...would pulverize John McCain. His star is rising so rapidly there would be no stopping him if he ran in 08. And if he doesn't run in 08 he's stupid. In 2012 or 2016 he's just another Senator.

McCain really compromised his integrity after the 2000 election. He's been paying his debts to the Bush-wing of the Republican party ever since. I really hope the Democrats bring this point home instead of letting the voters think they're voting for the same John McCain that ran against Bush in the 2000 presidential primaries.

The generic Democrat and actual Democrat numbers are pretty similar, so that's not a surprise. But the news here is interesting for McCain. Clearly McCain is not viewed right now, as a "Republican". He's marketed himself very well that way, and it's clearly worked very well for him.

But the flip side is, it poses a real problem for him in the next 18 months or so. He has to find a way to win the Republican primary while at the same time maintaining the air about him that he's not a "Republican". That sounds like a pretty tough job to me. If he sticks to the independent plan, it's tough for him to win the nomination. If he tries to hard to convince the Republican establishment that he's a tried and true Republican, he risks alienating the independents that he'll need to win the general election.

If I were McCain, I would seriously consider running as an Independent in the hopes of getting the plurality of a tough three-way race. These numbers make it look tougher for Obama or Clinton to beat an Independent McCain than a Republican McCain. (Plus, how rich would it be to see a Democrat polling around 40, McCain polling around 40 and a Republican polling around 15 or 20.)

If Obama has a closer McCain gap than Hillary now, I'd say that makes him the frontrunner. Hillary Clinton has hit her ceiling on name recognition, and everyone's pretty much made up their mind about whether they'd vote for her or not. Plenty of folks still have no idea who the junior Senator from Illlinois is, so he's got a lot of room to improve on those numbers.

Polls this far out have more to do with name recognition than anything else. This is why McCain and Clinton lead the respective national nomination preference polls.

I highly doubt McCain can win the nomination. The conservative establishment didn't trust him 2000 and bestowed their blessing on the dim-witted and not that experienced George W. Bush. I don't know why they'd support him this time around.

Similarly, Hillary Clinton has so many things going against her. Liberals think she is too cautious and triangulating. Moderates and others think she can't win the general election. And, she's just not that good of a campaigner. If she runs, she'll fade away much like Howard Dean. Well, her name is Clinton so it won't be quite like that - but I don't see her winning the nomination. I'm still not sure she'll even run.

I doubt he can get through the primaries...

What about Al Gore vs..... doesn't matter... bring 'em on!!

Question: what candidate that has won the popular vote for President, has been outside the quagmire of the beltway during the Bushist regime, and has been right on every aspect of what George Bush would bring to America?

He had a chance to stand up against the Swift Boaters and later to illegal torture and secret renditions, but instead chose to sell out. Toss McCain on the same ethical scrap heap as Colin Powell. Obama could be the right person at the right time.

Q

When McCain goes to Liberty University, when Guliani campaigns for Santorum, they alienate any Democrat that would have voted for them over a trained monkey running on the Democratic ticket. I can't picture myself voting for Republicans because we all know the debts they would have to pay to the religious right. If they people like McCain and Guliani abandon completely that constituency, they have more of a chance of capturing the center and winning.

"I can't picture myself voting for Republicans because we all know the debts they would have to pay to the religious right"

You're right, LeCastor. But MSM still believe McCain is a maverick and Guiliani is the Mayor of America. We have to make sure that they can't do the old bait & switch.