Fresh Doubts About Republican Contest

[elleng]

Mr. Romney, whose message has been built around the proposition that he can create jobs, lost badly among voters who said they were very worried about the economy, according to exit polls.

He had trouble with evangelicals and voters searching for a candidate who shared their faith. He did not win over people who support the Tea Party movement. And he struggled with questions about his wealth over the past week and could not match Mr. Gingrich in exciting the passions of conservatives.

His arguments of electability — the spine of his candidacy — fell flat to a wide portion of the party’s base here.

For all that, by most traditional measures, Mr. Romney retains a firm upper hand in the Republican race as it moves into a protracted battle to win 1,144 delegates.

He is on the ballot in all states, while Mr. Gingrich is not. . .

He limps away from the state Sunday with one win fewer and primary results that have started turning the race into exactly what he did not want it to be: a faceoff against a conservative candidate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/us/politics/south-carolina-raises-new-doubts-about-republican-contest.html?hp

[Skip Intro]

1. Only Romney and Paul are on all the ballots. Newt fades after tongiht. nt

[Old and In the Way]

2. What a hoot if Mitt wins because he's uncontested in enough states....but loses to Newt in the

contested ones. Can you imagine how the Republican voter is going to take this? I think either will be a wounded duck by the time the nomination is settled...but the Party unhappiness will be acute if Mitt was to win, based on Newt not running.

[msongs]

3. rebellion at the convention or the newties stay home in November. oh too bad lol nt

[stockholmer]

5. 'rebellion at the convention'

Be careful of what you wish for, as a far stronger candidate (tailored for the current circumstances of that time, ie possible Iran war, large economic downturn, etc) may emerge from a brokered convention unscathed from the brutal damage the primaries did to the current crop of thugs.

[xtraxritical]

7. This tawdry GOP primary of clowns

may have a calculated hidden agenda. It may all just be smoke and mirrors covering the real objective of making Bohner seem more presidential as he is brokered at the convention. Plausible conspiracy?

[Kurmudgeon]

11. You explain exactly my fears. Jeb or some other Bush-Oil Corp-Munitions clown would get the nod.

And after the 2000 election, I'll just say I don't have all that much confidence either in the electoral system or the American voting public. And even if Obama gets thru 2012, 2016 looms ahead.

[elleng]

15. Right. Afraid of Jeb in that circumstance.

[Iliyah]

4. OOPS

and with the average America voters, SC will just be a memory in approx. 1 week. Can I say flavor of the month.

One thing I did learn from Newt's win in SC, it taught a lesson to my children that you can "f" and f-up whomever you want as long as you hate that B man in the WH.

[ge626dfil]

6. very true

[Rhiannon12866]

8. Agree on both points

Could it be that Mittens just wasn't "hateful" enough?

[creeksneakers2]

9. That's Santorum's problem too

Newt won because he is the nastiest of them all. They say he wins debates but he doesn't prevail on logical arguments. He tells people off, and that's what the crowd wants.

[Old and In the Way]

14. The republican base gravitates to authoritarians that reflect their parochial values.

That is Newt's calling card. Mitt projects a Party image of 30+ years ago....that is no longer relevant in today's Republican Party. Everyone pines about their love for Ronald Reagan...if he were running today, I doubt he'd never make through the primary process.

[SemperEadem]

16. no one yet has the balls to go HAM on him, that's why

they're trying to preserve decorum, but Neut is one of those people you have to push, like Nicholson in "A Few Good Men". He has to be pushed to the point of outting himself and none of them are man enough to do it.

"The best defense is a good offense" is his game. Had John King been up on the facts of Gingrich's past he could have stood totally in the truth and been a journalist and done an effective job of push-back. "It was ABC who did the interview" was some weak sauce on the part of King in defending it. In that sense, gingrich was right--why is CNN leading with it then? Yeah, John, why are you bringing it up like a little bitch if you dont' have anything more than "well, they're the ones who ran it..."

That why Gingrich gets away with fobbing off his complicity in his past transgressions as "the Main Stream Media with a vendetta". '???? Dude! The media wasn't the one having an affair with Marianne when you asked your sick wife for a divorce. They weren't the one in between Callista's thighs while you were married to Marianne---you were.

They aren't the one who made you do whatever it was you did to warrant an ethics investigation in the first place. You thought it was good policy to do what you did and you got thumped for it.' Don't be mad if it keeps coming up.

To put it in a Scalia context: "then dont' run for president if you don't want to discuss what is on the Congressional Record as to what you did". THAT is your truth, s0n.

God may forgive, but he's not registered to vote for president in any state in the union and if someone tried to register him, that would be illegal. Now. Back to us mortals who will decide your fate--us mortals who have a bit of an issue with you irreverent and indifferent attitude to breaching one of the backbones to your alleged "family values" society: the ability of grown man to hold fast to his vows. There should be some level of indignation from way more people that this man presume to aspire to be the leader of the free world when he's shown time and time again that he can't keep faithful to ANY vow he has ever taken in the past. Quite frankly he has done nothing to deserve to make this vow--this oath to the office of presidency-- the one that changes all things.

Why is someone who was run out of town on ethics charges--that goes directly to character--even in a race for the highest office in the country? WTF is that about?

[Rhiannon12866]

18. I believe they're calling this "red meat" for the faithful

But how would that work with a POTUS? I try to imagine how a candidate would fare in delicate negotiations with the I/P situation, or with Iran or China. Somehow, I don't think shouting them down would be particularly effective.

[underpants]

10. Newt is a byproduct of the free TV time - the debates

They have had 16 (I think) debates. All free TV time. The good side for them is obvious - free time on TV to introduce themselves to their audience. The bad side is that they would have to eventually attack each other weakening whichever product emerges as the nominee. The byproduct is that self-promotion tours like Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich's look like actual campaigns when they are not. Cain was introducing himself to the national audience, while still making paid motivational speeches, in hopes of landing a Fox News TV show (like Huckabee). Newt was re-introducing himself to conservatives many of whom were too young to remember when he was relevant - 13 years ago. Neither had an actual campaign because they didn't want to spend their money.

[Sera_Bellum]

12. Ask most teachers

after a few years if they remember the F students or the C or B students. They will tell you the F and the bullies.

The GOP electorate are a cruel bunch, capable of inflicting pain just for fun. It matters not if supporting sadistic policies hurt even them.

[Zambero]

13. Romney to GOP conservatives:

Hey folks,
Sorry to say this but you're pretty much stuck with me. It's that plurality thing you know. Now go forth and support me in your state primaries, and just forget those lesser more conservative candidates that have been making the going rough as of late. Hand me that nomination on a platter, make Karl Rove's (and Wall Street's) day a happy one, and I'll gladly accept your votes come November. At 15% I pay way too much in taxes and I aim to pay a LOT less once I'm in office even if you unwashed types won't be getting any breaks. As for whoever was governor of Massachesetts for 4 years during the previous decade, "don't pay attention to that moderate behind the curtain". He's flipped and flopped solidly to the right since then. Good, now here's a bumper sticker.

P.S. Thank you God, for Citizen$ United and the generous flow of ca$h from all those "unaffiliated" PACs out there. On to victory!

[Beacool]

17. Gingrich is scary.

I can't imagine why Republican voters think that he has any chance of winning in the general election.