PCW Alabama Getaway
Demopolis City Civic Center
Demopolis, AL
Tuesday March 13th, 2012
Host: Johnny Suave

‘The Voice of PCW’ Johnny Suave and his lifesize cardboard cut-out of Shania Twain

In the ring, Suave explains it’s long overdue to bring back the nicest piece of cardboard he’s ever known – Suave’s lifesize cardboard cut-out of Shania Twain.

Crowd: Welcome back…welcome back…

Suave then informs everyone that Texas Jack (R)- representing Ron Paul (R-TX) hurt himself while wrestling in the Virgin Islands and won’t be on tonight’s show.  Texas Jack won that match for Paul but suffered a concussion when Yamamoto Tanaka (R)- for Mitt Romney (R-MA) smacked him over the head with a steel folding chair and then for good measure gave him the Japanese SuperDestroyer from the top rope.

Politically Incorrect (from left): NRA, Andrea Doria (up), Al Cahall (down), and Nic Koteen

Doria gets on the mic and says it’s nice to be back in PCW.  She’s heard a lot of stuff has transpired over the past couple of weeks about Rush Limbaugh (R) calling someone a slut.  Doria says she’s not a Rush Limbaugh fan but finds it incredibly hypocritical that the same bunch of people who are mad at Limbaugh and want him taken off the air are the same bunch of people who have made similiar, if not more insulting, references towards women they oppose- Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell to name a few.

This brings out Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Keith Olbermann (D).  Pelosi states that Limbaugh’s values are the Republican‘s values when it comes to women.

Olbermann says he’s tired of the ‘false equivalency’ being trotted out between Limbaugh and things that he may have said.

Replay: Last Thursday’s PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN
…Olbermann apologizes to female conservative commentator S.E. Cupp for referring to her as ‘a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does.’ …

Olbermann tells everyone to stay on point because the true villain in this is Rush-

Replay: Last Thursday’s PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN
…Olbermann then apologizes to female conservative blogger Michelle Malkin for calling her a ‘big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it.’ …

Doria then remarks that perhaps people should boycott Countdown with Keith Olbermann on Current TV if it weren’t for the fact that no one was watching the show in the first place. Olbermann pitches a fit in the ring and calls Doria the WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!

*DING…DING…DING…*

Suave: I KNEW IT!

Replay: Last Thursday’s PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN
Olbermann also vowed to retire his ‘Worst Person’s in the World’ segment, again, and to attempt to avoid any ‘“gratuitously abusive remarks about women, and men.’

Suave: What’s the over/under on that happening?

Suave: FIVE DAYS!  FIVE FREAKIN’ DAYS!

Pelosi screeches to the back and out comes The Green World Order: ‘Extreme Vegan’ Brock Cole Lee, GreenPete, ‘Radishing’ Rick Rube- Agronomist,  PeaceNick, and Peta from PETA.

A referee slides into the ring and we’re off.

MATCH #1
Green World Order: ‘Radishing’ Rick Rube-Agronomist and GreenPete (D)
vs.
Politically Incorrect: NRA and Nic Koteen

This was a wild match with both teams interfering in the match.

The match turns when the Angry Left Wing Bloggers (Markos Moutilsas, Arianna Huffington, Eric Boehlert of Media Matters, and Full-Professor Paul Krugman of the NY Times) pulls NRA out of the ring and Rube and GreenPete doubleteam Koteen.

…Rube has an abdominal stretch locked in and grapevines the ankle.

Suave: HERE COMES THE TEA PARTY!

Average Joe and ‘Tin Cup’ Ray McAvay hit the ring.  Average Joe armdrags GreenPete over.  Neck breaker.  McAvay hits a Bulldog out of the corner on Rube and calls for his seven iron from his caddie Tromeo.   The GWO has it well scouted and blocks Tromeo.  Brock Cole Lee tosses Rube a flower pot and he smashes it over Koteen’s head.  Rube locks in the Grapevine submission and Koteen has no choice but to tap.

WINNER: Green World Order @ 9:23

Mitt Romney Speaks
PCW Investigative Reporter Woodward Bernstein corrals Mitt Romney about the match and asks him about Rick Santorum’s chances tonight.  Romney says Santorum is at the at the desperate end of his campaign and is trying in some way to boost his prospects.  And frankly, misrepresenting the truth is not a good way of doing that.

