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Santorumentum Redux

By: Leon H. Wolf (Diary)  |  February 7th, 2012 at 03:00 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Today could end up being an embarrassing day for any Republican presidential candidate not named Rick Santorum.

Today, Colorado and Minnesota hold their caucuses, and Missouri holds their weird non-binding primary. Newt failed to qualify for the Missouri ballot, which means Santorum is widely expected to win Missouri today. The only company polling Minnesota right now is PPP, which today released a poll purporting to show Santorum leading by 9 in that state. Additionally, PPP released a poll showing Santorum running a strong second in Colorado. To recap, at the end of the day today:

  • Rick Santorum, whose campaign was left for dead after an abysmal finish in Florida, might win 2 of the 3 contests today.
  • Mitt Romney, who was supposed to sweep February, could end up only winning one of the three caucuses today, and that by a relatively slim margin.
  • Newt Gingrich is facing a day with two third place finishes and a DNQ. His argument that Santorum should step aside grows weaker by the day (incidentally, anyone who says Santorum is a stalking horse for Romney has not been paying attention to the Santorum campaign).
  • Ron Paul could finish the day far behind all three of the other candidates in delegates.
Ultimately, although today isn’t getting as much press coverage as recent election days, it could end up reshaping the race yet again. This could signal that the great mass of “Not Romney” voters isn’t ready to assimilate yet, and may have determined to abandon ship on the Gingrich campaign. Time will tell whether this time, Santorumentum will have a shelf life of longer than three days.

COMMENTS

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  • Spartan4Life

    I can just feel the excitement.

    Think of it this way. If Santorum was being considerd for VP the first qustion would be, “Can he deliver Pennsylvania?” Um….no.

    We have three mediocre candidates running a race to the bottom. Way to go, GOP.

    • jakeofalltrades

      Decades of socialism have apparently eliminated natural selection and made moronosity a competitive advantage.

      • cheetah2

        The truth can be painful yet funny.

    • renl57

      …he certainly couldn’t deliver Massachusetts.

      • votemout2012

        If Santorum does win in MO so what? He will receive zero delegates as it is non binding. The causus is binding and is not til March( just to select delegates). Santorum may not be around when that happens. I voted in Primary today for Rick Perry. It was a symbolic vote and won’t mean much more the Primary itself.

        • mikelindell2

          The strategy is to build up Santorum before Super Tuesday in hopes he can eat into Newt’s wins on that day. Romney would much rather have long race against Rick than Newt. btw MO’s real caucus march 17.

          • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

            Not based on my reading of his diaries and comments.

          • mikelindell2

            Whether he likes Romney or not, I feel his advocacy of Santorum helps Mitt. Romney understands that there will always be a conservative competitor against him and he’d much prefer Santorum over Newt.

  • Spartan4Life

    He had his chance and screwed it up(twice). Every time he has gotten traction his ego has kicked into high gear and he forgets it has nothing to do with him.

    Let Santorum stand with Romney alone on the stage. I think he’ll look even smaller than he already does and I don’t care for Romney.

    Santorum has zero chance against Oblahblah in the Fall.

    • Finrod

      The first was when his campaign team quit to join the Perry campaign.

      The second was in South Carolina.

      I put more hope in him being able to pull off a third than I do anything Romney or Santorum does.

      • Common_Cents

        Santorum takes the inevitability argument away from Romney.

        Romney starts attacking Santorum. Santorum finally gets vetted, attacked and knocked down a few pegs during the next 2-3 weeks.

        Santorum loses momentum, Gingrich survives under the radar for Feb, only to make another comeback in conservative states in March.

        • clowngirl

          Santorum’s been in the way of Newt consolidating the conservative vote- now he’s getting in Romney’s way so he can’t solidify his status.

          We’ll see how he likes it!

        • jamesm

          a thriller in …Tampa?

        • cheetah2

          It can happen!

    • votemout2012

      Santorum has come in 3-4th since IA. Santorum is about to receive his Romney treatment. I don’t think he will fair any better than Newt. Plus Santoum has even less money than Newt to fight the Romney Machine.

      • clowngirl

        I’m thinking he isn’t going to go after him as hard as he did Newt — he would start to come off as far to negative, dishonest, etc.

        But then, I wouldn’t have said it was advisable to have lied (misled, selectively omitted, etc.) about Newt.

        A lot of his media shills have painted themselves into a corner by already saying Santorum is a legitimate candidate,etc. They can’t go after him like they did Newt.

