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Posted on 01/10/2012 5:41:43 PM PST by Mustang Driver
The polls closed in New Hampshire and 12 seconds later, the Associated Press declared Mitt Romney the winner. I could have told you that 4 years ago. He is a past governor of Massachusetts.
Looks like a romp, with the Associated Press reporting: “CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Republican primary. Romney is the first Republican to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in a competitive race since Iowa took the lead-off role in 1976.”
Who finishes 2nd does not matter. On-Ray Aul-Pay will continue no matter what and Jon Huntsman has enough of Daddy’s money to continue through Super Tuesday in March. Maybe that is his plan. Hang on long enough to be the Mitt of 2016 or 2020.
The next stop is South Carolina on Saturday, January 21. Public Policy Polling has it: Mitt 27%, Newt 23%, Rick Santorum 18%, Steve Colbert (the Comedy Central presenter) 5%.
Hey, he paid for the poll.
Robert Stacy McCain is live-blogging from New Hampshire. He has been traveling the road to cover the race but after nearly a year of it, you have to wonder how much longer he should continue.
Over at Fire Andrea Mitchell, there is the diehard anti-Mitt line: “Here we go with first primary of the 2012 season. The only way Mittens wins tonight is if he gets more than 35% of the vote in my opinion.”
Looks like he will.
Allahpundit’s live-blog at Hot Air does his best to keep it interesting: “Suddenly, 40 percent doesn’t sound so unlikely.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.dailymail.com ...
21% in..
Willard the Lib 35% ..About a 10% win SUCKS!!! Shoulda been double that in his home state.
Nutjob 25%
Hunts 17%
NEWT 10%
Rick #1 10%
Rick #2 1%
Romney will do well where ever democrats can vote and there is no democrat on the ballot.
South Carolina is vital, it’s our last chance to stop The Great Pretender. IMHO, conservatives need to rally around Rick Santorum. Michelle Bachman needs to endorse him, as do Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. Even Buddy Roemer needs to get on board, every vote counts. This is our last chance.
More like Karl Rove's plan. Keep foisting liberals on us and call them conservatives.
Where are Cain's and Palin's endorsements?
We're going to be stuck with this f**king car salesman Mittens.
Like I've said before, if it's close I'll put gloves on and vote for Scott Brown, because that slag that's running against him is to the left of Fidel Castro. No way will I vote for Mittens; I will blank the POTUS section of the ballot.
Now I've chosen to endorse an actual candidate (Santorum), since the primaries are actually underway and we really can't afford to split the conservative vote. Yet it seems many freepers are saying the opposite. We're hearing Newt, Santorum, and Perry are all "just fine" and would be equally good nominees. First off, that's not true (Perry and Gingrich would have a very difficult time winning a general election). Secondly, the fact is Romney will continue to win by plurality if conservatives split their votes.
The fact many freepers continue to believe Perry is a viable choice and is gonna make a big comeback any day now baffles me. The last update I read had about 50% of N.H's votes in and Perry was carrying less than 1% of voters and losing to "Other" (although he is beating Buddy Roemer). Clearly nothing can be accomplished by voting for Perry aside from splinting the conservative vote more (which I said long ago when he first jumped into the crowded primary)
I have to shake my head at how overwhelming pro-Newt the posters on FR are. Newt Gingrich, seriously? The best argument for him a laundry list of things passed by "Gingrich lead Republicans". Going by that logic, would FR also proclaim Trent Lott is a great conservative icon that had been "removed by a RINO-lead coup" if he were running in Newt's place? (I'd have to guess yes) I love FR but I haven't been on the side of most posters since the call for a "Forbes/Keyes" ticket in 2000 (and we all know how that turned out). Sadly, most posting here have a lousy pulse on the mood of the GOP electorate. This forum even overwhelmingly wanted Romney to be McCain's running mate in the aftermath of the 2008 primary (::still shudders at the thought of a McCain/Romney ticket), I wouldn't be surprised if he was polling no. #1 on FR if JimRob hadn't banned the vocally pro-Romney people.
It looks like Newt and Santorum are neck-and-neck for 4th place in N.H., both have roughly 10% of the votes there (Romney, Paul, and Huntsman are 1st, 2nd, 3rd ... all three are unacceptable choices for nominee). Of course in Iowa, Santorum was neck-and-neck with Romney while Gingrich was in a distant 4th. It's clear to me who's ahead at this point and it ain't Newt. Of course, if Santorum had come in 4th both times, I wouldn't be claiming he's the "front runner" like Newt's fans claim about him.
Overall, it's a weak GOP field, but surely we can do better than Mitt Romney. Santorum isn't my ideal candidate, if there were a whole host of decent conservatives running (Paul Ryan, Allan West, Jim DeMint, etc.), he'd probably rank about 4th or 5th on my preference list, but with Bachmann and Cain out it's clear to me he's the only DECENT conservative we have left (sorry, Newt's a slimeball and Perry's a doofus). I wish other freepers would come to their senses and support him. If Santorum doesn't do well in S.C. and Florida we're pretty much screwed and it's a Romney nomination. Running Newt would be suicide and Perry would probably find a way to lose the nomination if he was running unopposed.
If we do end up Romney as the defacto nominee by the time Illinois votes, I'm casting a protest for Santorum anyway. Screw the RINOs, I'm voting my conscience.
Mitt Romney is my last choice and I will not vote for him in the Republican primary. I’ve seen Ken dolls with more substance than him. Ron Paul has some good ideas, but is essentially a fringe candidate. I will still vote for him over Romney in the primary. Jon Huntsman is better than Romney, but that’s very scant praise.
I’ve concluded that Santorum is who conservatives need to rally around. Rick Perry has stumbled his way out of serious contention. Newt Gingrich is a great historian with a strong grasp of public policy, but has too many liabilities. He’s more suited to be White House Chief of Staff or Chief Domestic Policy Advisor than President.
South Carolina is ground zero, IMHO. If Romney wins there, I’m hard-pressed to see how he loses the nomination, barring some kind of major scandal.
Romney not getting over 40% in a NH is a loss. It’s his home turf.
Holy Insane Northeast, Batman!
Good luck with that.
“Perry would probably find a way to lose the nomination if he was running unopposed.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bravo!!!
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