Posted on 12/28/2011 2:29:52 PM PST by TBBT
You know who this benefits?
*snip*
So there’s the long-awaited Santorum surge among social cons, who are finally giving him a first look at the perfect moment after flirtations this fall with Bachmann, Perry, Cain, and Gingrich. Two caveats, though, one minor and one major. The minor: PPP’s poll published this morning found Santorum stuck at 10 percent, still behind Gingrich and Bachmann. Are their numbers the outlier or are CNN’s? The major: According to the crosstabs, CNN only polled … registered Republicans in Iowa. That means they’re badly underestimating support for Paul, who’s cleaning up among Democrats and independents who are planning to vote in the caucuses.
Where did you get the impression that Obama is any kind of debater? Even old man McCain easily held his own. All the Republican candidates would give Bambi a run for his money in a debate.
Alan Keyes is a masterful debater as well and extremely articulate at explaining conservative philosophy. In fact, he even got to debate Obama one-on-one in a U.S. Senate race and gave a great preformance. Watch it on youtube and you'll agree. Have you seen Keyes take office any time soon? Heck , has he even come CLOSE to winning ANY election?
>> How the other candidates would fare in a debate with Obama... <<
Assuming Perry isn't the nominee and Obama isn't allowed to use a teleprompter, I imagine they'd fare pretty well and more than hold their own against the stutterer-in-chief. I remember Obama back from his days in the Illinois State Senate and (as the rest of America became aware of in the last 3 years) his off-the-cuff oratory skills aren't that impressive at all. He does well if he's reading a speech ghost written by Bill Ayers but he's lousy at formulating his own thoughts. I watched this dope lose a debate to do-nothing "former" black panther Bobby Rush (who ALSO can't debate his way out of a paper bag) so I know what I'm talking about. Even McCain did a farely decent job debating Obama, and was polling ahead of him until the economy tanked (though Obama and McCain's responses were so muted and lackluster during the second 2008 debate, they were BOTH putting me to sleep)
Curios CNN seems to be blocking comments on this story:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/28/santorum-on-cnn-poll-hard-work-pays-off/
says comments are awaiting ‘approval’
um ok...
I remember exactly 4 years ago saying there’s no way John McCain could be the nominee. Unfortunately, I was wrong then and unfortunately, you’re wrong now. Personally, I’ve narrowed it down to Santorum and Gingrich, but I know it’s for not because Romney has it in the bag.
Obama might decline to debate Gingrich if he is that fearful of his speaking talents. Imagine all the excuses Obama could put forward.
Good point, Toomey is not the conservative many have thought.
I don’t agree with you, Obama is an extremely skilled communicator in both his speeches and the debates. He’s gotten a lot better with the off-the-cuff stuff since the last election.
I also want a candidate who has real, thought-out solutions to our nation’s problems and a record of being able to put major change into practice. That is Newt. Santorum’s ideas are paper-thin, Bachmann’s are unworkable and Perry’s are often ridiculous (part-time Congress?). And none of them have the power of persuasion to sell them to the country. Newt is the complete package, far and away the best candidate we’ve had in the running since Ronald Reagan.
That will reflect poorly on Obama if so. Newt is going to be able to sell our message through interviews, town halls and speeches as well. Check out his recent South Carolina town hall on C-SPAN. He is a master of connecting with the public in a direct, honest, clear yet very substantive and educational way.
Indeed. I would add one more thought. While Gingrich is a very good debater, his fans on FR do him a disservice when they continually portray him as having some kind of god-like debate powers that will "completely and utterly destroy" Obama in a one-on-one matchup. The media will play up the "Newt is the smartest man ever and NEVER makes a mistake" angle and set the bar so high for Newt that ANY flub or stumble during the debates, no matter how minor, will be replayed on the airwaves endlessly and spun as a "win" for Obama. Not to mention the risk if Newt decides he wants to show what a "enlightened, sensible conservative" he and accept the liberal premise of some question, like he did in his 2007 "debate" with John Kerry over global warming and capitulated to the enemy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY2Uh6TKqnk
The reverse is also true. I thought Sarah Palin gave a disappointing performance against Joe Biden and was lacklaster when she should have delivered a knockout blow against the pompous gaffe machine, but the media set the bar so low for Palin and made it sound as she was completely out of her league, that the mere fact she lasted the whole debate and answered all the questions made the sneering liberal pundits concede she held her own and the public to interpret her performance as good.
