It is a mathematical improbability that Rick Santorum will get to the magic number of 1,144 — the number of delegates needed to be the Republican Presidential nominee. It is a political improbability that Rick Santorum will stop Mitt Romney from getting to 1,144. Last night in Illinois, Mitt Romney won his first victory without caveats. Even in Florida, a big win, there were plenty | Read More »
“A budget is values,” says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former head of the Congressional Budget Office and an adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “When you put together a budget, you display where you’re going to put the nation’s resources and what you care about.” (HT:Washingtonexaminer) Something went wrong with the universe after the Puerto Rican GOP Primary. Mitt Romney not only made an accidental relevant | Read More »
After last night’s contests, it’s time to update my running tallies of the popular vote in the GOP presidential primary and see what further conclusions can be drawn. I continue to break out the votes in three groups – the five conservative candidates (Santorum, Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann and Cain), the two moderate candidates (Romney and Hunstman) and the libertarian (Paul) – for reasons explained in | Read More »
This is becoming the story of how Mitt Romney fell off the straight trajectory to victory. In Illinois, Romney’s campaign gave Rick Santorum a pass they did not have to. A race Romney would have won outright is now competitive. The story is a rather interesting one. Romney’s state chairman wants to run for Governor and did not want to make enemies with the Santorum | Read More »
“In five years of campaigning it is stunning to me that the Romney camp still has no clue how to play the expectations game.” This morning you were going to read a post from me saying Mitt Romney was definitely now the nominee and it was time for Santorum and Gingrich to drop out. The post was predicated on late polling and early corresponding exit | Read More »
There is a rush tonight to try to identify the true interpretation of the Republican electoral results. Many of them will be shared on the Internet, but this one is mine. This wasn’t the first close race. Mitt Romney has won them previously. What’s different about tonight is that Rick Santorum pulled it off this time, This defied expectations, and went counter to everything I | Read More »
Fred Barnes, who is nothing if not plugged in to the thinking of leading Beltway Republicans, looks at how the Congressional GOP plans to work with the presidential nominee: Republicans would like to revive party unity and repeat the Reagan-Kemp success story. House speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell are planning to confer with the Republican nominee, once one emerges. Their aim: | Read More »
From the diaries In the eleven presidential elections since the birth of modern conservatism, five GOP nominees ran as moderates –- and were perceived as moderates. All lost, with the single exception of George H. W. Bush in 1988, and he was arguably running for Ronald Reagan’s “third term.” Conversely, all six GOP candidacies which were framed and perceived as conservative won. So it is | Read More »
When three candidates hang into the Presidential nomination race after Super Tuesday, it becomes time to check whether anyone can get a majority. Mitt Romney is close. So far he’s not there, but if current trends hold he will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States, and become so on the first ballot.
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Scott Conroy discuss Mitt Romney’s not-so-super Super Tuesday, why Rick Santorum wants Newt out of the race, and Sarah Palin’s comments to CNN about her role at a brokered convention. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. | Read More »
Many political analysts compare 2012′s Republican Presidential cycle to the Democrats’ go of it in 2008. Barack Obama deployed a delegate strategy while Hillary Clinton went for big state wins. It worked to Barack Obama’s favor. This year, it works for Romney. Both took a while and had some ups and downs, but ultimately Barack Obama prevailed. After Ohio came in tonight, it is clear | Read More »
Romney wins OH, VA, MA, VT, and ID; Gingrich wins GA; Santorum wins OK, TN, and ND. Alaska is still pending. Here are some random thoughts. 1) It looks like Romney will eke out a very narrow win in Ohio. The pattern is becoming familiar. Romney can’t just outspend his opponents; he must swamp them in order to pull out a narrow victory. There is | Read More »
It can be difficult to summarize in one place all of Mitt Romney’s problems as a candidate and as a potential President. I have tried; I wrote, back in 2007, a series so lengthy on Romney’s flaws (some 15,000 words, Part I, II, III, IV & V) that I can’t possibly hope to rewrite the whole thing now, and explained why I preferred McCain to | Read More »
The Republican party has held five primaries this cycle to date: New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona. Mitt Romney won the statewide vote in four of them, including the last three. Super Tuesday tomorrow will shake all that up, of course. But Ohio looks to be one state Romney may come back to win from Rick Santorum.
Chris Cilizza as an interesting story in the Washington Post in which some Romney supporters are openly wondering if the Republican Party needs to be wiped out in 2012 in order to win big in 2016. “I’d personally enjoy all the ‘we can’t nominate another Republican In Name Only’ crowd getting a stomping by an incumbent with an 8.5 unemployment rate,” said one senior party | Read More »
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