* Retiring Congressman Denny Hastert has no love for John McCain, the man who looks like the frontrunner in the GOP presidential race. Hastert told the Tribune that McCain, “was always known among the GOP as ‘the undependable vote’” in the Senate and was always “allied with Democrats.” More…
[Hastert] contended that on agenda items under the Republican-controlled Congress, “it just seems like everything we did, John was someplace else.”
“It was McCain-Kennedy, it was McCain-Lieberman, it was McCain-Feingold on campaign finance reform,” Hastert said, noting Democratic co-sponsors. “He was against us on tax cuts and his form of immigration reform was to open the gates and let everybody in.”
Asked if he considered McCain a conservative, Hastert said, “In my opinion, he is not.”
* Hastert may have been closer to the truth than he knew…
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.
* I’m told the Tribune is in the field with a new poll, so we should have fresh numbers Sunday, but Rasmussen surveyed Illinois Republicans early this week and found McCain leading…
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds McCain earning 34% of the vote while Romney is eight points behind at 26%. The survey was conducted on Monday and Tuesday, finishing just before results from Florida’s Presidential Primary were known. Mike Huckabee finished a distant third at 16%.
Since the poll was completed, Rudy Giuliani has withdrawn from the race and endorsed McCain. America’s Mayor had picked up 9% of the Illinois vote in the poll.
“America’s mayor” had once dominated this state. But he was even tanking here, apparently. Not mentioned is that Ron Paul was scoring 10 percent - ahead of Giuliani.
* More from the poll…
McCain is viewed favorably by 77% of Illinois Primary Voters while Romney earns positive reviews from 71%. The men earn generally equal ratings from those who supported Giuliani in the poll.
Just 54% of voters in the state are confident they will stick with their current choice when Election Day finally arrives. Fifteen percent (15%) say there’s a good chance they could change their mind. That figure, of course, went even higher with the withdrawal of Giuliani.
Forty-one percent (41%) consider the top voting issue to be the economy. Eighteen percent (18%) say it’s National Security while 14% name Immigration as their top priority.
* Also from the poll, 52% said the was most important attritute they wanted in a president was “someone who can address national security issues,” while 35% said it was “somewho can address economic issues.”
72% gave President Bush either an “excellent” (36) or “good” (36) job approval rating. 73 percent of Republcans polled gave Gov. Blagojevich a “poor” approval rating.
