I got back to CT at 4 a.m. from Manchester, NH. I should write an article and post it, but I’m not sure what to say .. here are a few points
1. It is an established fact that Romney is well-liked in eastern NH (2 counties), cities and ‘burbs. Santorum and Gingrich focused there (why?) and made no in-roads. Romney won many spots with over 50% of the vote.
2. Romney is despised in northern & western rural NH ... the other 8 counties which make up the other 50% of the vote. McCain killed him there in ‘08 and he did poorly yesterday. Newt and Santorum largely ignored much of this area due to logistics. Paul and Huntsman did very well, winning many towns. Romney managed to get over 30% in some maybe half of towns. Newt and Santorum did poorly due to a lack of presence ... lack of activity.
3. examples ... Jaffrey. 2nd largest town in Cheshire County (west). I showed up at 4pm at the polling station. ronPaul peeple running all over. 2 obambi campaigners ... 1 dedicated romneyite ... a Huntsman couple. I was the first to show for NEWT. Not even a sign planted in the ground. Nobody ever showed up for Santorum. (And that is the way it was every day during the past 4 weeks.)
Headed toward Peterborough (larger town, largest in western half of Hillsborough Cnty.) Again ... no sign of NEWT or RS. Somebody stuck a mitt sign in ground at 7 am and never came back. 2 Huntsman guys who described themselves as conservative GOP activists had been there all day.
ONE CONCLUSION: Much of the teaparty has faded away. Some was usurped by the romney organization. The rest joined ronPaul ... so there was not much left to start a Reaganite populist grassroots movement.
Huntsman got 2nd in Peterborough, 27%.
Mitt beat Paul in Jaffrey 34% to 29%.
The grassroots populists have divorced the GOP. So the Reagan wing cannot beat the GOP establishment under these circumstances. Reaganites need the grassroots to beat the establishment. ronpaul has sucked all the energy away.
No surprise that NG and RS limped in with 9.5% each. YOU CANNOT WIN A CAMPAIGN IF NOBODY IS CAMPAIGNING FOR YOU!
Excellent post. And thanks for your commitment and hard work, even if it was for the “wrong” conservative (I’m supporting Santorum).
Thank you for your efforts and the update campaignPete.
Great point: YOU CANNOT WIN A CAMPAIGN IF NOBODY IS CAMPAIGNING FOR YOU!
Thank you for that description. I had heard nightmares from other folks in NH, too. It’s like Team Newt never really tried. You were his best soldier there!
I have good news for you, though. It appears that Newt HQs in South Carolina are OVERFLOWING with volunteers/helpers. He owns the most ad time there in EVERY medium, and has a MASSIVE statewide staff. I have lots of family there and two Freepers giving me updates, and they are feeling good vibes and telling good tales.
It is the opposite of the Iowa and NH reports I got: lots of enthusiasm, people now breaking for Newt, Many pastors urging pragmatism to stop Romney, many pastors outright enthused for Newt. Iowa was the opposite; I was being told people were breaking for Santorum and to expect the worst. You and others warned us that NH was lost. I can tell you boldly, though, that everything I am hearing about SC has been overwhelmingly positive.
A few other bits of good news there:
1.) Huntsman is concentrating on the coast, which is Establishment GOP and Romney’s stronghold. He is aiming to take directly from Mitt’s hyde.
2.) Upstate is heavy for Newt, HEAVY. Charleston ditto - Newt stuff EVERYWHERE, phone calls very responsive. Georgia border towns also heavy for Newt, and loaded with volunteers. Coast is obviously Mitt, but my Uncle tells me Newt is picking-up a lot of Romney haters there who have given up on Perry.
3.) Gun owners and orgs are getting the word out BIG TIME on Mitt. Many folks did not know the extent of his anti-gun record. This is not being reported strongly enough. I am being told in no uncertain terms that the gun issue is already having an effect.
4.) Bain is already the talk of the town. Some complaining about it being used by Newt, many agreeing with Newt. But it is all the buzz, which either way is bad for Mitt. Bain is a curse word in SC.
5.) For the first time, Newt is not the only one going after Mitt. Perry is on constant attack of Mitt, and Paul is finally turning his guns Romney’s way following NH. Perry and Newt camps seem to picking-up on the other’s talking points. It appears that the perceived team-up is more than just something coincidental; they are paying attention to each other’s Mitt attacks and running with them also.
6.) Santorum trying the positive route, but way behind in ground game. Will have some ad time, but among the least. He is struggling to get any endorsements in SC.
7.) Mitt is reducing his time in SC and focusing on FL. He’s not ceding SC by any means, but certainly not treating it like Iowa and NH.
8.) Don’t forget there are two debates in SC before the vote!!!
Santorum 23,408
Gingrich 23,291
Perry 1,764
So, even though N.H. is a lot more liberal and had plenty of RAT crossovers, the rankings of the candidates going after the conservative vote are the same as they were in Iowa. Santorum does best, then Newt, and then way, way behind is Perry.
But regardless of the numbers nationally, Gingrich fans apparently far outnumber Santorum supporters here on FR. They want us to know that we can "beat Romney" if Santorum "drops out" and agrees to be the "running mate" of the guy who didn't make the top 3 in any state and hasn't won a single county yet (heck, at least Hillary could claim she had 48% of the RAT party delegates when she said the guy with 52% of the delegates should drop out and be her running mate)
And Perry... I'm not even going to make another joke at his expense. Too easy. But if you're a Perrybot and you think he's gonna win big any day now, I have a bridge to sell you.