Romney: He’s far behind in the point count. If you look at the math of how many points he’d have to win to become the nominee, it’s a very difficult road for him. And so, at this stage, he’s looking for some way to try and gain ground. I understand that. But I would hope you’d use truth as one of the pillars of your strategy as opposed to trying to come up with one attack after the other that, frankly, has been determined by those who take a careful look from the outside to be inaccurate.

Rush Limbaugh Promo
Rush Limbaugh comes out and he’s got a few things on his mind.

Limbaugh: One week after launching this all-out attack on your expertly trained broadcast host, me, El Rushbo, with talent on loan from God — a sure winner!  Going to launch Obama and the Democrats back to electorate success! What happened? It wasn’t a big winner for them. Didn’t work out the way they had all envisioned, didn’t and hasn’t worked out the way they had all hoped.  The excitement, the thrill, the anticipation. They said ‘Limbaugh’s finished, we’ve got the women back, we’re marching on the victory. It’s a done deal.

Limbaugh lights up an Arturo Fuente Don Carlos cigar, probably breaking some law regarding smoking indoors, and continues.

Limbaugh: Obama lost ground with women. I can’t begin to tell you the dismay and the shock and probably panic that exists in the White House and in the salons of the elites of the Democratic Party over this.  They didn’t even consider this a possibility. This never entered their mind. This was going to be the end — not just of me, folks … the end of talk radio.

Limbaugh smiles and finishes by saying the Democrats can’t get rid of him…no one can get rid of-

*Def Leppard’s ‘Tear It Down’ plays*

‘The Extreme Equalizer’ Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Suave: WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!

Tear it down – There’s got to be a better way
Tear it down – I can’t wait another day
Tear it down – There’s got to be a better way
Tear it down – If only you could stay
All night long

Limbaugh drops the cigar as the Extreme Equalizer bolts for the ring.  Limbaugh slides out and flees up the ramp with WTF close behind.

Why should you buy this book?

#showplug Jesusland v Progressiveville isn’t predictable partisan trashing of other side like other political books nor does it pander to the fringes of both sides like most books do. #tlot #tcot

#showplug Jesusland vs Progressiveville parodies the very ones responsible for over the top devisive political discussion: Markos Moutilsas, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Ann Coulter, Ed Schultz, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, among others.

#showplug Our cover w/ @SarahPalinUSA and @KeithOlbermann sums up what our political discourse has become. #election2012 #politics #tlot #tcot

Brought to you by the same demented bunch behind Political Championship Wrestling, Jesusland vs. Progressiveville is a political satire about the sorry state of American politics.

Available at Amazon.com and other online bookstores.

====================

MAIN EVENT:
Yamamoto Tanaka (R) w/’The Massachusetts Redblood’ Mitt Romney (R-MA)
vs.
Magnum PO’d (R) w/Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
vs.
A. Tom Bomb (R) w/Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Daisy Cutter-Bomb

Wild three way action as all three wrestlers fight as if their lives depended on it.

Eventually, Magnum gets eliminated at the 6:03 mark via pin by A-Bomb.

…Tanaka eats a boot to the face.  Knee clip by A-Bomb and cover…1…2…Tanaka powers out.  A-Bomb goes for the Atomic Power Bomb but Tanaka blocks it.  Tanaka charges. MISSES! Tanaka staggers out of the corner…ATOMIC POWER BOMB!  Romney calls for help but Santorum comes over and battles him on the ring apron.   A-Bomb lifts Tanaka a second time…ATOMIC POWER BOMB #2!   Corporate Might: Big Oil and Kirk Walstreit runs to the apron (why), and eats the rope assisted DDT from Daisy Cutter-Bomb.

A-Bomb covers! 1…2…3!

WINNER: A. Tom Bomb @ 11:30

Santorum hits the ring and celebrates with A-Bomb and Daisy Cutter-Bomb.

Points Update:
Romney 474, Santorum 228, Gingrich 137, Paul 64

To be honest, I myself cannot even believe I am about to say this, but it is starting to look like Newt Gingrich may just have another trick up his sleeve. Recent polls are starting to show him creep back up into contention in Mississippi and Alabama.

Mississippi – a new PPP (D) poll has Gingrich 33%, Romney 31% and Santorum 27%, Paul is so low I am not sure why he is in the race at all anymore.

