McCain has to persuade conservatives he’s Ronnie Raygun and the rest of us he isn’t Duhbya. mjh

E. J. Dionne Jr. – Division Problems – washingtonpost.com

Despite his impressive victories, McCain continued to fare poorly on
Tuesday among the conservatives who have defined the Republican Party
since the rise of Ronald Reagan.

McCain won, as he has all year, because moderates and liberals, opponents of President Bush, and critics of the Iraq war continued to rally to him despite his stands on many of the issues that arouse their ire. And he prevailed because Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney continued to divide the right.

Huckabee became the champion of the Old South, winning in Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, and he nearly defeated McCain in Missouri and Oklahoma. Romney won a swath of states in the Midwest and mountain West.

McCain, in other words, lost the core Republican states and instead piled up delegates in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois and California. All are traditionally Democratic states unlikely to vote for him in November.