“Conservatives will rally behind Rick Santorum if the MSM attacks Rick.”
Uhh...
Yeah....
Sure they will.
Not me. I was saying that there's no way John McCain could beat Hillary Clinton. Now here's why I think Romney has no chance. His negatives are too high. There are too many voters out there who would vote for John McCain again before they would vote for Romney. He will never be able to overcome those negatives. As the number of candidates whittles down in the coming weeks, you will see every remaining candidate's numbers rise except for Mitt Romney. He will not be able to achieve that magical 50%+1 number that he needs.
As for Newt, his negatives are nearly as high. Over 45% of voters currently have a negative opinion of Newt Gingrich. His only hope right now is to play on that Romney-fear factor and offer himself as the only candidate who can stop Mitt. I'm not buying it, and voters aren't buying it either. When Iowa is over, Mitt Romney will have 25% of the vote, and candidates other than Mitt Romney will have 75% of the vote. And when Super Tuesday gets here, Mitt Romney will have captured 25% of the vote while candidates other than Mitt Romney will have captured 75% of the vote. So the best thing that we can do at this point it to embrace a conservative candidate who will offer everyone a clear choice besides Barack Obama.
Sorry, but this is not a American Idol contest in whom can sing the best, or who can wow people with their magnificent speaking eloquence, that will get old after awhile.
As a Pennsylvanian who’s followed Rick’s career, I can still remember the candidate he supported in Iowa, 16 years ago.
Hint, his first name was “Arlen.”
Rick was always a loyal foot soldier for the GOP political establishment here in PA and nationally.
He has a pro-life position to be sure and is as a good a Catholic as Mitt Romney is a Mormon.
But when it comes to politics Santorum, like Romney, ends up being a tool of business as usual politics.
I see Santorum as a tool of the establishment to split conservative votes.
Mitt Romney has got the grassroots divided.
He has us where he wants us, split up into factions so he can win.
The political insiders play a good game.
Rick Perry was the first player they put on the field in August to roll over Michele Bachmann when she won the Ames Straw Poll.
Perry’s announcement came the same weekend as the straw poll to try to blunt her momentum.
Then once Perry sucked up all the air, he began his own deflation with lousy debate performances.
Cain came on, then got destroyed by all the allegations.
Next Gingrich came on and he, too, was attacked and deflated.
Ron Paul is a threat and now he is under attack as well.
Santorum is now being inflated to take voters away from Gingrich and Paul.
The endgame is to give Romney a win in Iowa and early momentum.
Its sad that so many conservatives have been playing Mitt’s game since they ran away from Bachmann back in August.
When did she say that....
I remember Santorum flying out to Alaska back in 2004 when Sarah Palin supported a Pro-Life Republican named Mike Miller for US Senate.
Santorum was sent out to twist the arms of the local Pro-Life group so that they would not endorse the Pro-Life candidate against Pro-Abortion Lisa Murkowski.
Santorum was working for Lisa Murkowski and against Sarah Palin in the 2004 Alaska GOP Primary for US Senate.
I desperately hope Gingrich voters come to their senses and support Santorum too. Gingrich is an even WORSE choice than Romney. If you want to guarantee Obama gets a second term, vote for Newt. The Dems will have a field day if he is the nominee.
Bears repeating.
LOL, suddenly “communication” is just a stupid human trick done as a stunt? You don’t seem to understand how FUNDAMENTAL communcation is to every aspect of selling yourself as a presidential candidate. From the debates to the ads to the interviews to the speeches. If communication isn’t key to getting elected president, then do you think a candidate could get elected who sewed his lips shut for the entire campaign and never said anything?
Bears DELETING you must have meant.
Newt Gingrich is the best and most electable Republican candidate who’s run for President since Ronald Reagan. He is the only candidate in the race who has the communciation skills to go toe-to-toe with Obama rhetorically and to sell independent voters on a genuinely conservative agenda. He comes across to the public something like a grandfather figure or a favorite teacher.
Newt ushered in a booming economy that brought with it millions of new jobs, passed balanced budgets and was able to work successfully with Democrats. The economy, the deficit and a lack of bipartisanship represent the three major complaints that people have with the government right now. Newt is the only candidate with a rock-solid record of success on all three of them.
In the event that the economy makes a noticeable recovery between now and the election (possibly spurred on by the Supreme Court overturning Obamacare), Newt has the depth and breadth of knowledge to mount a credible campaign centered around any and all issues of national importance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.