Posted on 02/15/2012 7:09:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Via BuzzFeed. As expected, they’re going hard after his fiscal heresies. I’m giving you Santorum’s new ad here too, which is noteworthy first because he touts his tea-party cred (ironic) and second because he’s now making electability a core component of his pitch. No other Not Romney has been in that position before — but the numbers do back him up, for now:
One thing that has remained constant in the ever changing GOP Presidential race is that Mitt Romney is the strongest candidate against Barack Obama…at least until now. PPP’s newest national poll finds Romney trailing Obama by 7 points at 49-42, while Santorum trails by only 5 points at 49-44…
Santorum’s net favorability is 21 points better than Romney’s. Santorum’s at -7 (39/46), while Romney is at -28 (29/57). That’s mostly because Republicans like Santorum a lot better (+40 at 62/22 to Romney’s +2 at 43/41). But Santorum also does a good deal better with independents, coming in at -6 (40/46) to Romney’s -23 (32/55). In the head to heads Obama leads Romney by 9 with independents, but has only a 4 point advantage on Santorum with that group.
Santorum’s also viewed slightly more favorably by independents than Romney is, and his favorable rating among Republicans is now a point better than Mitt’s — thanks to a 13-point surge since last month among Republicans who lack a college degree. Gonna be awfully hard for Santorum to resist going full metal populist on Romney if those numbers hold or even improve. On the other hand:
I’m amazed that Mitt’s numbers are perfectly steady over the past month. I guess the loss in South Carolina to Newt, the big win in Florida, and then the kinda meaningless but kinda not sweep by Santorum in the midwest last week all canceled each other out. But this is what I meant in yesterday’s post about a potential Romney death spiral: What happens if/when these perceptions of his electability start to fade? If Santorum beats him on his own turf in Michigan, will undecideds and other tepid Romney supporters start to break toward Sweater Vest because they finally believe that he really might win? See why Michigan is so huge now?
Exit question: Will Romney challenge Santorum’s supposed electability on grounds that his social views are too far right? Don’t look now but there’s already a gender gap developing between them.
I was hoping on Newt taking the fight to Obama...I'm skeptical about Rick S. being able to do it. I'm still holding out for Newt though. We'll see.
The anti-Santorum ads have started on the radio here in Ohio - it’s going to be a long three weeks!!
“I’m the last person on earth who’d support political correctness, but you just DON’T show politicians getting shot at with rifles. That’s a TERRIBLY conceived ad.”
Fully agree.
Besides it is done in such a bad taste, it made me want to puke.
This mud shooting ad by Santorum was excellent. I really think more people will be piqued with such easy going ads than the ones that actually do sling the lies. I live in MO and you can take Jim Talent and throw him to the wolves. Trying to submerge Santorum with bad mouthing a vote that you yourself also cast in the Senate is disgusting.
I’m not defending Willard -— but, this IS Rick’s voting record. Let Santorum defend it. That’s what campaigns are all about.
Agree. But to be fair, no one, even here, has accused Santorum of being the sharpest pencil in the box.
Ricky Rooster had a farm
ee i ee i oh!
and on that farm he did some harm
ee i ee i oh!
with a chop chop here and a chop chop there...
here a chop, there a chop, everywhere a chop chop
Ricky Rooster, who needs you?
ee i ee i oh!
Let me have the GINGRICH ZOO
ee i ee i oh!
with a tax-cut here, pipe-line there
here a cut, there a cut, everywhere a GOV CUT!!!
Ricky Rooster —> big gov guy <—
ee i ee i oh!
Check his record, you’ll know why
eei eei oh!
h3// no
All this whining by Santorum about the big money attacks is really wearing thin.
LOL
That’s funny
It may have been effective against Newt because Newt had high negatives. His years in congress, his schlong control problems and his abrasive manner all made the negative advertising credible.
Rick Santorum, OTOH, is genuinely likable. The only thing they have on him is some pork barrel and parochial votes when he was representing Pennsylvania, his 2004 endorsement of Arlen Specter and his 2006 re-election drubbing at the hands of the current #1 male village idiot in the U.S. Senate.
Baggage, yes! But far less than any of the others.
I hope you are wrong about “Saint Rick.”
Not my choice of words but I understand and concur with the strong emotions it expresses. What gets me about Romney is his phony nice-guy persona, when his proxies are spending millions on negative ads to ruthlessly destroy his opposition. A straight-up guy would at least admit to what he was doing.
I have zero respect for someone like that. And the interesting thing is that the American people seem to intuitively sense the same - which explains the fact that the more people know about the man, the more they dislike him.
Romney’s attack dogs will soon be out in full force after their latest prey. They remind me of those who use a static analysis when predicting the impact of either tax increases or decreases. They look at the Gingrich, Cain, Perry and Santorum supporters as robotic Republicans, who will ignore the viciousness with which their preferred candidates were attacked and, after Romney is victorious, will support him with the same enthusiasm. The reality is that Romney has so poisoned the well that many who supported other candidates will simply sit on the sidelines, rather than support a man whose actions betray a cold-blooded attitude towards those who oppose him.
I have to say Mitt Romney is the dirtiest politician I’ve ever seen. I want to hurl obscenities at him but he’d just smirk some more...
Someone must’ve told “Saint Rick”,
You can hook ‘em surely,
squarely on the social stuff,
the rest you can be squirrelly.
They won’t care about the pork,
the big gov stuff means nil.
Small government? They’ll stick a fork
~ a sweater vest will thrill.
They won’t mind your record weak
on spending, votes or loss.
All they want’s for you to speak
good words. The rest they’ll toss.
Good for Mitt RS needs to be vetted. Now let’s get his answer on ObamaCare.
Pardon me, Hoosier, I meant to ping hoosiermama to post #36!
“t. “He voted for Medicare Part D, a big expansion of a federal entitlement,” Talent said of Santorum.
The problem was, Talent himself was in the Senate at the time, and he also voted for Medicare Part D.”
Everyone is for medicare part D. We’re going to spend $$$ on surgeries but not on the prescription drugs that would prevent the need for expensive surgeries in the first place?
“How effective will they be in Romney’s effort to condemn Santorum as a big spender? “
I don’t know how Mr. Romneycare will be able to do that but at least he’d be attacking him from the right on that issue instead of from the left (unlike some freepers!)
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