McCain Picks up Key Endorsement, College Republicans Off-Base

In an earlier post, I specualted that Senator John McCain might be announcing for President in South Carolina today. That was based on an email being circulated by the College Republican President at the College of Charleston. The email is below and was sent with the subject line "HUGE NEWS."

Dear College Republicans,


Are you interested in not only witnessing, but also participating in the creation of modern history? Senator John McCain will be making a key public announcement on Tuesday, January 16 at 1:00 in North Charleston.

As a member of his Presidential Exploratory Campaign and as the President of College Republicans, I invite each of you to attend, and encourage you to bring your roommates, your friends, family and fellow students. Furthermore, if you are interested in participating in his campaign, we would love to welcome you on board (just e-mail me).


Let's show Senator John McCain a warm Charleston welcome! Please RSVP to me by Monday, January 15 by 12:00 noon, and if you need transportation, we can arrange it!

Turns out, McCain's primary reason for the trip was to line up more support for his upcoming Presidential Campaign. The College Republicans were just full of hype.

Today, he scored the endorsement of South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell. This rounds out nearly every major Republican in the State. The only defection from the lot is U.S. Senator Jim Demint, who has jumped on Mitt Romney's bandwagon.

Since McCain has locked up the support of nearly every influential Republican in South Carolina, he will enter the primary there in an excellent position. No Republican in recent history has won the party's nomination without winning the South Carolina Republican Primary. Should McCain make it through Iowa and New Hampshire, he would be poised to clench the nomination with a win in South Carolina.

Given his continued tone deafness on the Iraq War, this is great news for the Left.