Posted on 02/29/2012 7:28:17 AM PST by Mustang Driver
It’s crunch time. I am not going to sugarcoat the news for conservatives. Hate me all you want, but Republicans have just about picked their nominee. Forget these headlines such as Paul Belaga’s “Romney Wins Michigan and Arizona, but Political Tourette’s Is Costing Him” or CNN‘s “Romney survives Michigan as all eyes turn to Super Tuesday” or the New York Daily News‘s “Mitt Romney avoids Michigan disaster, but has ‘blood on him’ heading into Super Tuesday: experts.” God does not roll dice with the universe, and neither does the Republican Party.
I am looking at the plurality wins in Arizona and Michigan and thinking Rick Santorum bit the dust, and it is his own fault.
The conventional wisdom is that Tuesday resolved nothing. From the Associated Press:
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Mitt Romney is trying to capitalize on twin victories in Arizona and Michigan as the GOP nomination race expands to the 10 states that vote on Super Tuesday.
Rival Rick Santorum, who narrowly lost in Michigan, faces splitting the conservative vote with Newt Gingrich as the former House speaker counts on Southern primaries to revive his campaign.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul remains a factor as he attempts to mine delegates in caucus states like North Dakota, where his campaign team says the process plays to his strengths. Super Tuesday is March 6, just three days after Saturday’s Washington state caucuses.
Romney’s slim victory — 41 percent to Santorum’s 38 percent — in his native Michigan raised questions about whether he would change his strategy. He acknowledged Tuesday that he had made personal mistakes in recent weeks and said he was trying to “do better and work harder.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.dailymail.com ...
Rick S. is a good guy but he is a Sharon Angle redux.
Sharon Angle got you 6 more years of Harry reid.
Santorum will get you 4 more years of Obama.
I don’t give a F what Rush says. Rush’s operation chaos got us Obama.
Romney may not be the perfect conservative but he is a hell of a lot more conservative than McCain is.
Sooner you suck it up and get behind him the better off we are.
What's wrong? Not a fan of those who won't bow to the secular shibboleths you people have been falling to since Reagan?
“Romney may not be the perfect conservative but he is a hell of a lot more conservative than McCain is.”
Based on what, Romneycare? The judges Romney appointed while Governor? Or perhaps Romney’s ultraliberal position on abortion that he only switched when he decided to run for President on ‘08?
No. Republican perfidy and refusal to *support* the base's choice got us 6 more years of Harry Reid.
There seems to be a whole group of people swallowing what the GOP-E is dishing out. Santorum is Santorum. If people decided not to vote for him, it had more to do with Mitten’s massive spending to trash his name than it had to do with anything Santorum said.
I was down here in Florida. I saw what Obama-white did to Newt. It is a wonder that Santorum was so close. He stood up to all of Mitt’s attacks and lost by a small margin. That is way better than Newt fared. Plus Santorum came away with delegates.
So while the GOP-E and other liberal-tarian types might wish Santorum would be hurt by his social conservative ways, the opposite seems to be true. In his home state, all of Mitt’s money and all of Mitt’s bots could only make a small scratch in Santorum’s support.
Can Mitt spend like this in every other state? Will Mitt’s tactic be effective in the South? If Santorum’s people start concentrating on showing Mitt’s soft social liberal underbelly, no. He’ll be run out of the South. They don’t cotton to Massachusetts moderates down here.
Some people can keep imagining the best thing is for social issues to disappear from the face of the earth. They won’t. Keep swallowing the dem and GOP-E spin.
NEVER AGAIN!
You think Santorum (or even Romney) won't get the same treatment. The MSM is already painting Santorum as some religious nutcase who's going to ban contraceptives. It's a lie but that hasn't stopped them before. Could be the issue that gets Obama elected.
Don't blame “Little Ricky” for being a spoiler
Fact is Newt is an arrogant egoist, a guy who got rolled by Pelosi on trumped up ethics charges and still found time to pose with her in common cause against manmade gobal warming.
ridiculous
who says this guy and his adherence to globalist liberal causes is “smart”
He is an angry plump fellow with a highly manicured plastic looking wife on whom he spends a lot of money. A lot. Sure that is his money and his choice. But not a life choice most people admire.