        And I very much agree with you point about Newt having no reason to get out and Santorum having not fared well at all except for Iowa. 3 4th place finishes and one distant 3rd. Twice he failed to crack double digits.

        • cheetah2

          I would like to see him do an all out attack on someone I DON’T want for president for a change.

          • clowngirl

            The question is whether he realizing it’s not going to get him the nomination.

    • mikelindell2

      Only proven true conservative, only one with plans that would fix things, and only one who can defeat Pres O.

  • Ender

    I doubt Newt would even be able to carry it. Especially if he will get diminishing results in February.

    • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

      Romney just can’t seal the deal, can he? It’s gotta be driving you guys nuts.

      • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

        I subscribe to the double-hypothesis that Mitt is no longer perceived as inevitable [initially] and Santorum’s vetting leads to his dropping back into the “pack” [subsequently].

        • elayman

          At least I can’t think of anything that will come out to make social conservative leaders and organizations coalesce less strongly behind Santorum . Play up his solid evangelical Christian values and it only resonates more intensely with these voters. The branding of an unelectable big government spender with personality issues could be more damaging but it isn’t like any kind of revelation, and the fiscal theme is 15-20 years old. We’ll see what happens tonight.

      • Ender

        than the failure of your candidates to overtake Mitt.

        • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

          They all suck pretty bad. It’s hard to gather any emotion at all about any of them at this point.

      • Spartan4Life

        Your logic is, “See how the two crappier candidates are making the guy who is going to win squirm!”

        Look, I am sick inside that Romney is going to be the nominee. But the other two guys aren’t even good enough to beat him, much less knock off an incumbent president with a billion to spend.

        This whole thing sucks.

        • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

          No, not really.

  • Sean (SIConservative)

    There aren’t any delegates on the line today. All of the action is non-binding.

    • waxmanlaw

      The primary purpose of the caucus is to choose delegates to the county conventions. Although the presidential preference of each delegate can change prior to the county conventions, MN and CO will hold them in early to mid March. Unless someone has wrapped up the nomination by that time the county conventions can get chaotic. See Nevada 2008.

      That is the main reason the GOP establishment want to coronate Mittens now before he loses MN, MO, Super Tuesday, AL and MS. The county conventions could degenerate into shouting matching and fist fights.

    • maybenexttime

      If Romney gets punk’d by Santorum in two of the three states, it could only be viewed as further repudiation by GOP voters.

      Sure, Gingrich stands to lose momentum after tonight…but guess who could be picking up a ton of it? Whether Santorum becomes the viable anti-Mitt, or Newt retains that crown…it doesn’t matter. They are staying away from Romney like he’s the Bubonic Plague.

      That will be the big political story for days to come. Romney can’t seem to have a good news cycle that lasts more than 12 hours. Who wants to get behind a candidate that takes one step forward and two steps back every week?

      • Spartan4Life

        They are sniggering in their collective sleeves at this clown show. Just makes ratings for them.

        • red_oakster

          If Mitt loses two of three today, it underlines the fact that he is far from inevitable.

          If either Gingrich or Santorum or both figure that they can be kingmakers at a brokered convention, why in the world would either get out of the race?

          I’d just point out that Romney might not do so well against Newt in the South or Santorum in the industrial Midwest, if the contest gets dragged out. And if Paul manages to win a few delegates here and there as well, it becomes more difficult for one candidate to get all the delegates he needs before the convention.

        • maybenexttime

          However, the reality of managing perceptions is going to be tough for Romney when they run with “The Santorum Surge, Part 2″ for the next 24-36 hours. I’m no fan of the media, but if they can knock down their own Romney Inevitability sandcastle they’ve been building, I won’t stop them.

          There’s a silver lining in virtually everything.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    That’s not what will be reported, but that’s reality.

    I cannot believe this many people take Santorum seriously. This is a sad day for the GOP.

    • clowngirl

      It should reduce the intensity of the Romney-is-inevitable narrative, and give Romney a new target.

      And if Romney is true to form, after this he’ll spend enough energy and resources attacking Santorum that Newt won’t have to– and be mean and dishonest enough about it that Santorum supporters are likely to increasing dislike Romney and strongly prefer Newt as a second choice.

      • macphisto96

        His press conference showed a bitter, whiny man who doesn’t have the temperament to be President.

