South Carolinians are very practical when it comes to picking politicians. We like winners and ones that look out for our state.
Thats how we get a Thurmond and a Hollings serving for decades....simultaneously (or a DeMint and a Graham).
Many see Romney as the best to defeat Obama, strong on business, and I expect him to win. (I don’t agree with it, but thats what I am getting around here). There is also a big Ron Paul vote as an Obama backlash.
I think Gingritch will come in third, with Santorum and Perry splitting 18-20% (mostly the religious folks).
I personally haven’t decided who I will actually pull the lever for, and there are a lot of other undecideds that are going to have to get off the fence shortly too.
I don’t think Romney’s much of a winner. See below. Newt won election in Congress for something like 30 years and created the Contract with America which helped win the House for Republicans in 1994 for the first time in decades.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/overestimating-romney_611846.html
Overestimating Romney
Aside from getting votes, he’s a great candidate.
Romney’s changes in position have followed defeats, rather than victories. He’s progressed from liberal New Republican (1994) to moderate technocrat (2002) to rock-ribbed movement conservative (2006) to sane, free-market Mr. Fix-It (2011). (The 2006 transformation came when it was clear from polling that he could not possibly win reelection as governor of Massachusetts.)
Voters just don’t like him very much. And they never have.
Romney has the least-impressive electoral history of any Republican frontrunner in a very long time.
Over the years, Mitt Romney has faced voters in 22 contests. He won 5 of those races and lost 17 of them. (This total includes a win in the 1994 Massachusetts Republican Senate primary as well as results from the 19 primaries he participated in during 2008. It excludes caucuses...
he mounted what was considered a strong challenge to incumbent senator Ted Kennedy. But when it came time to vote, Romney lost by 17 points in what turned out to be the best year for Republicans in more than half a century.
Romney was actually the fourth in a string of Republican governors who ran the state from 1990 until 2006. Of that group, Romney received the lowest percentage of the vote, failing to break the 50-percent mark in his 2002 victory.
After three years in office, Romney’s approval rating was so low that he was forced to abandon hope of reelection. Romney’s term concluded with a Democrat winning the governor’s office for the first time in 20 years.
In all 13 states, he became less popular as the year progressed. As Romney began campaigning more actively, voters became less favorably disposed toward him.
Thanks for your input. I will support our nominee against Obama but glad I still have until the 31st to decide whom I will vote for in our Florida Primary. Believe if I wre in SC today it would be Newt. Sure going to be interesting to see what happens on Saturday evening!