Hotline: Why McCain Had A Pretty Good Month

Hotline On Call has delivered a strong summation of reasons why McCain had a good month:

McCain's Grassroots Network is the strongest:

He continues to lead most polls in NH and all of them in SC. He's running strong in IA, too, despite stepping away from the '00 caucuses. He's leading in MI, and was leading in the last GOP poll we saw in CA. McCain has the strongest teams in IA, NH and SC bar none.

He continues to add prominent supporters:

He continues to get endorsement after endorsement: Thune, Ridge, Sen. Warner, Chip Pickering, Mitch Daniels, Frank Keating, strategist Charlie Black. Note that Sen. Hillary Clinton hasn't been able to keep prominent Dems from endorsing Sen. Obama, but McCain, for the most part, has been able to keep prominent Republicans from endorsing anybody else.

And, White House, Inc. will not be standing in his way:

Most insiders believe that McCain will be the nominee. Only 11 percent of RNC members surveyed by the Los Angeles Times say they'd never vote for McCain. McCain's nomination has the tacit blessing of the Bush White House. "Tacit blessing' doesn't mean "endorsement" -- it means that the White House -- Karl Rove, specifically -- is not going to put his body in front of any prominent GOPer who wants to endorse McCain.

STIS says stop the handwringing and knee jerking out there everytime you read a conservative blog or magazine and keep building the network. Really, Rudy, who has no convictions when it comes to traditional family values or Mitt who swaps values depending upon which office he is running for?

Or McCain, with a 24 year pro-life voting record and has promised to nominate judges in the mold of Alito and Roberts, the spine to reign in the national budget, and the courage of his convictions to advocate winning the war by calling for more combat power when over half the nation stands against it? Well, you be the judge. We've made our minds up.

McCain Takes Spartanburg, South Carolina Straw Poll

In an early showing of grassroots muscle, John McCain took the Spartanburg County South Carolina Straw Poll edging out Rudy and Duncan Hunter.

The final results:

Arizona Sen. John McCain: 164
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: 162
California Rep. Duncan Hunter: 158
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback: 85
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: 80
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: 33 (write-in)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: 21
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo: 10
Attorney John Cox: 4
Texas Rep. Ron Paul: 4
Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice: 2 (write-in)
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore: 1
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson: 1