        Most of Romney’s money in February is going to Arizona and Michigan. Winning both will make him strong going into Super Tuesday. He won the only binding election before those two in February in Nevada. He won Florida.

        Nobody else has Romney’s organization. He’s likely to win most all the NE. He’ll win California – a lot of delegates. Reality is that Gingrich is running out of money right now. At last count he had a million on hand. His performance is not helping his fundraising.

        Santorum will get a financial boost if he wins tonight, but he still will not have the organization to play a national game.

        • clowngirl

          how many times has Newt’s campaign been declared dead now?

          Speaker Gingrich actually performed pretty well in NV. Ran no ads. Only campaigned for a few days. No real organization. Yet he beat Ron Paul who had a great organization spent over $800,000 in ads, took 2nd in 2008, campaigned a lot, and was expected to do very well.

          Santorum couldn’t crack double digits and got less than half of Newt’s votes.

  • clowngirl

    He said “we have an interesting 3 way race”

    Santorum has campaigned in Colorado a lot — and had the state to himself for days. I expect he did the same in Minnesota.

    Newt was damaged by Romney going nuclear, Romney tarnished himself by doing it. I don’t think it’s so surprising that Santorum — who wasn’t hit by any of that — would be doing ok and able to win a non-binding caucus where he did the bulk of the campaigning and a beauty contest where Newt isn’t even on the ballot.

    And the media ignoring his two last place finishes (in Nevada, Santorum didn’t even crack single digits) in a row in contests where other candidates actually put in a fair amount of time competing and treat a non-binding caucus and a beauty contest as somehow much more important.

    As to Newt having 2 3rd place finishes. It could happen. But the same poll that had Santorum ahead by 9 in MN also had Newt just 2 points behind Romney for 2nd – that’s well within the margin of error.

    The latest Colorado poll also has Newt gaining on Santorum – he might close the gap here too. Or might finish a very close third.

    If Santorum wins MO and MN, I hope Ron Paul wins ME. It would put these early February non-binding caucus wins in perspective.

    • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

      …that the “bella”-factor has been highlighted [temporarily].

    • cheetah2

      People keep howling for Santorum to get out because it splits the conservative vote, but it actually looks like his campaign may be helpful to Gingrich. I question whether Santorum’s votes would all go to Newt anyway. I think a lot are going with Santorum over Newt because of his clean personal life. I could see those people going to Romney if Santorum dropped out.

  • satchman3

    and why does anyone think it’s a good idea?

    • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

      Best not to ask questions.

      • Bill S

        ;-)

        • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

          I spent two months of 1976 at Fort Lost-in-the-woods, Misery.

          • Bill S

            My dad was in basic there back in the 50s…

          • dogfan

            Years ago I had a Korean girlfriend whose English was fair but not quite fluent. One day she said to me (verbally, not in writing) that she had “a friend in misery.” I was concerned for a moment but then quickly sorted out that she was accenting the wrong syllable and meant to say she had a friend in Missouri.

    • jakeofalltrades

      :twisted:

    • renl57

      nt

  • libertus

    because it gives Romney a broken string. It’s hard to imagine Romney not winning AZ and Mich on the 28th so having Santorum win one or two today still scrambles the field.

    I think Newt has the best shot on Super Tuesday of denying Romney’s inevitability — especially if Newt can win GA and TX and his backers vote for Paul in VA. Since Newt is not organized in the States today, it’s just important that someone other than Romney win one of them to create a media buzz.

    Ultimately, I don’t think Newt is the right person for the nomination, but I find him preferable to Romney. But Newt is the right person to gather delegates, especially in the South, to get this thing to a brokered convention.

    • waxmanlaw

      TN and OK are on Super Tuesday, which isn’t so super anymore. AL and MS are on March 13th. If Newt wins GA, it could propel him to victory in AL and MS on March 13th, then the game has changed. It is becoming a geographic centered race, especially if Santorum does well in MI.

      • Spartan4Life

        Oh, and a disorganized, undisciplined campaign.

        That sounds like a formula for success.

      • libertus

        I was confused on its date. Thanks.

  • TexasTami

    …and the caucus is tonight and I have to vote. I’m discouraged with the field of Republican candidates. I’ll certainly not vote for Romney. Never Romney. I will pull the lever for him if he gets the Republican nod, but not before. After Gov. Perry pulled out, Newt became my candidate. I really think he can defeat Obama. I like that he has the gumption to stand on principles and get it said. I really like Santorum, but I want someone who will attack our problems, and I’m not sure Santorum has an attack bone in his body. And then there’s Ron Paul, who is a non-candidate for me.

