Now This Is Just Embarrassing

Okay, we all know by now that the Washington GOP caucus is a catastrophic clusterfuck in which (it turns out) we have no reliable way of figuring out who supports whom. We also know about the guy who stopped the counting that his political patron is McCain's Washington state chairman, and that he has previously extolled the virtues of voter suppression.

But set aside the controversy for a moment and look at the numbers (such as they are): McCain 'wins' with just under 26%. (For the arithmetically challenged, that means just over 74% voted against him.) McCain is the presumptive nominee. He beat Huckabee by under 2%, and Ron Paul by less than 5%. Romney, who's out of the race, got a respectable 16%. Any two named candidates, or any named candidate plus 'uncommitted' (12.3%, just under half McCain's total), wipe the floor with McCain's total.

On the same day that he lost two other primaries.

The GOP race is over. The nominee is McCain. This is the point in a primary race at which a presumptive nominee racks up 60, 70, 80% of the vote. McCain won just under 26%.

I try not to feel irrational exuberance about the state of the race. I view with skepticism reports of a Republican crackup. And yet...when I see something like this, it brings home just how much how many Republicans really don't like McCain.

If I were advising McCain, I would tell him that the only thing that can help him now is more sleazy shenanigans to make sure Huckabee doesn't win any more states. In fact, I would recommend doing everything possible to piss off Huckabee's voters. They wouldn't dare stay home in November.

Yeah, that's the ticket.