Alabama – a new PPP (D) poll has Gingrich at 31%, Romney at 30%, Santorum at 29% and Paul with a lowly 8%.

Maybe it has something to do with Walker Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris recording robocall’s for Gingrich that say this:

“As my wife Jean and I watched the GOP debate, we were trying to decide which of the candidates would be best to do head-to-head combat with President Obama,” and “Now, I didn’t say hand-to-hand combat, even though I think they would win there too.  Jean and I decided that Newt Gingrich would be the best man to beat President Obama.”

I mean, in Florida it seems Mitt Romney was able to convince voters Gingrich was too capricious to be trusted as the nominee. However, I would imagine that the Southern Voters identify with Norris better than a negative ad wielding Mormon form from out east.  Some people do see his religion as something that will harm him in the general election.

Romney fire has been focused on Santorum as of late, possible opening up room for Gingrich.  It must sting Romney, at least a little, every time he is able to burn one candidate, the voters go to another.  Romney is already whining about the possibility of a brokered convention, likely an attempt to scare conservatives into voting for him.  Maybe he should stop talking about his friends that are NASCAR and NFL Teams owners.

Despite Romney’s claim that he is winning conservative voters, the opposite is happening.  We know conservative voters are sick of hearing Romney is the nominee [Trump], or a vote for anyone else is just a vote for a deadlocked convention [Dick Morris].  Well these two think Romney is likable enough.  Maybe it is the “y’all’s he has suddenly gotten so fond of [are you kidding me, who thought that was a good idea]. 

Gingrich is counting on this very outcome as part of his strategy to become the nominee.

Over that last few weeks, many have called on Gingrich to exit the race [I am one of them] in the hopes that a united conservative base would stop Romney from winning the nomination.  I still believe it would.  So why is Gingrich staying in the race? If you ask him, he will tell you it is because:

“I went to work to change Washington,” Gingrich said. “This is somebody [Santorum] who had Washington change him. He had to go along. I am not running to go along to get along.”

Despite the hyperbole nature of this argument, Gingrich does have a valid plan, it is a long shot, but not unprecedented in American politics.

For starters, According to the RNC, Gingrich has more bound delegates than Santorum at this point: Gingrich has won 107 delegates compared to Santorum’s 95.  According to a story that was first broke by Huffington Post [yucky], Santorum’s wins have come almost from all caucus states, and for the most part, those delegates are not bound to a candidate in the first round of voting.  That is what Gingrich is counting on winning the nomination.

There are going to be a significant amount of delegates that are able to change their mind either before or at the convention.  Gingrich only needs to see Romney and Santorum fall short of the required 1,144 delegates.

Before Super Tuesday, Jim Galloway broke the math down why if Romney did not sweep the states, then he would be hard pressed to get all the delegates before the convention. 

According to Politico’s delegate tracker, which does include bound delegates the list looks like this:

Romney – 424, Santorum – 212, Gingrich – 103, and Paul – 2; there are 82 unallocated.

Here are the lists of bound and unbound delegates.

Here is a list of unbound delegates by state: AL-3; AK-3, American Samoa, Ark.-3, CA-3, CO-36, CT-3, DE-17, DC-3, Guam-9, Hawaii-3, ID-9, IL-69, IN-19, IA-28, KY-3, LA-21, ME-24, MD-3, Mass.-3, Minn.-40, MS-3, Montana-26, Neb.-3, NM-3, NY-3, NC-3, ND-28, Northern Marina-9, OH-3, OK-3, OR-3, PA-72, PR-3, RI-3, SD-3, TE-3, TX-3, UT-3, Virgin Islands-9, VA-3, WA-3, WV-3, Wis.-3, WY-29.

Here is a list of bound delegates by state: NH (12), SC (25), FL (50), Nev. (28), AZ (29), MI (30), Wash. (40).

Here is a list of winner -take-all state contests that have already happened: AZ-29; FL-50; SC-25. Michigan was winner-take- all at the congressional district level.

Here is the list of winner-take-all state contests still to come: CA-169, DE-17, DC-16, MD-34, NJ-50, PR-20, UT-37, and WI-39.

There five other states:  IN, KS, MI, VT, and VA that all have various winner take all fat the congressional district level.  In VT, Romney got 9 delegates while Santorum got 4, and Paul got 4. Romney got 43 in VA, and Paul got 4. KS netted Santorum 33 delegates, and Romney 7.  Michigan netted Romney 16 and Santorum got 14.

