Posted on 01/19/2012 4:09:17 PM PST by kristinn
And then there were three and a half minds left campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.
Hosted by CNN's John King at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Today is a sad day for me.
Perry’s dropping, out has altered the face of the debates.
If Rick doesn’t expose the shoddy records of Newt and Milt, who will?
“Newt messing with CNN’s mind ! “
lol.. this is the best post of the day and Newt scored big tonight.
I think the Rick Perry supporters have changed their minds.
I haven’t.
Your man Perry did alright. He's a hero in my book. Considering that many were saying he'd done pretty well and was good in the last debate, it must have been a hard thing for him to bow out. It took some real strength of character and grace to do what he did this morning.
He has my gratitude and respect.
Whoa, great catch!
Newt comes across as knowledgeable and strong, which explains his appeal to men. The fact that women do not find him as appealing is understandable. Hopefully, facts regarding his previous marriages that will cast his behavior in a more sympathetic light will emerge over the the next few weeks and months.
I agree that Rick did make some good points at times. Unfortunately, he spent too much time trying unfocused. For what it is worth, in the “candidate match” questionnaires, Santorum comes out as “closest to my tendencies”, so I have been pulling for him since last year.
However ...
Tonight, I believe that what happened is that the news of the day had everyone off balance. I suspect that Rick and Mitt were going expecting to harvest a lot of hay from Newt due to the news. However, Mr.Newt just newtered them completely from the first few minutes, and may well have thrown their whole strategies into question. Rick did not recover in time (and he had to be the more expectant) but Mitt did recover with his “get to the issues”. RPaul was an afterthought.
Through the rest of the evening, many questions were off balance as a result. Santorum expected to be able to score by simple “I’m not Newt (and implication I am better than Romney)” and have a big swing in the polls. He realized after a while that was not the case - perhaps when Mitt made the “get to the issues” answer. That made him desperate at times trying to draw distinctions and pick a fight with Newt when he should instead have been just himself.
1) Newt could have had a terrible day, but fended off a huge threat to his candidacy and prevailed today as a result.
2) Mitt was “me too” today, for the most part - I actually only remember his “I don’t know how many years of taxes I will release” answer - not a good sign for him.
3) RPaul was pretty much a non-factor and will gain no help from today.
4) Rick’s good answers (abortion, etc.) may help him hold, but I suspect his bad answers (Like SOPA) along with his desperate tone will see him drop when votes are counted.
Thanks for the thread, kristinn.
“Argumentative teenager” encapsulates it perfectly. Ugh..
I love the way Newt has smacked down the media and Obama during the debates. That is what has gotten him to where he is now. His response is red meat for those of us conservatives who are sick of the MSM.
But beyond our walls, this is going to hurt Newt. His response (while great) is not going to make the issue go away or garner him any significant votes. He will lose votes over this issue. The story hasn’t even aired yet. Wait until the comedians get hold of this over the next few weeks. That is whey it will sink in with Americans.
I think we are more forgiving as a society now of marital issues. But this is more than just an “inadvertant” affair. 6 years in HIS WIFEs bed (not a motel or someplace else). Asking for an open marriage (I know no way to prove it. but like cain he will be presumed guilty by the vast majority). I think this story is just too much for many too stomach.
The MSM is horrible in the tank for the dems. ABC is fast becoming the worst. Unfortunately for us, a lot of people still take what they say as truth. And this barrage against Newt is just the beginning for him or whoever the nominee will be. The MSM destroyed Herman Cain. They destroyed any change of Sarah Palin ever becoming president. And they are at it again.
I wish it weren’t so, but this is a bad blow for Newts campaign in the long run. He may win SC, but will cost him down the road.
Yep. It's bad enough that he's on the wrong side of the issue. It's worse that he appears to be on the wrong side of the issue for bad reasons (i.e. he's still mad about the dirty trick Dan Savage played on him). It's worst of all when his rhetoric suggests that he sees the world from a pro-Big-Government, pro-regulation (as long as the right people are in power) viewpoint.
Wouldn't it be funny if the dems are just waiting for our candidate to be decided upon and then they make a switch to Hillary.
2. Willard ..slinking towards FL after losing IA & SC
Good fix : ^ )
Did Newt thank Gov Perry tonight for dropping out and endorsing him?
I may have missed it...
I didn't. I specifically said that Noot supported Dede over a Conservative. Noot was boasting specifically about the large number of pro-life conservatives that were elected in 2010 and pointing out that it was because of him that it happened when in reality he was supporting a pro-abortion pro-democrat candidate over a pro-life conservative. Noot is full of himself, but he is not full of truth.
I agree with you except to add...
Romney - Shaky, defensive, copy cat on some of his answers which made him look weak.
(CNN keeps running ads for the popular vote. I wish there was an opposition campaign to educate those who didn't get educated in public school on why we have the electoral college rather than a presidential popular vote.)
In the after show Donna Brazille predicts the ex-wife is a losing issue for Republicans if Newt's the nominee; thinks Newt wins SC. She hit Romney on his ridiculousness on release of tax returns.
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