ALL the momentum is with Santorum. Will the evangelicals tomorrow at church unite with their pastors? If so..
1. Santorum
2. Romney
3. Paul
4. Newt
Michele and Perry drop out to endorse??????
My head is spinning. But I’m sticking with Newt to close this out in SC & FL....
agreed. tomorrow could be a big day at the churches. After this, if the pastors/churches swing behind Santorum he could well take it.
Of course, Romney can still air some major ads against him.
but at this point I think Mitt doesn’t really care about IA. NH was always his bastion. As long as he wins there he’s fine.
And, he may actually be ok with Santorum winning as he’s much weaker going forward in SC and FL than Perry or Newt would have been. A much more preferred matchup for him. Santorum has no money or organization really in those states. And he has enough of a record and baggage the spotlight being shown on him won’t be all that pretty and could end up hurting the party and making Mitt’s case look all the better.
Maybe it’s those sweater vests Santorum has been wearing. Personally I don’t like them, don’t think they’re Presidential and make him look like a kid.
The surge is working!
The fight has to continue to South Carolina, but the fight among conservatives is not likely to stop unless we forget about any of them winning in Iowa or New Hamsphire.
Tactical votes to defeat Romney are a better alternative that cancelling each other’s votes (Perry, Santorum, Newt, Bachmann) out allowing Romney to win the first two contests and gain momentum going into the South.
The surge is working!
Win or lose the Perry campaign will still have plenty of cash on hand. His consultants will want to expend it and thus collect a share. Perry doesn’t need it for another campaign seeing as he officially “retired” last January. Bachmann, win or lose, probably will have less cash on hand. Her plan all along was to leverage a win in the state next to her base, and conveniently her birth state, into national momentum. Lose here and her presidential campaign is out of obvious options, but her backup option - staying in congress - could use any leftover funds. She might drop out if she does poorly enough, but a losing Perry would likely stay in, albeit damaged. Like Bachmann, Santorum has ‘bet the house’ on Iowa and has actually promised to drop out if he does too poorly there. But the trend suggests his bet may win, at least this round. Whether he can leverage such a win enough, and quickly enough, to succeed nationally remains to be seen. But last time Huckabee gained quite a bit from his unexpected Iowa win. Santorum lacks Huckabee’s considerable baggage and his records and positions are fiscally much more conservative than Huckabee’s, so his ceiling could be higher.