    So here I sit, knowing I will be attending tonight to vote for someone, and I suppose it will end up being Newt. But I’m on record as saying I’m not satisfied with any of them (same ol’ same ol’).

    • waxmanlaw

      TexasTami: are you a candidate to be a delegate to your county assembly???

    • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

      …why you chose your pen-name?

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    There’s a long way to go yet to the nomination and anything can happen. After all look at the O’s run against the “unstoppable” Clinton machine etc…

    • maybenexttime

      It’s much easier to seize momentum when facing a singular opponent.

      Romney has to deal with Newt, Rick, and Ron for at least another month. I don’t see any of them dropping out before Super Tuesday, and in the case of Gingrich and Paul…they could hang on well into May.

      If Gingrich has a strong showing on Super Tuesday, you still have states like NC, WV, AR, and KY in May. He could also win those states convincingly. A Santorum Surge could keep Romney’s status in check, thus giving Newt plenty of space to assemble his Southern strategy.

      • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

        The two of them don’t have all the establishment endorsements and money backing them like Romney does yet they’re picking away at him.

        I agree it’s hard for Santorum and Gingrich because they have to deal with each other and Romney with all of his endorsements and considerable financing.

        The real question is will the two of them split the delegates away from Romney or will they split the votes away from each other in the long run handing Romney victories he’d lose to either of them alone.

  • http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

    If you believe that fairy tail I have some lovely property on the Moon to sell. I hear there will be a boom in the Lunar housing market.

    • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

      …is the ongoing rejection of Romney.

      • http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

        Romney is not the enemy. Put your country ahead of your fan boy emotions.

        • goodgovernance

          nt

        • maybenexttime

          It’ll be hard to get rid of Obama if Republican turnout is supressed due to a lackluster candidate. Look at what happened in the Nevada caucuses. They had 10,000 fewer people participate compared to 2008 despite the hype surrounding this year’s attempt at beating Obama.

          If Romney is causing that drag on enthusiasm (as I believe he is) then we have a potential problem in November. Romney is not a credentialed conservative. He has supported and even crafted ideas that the present adminstration has enacted. Being the party of Obama Lite will not turn out the base, and Nevada just proved that.

    • Spartan4Life

      ….that people like less the more they get to see him.

      The idea of Newt much better than the reality.

      • http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

        n/t

      • trelane

        I jumped on the Newtwagon months ago when it became evident Michelle Bachmann had no chance. Good Newt was the only one left with a positive enthusiastic vision, and all the hoopla about ‘baggage’ and checkered pasts seemed overblown.

        Then in the last few weeks, Bad Newt finally showed up. Now I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a third version – Crazy Newt. At this point he has equal appeal as Santorum for me, though of course either is preferable to Mitt.

  • thosjefferson

    If Santorum beats Newt in Minn and Colo, it’s all over for Newt. But maybe that’s exactly what Romney wants, which is why he hasn’t spent any money on these non-delegate elections.

    • JSobieski

      There is no reason to conclude that Minn and Colo will sink Newt’s souther Super-Tuesday strategy.

      • lapert

        He did limp into South Carolina he rolled in off of the momentum of two great debates – momentum which he gave away the following week at the next debate.

        You are right, it won’t be today’s results that sink his strategy – it was never a likely successful strategy to begin with kind of like Giuliani going all in on Florida four years ago.

        • lapert

          nt

        • WillWong

          Following two losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, Newt actually limped into SC. The first debate in SC where he hit a home run off Juan Williams arrested his fall and the second debate with another jome run off John King pushed him past Romney.

          • JSobieski

            The debates did give him a huge boost, and the next debate will be critical for Newt.

            Newt is the only candidate to date however who has survived a big fall, and then came back to win anything.

          • lapert

            If Newt’s win in SC was a rise Romney had to have seen a fall – and he recovered to win Florida.

            Santorum collapsed after Iowa and today he is going to win Minnesota. Paul, well he is still Paul.

            In other words, if you are looking at subsequent primaries as a linear narrative all three candidates will have fallen and recovered. I happen to think that type of linear narrative is more manufactured then real for the most part and the meta-strategies remain the same as three weeks ago with Newt’s being a very long shot (Santorum’s is probably similar).

          • clowngirl

            comparing Newt’s experience as somehow equivalent to Romney’s makes no sense to me.

