The Forgotten Primary

With all of the buzz around the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, everyone seemed to forget about the fact that there was a Pennsylvania Republican primary on April 22nd as well.

Even though John McCain has clinched the GOP nomination, a large number of Pennsylvania Republicans voted against him on Tuesday.

About 27% of Republican voters cast their votes for Mike Huckabee, or more numerously, Ron Paul. And since this was a closed primary--registered independents could not vote in either primary--all of those voters were Republicans.

After all of the fuss about how the Democrats are going to be divided in November, what about the Republicans? If 27% of Pennsylvania Republicans are going to vote against their presumptive nominee, what does that mean for McCain's chances?

Will Paul's supporters cast their vote for the likely Libertarian Party candidate, Bob Barr, or maybe even the Democratic nominee? Will Huckabee's evangelical voters--a group McCain has always struggled with-- stay home?

But as long as Hillary and Barack are duking it out, who cares right? Wrong. These two, while mindlessly bickering, are getting all of their baggage out now so it will be old news by the Fall.

Meanwhile, McCain is free and clear to run a relaxed campaign until he has a single opponent, but is getting no media attention. By a getting a free ride right now, McCain will be more vulnerable and untested in the general election.

So anyway, the point I'm trying to make about the Pennsylvania GOP primary results is that McCain still has a lot of uniting within his own party to do before he goes after moderates and independents. McCain will not win a single state this November if 27% of the Republican party stays home or casts their votes against him.

While the Democrats are duking it out, he should take the time to win over those 27% in Pennsylvania, and all across the country.