“What you are showing is consequential of Santorum’s ground game. No question he hit the bricks very hard in Iowa and earned his win”
Okay.
“All of Newt’s lost votes went to Santorum, not for anything earthshaking Rick did, but resulting from noxious attacks against the then-leader Gingrich”
Sour grapes. Your argument makes no sense. This arguement does. Santorum hustled for those votes, earned those votes, and won in Iowa because he hustled and earned those votes.
Newt - sat around and gave up.
NH - Santorum drove out there, hustled. Went from 1 percent to close to 10. Didn’t get all the way there, but again, beat out Newt.
Newt - sat around and gave up. “Prepare for South Carolina!” After a 4th and 5th place finish.
Now - Newt has taken a state that he once lead by 20, that was supposed to be a slam dunk, and is losing by 5.
“Santorum supporters need to get out and back Newt so that Newt can finally beat Romney”?
No. If Newt wants us, he’s going to have to EARN the votes, like Santorum did in Iowa.
“Rick Santorum is a very decent guy and has a bright future. One of his drawbacks is that he is a senator but he has not been a leader of anything.”
And Newt is a Congressman. Point Santorum.
“he’s not like Newt, who served as Speaker.”
Again, point Santorum. Senator > Congressman.
“This is big because the Speaker is second in line of presidential succession after VP.”
VP > speaker? Really? That makes no sense. And neither does the argument that congressman > senator.
Factual evidence - only one man has ever been elected president after serving only as a congressman. I bet you can’t name him.
“Leaders have a way of drawing people’s attention when they speak, and they inspire people to push themselves forward.”
Ok. And leaders also articulate a vision. Voting for someone because he articulates irrespective of what his is articulating sounds like Obama to me. No substance.
“They articulate a real cause and tend to draw interest with the force of their personalities, sense of resolve, and credibility drawn from quantifiable accomplishments.”
What cause does Newt support?
“When comparing Santorum against Gingrich, even with Newt’s negatives thrown in, Newt looks far more like a real president among a lot more people than Rick.”
An entirely subjective assessment. Rick’s conservativism is the best of those left standing.
“Newt’s conservative history of accomplishment”
Newt, prior to 2007, supported Cap and trade, supported the individual mandate, the list goes on.
I don’t want his ‘history of accomplishment’ anywhere close to the White House.
“If you take away all the millions spent on destroying Newt”
Uh, why are you whining? This isn’t exactly tiddlywinks, untwist.
“Rick Santorum never would have climbed as he did.”
Like you said, Rick EARNED it through old fashioned shoe leather. Just like he EARNED my support.
“we need the strongest fighter if we really are to have a chance.”
Sounds like Santorum to me.
“Romney would love to face Rick.”
Uh, no. Santorum crushes Romney in the head to head polls. 20+ point lead. Why are we screwing around with Newt when we can blow Romney out of the water?
You are wishful thinking. You also are not up on presidential succession as the Speaker of the House is indeed second in succession after VP. Constitutionally, all legislation starts in the the House and the House elects the Speaker as leader of the House. If you believe that a senator holds higher authority or higher position than speaker of the House, you are very mistaken.
Several presidents also served in the House of Representatives including: JQ Adams, Madison, Lincoln, Gerald Ford. So what?
This is not about sour grapes. It is about who can defeat Romney and stand as our nominee. If you believe as you do that Romney and Santorum head-to-head results in 20+ point advantage for Santorum, please show me where. All you need to know is who does Romney spend his money attacking? Newt. Who has spent his last couple of days attacking Newt and not Romney - Santorum. Santorum has internal and external polls that show Newt ahead of him.
I really wish you well. I hope we can be on the same side of the argument soon.