Mitt Romney’s Moment

ABC ^ | January 6, 2012 | Amy Walter

[Cincinatus' Wife]

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney has never looked stronger than he does today. He’s built up a huge lead in New Hampshire. The famously flat line of his support in Gallup polling is trending upwards.

And, in South Carolina – SOUTH CAROLINA – the former Massachusetts Governor is leading the pack with almost 40 percent of the vote, while the only southerner in the contest – Texas Gov. Rick Perry – has fallen to 5 percent.

It’s remarkable what an 8-vote victory over an underfunded and unknown candidate in Iowa can do to momentum.

The only question now: can anyone to stop him? And, will they use tonight’s ABC/WMUR debate here in Manchester to do it?

The candidate with the most room to grow – and the most to lose tonight – is Rick Santorum. After watching the other conservative alternatives to Romney rise and fall, Santorum is sitting in the right place at the right time.

But, Santorum won’t get a clean shot at Romney.

Instead, he’s just as likely to have to defend himself against attacks from Ron Paul who is struggling to hold onto second place here in New Hampshire and is in the hunt in South Carolina.

In Nashua, N.H. Friday, Paul questioned Santorum’s conservative credentials saying “four or five times he voted to raise the national debt, so that tells you how conservative he is.”

The Paul campaign is also releasing an ad in South Carolina that calls Santorum “another serial hypocrite who can’t be trusted.”

So, with Paul and Santorum potentially engaged in battle, can Romney simply float above the fray?

That all depends on what Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman decide to do.

[Mountain Mary]

“Perry’s problem is that he comes across as a dumb, fumble-mouthed Texan.”

He should have had debate coaching and sessions with Frank Luntz. He must have known his public presentation weaknesses previously and he didn’t address them.

[Georgia Girl 2]

The MSM has a tingle up its leg for Willard.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

When three out of four participants in a caucus vote against you, it is not a sign of strength.

[Always A Marine]

Perry is our only hope. I don’t care what anyone says. He has the record as a 10 year governor of a large state. He has the money. Unlike Gimgrich who is a DC insider with loads of baggage. Or Santorum who is underfunded and a recent (landslide) loser to little Bob Casey. It’s Perry... or we are stuck with Romneycare.

I believe you are right. The leftist GOP elite are proclaiming Romney's "inevitability," but Romney's 25% cannot win if the Conservative 75% stands firm. Conservatives can take the GOP Convention if we refuse to surrender.

[Servant of the Cross]

Mitt Romney's "Moment" will be when he realizes that all the "anti-Romney" votes are going to add up to more than the "Romney" votes.

You mean the same 'moment' that McQueeg had when he realized that his measly 33% in South Carolina and 36% in Florida in 2008 handed him the nomination? Romney is banking on the same path that McQueeg used in 2008. The longer three non-Romney's all stay in the race, the HIGHER the potential chance for the 2008 nightmare to be replicated and we get mitt shoved down our throats!

[Servant of the Cross]

And then he’ll realize that those ant-mittens votes are split 5 ways, and he’ll start smiling again and go back to watching his opponents fight it out amongst themselves.

Exactly. Damn, this has all the makings of the 2008 horror show again. Hello?

[trebb]

I would prefer Perry, but Newt would also be fine. Both speak their minds, but Newt is quicker on his feet. Sadly, the issues of how they would actually try to govern is taking a back seat to all the “intangibles”. When it was between McPain and Obummer, we were screwed either way. The only way we return to that condition is if Romney takes the final stage. While I think the “anybody but Obama” sentiment will be very helpful, I can see some lethargy, that might put Obama back, as a real danger if Mittens is “our guy”.

[RedMDer]

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[fightinJAG]

I’d thought the same for a while as well. Although Santorum is from PA, functionally he is like a political southerner balancing the ticket of a New Englander.

Santorum’s surge and, I think, run-for-it will define the race from now on.

As I see it, the closer Santorum gets to overtaking Romney, the more okay with a Romney/Santorum ticket people are going to become. If Santorum captures a large “market share” and, therefore, can help in a big way to deliver the presidency to Romney, it *should* mean that conservatives have a good stake (place at the table) in the administration.

I also thought it was possible that Santorum could take the nomination away from Romney, but the trends are otherwise. Romney has been accepted, just not acceptable, for a while. With Newt crashing (which, I think, is irreversible, but we’ll see) and Santorum showing a strong pulse, it’s almost as if the electorate suddenly said, OKAY, we’ll go with Romney already if we can get a strong conservative such as Santorum onto the ticket as well.

[Kenny]

Perry is our only hope. I don’t care what anyone says.

Agreed but Perry has to bring it tonight.

The biggest complaint about Perry is that he won't be able to take down Obama. So do it tonight, Governor. Show us how you will defeat Obama and I guarantee your numbers will go up.

[Diogenesis]

American FLIP FLOPPER, the Chameleon-Teflon Milt:
"I bet you $10,000 that I will be as conservative as Kennedy or McCain."

"Vote Count Error? Did Rick Santorum Really Win the Iowa Caucuses?
DES MOINES, Iowa - Edward True, 28, of Moulton, said he helped count the votes
and jotted the results down on a piece of paper to post to his Facebook page.
He said when he checked to make sure the Republican Party of Iowa
got the count right, he said he was shocked to find they hadn’t.
“When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I’ve got a
20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa,” True said. “Not Mitt Romney.”

"Several UNREPORTED news reports have it that Romney
did not win the Iowa Caucuses.
Barring any objective, verifiable proof that shows more than 12 votes mistakenly
being credited to Santorum, Romney lost."

"Could Typo Rewrite Caucus History? (Santorum may regain win)"

[leapfrog0202]