The 2012 Republican Primary thread, early edition

[Donuthole]

I think Mitt's hair has actually improved over the past decade.

I've been saying for 5 years now that Mitt has bad hair. As I said in my senior yearbook quote: "Good hair is not determined by how your hair looks at its best; good hair is determined by how it looks when it is not at its best."

[Pelado]

Romney kicked ass in Idaho. In fact looking at the map it was the bigger population centers, save for the booming metropolis of Idaho Falls and perhaps Malad with its wickedly pro-Romney suburb of Samaria, that did not go for Mitt.

Here we have Idaho, with its highly educated rednecks inventing TV and leading her way to fame!

Grandpa would be proud of his hometown.

[dabrockster]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich suffers primary defeat in Ohio.. Due to restructuring of districts..

This comment from Steven C. LaTourette - R-Ohio) wonders if he needs to be ousted too.. When he reminisces about Traficant not being there anymore was errrrr.. Interesting comment.

“The one thing that’s being tamped down here is, we’re losing characters. When I got here, you had Jim Traficant, you had Barney, and then Dennis came,”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kucinich-faces-uphill-battle-for-redistricted-seat/2012/03/05/gIQA6MFrvR_story.html

[Pelado]

Mitt Romney fights back with math...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73732.html

[Moliere]

Mitt Romney fights back with math...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73732.html

Santorum: "I don't believe in math. It's just another tool used by scientists to disprove the existence of God. I'm not shocked Governor Romney would use this devilish tool to try to get me out of the race."

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Mitt Romney fights back with math...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73732.html

I thought Romney would do this. Santorum needs 65% of the remaining delegates. I'm wondering what that percentage is once you take out the winner take all contests of California, Utah and Jersey which add up to 260 delegates. Jersey is basically just one massive suburb of NYC and Philly. Santorum could conceivably win 3-4 congressional districts in California, but again, that 65% point probably shoots up to 75-80% when you consider California, Utah and Jersey basically won't be giving any delegates to Santorum.

[BigPiney]

Grandpa would be proud of his hometown.

Same for me and SteelBlue.

I was in Malad earlier this year, was a nice as I remembered. Too bad I couldn't partake of the Drive-In other than a nice Cherry Ironport.

[Green Monstah]

Santorum: "I don't believe in math. It's just another tool used by scientists to disprove the existence of God. I'm not shocked Governor Romney would use this devilish tool to try to get me out of the race."

He explained further, "When I read my college alegra textbook as a college freshman, it made me want to throw up."

[beefytee]

Anyone know anything about NY? Has the filing deadline past?

Are Romney and Newt the only 2 on the ballot? Do they allow write-ins?

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/NY-R

[FMCoug]

Mitt Romney fights back with math...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73732.html

“We are staying in this race because I believe it’s going to be impossible for a moderate to win a general election,” he said in Alabama.

Uh, I'm not politico but don't you have to be somewhat moderate to win the general? Isn't that the block of voters that make the difference every time?

[Green Monstah]

Uh, I'm not politico but don't you have to be somewhat moderate to win the general? Isn't that the block of voters that make the difference every time?

You're exactly right. The general election will be decided by the folks who voted for Obama last go-round, but who are disaffected with his performance and are looking for someone else who doesn't scare them off with, say, batshit crazy ideas re: contraception, creation, and the separation of church and state. If a moderate can woo the Conservative base just enough to get the nomination, he has a better shot at winning the general than a Rick Santorum-type.

At least, those are my thoughts.

[Goatnapper'96]

Uh, I'm not politico but don't you have to be somewhat moderate to win the general? Isn't that the block of voters that make the difference every time?

This is not true. It is true that you have to win by getting moderate voters but I see no reason why one has to be moderate to get moderate voters. I don't believe Obama is particularly moderate, given his rhetorical ability allowed many to think he was, and I don't think that Reagan was a moderate or even that Bill Clinton pre the Democrat drubbing in 1994 was moderate.

What you mostly need to be elected is a really pissed off at your opponent electorate. But if you don't have that and you are fighting for the moderate there are many ways to win them over to voting for you and having, or presenting, a moderate ideology is only one of the way. Others are a track record of success or being enormously charisimatic.

I hope to be the first who made it by cracking jokes about big knockers and getting banned from every moderated sports message web site!

[Pelado]

You're exactly right. The general election will be decided by the folks who voted for Obama last go-round, but who are disaffected with his performance and are looking for someone else who doesn't scare them off with, say, batshit crazy ideas re: contraception, creation, and the separation of church and state or moon colonies. If a moderate can woo the Conservative base just enough to get the nomination, he has a better shot at winning the general than a Rick Santorum-type.

At least, those are my thoughts.

FIFY

[Pelado]

In case you were wondering, Gingrich isn't heeding Santorum's admonition to drop out of the race:

Senator Santorum is a typical politician who played the Washington game. He is a big government, big labor, earmark lover who publicly admits to putting Party over principle when in power. Senator Santorum even endorsed pro-choice Arlen Specter, showing just how far he is willing to cast principle aside to be, as he put it, a “team player.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/newt-gingrich-rick-santorum_n_1327703.html?1331156438

[Surfah]

Keith Koffler nails it:

All reporting is now sports reporting. Reporters love a battle and they love to go on TV and rave about how exciting everything is. And editors seek a bracing and never-ending storyline because it draws readers and ultimately pleases their corporate bosses, who want to sell papers and generate pageviews.

The headline “Romney Scores Six Wins and Continues Methodical Drive Toward Nomination” is just not going to drive eyeballs to your story.

And reporters also tend to be moderate to liberal. Bloodletting among Republicans at some level is agreeable to many of them. I have to believe that if this was Obama instead of Romney, the stories would be about the growing inevitability of Obama’s nomination.

That Romney is in all likelihood on the march toward nomination will probably soon become too apparent for any serious journalist to deny. At that point, for the reasons listed above, we will begin to hear feverish talk about the prospects for a third party candidacy.

http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2012/03/07/romney-scores-big-win-press-fails-notice/