Posted on 03/17/2012 6:47:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney would stand to benefit just as much as Rick Santorum if Newt Gingrich exited the presidential race, according to a new poll released Friday.
The Gallup poll defied conventional wisdom by suggesting Romney would peel off just as many Gingrich supporters as Santorum would. Forty percent of Gingrich supporters in Gallup's daily tracking poll said Romney was their second choice while 39 percent said they would migrate to Santorum.
"If two candidates for a presidential nomination compete in the same ideological space, it would make sense that if one dropped out that the other would benefit," Gallup's Jeffrey Jones wrote in analysis accompanying the poll. "But that does not appear to be the case for the 2012 Republican nomination."
Jones added that for Santorum to overtake Romney, "it may not be as simple as picking up additional support from Gingrich voters should the former speaker of the House drop out." Rather, "Santorum would also likely need to cut into Romney's current base of support to gain ground on the frontrunner."
Rick Santorum has battled Gingrich through most of the primary cycle as the two contenders have tried to establish themselves as the chief alternative to Romney. However, since winning the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21, Gingrich has won just one other state -- his native Georgia.
Meanwhile, Rick Santorum has shown strength in several southern and midwestern states, having won Iowa, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, North Dakota and the non-binding Missouri primary, putting pressure on Gingrich to pack his bags and allow Santorum to go head-to-head with Romney.
While the former Pennsylvania has not explicitly called on Gingrich to exit the race, he has publicly admitted that he could benefit from his rival's departure.
But after the Mississippi and Alabama primaries, Gingrich argued his continued presence was damaging to Romney, forcing him to engage in a two-front war on the airwaves against his rivals.
Gingrich also dismissed suggestions that by staying in the race he was hurting Santorum, saying the former Pennsylvania senator had essentially gone one-on-one with Romney in Ohio and Michigan and lost.
Santorum and Romney are set to do battle in Illinois Tuesday, the next big contest to vote following the Missouri caucuses and Puerto Rican primary over the weekend.
The latest poll in Illinois by FOX Chicago News showed Romney leading Santorum 37 percent to 31 percent in the state. Gingrich had 14 percent while eight percent supported Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Santos supporters are fanatics and cannot deal with facts, they would drink the jimmie jones kool-aid in a heartbeat..it is too bad and sick but true
I’ve been told all day that I am amoral because I don’t support the regulation of the internet. Someone even said some Freepers support kiddie porn. Just ridiculous. Think I’ll go back to just lurking.
I am one who thinks Obama will stomp Santorum into the ground but I am not so sure Romney will be able to beat Obama either. We are in trouble so I say Go Newt and I hope I have the chance to vote for him.
“Vesty” - I like that
Testy Vesty
LOL! too bad testy didnt keep on his vesty in the beach/bathing suit shot. The ONLY time I would tell him to put the vest BACK on!
So, you'd do away with obscenity laws prohibiting child porn on the internet? Or do you agree there has to be some regulation of it?
True that...
True that...
I support the prosecution of criminal activity. Child porn is criminal. It doesn’t fall under obscenity laws. I’m sure you already knew that though.
Not all Santorum supporters are urging Gingrich to drop out.
The “second choice” issue has been my concern for a long time and this poll verifies my fears. CharlesWayneCT has said similar things in the past and seems to concur in his analysis of New York Times reviews of current campaign data.
Here's my view: It's not so much that Santorum’s support isn't that deep, but rather than there are numerous “values voters” who do not realize just how bad Mitt Romney's positions have been on abortion, gay marriage, etc., and are objecting to Gingrich's past without realizing what they're getting in the bargain from the “family values” Romney. A lot of people simply cannot conceive that there is such a thing as a pro-choice and pro-gay-marriage Mormon, and the only way to convince them is to show them Romney's actual words on video in the governor's race.
Most FReepers understand how bad Romney is. Many in the Republican electorate do not.
At this point, based on current poll data, I think the only way to avoid Romney winning is for the three-way race to continue with a gentleman's agreement between Gingrich and Santorum 1) to focus on attacking Romney and 2) to avoid states and congressional districts where the other candidate has a better shot of beating Romney in winner-take-all races.
That could change, but right now it looks like the only path to defeating Romney.
Obscenity is illegal and all Santorum is doing is suggesting those engaged in such criminal activity be prosecuted.
Child porn involves the forcible exploitation of a child. The child is the victim. Who is the victim with respect to hardcore pornography? The viewer? They consented. The participants? They consented. If you don’t like it don’t watch it. Don’t get the government involved! It would just be a matter of time before the government deemed political speech “obscene” or “hateful”, and sites like this would disappear from the landscape.
We’re running out of states and Newt has won Georgia, and one state that borders Georgia. The only shot Newt has at this point is if both Santorum and Romney drop out of the race. The Newt supporters that act like Gingrich is anything but a spoiler at this point are almost comical.
That strategy works only in states with proportional allocation of delegates. Majority of impending primaries are WTA-CD & WTA. Which simply means a simple plurality in a congressional district or state gives you ALL delegates in that district/state.
If Mitt does get the nomination, conservatives need to unite behind a third party with the express intent of denying him the presidency. We simply must convince the GOP hierarchy that it cannot continue to get away with forcing vermin like Dole, McStain and Romney down our throats.
If we don’t do that we will NEVER get a conservative president.
Hank
If Mitt does get the nomination, conservatives need to unite behind a third party with the express intent of denying him the presidency. We simply must convince the GOP hierarchy that it cannot continue to get away with forcing vermin like Dole, McStain and Romney down our throats.
If we don’t do that we will NEVER get a conservative president.
Hank
We are discussing 3rd parties vs working within the party on another thread if you gentlemen would care to weigh in.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2860523/posts
Newt is for an energy independent U.S., rolled back regulations and free market ideas. He wants the EPA yanked and common sense conservation in it's place.
...Just looking at the history of the race so far makes it clear to any realistic person.....
Your history has huge holes, like the barrage of Romney ads in Iowa and Florida to be-head Newt's campaign surges.
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