Romney’s carpet bombing coming home to roost

Legal Insurrection ^ | 2/8/12 | William Jacobson

[Lakeshark]

So what did last night mean?

Rick Santorum won the two non-binding caucuses where all candidates competed, and the Missouri non-binding primary where Newt was not on the ballot.

Does it mean that the Republican electorate all of the sudden has fallen in love with Santorum? That remains to be seen. Santorum has done well in three caucus states so far (IA, MN, CO), and very poorly in one caucus state (NV) and the three binding primary states where everyone competed (NH, SC, FL).

While Santorum deserves to bask in last night’s glow and the media will give him plenty to glow about for a day or two, Santorum cannot be considered the designated not-Romney until he proves he can win or at least do very well in big states with binding primaries where everyone competes.

In other words, let’s see how Santorum does on Super Tuesday. Then we can talk.
**snip**

A lot of people are disgusted with the way Romney has run his campaign, and it forced powerful voices like Sarah Palin and Mark Levin to speak out against the smears.
**snip**
In Colorado, 65,479 voters turned out versus 70,229 in 2008. In Minnesota, 47,836 voters turned out (95% reporting) versus 62,828 in 2008. In Missouri, 251,868 turned out versus 588,720 in 2008.
**nip**
We have a problem folks. Romney’s carpet bombing is coming home to roost.

[Lakeshark]

A good look at how Romney is depressing GOP primary turn out.

The truth: If Romney is our candidate, he will depress turn out big time in the general as well. It's why the media has been so kind to Mitt. Let's watch as they turn their guns on Santorum, and hope either he or Newt survive, because if they don't, it's going to be Romney, and we'll all want to go hide somewhere........

[BigSkyFreeper]

Those were some pretty expensive defeats he suffered yesterday.

[Diogenesis]

SEAMUS IS HIGH-FIVING

At last, Romney's karma has run over Romney's dogma.

---

Romney for Obama in 2008

Late in October, The American Spectator's The Prowler revealed:
"Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers…
have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election.
'Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,'
says one former Romney aide…
'The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney.
"Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a 'diva' and was going off message intentionally."

---

The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.

---

"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."

---

"Who's the Palin Leaker from the McCain Campaign?
National Review Online The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin
appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign.
... the source of the “Diva” leak was Nicolle Wallace’s husband."

---

"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"

"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"

"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"

"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"

"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"

---

[Lakeshark]

Let’s hope there are many more expensive defeats coming for Flipper........

[freeangel]

“Those were some pretty expensive defeats he suffered yesterday.”

‘Kind of makes me feel good all over. The problem for mittwit is WHO he spreads the dirt and slime around on Super Tuesday. He will now be forced to spend double to take on both Newt and Rick.

[Tennessee Nana]

What did Romney spend in each state ???

[Mountain Mary]

It’ll be interesting to see how the Romney attack machine operates now. Do they have the slightest clue that one of the reasons for their losses last night could just possibly be that God loving Midwesterners don’t take kindly to their now familiar signature character assassinations?

So do they go postal again or try to be a little bit “nicer” to Santorum this time? I say: Go for it Mittens and Co.!
We wanna see ya repeat your Fla manners playbook and spend 20 MORE M.! :-)
Their coffers can’t be endless, ya know. Let’s hope that Rom depletes some more of his “hard earned” contributions from his fave Super PACs.

[Sola Veritas]

“Let’s watch as they turn their guns on Santorum, and hope either he or Newt survive, because if they don’t, it’s going to be Romney.”

I have, and will to continue to support Newt. However, Santorum is the best candidate on Moral/Social issues, but Newt is the best overall candidate for all three pillars (social, national defense, & fiscal). IF either of these two come out on top I will be estatic...I wished they would team up. Whatever, it is time to see two common enemies - Romney then Obama.

[risen_feenix]

LOL, Diogenesis. That is exactly how I see Mitt.

[C. Edmund Wright]

Be careful how much glee you have over this vis a vis Mitt. Ok, I know it’s tempting. But the point is this: the anti Obama movement is being depressed - the whole party is being depressed - by Mitt’s tactics. This could spell the end of our nation as we know it.

Much as I despise Mitt, I do not wish to see that exchange just so he can get a taste he deserves .

BTW: I predicted this the day after Florida:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/mitts_scorched_earth_win.html

[Psalm 144]

“Let’s hope there are many more expensive defeats coming for Flipper........”

I agree. Willard has poisoned two election cycles now.

[Psalm 144]

Agreed on all points.

[BigSkyFreeper]

He spent most of his time and money campaigning in Colorado. I don’t have an exact figure but it was in the millions.

[Lakeshark]

I just hope Newt and Santorum don't take each other out.

I prefer Newt too, but would enthusiastically support Santorum if he pulls ahead.

[Tennessee Nana]

Their coffers can’t be endless, ya know.
___________________________________________

almost

the Mormon company in Salt Lake City has 100s of BILLIONS in the coffers...

[jimbo123]

[jimbo123]

[Lakeshark]

I do think Mitt has to be knocked out to stop the slide towards low turn out. He’s a bad candidate, milquetoast at its finest. If he continues to lose and eventually drops out, I’m thinking the issue of low turnout will clean itself up fairly well.

[livius]

Exactly. Romney is using some of his own money, but you can bet the Mormons have been funneling money to him ever since 2008, when he lost the primary but perked up Mormon hopes of getting a Mormon bishop into the White House.

They’re not going to give up without a serious and expensive fight.