            Romney has dealt with no hostile media – hasn’t had the other candidates hitting him with $10 million worth of attack ads in a caucus state.

            He’s had an indulgent media, and has always had plenty of money to spend – so he could start organizing way in advance — and advertise in Florida while the other candidates were waiting to see if they’d survive South Carolina.

            Oh, and half a million people voted early — many before Newt started surging in SC.

            The in the states where Romney has won are states where he has spent a lot more time, had a lot more organization and in many cases outspent the rest of the candidates combined — many times over.

            He can’t continue that in every state. We’ll see how he does over the long haul.

          • lapert

            You are right, the reason he is winning and competitive where he is is becasue he has the organization and the money to spend to be there either in person or via TV. But you are wrong, he is the only one who can keep it up over the long haul and that is why I think the other two’s chances are very limited.

            Despite the little narrative that develops around these early races in the press that needs something to keep them busy and the tiny sample of the electorate that are political junkies but not political actors, it really isn’t about vote totals, momentum and delegates – it is about building and demonstrating the campaign organization and discipline to be a presidential candidate for the next 9 months. The problem is the two left standing haven’t done that and haven’ really done anything in the last month to give me the impression they are about to.

            Particularly as you move into March, retail campaigning is impractical unless you try a desperate regional strategy in the hope that you get to a brokered convention and something strange happens. Gingrich may be moving towards that type of strategy, but it is a real longshot.

          • JSobieski

            has ever discussed Romney dropping out.

            Romney beat both Santorum and Paul in SC. No comparison to the drubbing that Newt took in Iowa and NH.

          • JSobieski

            nt

          • acat

            Arguably, he started on a low note in Iowa as well….

            Mew

    • Common_Cents

      MN is a crazy state, we’ve elected wrasslers and washed up terrible comedians.

      • clowngirl

        And I hope you have a lot of sway at your caucus tonight!

  • goodgovernance

    So Romney was supposed to sweep February. Everyone acknowledged up front that Gingrich’s only hope was to hang in there until Super Tuesday, because that’s when the contests are back in the Southern states where he tends to do better. So why would a couple of (admittedly important) wins by Santorum change the calculus for Gingrich? Last I heard he was still ahead in a place like Georgia. And I don’t think Newt’s going to drop out for any reason, unless and until Adelson stops writing him checks.

    I suppose for Santorum supporters it must be satisfaction to call for Gingrich getting out of the race, after others have called for Santorum to drop out. Personally, I like Santorum less than Gingrich, but I’m happy to see anyone stop Romney’s momentum. If Santorum does indeed rack up a couple wins tonight, I congratulate him and his supporters.

    The pattern of the base flocking to anyone not named Romney continues. After five plus years of wooing the GOP, this is a terrible indictment on Romney’s ability to unite the party behind him. I think he’s just the wrong candidate for the times. The party still needs to clarify what it really stands for in the post-GW Bush era, but Romney’s not strong enough to be our focusing lens, he can only mirror what he sees in the polls. He might have done well running back in the late Nineties, when times were good and no one was really too concerned about the future. But he’s the wrong choice now and the party feels it in its bones.

    • westcoastpatriette

      And why I think it’s worth it to drag this out for as long as possible. Keep Santorum and Gingrich in to be a thorn in Romney’s side and puncture the myth of inevitability for good. We just cannot afford to elect someone like Romney right now.

      • renl57

        The problem is you might grievously wound Romney but not finish him off:

        So he still gets the nomination by a slim majority of the delegates, but so smeared and so damaged by all the Gingrich attacks that Obama coasts to an easy win–and his coattails enable the Dems to keep the Senate and maybe even take back the House.

        And to you, that’s a preferable scenario??? That would make 3 out of the last 4 elections in which the GOP lost Congress: 2006, 2008, and 2012. That’s going to start to look like a long term trend.

        If Obama is going to win, let it be by the slimmest of margins so that it doesn’t affect the House and Senate races much. Romney can at least give Obama a run for his money.

        Gingrich, whom female Independent voters reject by two to one, can’t do that.

        • westcoastpatriette

          The race is too close to predict your scenario, especially that Romney will squeak out a win. Also don’t think there’s any chance we will lose the House. There are twenty Dems in the House now that are retiring and half of those races are favoring a Republican win. Only ten Republicans seats are up for grabs so I think we will do fine there.

          Yes, I would much rather fight with a very good chance that Romney can still be beat than succumb to premature predictions of loss — to Romney or Obama.

