Posted on 03/13/2012 7:19:12 PM PDT by LonelyCon
Updated 9:55 p.m. -- Rick Santorum was projected to win the Alabama Republican primary as he, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were locked in a three-way battle to win Mississippi's primary.
Mitt Romney was left looking to Mississippi to achieve a feat he hadn’t yet accomplished this cycle – win in one of the Republican Party’s conservative strongholds – as results from the twin primaries in GOP strongholds trickled in Tuesday evening.
Almost two hours after polls closed, the race in Mississippi was too close to call.
A week after Super Tuesday, the Alabama and Mississippi primaries could determine whether Romney was able to finally win in one of the GOP’s identifiably conservative corners.
Any such victory would come, in part, due to a split conservative vote between former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. The two men have battled Romney – and each other – in a week’s worth campaigning in two states where the electorate closely mirrors some of the modern Republican Party’s core constituencies.
Santorum had also looked to win at least one of the two primaries, if not deprive Gingrich from victories in either. Santorum has publicly said he hopes to wage a one-on-one campaign against Romney, and has split the conservative vote versus the former Massachusetts governor with Gingrich in several key contests.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com ...
GOT MISSISSIPPI, TOO!!! GO RICK!!!
Newt’s PAC has also been running commercials during Rush’s show on WABC for maybe the last couple of weeks, and NY isn’t until April.
Pennsylvania-phobe!
But seriously, as much as I like Newt’s legislative record moreso than Rick’s, I’m satisfied either way.
It’s the old “lesser of two evils” that has dominated politics for decades (with few exceptions q.v., Reagan).
I’m definitely not voting for Obama, and would rather not vote for Mitt. So whomsoever is left standing, that’s where my vote will reside.
At least it wasn`t Romney!!!
Nevertheless I can go with Rick if I have to.
I trust Newt to know what he doing.
I guess everybody here in the South does not buy your view of Newt. Some of us see him with different eyes. That does not make us any less smart. We just simply do not believe in him as you do. If he is the nominee, I will vote for him. But, I WILL NOT vote for Romnie.
Why?
Let's think about some things here.
Two very close 2nds, especially both of them involving beating the putative frontrunner, are not a bad showing at all for a guy who hithertofore had been back down to pulling low teens after Florida, and who even two weeks ago was trailing by large double digits in both of the states voting this evening.
Newt does seem to have some momentum building, and I doubt losing by 1% in MS and 4% in AL will destroy that. Newt will come away with as many, if not more, delegates than Romney, Santorum will gain some more than Newt but won't have any sort of preponderant lead over him, and both of them together will snarfle up the lion's share and keep them from going to Romney.
When Newt said he was going all the way to the convention, I believe him, because he seems to have a delegate strategy, rather than a headline strategy. At this point, it's a matter of whether Newt can outlast Santorum on the money side of things.
The next step is Lousiana. This one could turn to Newt, if his momentum keeps building in the direction it has been over the past two weeks. And I think it will because of the fact that his momentum isn't based on winning primaries (obviously), but on the fact that he finally seems to have really gotten serious about getting on message and getting active about campaigning. He knows there aren't many debates anymore to bouy him - if he's gonna do it, he's gonna have to go down the street from the Wal-Mart and talk to the people directly. This he has been doing, and they seem to be responding.
Think of it this way - Santorum actually underperformed this evening. Think about how Santorum is the absolute darling of the big politico-Evangelicals. He is supposedly "their" guy. Yet, both Alabama and Mississippi have outright majorities of self-proclaimed Evangelical Christians (both ~50-55%, IIRC). The fact that Santorum only won 35% and 33% respectively in these states suggests that around 40% of evangelical voters did not vote for him - and it's most likely that the large majority of these went to Newt, rather than Romney.
Don't despair, I doubt this race is over yet.
There isn’t a thing wrong with those of us who voted for “Little Ricky,” as you so called him. He won elections for 20 years out of his life - so, don’t call him a loser. He lost in a huge Repbulican upheaval when the Dems took back control of the Senate.
I’m sorry so many of you are eating sour grapes over this. Newt can be a loose cannon at times. Yes, he’s brilliant, yes, he’s a great debater - at times. We never know which Newt will show up for the debates, and, he did some great things as Speaker. However, he also did some not-so-great things. Besides, as history has shown us - the older, white-haired guy usually loses in a general election. Sad, but,true.
I am greatly relieved to hear about Alabama. >Phew!<
The problem is, Santorum probably WON'T be properly vetted until after a theoretical win and nomination.
At which point, his record will be thorough exposed by the media, and he will lose to Obama in a landslide. Mississippi and Alabama may well be the only states he takes in the general. That's just how lousy of a candidate Santorum would be when facing the nation as a whole.
Check my last ping. We may have swept the South tonight.
Get real. You Newt supporters have been peddling this whole "Southern Strategy" nonsense for weeks now. Newt said he needed to win these states to make the argument that he was viable. HE FAILED. Rick just picked up two states in his own "back yard". Time for you to face facts.
Great news! I didn’t know what to expect today!
Newt is done. Don’t you see that? He really needs to give up the ghost. He has lost Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. His so-called southern strategy is in tatters. He has lost 22 primaries and won two, his home state and the one right next to it.
If they had a re-do in South Carolina now, Santorum would probably beat him.
Newt’s presence in the race helps Willard Romney and him alone.
Great speech from Newt. Concession? Don’t think so.
What the hell is with Alabama being stuck on 79% returns for over an hour???
Hank
I can't see how Newt's position on illegal immigration squares up with Alabama's law against illegals.
Actually, Rick spent 20 years in Washington and was elected for that many years. He lost one election during the Dem sweep and people get on this “he can’t win elections” mantra. The MSM has done its job - even on Freepers.
He’ll be fine.
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