Push to Get Santorum Out Shows Romney’s Weakness

Conservative HQ ^ | 04-05-12 | CHQ Staff

[Lazlo in PA]

The Romney campaign’s phony delegate counts and establishment Republican calls for Rick Santorum to end his campaign, and allow Mitt Romney to claim the Republican presidential nomination without a majority of the delegates, expose the fatal weakness of the case for the Romney nomination.

Romney is far from having a commanding lead in delegates, and Romney is not “over half way there” as his camp and their establishment GOP allies claim. If the Republican National Committee rules are correctly applied, and the delegates elected by local caucuses in states the mainstream media has stopped following are allocated, Romney has more like 482 delegates, compared to Rick Santorum’s 331.

Romney’s desperate attempt to push Santorum out before the primary campaign moves back south to Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas masks the fear that if Texas changes to winner-take-all, as it appears poised to do, Romney’s lead would be wiped-out in one loss.

Romney has yet to win in the South or in the rural areas of key Midwestern states – his wins in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio were all powered by negative campaigns in urban media markets where he outspent Santorum 10 to 1. This is a tactic he won’t be able to repeat in the general election against the well-funded Obama machine.

Conservatives also note that a large chunk of Romney’s claimed delegates come from states, such as Maryland and his adopted home of Massachusetts, that he is unlikely to win in November and which have relatively little influence on the Republican electorate or activist convention delegates.

Romney is desperate to push Santorum out because he understands that if the nomination goes to the Convention floor he might hold those delegates after the first ballot, but his support from more conservative delegations, such as Virginia, would quickly melt away to a more conservative alternative, such as Santorum.

The Romney camp is making a grave error in trying to push Santorum out because they are confirming to grassroots conservative Republicans that Romney and his Washington establishment supporters really don’t care what they think.

As of now, 40 percent of the states have yet to vote. Rather than go forward to make the positive case for his nomination, Mitt Romney and the Republican establishment are desperately seeking to deny almost half of the Republican primary voters a voice in choosing their nominee. Such a tactic might very well garner Romney the nomination, but it will leave an enthusiasm gap that could all but doom the Republicans in November.

[Lazlo in PA]

I found this interesting in that it makes sense to me. If the delegate numbers were what the GOPe and Milt camp are peddling, they would not be in such an outright panic trying to push Rick out. Their actions don't match up with what they are telling us.

[Lazlo in PA]

Santorum for President Ping List.

FReepmail “Antoninus” to be added or removed.

[GeronL]

Correct. This primary is about half over.

Santorum needs to keep runnin hard

[Cricket24]

While I am a Newt supporter, I think am going to vote for Santorum in the PA primary just because I don’t want Romney to win PA!!

[Cricket24]

While I am a Newt supporter, I think am going to vote for Santorum in the PA primary just because I don’t want Romney to win PA!!

[skeeter]

There's always the chance the MSM & Obama will begin believing their own propaganda, assume Santorum's campaign is dead meat, and roll out their anti-Romney crusade too early.

It seems to me they've already stepped up their attacks.

[cripplecreek]

Then there's this memo floating around in the newsrooms.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- Rick Santorum's delegate count is much closer to front-runner Mitt Romney's than reported, a memo prepared for a conservative campaign huddle in Virginia says.

While most estimates show GOP presidential hopeful Romney with 657 or 658 delegates and Santorum with 273 to 281, "the real count" gives Romney 571 delegates and Santorum 342, the memo by delegate strategist John Yob of the Grand Rapids, Mich., political consulting firm Strategic National said.

Instead of Romney and Santorum being separated by nearly 400 delegates, as widely reported -- which suggests Romney has essentially sewn up the race -- the White House hopefuls are separated by only 229 delegates, said the memo published by CNN and reviewed by United Press International.

Memo: Romney delegates counted too high

[icwhatudo]

If Rick takes PA and Texas does move forward to a winner take all, Mittens might just get a scare.

