Down in Memphis at the Southern Republican Leadership
Conference, there was much grumbling and a bit of laughter at Sen.
John McCain’s attempts to spark a write-in
campaign for President George W. Bush during the SRLC’s 2008
presidential straw poll.
McCain had arranged for a number of delegates to participate in
the poll, as had Sen. Bill Frist and Massachusetts
Gov. Mitt Romney. In the end, McCain lost to not
only them, but also Sen. George Allen … and
President Bush.
After five hours of voting and with more than 1,400 ballots
cast, on Saturday, Frist won about 37% of the vote, with Romney
(14%), Allen (10%) and McCain (4%) following. In fact, Allen tied
with Bush, leaving McCain a distant 5th. Allen was the favorite
second place ballot choice behind Frist in the straw poll
rankings.
Political consultants aren’t sure just what the poll gets Frist,
who just six months ago was a nonfactor in the 2008 presidential
race given the appearance of poor leadership in the Senate and the
continuing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into
the sale of stock in the health care company his family operated.
Now, Frist appears to be energizing his political operation, and
focusing on a presidential run.
McCain’s poor performance can be chalked up to a couple of
things, say consultants we talked to, who were hanging around at
the Peabody Hotel along with its ducks in the lobby and the
delegates. “If anything, McCain can joke that this just continues
his exceptional run of luck in the South,” says one consultant,
recalling McCain’s flameout in 2000 in South Carolina. “He’s been
doing a much better job of getting down here, meeting people, but
folks down here know that while he’s been a good soldier for the
Bush administration at times, on the big social issues, he’s gone
wobbly.”
Second, Frist, Romney, and Allen simply outflanked McCain. On
presentation alone, McCain should have defeated Frist, whose speech
was in line with previous performances, a bit wooden. McCain, on
the other hand, had the crowd with him. But Frist, Romney, and
Allen had more bodies in the building, despite McCain’s team having
made arrangements for more than 200 delegates.
Finally, while McCain would have liked to have sent a message
down there in Frist territory, he will be just as happy with what
he is accomplishing across the South, which is fundraising and
building a network for the primary season. He is earning high marks
for his appearances in South Carolina, raising money there and
continuing to build on the network of his political acolyte Sen.
Lindsey Graham.
If there was any juicy gossip coming out of the three-day event
down in Memphis, it was the unexpected exit of Trent
Wisecup, the director of Gov. Mitt Romney’s Commonwealth
leadership PAC.
Wisecup is a founding partner with Mike Murphy
in the DC Navigators consulting group. Murphy had served as
Romney’s communications consultant, but split with Romney to focus
on other clients, including California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Wisecup stayed with Romney.
The scuttlebutt is that Wisecup had had several run-ins with
Romney’s chief of staff Beth Myers, who most
likely will fill a similar role in Romney’s presidential bid.
What’s ironic in all of this is that Wisecup was telling folks over
the weekend that he was moving back from Boston to Michigan, which
is where Romney supporters believe the governor will open his
presidential campaign operation. Why? Romney’s familial and broader
political base resides in the state where his father was governor,
and where an early Republican primary will be held in 2008.
