Why would I welsh out of it? I started with Santorum, jumped to Perry when he looked like the anti-Romney, and then took up Newt.
It has always been. and still is, about beating Mitt Romney. I don’t care if that’s Perry, Cain, Bachmann, Huntsman, Gingrich, or Santorum.
But I have been a part of many campaigns and a politico for some time. Santorum cannot win. There are only two possible nominees in 2012 in the real world, Gingrich or Romney. Romney is the heavy favorite. Only a win in SC and some Conservative consolidation will stop Romney. Now is desperation time; there is no more time for Hail Mary passes; that means Santorum voters must come to their senses - just as I had to sacrifice my favorite guys several times before to get behind a Conservative alternative.
You’re pulling for Santorum; I see him as a vote-splitter. In SC, he could very well end the GOP primary process and give Mitt the crown in one night. I hope and pray his supporters will realize this in the end, and give Mitt his first loss.
I have gone through this way too many times, with way too many guys rooting for the upstart candidate trying to come from nowhere to win based on an Iowa bump. Robertson, Huckabee, Grassley, what’s-his-face from TX, and so on and so forth...........and now it’s Santorum.
I am just so tired of watching this movie, and I am flabbergasted that some folks still line-up to buy tickets hoping that it’ll end differently this time because they really, really, REALLY like this upstart candidate, and this time the bounce is SO TOTALLY real and just going to last and last.
And then “everyone will see that so-and-so is the REAL Conservative alternative to Such-and-such.”
This time, I am trying to pull the plug on the projector and yank the fire alarm to get everyone out of the building and into the real world before everyone discovers the film’s ending hasn’t changed this year, either. Romney is the most vile, despicable center-left front-runner we’ve ever had, and I fear what will happen if he wins more than I feared Bush beating Reagan in 1980. He’s that bad, and I will do everything I can to stop his coronation in SC.
“Santorum cannot win.”
Newsflash, he already shocked the world and won.
“There are only two possible nominees in 2012 in the real world, Gingrich or Romney.”
Really? Why then are the only folks who have actually won a primary are Santorum and Romney? Seems to me that if you were to cut it down to two, those would be your choices.
“Romney is the heavy favorite.”
This has yet to be shown. Romney has difficulty pulling in folks that didn’t support him back in 2008. That’s not going to be enough for him to win.
“Only a win in SC and some Conservative consolidation will stop Romney.”
Agreed. I believe that Santorum is the best conservative to consolidate behind. Not the least because he actually draws in the conservatives. The data is really clear after Iowa and NH. Santorum draws from conservatives and that is why he has done as well as he has.
Newt is not drawing from conservatives. He’s drawing from moderates, the same folks that supported McCain in 2008. This tells me that Newt is the moderate candidate, slightly to the right of Romney, while Santorum is the actual conservative.
“Now is desperation time;”
For Newt, yes it is. He simply must win in SC or shut ‘er down. A loss here to Romney and Santorum (3/3), means he packs it up.
“that means Santorum voters must come to their senses”
You just aren’t getting it. Conservatives have already consolidated - behind Santorum. Newt’s drawing moderates, not Conservatives.
“just as I had to sacrifice my favorite guys several times before to get behind a Conservative alternative.”
Heh. You broke up with Santorum and then Santorum breaks your heart by going on and winning - without you. Yeah, that’s tough. I had Cain myself. But now I’m backing Santorum, since he won in Iowa. Enough for me.
“I see him as a vote-splitter.”
A perception that’s actually false. It is Newt splitting the conservative vote away from Santorum, not the opposite. Head to head, Santorum dominates Romney. But, as we shall see, South Carolina is end of the road for Newt. Win here, ro go home.
“In SC, he could very well end the GOP primary process and give Mitt the crown in one night.”
He could also win the whole darn thing, and knock Romney to third. So could Newt for that matter. Or Romney could finish second with Newt third.
“I hope and pray his supporters will realize this in the end, and give Mitt his first loss.”
We did. In Iowa.
“and now it’s Santorum.”
Had Newt actually performed well - anywhere - he would be going into South Carolina with the wind behind his back. His collapse has been epic, which has opened the doors for Santorum. Now he’s playing catch-up and is running out of time.
“I am just so tired of watching this movie”
So hop on board with Santorum. You never lose by backing the most conservative candidate. We always lose when we try to pick a moderate like Newt to appeal to a ‘broader base’. Newsflash - most people are conservative and they respond well to folks who are conservative.
“This time, I am trying to pull the plug on the projector”
Well, Iowa is mighty inconvenient to your narrarative that Santorum can’t win. The problem, and this is how it looks like to the not-Gingrich folks.
The emperor has no clothes, and here folks are parading him about as the ‘last stand against Romney’.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Newt will blow Romney out in South Carolina and win over the South. Maybe he will actually win for once and turn the corner.
But what if the opposite happens? What happens if he gets a very Newt like 15 percent and Santorum pushes himself over Romney? What then?
“He’s that bad, and I will do everything I can to stop his coronation in SC.”
Agree wholeheartedly. Now, we got one more battle, to settle this.