[FrankR]

[livius]

Interesting, and true. Gingrich won in the counties in Florida where turnout was high, but Romney won in those where it was low. The GOP’s virtual proclamation of Romney as the candidate has had a steadily depressing effect on turnout, simply because people don’t like Romney but they also don’t like to bother voting if they think it’s already a done deal.

I don’t think these wins will have a big impact on Santorum’s chances (for one thing, two of them are non-binding and Newt wasn’t in the other one), but I think it’s the firmest statement so far that people don’t want Romney. Gingrich wasn’t expected to win in either of them, but Romney was. However, it seems that even the sort of middle of the roader semi-RINO type voters that probably populate some of these areas don’t want him.

Romney is creepy and mean and ruthless, and I think the more people see of him, the less they like him. I hope they see him not at all in the future and we can really get into picking a candidate.

[kevao]

The vicious Romney/GOP-e/Media slime assault against Gingrich in Florida has obviously alienated many, many conservatives. You reap what you so, Mittens....

[manc]

the establishment are so stupid and so desperate for their elitist north east establishment guy that they cannot even see how America is anymore.

If backed a guy who is a conservative instead of elitist northeast RINO Romney then they would know moderates agree on stopping the homosexual agenda,cross dressing agenda, they would know that the average person does not relate to Romney, they would know the north east and the beltway is not America

but more to the point, they would know that Romney is turning voters off, the man has been running for years and his numbers are down from last time, the voters are not coming out and we don’t have a candidate where the average voter is excited about.

Instead the establishment has attacked the likes of Sarah, ignored Allen West, those kind of people bring life and excitement not boring old elitist men from the beltway or the north east

[livius]

I don’t think Gingrich and Santorum are likely to team up. Remember, it was actually Santorum who launched the first personal attack ads in Iowa, and Santorum has kept launching whatever attack ads (attacking Gingrich) his budget permits.

Also, Gingrich and Santorum are far apart on spending and big government issues, with Santorum being very close to the GOP establishment positions in virtually everything except the pro-life area, where he is more conservative than the GOP e. In fact, probably the only position he and Gingrich share is a strong pro-life position, and beyond that, they’re very different. So I don’t see any alliance there!

[JediJones]

Here are the turnout numbers for 2008 and 2012. If you discount Missouri, overall turnout is down 4.7%. Florida was the massive turning point in popularity of the primary. It had a MASSIVE increase in turnout. Starting in Florida, turnout took a huge nose dive, and just got worse in Nevada and Minnesota, although Colorado was much better than those. It looks like people got massively excited about Newt, than Mitt destroyed Newt, and after a couple states people realized Santorum was the best available replacement for Newt.

2008 - 2012

119,188 - 122,255 - IA (up 2.6%)
239,315 - 248,448 - NH (up 3.8%)
445,677 - 603,856 - SC (up 35.5%)
1,949,498 - 1,672,352 - FL (down 14.2%)
44,324 - 32,894 - NV (down 25.9%)
588,926 - 251,868 - MO (down 57.2%)
70,229 - 65,479 - CO (down 6.8%)
62,837 - 47,836 (95% in) - MN (down 23.9%)

3,519,994 - 3,044,988 (down 13.5%)

2,931,068 - 2,793,120 (down 4.7% without MO)

[Scooter100]

As Ann Coulter said: ...."If Romney is the candidate, we'll lose."

Ann Coulter at CPAC 2011 - Question & Answer Session - 2/12/11

Approx. the 10:00 mark.

[JediJones]

Santorum’s already said in a debate a couple months ago that he would consider Newt as a V.P., I think back when Newt’s debate surge was first starting. I’m sure the establishment will try hard to stop that eventually if Santorum keeps going, probably make him a deal to support him as long as he doesn’t pick Newt.

[livius]

The one the establishment is really scared of is Gingrich, because he actually would make changes in DC. Santorum won’t, so I suspect that the GOP e will probably support him if Romney looks like he’s not going to make it (and it’s still early and Santorum still does not have a very good actual delegate count).

Santorum and Gingrich are philosophically miles apart, just like McCain and Palin...and we can see how well that one worked! Picking a candidate who is more likeable and more appealing on an ideas basis to be the VP candidate, hoping that people who don’t like the Presidential candidate will vote for the VP, never wins because people know that VP is a meaningless position, barring unforeseen accidents. And it only causes great friction because the Presidential candidate feels overshadowed.

[RygelXVI]

Gingrich and Santorum are far apart on spending and big government issues

Really?

Evidence?

Santorum & Gingrich were united in favor of the Balanced Budget Amendment that nearly passed.

Santorum & Gingrich were united in favor of the Medicare Part D prescription drug entitlement - Santorum later said it was a mistake.

Santorum & Gingrich were united in favor of earmark use as the duty of Congress to allocate government spending. (Gingrich promoted earmark usage as a way to help Republicans get reelected.)

Santorum & Gingrich are promoting radical tax reductions & reforms as a key part of their platforms.

[JediJones]

A Santorum/Newt ticket would be an almost identical repeat of Bush/Cheney. Since they got elected twice, I’d say it’s a good ticket.

[BlueMondaySkipper]

A Santorum/Newt ticket would be an almost identical repeat of Bush/Cheney. Since they got elected twice, I’d say it’s a good ticket.

But a Cheney/Bush ticket would have given us a better administration. Probably the same thing here. Gingrich/Santorum in 2012 and 2016 and then if they did a good job, Santorum/Palin in 2020