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Romney, Santorum struggle to arouse consistent passion in their own voters, exit polls show
Minneapolis Star-Tribune ^ | March 19, 2012 | ALAN FRAM

Posted on 03/19/2012 3:38:09 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney may lead in delegates and Rick Santorum might have momentum, but neither of the two leading Republican presidential candidates is having an easy time exciting even his own voters.

Out of a dozen states where voters in the GOP contest have been polled, most Romney voters have said they strongly favor him in just five of them. A majority of Santorum voters felt that committed to him only four times out of 11 states where he was on the ballot and voters were surveyed.

Each man is struggling to consistently spark the intensity that could separate him from the pack.

Consider that Arizona is the only state where Romney had a higher proportion of voters expressing strong feelings about him than his rivals did. And Santorum hasn't had that edge in any state yet, despite an animated campaign style and passion for hot-button social issues like contraception that have contrasted with Romney's stiffer, more analytic manner.

On average, 50 percent of Romney voters and 49 percent of Santorum's say they strongly favor their candidate, with the rest expressing reservations about their man or a greater dislike for his rivals, according to entrance and exit polls of voters in 12 states.

When it comes to winning fervent devotion from his own supporters, both men trail former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Those two GOP presidential campaigns are lagging but 58 percent of Gingrich's backers and 53 percent of Paul's, on average, say they strongly favor their candidate. Analysts say higher percentages of devoted supporters are common with candidates whose lesser backing leaves them with only the most committed followers...........

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: conservatism; gingrich2012; gopprimary
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To: Marguerite

****Let’s confront the truth, guys.
The FACT is that the primaries have been kidnapped by democrats, who are playing the GOP like a fiddle.***

And their cohorts in the MSM.


61 posted on 03/19/2012 7:50:01 AM PDT by sodpoodle (Newtrition - soul food for a starving America.)
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To: Yosemitest; Cincinatus' Wife

Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Why are you calling him a liar?


62 posted on 03/19/2012 7:51:43 AM PDT by onyx (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC, DONATE MONTHLY. If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, let me know.)
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To: toddausauras
"Newt is the only one I’ve stood and cheered for this round. Romney is awful and Santorum is boring. I HAVE been excited when Santo has won because it skunked Mitt but I was never able to get through a whole Santo speech."

Same here. I can't count the times I've stood up and cheered Newt. His message and his vision are so far above the rest, it practically makes them non-existent.

63 posted on 03/19/2012 8:19:09 AM PDT by CatherineofAragon (I can haz Romney's defeat?)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Amen CW... and THAT is what I am all about today.

LLS


64 posted on 03/19/2012 8:24:57 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (WOLVERINES!)
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To: Yosemitest
"Well who did she support, liar Perry?"

CW supported GOVERNOR Perry---not Romney; get your accusations straight instead of flailing around blindly. And I supported the governor as well. He's a fine Christian man with solid conservative principles.

65 posted on 03/19/2012 8:30:20 AM PDT by CatherineofAragon (I can haz Romney's defeat?)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

We need to support Santorum only to get this thing to convention. There, we can nominate Newt.


66 posted on 03/19/2012 8:49:33 AM PDT by Thunder90 (Romney barely won in OH with a 12-1 money advantage, he can't beat Obama that way.)
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To: Marguerite
Amen... and here is some more truth... the reince priebus and the gop/e set things up to allow dims to control our party's nomination. They are dim light after all.

LLS

67 posted on 03/19/2012 8:52:51 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (WOLVERINES!)
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To: onyx

IT IS NOW THE GOP/EE... THE “EE” STANDS FOR “ELITE ENEMIES”.

LLS


68 posted on 03/19/2012 8:56:01 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (WOLVERINES!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Newt is the firewall keeping the Establishment from rolling over us before the convention. And the GOP-e knows it. Time to fan the rise of Gingrich and a conservative uprising.

That's an understatement....even Santorum knows if it weren't for Newt taking the heat he'd be done in by all the forces which have gone after Newt.

Santorum's not going to withstand what's coming at him ahead should Newt even consider stepping out, (and that's not going to happen), he's already losing in Illinois with the Romney and Establishments campaign ads going full bore against him...and I don't see him winning there by any means.....there are too many wanting Romney at the lead and they are willing to do whatever is necessary to put down Santorum there, and they have the means to do so.

Further the state is Blue.....so I won't be surprised if Romney get's it there.....even without the ads...he's just not taking any chances Rick will pull ahead. Romney wants this decided now and so does the establishment.

On to CONVENTION!!! And Go Newt GO!!!!!!!!!