If you look at these lists, you can see that it is possible that Gingrichsurvives this.  Romney could get the 720 delegates he needs, but they would not all be bound.  There is a possibility that Romney does not get to 1,144 even with the unbound delegates added, which in that case there are going to be a lot of unbound delegates.

Just for this exercise, Let us say Gingrich can dominate each of the remaining southern states: Alabama (50) and Mississippi (40), then Louisiana (46), Arkansas (36), Kentucky (45), Texas (155), and New Mexico (23), he would end up with 498 delegates.  After watching Gingrich come back two times already, I would not be willing to write him off just yet.

Spreading Rumors that Gingrich is planning to pick Rick Perry asVP if nominated would make many conservatives happy as well as pick him up some support in southern states like Texas. Even if both camps have attempted to quash the speculation. 

Gingrich could conceivably last until the convention, and then somehow talk the unbound delegates into voting for him over Romney or Santorum.  I am not exactly sure that this would happen, but it is not impossible. The goal for Gingrich is to simply make sure Romney cannot clench the nomination himself. Once at the convention, he would then have to talk enough delegates into fleeing other candidates.

The big problem, other than this being highly unlikely, is that in pursuing this strategy, he all but guarantees that Rick Santorum does not get enough delegates, while risking that Romney does get enough to clinch the nomination. 

Then there is the likelihood that even if it play out the way Gingrich envisions up to the convention, that the delegates do not go to him, but decide that Romney is the best positioned to beat Obama.

Maybe Santorum is right and the delegates choose him instead.

It seem an awful high risk from a man who once said that Romney must not be the nominee because he was not conservative enough to beat President Obama.  The risk is that if Romney wins because Gingrich refused to leave the race and endorse Santorum, one has to wonder what was more important to Gingrich, beating Obama, or him being the nominee.  Most people would say the two are mutually exclusive.  Will Gingrich’s great gamble pay off for him, the Republican Party, or the country for that matter. 

The recent news that President Obama’s approval ratings are falling may just give Gingrich that opening to make a case it is time for a conservative president again, a real one this time.  Gingrich’s whole stradegy depends on Mississippi and Alabama swinging his way, and there are a few reasons to believe they just might do that.

Wild in Wichita Results
Charles Koch Arena
Wichita, KS
Saturday March 10th, 2012

Radishing Rick Rube- Agronomist (D) w/the Green World Order vs. K-Roy (R) – Rube made his PCW debut with the GWO and won when he smashed a flower pot over K-Roy’s head.

Miss USA (R) def. Emily S. List (D) – The crowd was really hot for Miss USA.  List came out and cut a promo about Republicans being anti-women douchebags and called Miss USA a douchebag for siding with with them.  Miss USA won with the Patriot Missile after Code Pink came out and accidently Glitter Bombed List.

‘American Citizen’ Kevin Scott (I) def. Steve Torino- King of Old School Sales.   Torino did a power point presentation before the match started and insisting that Scott didn’t know how to use the software so he kept showing him.  Scott got annoyed and then took Torino’s laptop computer and broke it over his head.

PCW Women’s Champion Kathryn Randall Collins (D) def. Lani Harlot (R) in a title match.  KRC got help from Union Maid (D) early on when Harlot locked in the White Trash Compactor and nearly forced her to submit.

‘PCW’s Queen of Extreme’ Valora Salinas (I) def. Brad Company (I)
-Post match, Valora cut a scathing promo on PCW Television Champion ‘The One Man Hollywood A-List’ Stone Chism following up on her beatdown on Chism Thursday night.

PCW Tag Team Champions Big Union: ‘The Self-Described Savior of the Middle Class’ Big Labor and James the Jeep Worker (D) def. Charlie Blackwell and Mike the Mechanic (AmHeart) -Post match, Big Union continued to attack Blackwell and Mike until Scott Walker (R-WI) came out with his Walker’s Rangers and made the save.

From Cheyenne, Wyoming: Yamamoto Tanaka (R) w/’The Massachusetts Redblood def. RINO-The Wonk Machine
-Tanaka made his stand in Wyoming and hit RINO with the Japanese SuperDestroyer for the win.  Romney was very pleased.

