Friday, February 08, 2008

One More Packing Point   [Stanley Kurtz]

I also recall that when McCain first mentioned immigration, there were skeptical calls and booing from what seemed like all over the room.  The immigration howling seemed a lot more broadly based than the boos when McCain began his speech (those seemed to come only from the rear corner of the room).  The widespread roar of anger over immigration was eventually balanced out by cheers, but it was so strong to begin with that it was clear that there were critics of McCain all over the room.  Yes, there were plenty of McCain supporters there, too.  But I don't think it was a case of the entire room being filled with McCain groupees except for some folks in the very back. 

Stephen Hayes also reports on some McCain skeptics in the front who warmed up to him as the speech went on. So while I don’t doubt that McCain’s campaign urged supporters to attend and passed out signs, there were plenty of folks even in the main area of the room who were not die-hard McCain partisans and who responded genuinely to the speech. Again, I think we’re seeing a combination of good campaign organization, an early exodus of disappointed Romney supporters, and bad planning by a lot of folks from all camps, McCain’s included, who waited too long to get seats in a too-small room.

02/08 07:27 AMShare