Here's Hiram's observation in response to yesterday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana:

John McCain Still Can’t Convert 20-25% Of GOP Primary Voters

Since Barack Obama is already the Democratic nominee in all but name, the real news last night is that the GOP Presidential nominee John McCain still has Republican primary voters voting against him even though he’s running uncontested and already has more than enough delegates to win the nomination officially. I’ve discussed the prior races, including Pennsylvania, where more than one in four GOP primary voters voted against John McCain, and Mississippi, where one in five voted against him. Last night more than one in four North Carolinians voted against John McCain in the GOP primary - and more than one in five did so in Indiana.

If Republicans vote against John McCain when he’s the only candidate - how can McCain hope to win in the general election? John McCain cannot afford to let McCain defectors vote for Barack Obama - but he can’t afford for them to stay home either. If he’s going to have any hope of winning, John McCain will need to have Republicans vote for him - and the 75-80% GOP compliance evidenced in the last four uncontested primaries most likely isn’t enough in a general election.