone conclusion, and therefore do not turn out to vote, McCain’s margin of victory may here be slightly overstated or understated — but the dynamics of the contest are clear. At stake are 63 winner-take-all delegates to the Republican National Convention.
For those interested, Ron Paul is at 9% in this poll and appears to have picked up none of Mitt Romney’s supporters. Not that that should come as a surprise.
I respect John McCain for his service to our country, but I find it sad that he has not shown in Washington the same kind of honor that he showed on the battlefield. McCain is not a conservative or a true Republican at all. He’s a flip-flopper, who changes his views according to when an election is going to take place. Not only has he tried to limit Americans expressing their views to their leaders in Washington, but he has also voted to give social security benifits to illegal immigrants. He said he would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade but just a few years ago he said he wouldn’t. As a judicial commitee member, he has kept good judges who were very qualified from being appointed. If he has acted like that as a senator there’s no telling what he would do as president. Mike Huckabee is the only candidate who has had a consistent conservative stand when it comes to the issues that are important. He cares about the American people, not the system, and has ideas that will work for America. McCain and Romney have proved that they can’t unify the party, but Huckabee can and will. As a young voter, what is happening in America greatly concerns me, but with Huckabee as President we have an opportunity for true change. So I urge all those who want America to stay strong and free to vote for Huckabee, a man who is true to his word and true to his country.
[...] only problem with that is the fact that McCain is beating Huckabee by better than two to one here (Below the Beltway). So the Huckster may be saddled with overblown expectations about Virginia, only to have them [...]