Wild in Wichita Match:
A. Tom Bomb (R) w/Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Daisy Cutter-Bomb def. Magnum PO’d (R) w/Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Texas Jack (R) w/Ron Paul (R-TX)

Much ado has been made recently about the demise of the Republican Party and the growing sense in the New York/Washington bubble that Obama will be re-elected.  It’s certainly possible the ?improving? jobs’ numbers and economic data could give Obama enough momentum to slide into a second term.  Certainly his media advantage, his wars on conservatives, women, and the productive sector have ginned-up his base, at least somewhat.  But there are definite signs out there Obama is not a sure thing and could be a real long shot this November. “ Obamalaise,” Kyle Olson of the New York Post calls it, has begun to infect the electorate.  It is spreading more deeply than the MSM will let on.

There are two ways to study populations in the social sciences.  One is through objective measures of attitudes like with polls and surveys.  The other is through use of case studies.  I’m going to use both methods to show just how Obama is becoming the persona non grata of the political world.

First,  some polls.  For the most part, Obama has been buoyed recently by the messy Republican primary fight and the brouhaha of the contraception proposal.  His numbers have ticked up among women probably due to the ‘free’ contraception promise since that seems to affect women more.  But, the other is the media’s daily narrative about the GOP trying to do something mean in regards to contraception.   In any case, this has given Obama a little breathing room eight months out.

But, that isn’t really helping the overall case for the Democrats.  The Rasmussen tracking poll taken March 10, 2012 shows Romney with a six point edge over Obama and Santorum with a statistically insignificant one point lead.  But, the Republicans are still divided and the Democrats are supposedly united.  Moreover, Obama can’t even get above 50% against Gingrich, the candidate with the widest margin.  Obama has 48% and Gingrich has 40%.  Of course, these tracking polls and surveys are quite fungible this early in the race.  However, Obama has other more intractable problems with how he is perceived.

According to Gallup in a survey of adult voters, not registered or likely voters but all adults, 50% see Obama’s presidency as a failure.  What is really telling is 53% of independents think Obama’s failed.  That’s a margin that is almost impossible to overcome, especially as gas prices begin to rise and its effect on the economy begins to slow this flabby recovery.  To conclude a president has failed is quite a powerful sentiment.  Forty-four percent believes he’s succeeding, not exactly room for error.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/153152/Obama-Approval-Averages-February.aspx

So, some of the objective evidence is decent, some not so good for the Democrats, but they have hope.  Right?

Let’s consider some of my informal case study evidence.  My first exhibit is the Minnesota GOP District Convention where I was recording secretary.  I’ve already discussed our caucuses were far more diverse than I anticipated.   What struck me about these delegates and alternates at the convention was how young they were.  Half the assemblage was in their twenties or thirties.  Two thirds of the delegates were younger than 50.  We are constantly being told the GOP is old, white, male and doomed to extinction.  Not if these people have their way.  There was fire in the belly at this meeting.  So much so that when a resolution to defeat Obama and the Democrats in November was voted on the meeting was thunderous in its approval.  There was no dissent to record.

Now, it was a Republican gathering but it wasn’t tired, complacent, or wary, at least not about the dangers this president and his extreme wing of the Democratic Party pose.  This was an excited group with many Ron Paul supporters.   They weren’t delegates to a state district convention on a 65 degree day in March in Minnesota to vote for Obama if Paul doesn’t get the nod. These Paul supporters are committed to building a grassroots party that will extol libertarian virtues and limited government in people’s lives.  I was impressed and quite pleased.  With people like this moving through the ranks, the GOP needn’t worry about becoming a corpse.

My next example is from our vacation.  Upon returning to San Juan, Puerto Rico, we signed up with a tour to use our last day seeing this U.S. territory.  One of the first stops the driver took us to was the statues of the U.S.  presidents outside their legislative building.  He stopped the bus at Obama’s statue and asked if people wanted to get pictures.  Not a person moved.  Not a sound was made.

I later found out several people on this tour were public school teachers on spring break from New York.  Public union employees from the People’s Republic of New York, and not a one of them wanted a happy snap of the Dear Leader.  If this doesn’t illustrate the bloom being off the rose, I don’t know what does.

Hell, it isn’t just the bloom that’s fading; the damned leaves are falling off as well.