A lot of people can't stand him. His actions in his life speak louder than his words on the campaign trail
Just because he is “smart” doesn't mean he is a man of good character. People are starving out here for a conservative who is a leader and who has good character.
That Santorum vote was mostly about two issues. Life and character, which is a significant portion of 'not Romney'. Despite what the Rombots and their allies or useful idiots thing, that's still important. I may have a lot of libertarian leanings, but I have a major problem with killing babies, and I don't trust Mitt's "conversion."
Santorum is a “punk”? Why would you say such a stupid thing?
You make a mistake thinking Newt voters will all go for Santorum, just as I know from polling Santorum voters will bleed to Romney vs. Newt.
Santorum rambled endlessly last night in his concession. He rambled incoherently trying to defend himself in the Arizona debate, the first time he even started to feel heat as a frontrunner. He's a mess.
Newt asked Rick to get out because there was an opportunity for a one-two punch there: SC then FL. That opportunity is long gone.
The radically pro-homosexual, pro-abortion, anti-gun Romney is far to the left of McCain.
Romney has been anti-Republican all of his life.
Darren, I wish I was part of the Santorum campaign on the inside. Rick has made mistakes of focus and some verbal indiscretions, IMO, but he’s not out of it.
“Do we want a nominee who used his power to nominate exclusively liberals to the judiciary?”
“Do we want a nominee who bragged that he’s be more liberal than Ted Kennedy on social issues?”
“Do we want a nominee who has bought into the AGW hoax, and desires policies which will drive up energy costs further?”
“Do we want the man who gave us Romneycare, the ugly step-parent of Obamacare?”
You get the idea. Rick could continue along this vein in every speech, and derail the Romney train.
Oh, the final line of this oratory might be something like, “There are people who LOVE Romney’s record in Massachusetts. They’re called liberal Democrats. BUT, they already have Barack Obama!”
Newt's the most articulate by far but the nannystate holier-than-thous harp on his baggage.
Having attacked Newt in a debate because he might say something quirky as president, Santorum flaunts his hypocrisy. He is a verbal mess from his Arizona debate to his various gaffes and restatements to his endless concession in Michigan.
I agree, and I voted for Thompson in the ‘08 primary. But I think the focus in ‘08 for knowledgable conservatives was Juan’s awful record of stabbing the GOP in the back at every turn. Romney’s disgusting record was not inspected. Bob
Well, lets see, Santorum didn’t even compete in Florida, and Romney beat Newt like a rented mule, even though Newt had the momentum going into Florida.
Santorum came much closer to beating Romney in Romney’s home state, and will walk away with quite a few delegates. As much as Romney.
So, that takes care of that.
I harbor no illusions that many of the closed minded, like you, will not vote for Santorum. Losing to Romney and Obama is really more noble. /sarc
I myself would vote for Newt if Santorum tanks. I am not as noble as you.
I have heard many people who liked Santorum’s speech last night. I sure beats a snarky presser and a host of excuses for “losin’ ain’t my fault” candidates.
In Florida, it would have been a mistake for Santorum to drop out. Why? because Newt and Santorums totals combined were not enough to overtake Romney.
I don’t know what it is with FReepers, but I know that Santorum was part of the problem for 20 years but wants us to believe he is now the answer. I won’t vote for anyone who has been a Congresscritter during the past 25 years.
And you miss the point...there's no Reagan running, but there IS a "Carter."
True, in a way, except for using the phrase “knowledgable conservatives”. As a knowledgeable conservative I was one of those that knew Romney’s record and politics, and history, so as much as I despised McCain, and was not taken by Huckabee, I knew that Romney was worse than either of them.
I was focused on Thompson, but I can forgive those who believed that ANYBODY had to be better than Juan. Not true, but it IS hard for some to imagine. Bob
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