Republican base thumbs its nose at Mitt and narrows the field to pick its final Not-Romney

[ProSense]

Republican base thumbs its nose at Mitt and narrows the field to pick its final Not-Romney

by Meteor Blades

With an endorsement from Gov. Nikki Haley, Mitt Romney couldn't win South Carolina. With an endorsement from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney couldn't win Minnesota. With an endorsement from Donald Trump ... well ...

The three-for-three trouncing the GOP establishment candidate took Tuesday in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri seems unlikely to keep him from getting his party's nomination. But the depth of distaste the Republican base has for him was on full display last night as county after county across three states chose the last remaining candidate who can claim the title of Not-Romney, Rick Santorum. Only in Colorado did Romney manage to eek out half as big a percentage of the vote as he got in his unsuccessful quest for the nomination in 2008.

While that may turn out to be only a bump on the road to Super Tuesday, it was one that produced a lot of droopy expressions in the Romney camp Tuesday night, starting with the candidate himself.

In a memo to reporters, Romney Political Director Rich Beeson tried to paste a smiley face on the situation:

"As our campaign has said from the outset, Mitt Romney is not going to win every contest. John McCain lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents will notch a few wins, too," Beeson wrote. "But unlike the other candidates, our campaign has the resources and organization to keep winning over the long run."

True enough. Romney, as he proved with his tsunami of spending in Florida, has vaults full of resources. But with Newt Gingrich a clear has-been with his blast in South Carolina now proved a one-off, the social conservative vote and the tea party vote can now swing fully behind Santorum, the true believer. No more getting the jitters from backing someone with the baggage of three marriages, ethics challenges and unfettered boastfulness. No need to fall into line to give the okay to Mitt the Moderate, whose shape-shifting views on every issue that matters to them ensures a lack of trust.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/08/1062786/-Republican-base-thumbs-its-nose-at-Mitt-and-narrows-the-field-to-pick-its-final-Not-Romney

Santorum beat Romney by 20 points in the Minn county where Tim Pawlenty has lived his entire life, and represented in the state House.

https://twitter.com/NKingofDC/status/167239683909226496

Boston, we have a problem

By Steve Benen

After Mitt Romney scored impressive wins in Florida and Nevada last week, it looked as though the race for the Republican presidential nomination had finally come into focus. The former Massachusetts governor was not only the clear frontrunner, but he was the presumptive nominee...When the dust cleared last night, Romney had failed this "important test" and Santorum could credibly claim that he, not Newt Gingrich, is the GOP frontrunner's principal rival going forward.

In Minnesota, Santorum won with an impressive 44.8% of the vote, while Romney, despite the enthusiastic support of Minnesotans like Tim Pawlenty and Norm Coleman, finished third. Remember, four years ago, Romney cruised to a 19-point win in Minnesota.

In Colorado, Santorum's margin was closer, beating Romney 40.2% to 34.9%, but this was a state Romney was supposed to win with relative ease. In 2008, the former governor crushed the competition in Colorado, winning with 42,218 votes, which was over 60% of the total. Yesterday, Romney's support was cut roughly in half.

And in Missouri, Santorum beat Romney by a whopping 30 points, despite the fact that Gingrich wasn't even on the ballot.

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http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10350309-boston-we-have-a-problem

GOP turnout troubles continue

By Steve Benen

<....>

So, what were the totals last night? In Minnesota, with nearly all of the precincts reporting, 47,826 Republicans participated in the caucuses, down about 23% from four years ago.

In Colorado, with all of the precincts reporting, 65,479 GOP voters showed up, a drop of nearly 7% from the 2008 totals.

And in Missouri's non-binding primary, with all of the precincts reporting, turnout stood at 251,868. That's quite a few for a primary dismissed as a "beauty pageant," though as Cohen noted, the comparison is admittedly flawed.

Nevertheless, we can start to take some larger lessons away from the larger trajectory. For one thing, none of this makes Mitt Romney look especially impressive -- he's losing states he won four years ago; he's struggling to get his supporters to participate; and he's failing badly to match his 2008 vote totals at this stage in the process. It's starting to look like Romney only wins when he spends several million dollars on attack ads to destroy his main challenger.
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http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10350624-gop-turnout-troubles-continue

That's Romney's strategy in a nutshell. The Koch brothers, Rove and others are building that war chest.

[Orsino]

1. I think Gingrich was the last NotMitt...

...and am not convinced that Santorum could have won a fight for actual delegates in any of these three states.

[Matariki]

2. Maybe he'll lose the popular vote in the primary

Last edited Wed Feb 8, 2012, 03:01 PM - Edit history (1)

and the Republican establishment will select him anyway. That would be great actually - nothing like a republican base angry at it's party at election time

[ProSense]

3. Fairly

certain that Romney will get the MO delegates even though he lost the state by 30 points.