Now this certainly isn’t conclusive evidence of an Obama defeat.  It is evidence of an energized opposition, a growing conservative youth movement, and the specter of an Obama non grata among his rank and file this fall.  With half the country concluding he’s a failure and trouble garnering support even when facing a still divided GOP, Obama’s path isn’t nearly as primrose as we are being told.  In fact, it could be far thornier for a Democratic Party that has bet the house on this president and his radical allies.  They may be rather sullen come November.

Crossposted at Looktruenorth.com

Without Gingrich, Romney is still the likely Nominee, but with Him, Romney wins a plurality.

The numbers just do not add up to anyone stopping Mitt Romney’s path to the nomination as long as Newt Gingrich is still in the race.  Any objective observer should tell you that right now, the only chance there is to stop Romney lies in a united conservative base.

The overall vote totals should leave you to believe that if there were only one conservative/not-Romney in this race, then Romney’s path would have some huge hurdles placed in front of it.

Romney’s wins are coming when either there is a strong home state like advantage (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or one of the states that have a heavy Mormon populace built in), and he had to outspend his opponents by 3-1, 2-1, and sometimes 5-1. There are more people voting against Romney than there is voting for him.

Romney won Massachusetts by 220,000 votes on Super Tuesday, and none of the conservatives were on the ballot in Virginia, he is still not holding over half of the votes cast.

There is still some chance that Romney does not become the nominee, but this happens only if either Santorum or Gingrich drops out.  Gingrich has not done well in a state outside of Georgia since the electorate got a glimpse of what millions in negative advertising does to his support.

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.

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.

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 simply no comparison between Romney’s campaign apparatus and Santorum’s primitive organization.  Yes, a win is a win, and Romney is racking up many important ones.  But if superior money and organization is the only way to compensate for his flaccid appeal to the public, then what does that say about his chances against Obama in the general election when he will lack those advantages?

2) Ron Paul was able to garner 41% against Romney in Virginia, where Santorum and Gingrich were off the ballot.  He even won CD-3, picking up 3 delegates. This is not a vote of confidence in Mitt Romney.

3) All the talk of Romney closing in on Santorum in Tennessee was unfounded.  Romney clearly does not resonate in the south, even with Santorum trending down and splitting the vote with Gingrich, and even as he put some resources into the state late in the game.  In fact, Romney’s Super PAC outspent Santorum 3-1.  In the end, he only won 3 counties by narrow margins. Romney clearly has a problem with southern and evangelical voters, a key component of the GOP base.  From here, the show moves on to Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and then Missouri.  Rick Santorum should be in a strong position to win those states.

4) According to exit polls, 50% of Massachusetts voters feel that Romneycare went too far.

5) Newt put almost all of his time and treasure into winning his home state.  He won it. Yay!  But he came in third place even in other southern states like Oklahoma and Tennessee.  He has been coming in dead last in almost every primary.  If he really wants to see Romney defeated, he is clearly not the one with the credible plan to do so.  Santorum definitely has a more legitimate narrative.

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 simply no comparison between Romney’s campaign apparatus and Santorum’s primitive organization.  Yes, a win is a win, and Romney is racking up many important ones.  But if superior money and organization is the only way to compensate for his flaccid appeal to the public, then what does that say about his chances against Obama in the general election when he will lack those advantages?

2) Ron Paul was able to garner 41% against Romney in Virginia, where Santorum and Gingrich were off the ballot.  He even won CD-3, picking up 3 delegates. This is not a vote of confidence in Mitt Romney.

3) All the talk of Romney closing in on Santorum in Tennessee was unfounded.  Romney clearly does not resonate in the south, even with Santorum trending down and splitting the vote with Gingrich, and even as he put some resources into the state late in the game.  In fact, Romney’s Super PAC outspent Santorum 3-1.  In the end, he only won 3 counties by narrow margins. Romney clearly has a problem with southern and evangelical voters, a key component of the GOP base.  From here, the show moves on to Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and then Missouri.  Rick Santorum should be in a strong position to win those states.

4) According to exit polls, 50% of Massachusetts voters feel that Romneycare went too far.

5) Newt put almost all of his time and treasure into winning his home state.  He won it. Yay!  But he came in third place even in other southern states like Oklahoma and Tennessee.  He has been coming in dead last in almost every primary.  If he really wants to see Romney defeated, he is clearly not the one with the credible plan to do so.  Santorum definitely has a more legitimate narrative.

Read More →