I make decisions based on an evaluation of all the information; if I based my decision on polls, I would have supported GIngrich when all the Gingrich folks said he was the clear candidate because he was polling so well.
As I said, people love polls when they say what they like, and then argue against them when they reflect an inconvenient truth.
Polls can be manipulated, so they aren’t the only fact you can use to make a decision, but they are not as wrong as people like to claim when they are bad for their candidate. People who rail at polls usually don’t have any good arguments to make.
But in the matter of which conservative to support, the right thing for everybody to do was to pay attention to what other people thought. The goal was to find a sufficiently conservative candidate who could get broad enough support to beat Romney. “broad enough support” means that we cared what everybody thought. So long as 20% supported each of 5 candidates, we weren’t going to beat ROmney.
I would have preferred Rick Perry to be the last man standing against Romney. I Think if Rick PErry had been in Santorum’s place in february, that Perry would actually be beating Romney now. But that would only happen if other people supported him, and that was entirely dependent on what “other people think”.
But I was happy enough with Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich that, if enough people had thought they were good enough, I would have supported them in order to beat Romney. So yes, I was looking at what other people thought. Unfortunately, in Florida “other people” thought they didn’t like GIngrich, and he failed. And then in February a lot of people thought not to vote for Gingrich.
And people started voting for Santorum — so because of “what people think”, Santorum had a shot, but then people started ‘thinking’ that he didn’t, and they voted how they thought, and now we are stuck with Romney.
Elections are all about what “other people think”. If we had all been willing to make our decisions based in part on what other people thought, we might have ended up with a good conservative candidate.
I read your post thoroughly. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
And that was the Obama bait, via the media, and social conservatives fell for it hook, line and sinker, in order to take out Newt...... It had nothing to do with what "people thought"..it had to do with an ad campaign from Romney, a media block out of Newt, and the bait Santorum to steer it all away from Newt...the only man Obama didn't want to go up against at any cost.
The problem is Republicans STILL can't see the game and the plays...so they take any thing slung at them...and unfortunately even Rick thought himself to be well received when in fact the media is who lifted him up and on the stage....and they readily admit that Santorum would never have risen without them...and he wouldn't have.
The same reasons he wasn't winning before the media pushing him on stage, are the same reasons he will continue to loose support and not win this primary over Romney.