          • goodgovernance

            Besides, it’s Romney’s job to win us over. It’s not our job to prop him up, at least not at this stage of the campaign.

            If the only way for Romney to be a viable candidate in the general is to force everyone who doesn’t really like him to keep quiet, then Obama has already won.

            But that doesn’t need to happen, if we get somebody other than Romney.

  • septembergurl

    have several anti-Romneys going forward rather than one? Take a look at the latest Reuters Ipsos poll of the national GOP contest:

    Romney: 29

    Paul: 21

    Gingrich: 19

    Santorum: 18

    The poll points out that Romney has actually lost support since his *big* wins in Nevada and Florida. He is back in the 20s. Meanwhile the anti-Romney vote is about 60%, split about evenly among the three candidates. Explain to me why any of the three should drop out at this point?

    The fact is that the GOP primary is dividing into regional primaries:

    Northeast – Romney

    South – Gingrich

    Midwest – Santorum

    Rust Belt- Santorum

    Mountain/Mormon – Romney

    Northwest/New England – Paul

    We have three not-Romneys because they don’t all run equally well in all parts of the country. Santorum, for example, could win a border state like Missouri but not do well in a Southern state (pro-union). That’s why we need Gingrich to stay in, not get out. Similarly Gingrich does not do well with evangelical/socon voters outside the South, so we need santorum to stay in to pick up these votes. And we need Paul to take votes from Romney in places like Maine and Washington.

    • Ender

      at the time of Florida, Romney was down nationally to Gingrich. He has since slowly risen back up. Today’s Gallup shows him up 37% to 22% for Gingrich. So while there is no point for non-Romney’s to drop out yet, Romney has gained and is still the main favorite.

  • jamesm

    oh oh oh. If Romney loses to a last place finisher than anybody can beat Romney. Go Rick! Ronlulans won’t morph into Romneybots at the convention. Lots of these voters are anti-establsihment. Romney needs a majority of delegates prior to the convention….Doesn’t look like it will happen. Guaranteed…Romney’s people are worried.

    Give me a genuine conservative nominee..thats all i ask.

  • elayman

    A public venue allows him to drew bigger crowds and more media to his public appearances and to finally claim momentum in the race compared to the clowns we are stuck with now.

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/huntsman/53456955-188/huntsman-says-bid-presidential.html.csp

    Huntsman took a brief vacation after halting his presidential bid, but says there?s ?no shortage of opportunities? in what he may do now.

    ?I?ve got so much time to give, and you?re going to read other announcements in the weeks ahead.”

    Huntsman hinted at that, noting that he would be doing something with regard to ?the media,? but he said details would be coming later on that.

    • goodgovernance

      Thanks for sharing, elayman. I was wondering what Huntsman’s plans for the future were, since I knew he wouldn’t go third party. Very happy to hear he doesn’t rule out a role in politics in the future.

      I was wondering how Huntsman planned to stay in the national spotlight, but it looks like he will find good works to do and stay a vital part of the national conversation. All my best to him and his family.

      • JSobieski

        make a good running mate for certain candidates.

        For example, a Perry/Huntsman ticket would have been strong.

    • septembergurl

      and Perry are on the ballot in Colorado, and also Bachmann, Cain, Huntsman and Perry on the ballot in Missouri, so there could be some bitter clingers voting as in Florida. These should also be seen as anti-Romney votes.

  • aesthete

    Vote Santorum in the states where he is a front runner (and hope he doesn’t screw us).

    Vote Newt in the states where he is a front runner (and hope he doesn’t screw us).

    Vote Paul in the states where he is a front runner (and hope he doesn’t screw us).

    Brokered convention, people.

    • dajeeps

      Sounds good enough for me as long as we shut out the guy with all the liberal governing baggage – you know, the kind of baggage that will, beyond a shadow of a doubt, affect the lives of everyone here. They can’t be thinking straight, so if the best we can get is a brokered convention, then I’m on board.

  • annie54

    that is required for this race? Santorum was in Missouri today, then Minnesota, then Colorado. I question if Gingrich can keep up with that pace. He’s overweight and out of shape. Also, people who have worked with him have said that he’s lazy.

    Newt said he would follow Obama on the campaign trail and appear every place Obama appears. Does he have that kind of stamina? I don’t think so.

    Sorry guys. I’ve been stating forever that Newt needs a Chef and a trainer.