[Lazlo in PA]

I have seen a lot of these analysis pieces lately pointing out that the Romney people are spinning a canard on the delegate count with relation to Rick and Milt. We are being sold a turd so that everyone jumps back on the inevitability bandwagon for Milt. It appears to be all smoke and mirrors.

[Eva]

....meanwhile, Romney begins his etch-a-sketch move to the left.

[cripplecreek]

Romney has yet to win in the South or in the rural areas of key Midwestern states – his wins in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio were all powered by negative campaigns in urban media markets where he outspent Santorum 10 to 1. This is a tactic he won’t be able to repeat in the general election against the well-funded Obama machine.

And that is exactly why Romney won't win the general election. He's taking the easy route to the nomination while alienating every "red county" in the country.

Santorum on the other hand has already won over those red counties and can count on them to be there in the general election. All he would have to do is pick up scattered blue counties for a win over Obama in states like Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin etc.

[murron]

I’m sick of seeing the news coverage already picking Romney’s VP running mate. Talk about counting chickens! I hope it comes back to bite him you know where!

[Vigilanteman]

Laz, we've got to be honest. Is isn't looking good for Rick at this point. He's a good man and I hope he will prayerfully do the right thing.

I just don't know what that is and only he can decide. If he loses the Pennsylvania Primary, his career is probably over. If he endorses Mittens now with certain conditions, he will start out 2016 as the front runner. He's still a relatively young man as presidential candidates go and I'm going to respect whatever decision he makes.

FWIW, I don't think Missouri has added a single delegate to his total yet, even though he won the February primary with over 50%. So, definitely, Mitt's delegate total is inflated but Santorum still definitely has a steep climb.

[bopdowah]

We need to let the candidates duke it out until there is only 1 left standing. Every voter in every state deserves their say. Why is it necessary for the media talking heads and their country-club Republican boot-lickers to crown one of their own boys early? Because they want to make things go their way - which is business as usual. In times past people didn’t care enough to get involved, so they got away with this. There is much more at stake now and people are paying attention and they don’t like what they see, that Romney is the Republican version of Obama. Because Romney is a rich Fat-Cat Republican out of touch with ordinary folks that are struggling, Obama could eat him for lunch.

[darrellmaurina]

Thank you for posting this, Cripplecreek... it's good info, and reminds me of old Grand Rapids memories.

I lost contact with the Yob family decades ago when I walked out of Republican circles, which by the mid-to-late 1980s I had become convinced were hopeless, and spent the next decade in ecclesiastical rather than secular politics. I'm glad to see the Yobs ended up on the right side of the RINO/Conservative fence. It's hard to tell from news media reports just how conservative somebody really is, but to be fighting for Santorum at this late stage of the battle, especially in a state like Michigan, shows convictions trump party loyalty.

[JCBreckenridge]

If Mitt thinks that Texas is going to be his first southern state, he’s gravely mistaken.

[darrellmaurina]

13 posted on Tue Apr 10 2012 10:59:47 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time) by Vigilanteman: “FWIW, I don't think Missouri has added a single delegate to his total yet, even though he won the February primary with over 50%. So, definitely, Mitt's delegate total is inflated but Santorum still definitely has a steep climb.”

My own county, which voted overwhelmingly for Santorum in the Missouri primary, had the caucus send a majority Romney slate to the district convention thanks to an unnecessary fight with the Ron Paul supporters that split the Santorum supporters between the moderate Santorum supporters who largely run the county party and the radical Santorum supporters who back a small local Tea Party group. That's te sort of thing that can happen in conventions.

[Antoninus]

Go Rick!

[samtheman]

Intrade has Hillary’s chance of being elected President in 2012 at 0.7%

It has Santorum’s chance of getting the Republican nomination at 0.5%

Hillary more likely to be President of the United States than Rick to be the Republican nominee?

That’s what the folks who put their money where their mouth is are saying.

[American Constitutionalist]

http://hardincountyconservatives.blogspot.com/2012/04/tx-gop-state-chairman-munisteri-is-for.html