69 posted on 03/19/2012 8:57:25 AM PDT by caww
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To: onyx
Liar Perry called himself a conservative,
yet refused to build a fence for the Border, catered to ILLEGALS, and didn't believe in freedom for parents to choose medicines for their own children.
What a disgusting RINO Perry was.
70 posted on 03/19/2012 9:04:35 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's simple, fight or die!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I believe many of the Romney / Santorum voters are un-enthusiastic because they were turned off Newt by the Negative ads, compleate with lies and distirtions, and by the media and pundits that continue to say only Romney can beat obama. Newt can beat obama. Without a candidate who can generate enthusiasm, obama will be re-elected.


71 posted on 03/19/2012 9:14:14 AM PDT by duffee (NEWT 2012)
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To: darrellmaurina
I'm very surprised by that. Either lots of Paulbots are having second thoughts (good!) or Newt Gingrich has managed to generate more enthusiasm among his people than Ron Paul, which is wonderful if true.

My GUESS is that the true Paulbots got surprised and disappointed to find out that Paul and Romney are close (and their wives as well). They know what Romney's record is and it is NOT consistent with what RP seems to stand for.

I'd love to see Paul in charge of all financial matters and nothing else and I had been convinced that he was one of very few genuine politicians even though I disagree with half of his policy (or more).

I couldn't figure out why he never attacked Romney and when I heard the story that he had cut a deal with Romney for Rand to be VP, I found the accusation to be believable.

I despise Romney and will never trust or support anyone who cuts a deal with him. Maybe the Paulbots now feel that way too. I hope so and I hope they figure the one person who has a record of cutting DC power and the slime bags running it from the shadows way back is Newt.

72 posted on 03/19/2012 9:15:38 AM PDT by Sal (BHO is serving America--SERVING US RIGHT UP ON A PLATTER!!!)
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To: sodpoodle; onyx; TitansAFC; b9; Gator113; Marcella; katiedidit1; annieokie; ...

In Tennessee, they tried a different underhanded tactic and succeeded… Hours before the election, Santorum met with several state delegates declared on the ballot for Gingrich, one even the Co-Chair of the Gingrich campaign, convincing them to switch to Santorum delegates even though the state ballots declared them all for Gingrich.

It amounted to election fraud, as millions of Tennessee Gingrich supporters cast vote after vote for Gingrich delegates that had quietly switched to Santorum hours before the election. The old backroom switcheroo had worked and Santorum won Tennessee, snatching the number two spot in the GOP race from Gingrich for the first time.

http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2012/03/09/gop-defeating-itself-again/


73 posted on 03/19/2012 9:27:17 AM PDT by Marguerite (When I'm good, I am very, very good. But! When I'm bad, I'm even better)
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To: LibLieSlayer

^5

GOP-EE it is!

74 posted on 03/19/2012 9:30:19 AM PDT by onyx (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC, DONATE MONTHLY. If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, let me know.)
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To: CatherineofAragon

Newt Gingrich explains why he is cheerful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO2SvU4MDmo&feature=player_embedded


75 posted on 03/19/2012 9:30:34 AM PDT by Marguerite (When I'm good, I am very, very good. But! When I'm bad, I'm even better)
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To: caww

Hear! Hear!
Newt all the way to Tampa!

It’s a crime that Romney ruined this primary with his attack ads in Iowa and Florida.

Newt Gingrich had this primary in the bag and America would have been the winner. Now we need a brokered convention for any hope.

GO NEWT!


76 posted on 03/19/2012 9:34:49 AM PDT by onyx (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC, DONATE MONTHLY. If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, let me know.)
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To: Sal

“I despise Romney and will never trust or support anyone who cuts a deal with him.”

Romney is the least capable of uniting the voters for the national elections. He will fail, as the polls indicate 18% of republicans will stay home in case of Mitt’s nomination and the GOPers will lose heavily in the Congress as well.


77 posted on 03/19/2012 9:40:33 AM PDT by Marguerite (When I'm good, I am very, very good. But! When I'm bad, I'm even better)
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To: Yosemitest

Texas Governor Perry is not a liar. You can take issue with him, as you have, but he is out of the race, so slamming him really doesn’t serve any useful purpose. Our former governor Haley Barbour was heralded as a conservative, and look at the way he departed his office! For that matter, Governor Bryant was just given a TEA Party award, and he endorsed Romney for crying out loud!


78 posted on 03/19/2012 9:41:38 AM PDT by onyx (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC, DONATE MONTHLY. If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, let me know.)
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To: duffee

Yep.

Newt Gingrich can run a national campaign and beat obama with his own Alinsky tactics.

Newt Gingrich is 100 times smarter than obama and I’m being conservative stating 100 times smarter.


79 posted on 03/19/2012 9:45:12 AM PDT by onyx (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC, DONATE MONTHLY. If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, let me know.)
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To: Yosemitest; onyx

Yikes! Yosemitest - I was complimenting you on the effort you made composing the poem in Post #47.

And thank you onyx.


80 posted on 03/19/2012 9:45:41 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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