Posted on 12/11/2011 12:02:07 PM PST by Jim Robinson
"In a new NBC/Marist poll, Newt Gingrich has surged into the lead in Iowa, but Mitt Romney's big lead in New Hampshire remains. NBC's Mike Viqueira and David Gregory report."
Newt Gingrichs surge in the polls isnt limited to just the early presidential-nominating contest of Iowa. According to new NBC News-Marist polls, the former House speaker has now opened up commanding leads in South Carolina and Florida -- two states that historically have played important roles in deciding the eventual Republican nominee.
Fueled by the support from conservatives and the Tea Party, Gingrich is ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by nearly 20 points in South Carolina. The winner of that state's primary has gone on to capture each GOP nomination since 1980.
And he leads Romney by double digits in Florida, whose primary ultimately ended up deciding the partys pick in 2008.
You can see why the Romney people are getting a little itchy, said Lee Miringoff, the director of Marist Colleges Institute for Public Opinion, referring to the Romney campaigns recent attacks on Gingrich. Gingrich ahead any way you slice it
~~snip~~
Tea Party power
According to the two polls, Gingrich performs especially well among the most conservative primary voters.
Among Tea Party supporters -- who make up about half of all likely primary voters in South Carolina and Florida -- the former House speaker leads Romney by more than 30 percentage points in both states (51-20 percent in South Carolina and 57-22 percent in Florida).
Gingrich also enjoys huge leads among conservative and very conservative voters.
(Excerpt) Read more at firstread.msnbc.msn.com ...
You are no longer worth the effort to reason with...have a nice night.
>> Im guessing that most people who read this thread can identify who the idiot might be. >>
I think I have it nailed. And FTR, no one called Beck an idiot. Did someone question his reasoning? Yep. His motives? That too. His very selective interest in history? Absolutely.
But no one said idiot.
I think we would all do well to remember two maxims here:
First, the old saying goes that “Perfect is the enemy of good”. Newt is clearly not perfect...but I think he is the definition this year of the Bill Buckley standard; namely, the most conservative candidate that can win. He can win because he would make Obama look like a fool in a debate. Bachmann, Santorum may have better conservative creditials, but they cant win. MB isn’t ready for prime time and Santorum just really isn’t either. I probably agree with them slightly more than Newt, but Newt can win and thats the difference.
Second, Chuck Noll, coach of the Steelers used to say with regards to the prospect of acquiring new players in mid season “help is NOT on the way”. I like Sarah Palin and Haley Barbour (sp?), I really do. But they chose not to run, so we can’t be caught endlessly daydreaming in the land of “what if”. We must focus on “what is”, and what is, right now in the presidential primary, is Newt Vs. Romney. Given that choice, right now, the pick seems obvious.
Its really a reverse of Brutus’ speech to the Romans: Not that I loved Newt so much more, but that I love Romney less...and Obama least of all.
which candidate is it exactly that you are supporting?
Of those in the race, Rick Santorum most closely shares my views. So he gets my support.
This is GREAT!
I would love to see the $$$$$ and time spent by Romney to all go for naught. I’m convinced that the Dems are really scurrying now ...in case they have to change gears. They were planning (I think) a BIG anti-rich, anti-Wall Street thus...anti-Romney campaign. They were going to link Romney with wealth and Wall Street. It may be that the Occupy Groups were part of that. Romney didn’t help matters with his $10,000 bet last night either. Lol...
William Buckley was a brilliant man. He is definitely missed.
As for me, of those in the race, Newt Gingrich is the candidate most likely to actually accomplish things consistent with my views - so I am supporting him (after writing him off several times “for good”) :)
I had the exact same reaction, Sum. Was a Cain fan, but since his departure I was looking for someone else. My default was either Santorum or Perry (Santorum for his consistent Conservatism and Perry for his good stewardship of Texas), but Newt has shown the greatest talent for explaining conservative principles in a way that leaves the libs speechless!
Well, Rick Santorum. Fine candidate. But for most of us we cannot go to Iowa. I’m doing NH and Rick has no campaign there. Not a real campaign.
New Hampshire voters lose interest very fast when it comes to single digit candidates. The reality in NH is Mitt vs. Newt with RPaul tagging along.
I am sure RS has a phoning program into Iowa. I hope he or MB beat out MITT for 2nd place. Or whatever.
As someone who is involved in NH, do you think Santorum can get any traction at all if he finishes 2nd in Iowa?
I can tell you for a fact that the Tea Party is not backing Newt.
Stay tuned this week for breaking news on that item.
I cannot see any boomlet for RS in NH following 2nd place in IA. NH voters are very savvy and want to throw their support to one of the top competitors to effect the first-place outcome. I put the RS ceiling at 7%.
People still see MITT as a threat and are motivated by it. If MITT drops out (after FLA?), the dynamics will change and it will be Newt vs. somebody.
SO I agree with some of your thoughts. For me, it is just that there are only 4 campaigns in NH: mitt, newt, rpaul, huntsman.
Remember, Palin may endorse before Iowa. Cain will also endorse. ‘The Donald’ will endorse after 12/27. My prediction is that all 3 will endorse Newt.
The surge will push him to first/close second in Iowa; a split in New Hampshire and blowouts thereafter.
Romney’s only firewall is NH. If he doesn’t win Iowa, he’s toast because SC, FL, TN, etc. will deliver the South for Newt. There’s no stopping him after SC.
If forced to choose between those four, I would take Huntsman. It's difficult to stomach his ties to the Obama State Department, but his tenure as Utah Governor was fairly solid.
its funny so many were quick to jump on rasmussen having newt up two over obama but now obama up 5 and no one says a word..lol
Obama is the one talking about de-funding Social Security
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If you say so. I don’t see it that way. Obama wants to fund SS with income taxes rather than payroll taxes.
This is all getting just a little ridiculous. I’m not sure I give a shit anymore. There’s worthless trash in both parties and nothing to be happy about.
no journalist anywhere in the media will ask a question that cannot be answered with a talking point. none of them will call out a candidate that fails to answer the question, or changes the subject to get to his talking points. And we know that they will not redirect to get information that was circumvented to get to the talking point. WE also know they are liars who say one thing while doing another.
So to all you Freepers who claim to be tea partyers while getting excited about voting for one of these frauds(especially you folks that are cheerleading for mitt or newt), I give you all a big fat rasberry. You’ve earned it.
I consider myself part of the tea party and I cannot say at this point that I’m not backing Newt. Whom do you mean when you refer to the Tea Party? Far as I’m concerned we’re a bunch of independent people with the same general idea but we’re leaderless. Would really like to hear your thoughts on this.
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