The 2012 Republican Primary thread, early edition

[byu71]

Mitt's ability to hang in there is really getting to some of the hard core conservatives. However, I think liberals are hating it even more.

Crissy Mathews really went of on Mitt this morning on the Morning Joe show. He made an ass of himself again. The morning Joe show I have found tolerable when it comes to MSNBC. This morning they had on primarily folks who have great disdain for Mitt.

Hard core libs getting so worked up over Romney winning is a good sign.

[Goatnapper'96]

Not really. The point of Bain isn't job creation. It is maximizing ROI over the shortest possible period of time, no matter what that means for jobs. Frequently, it means more job losses than job gains. Bain also doesn't only invest in companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Bain's process is ugly and often heartless. That doesn't mean they don't add value, but it certainly doesn't lend itself well to a political review.

This is precisely why I said earlier his work at Bain would be a focus in this election (and especially the general). It will only get more scrutiny from here.

Mitt's argument that he has created over 100,000 jobs is pure garbage, by the way. He's said it so many times it will be hard to walk it back once it gets serious media scrutiny.

Back when Obama was elected you were advocating that we finally were going to get a President willing to have an adult conversation with us. Purposely obfuscating economic development by taking the ever consistent "heartless" approach is not exactly real adult, IMO. An adult might point out that the real world is "heartless" and it requires competition. We can get competitive or we lose jobs.

Regardless, I am not convinced this gets Obama significant traction on this issue. One, I admit I am blinded by ideology much like you, but I am not so convinced the independents will be as negatively influenced by this as you liberals think they will. I believe most have enough of an understanding of economics, free trade and market principles to understand that being competitive is a good thing. Second, Obama is going to want to stay away from economic based messages. The tired liberal argument that too heavy an emphasis on allowing companies to be more competitive in the international market lead to the financial crisis would get more traction if liberal governing principles had more tangible success.

[Surfah]

Is "Tent at public park" enough of an address to register to vote?

I am sure their parents are collecting their mail.

[il Padrino Ute]

It will play with the occupy groups.

Well, CMBF did mention economically retarded Democrats.

[oxcoug]

Jack Welch hopping on the Mitt bandwagon.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000066368

Not just hopping on: "The most prepared candidate I've seen in my lifetime..."

Goes to town.

[Green Monstah]

Has Newt's super PAC Bain video been released yet?

[LA Ute]

Has Newt's super PAC Bain video been released yet?

I thought it was funny in yesterday's debate when Newt tried to argue that Mitt is responsible for what super PACs say about New, but not vice-versa. Preening hack.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I thought it was funny in yesterday's debate when Newt tried to argue that Mitt is responsible for what super PACs say about New, but not vice-versa. Preening hack.

IMO, Romney got the best of that exchange. In fact, I thought it was hilarious. It reminded me of the part from the Incredibles (if you have small kids, you've probably seen this a million times) where Mr. Incredible is an insurance claims agent and is consulting the poor old woman trying to make a claim: "I would like to tell you that you can go to ______ to make your claim but I can't. I would also like to tell you fill out form ______, but I can't."

Mitt: "Hey, Newt, as you know we can't control what our Super PACs do, if I could tell them to stop telling everyone that everyone revolted against you in the GOP House because they hated you, I would. If I could tell them to stop exploiting your appearance with Nancy Pelosi and advocating for climate change groups, I would do that too. Also, I would love to tell them to stop pointing out that you made over a million dollars shilling for Fannie Mae which played a key role in our current economic calamity, but I can't do that."

[Jacob]

Of all polls released since Jan 1, in any state (NH, SC, Fl, NV, etc) Romney has been the leader in 20 of 21 polls.

[Green Monstah]

IMO, Romney got the best of that exchange. In fact, I thought it was hilarious. It reminded me of the part from the Incredibles (if you have small kids, you've probably seen this a million times) where Mr. Incredible is an insurance claims agent and is consulting the poor old woman trying to make a claim: "I would like to tell you that you can go to ______ to make your claim but I can't. I would also like to tell you fill out form ______, but I can't."

Mitt: "Hey, Newt, as you know we can't control what our Super PACs do, if I could tell them to stop telling everyone that everyone revolted against you in the GOP House because they hated you, I would. If I could tell them to stop exploiting your appearance with Nancy Pelosi and advocating for climate change groups, I would do that too. Also, I would love to tell them to stop pointing out that you made over a million dollars shilling for Fannie Mae which played a key role in our current economic calamity, but I can't do that."

Interesting. I thought that was one of the worst parts of the debate for Mitt. His face after Newt asked him to acknowledge that the PAC was run by Mitt's former people, etc. It was the same face my kids make when I bust them in a lie. Then Mitt said he hadn't seen the commercials, but went on to point out line-by-line the one commercial he had seen.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Of all polls released since Jan 1, in any state (NH, SC, Fl, NV, etc) Romney has been the leader in 20 of 21 polls.

Santorum looks like he may come in fifth in NH in some of the newest polls. If he comes in behind Gingrich or Huntsman in NH, I think he's going to have a very tough time competing in South Carolina. Much of the momentum from Iowa will have been lost.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Interesting. I thought that was one of the worst parts of the debate for Mitt. His face after Newt asked him to acknowledge that the PAC was run by Mitt's former people, etc. It was the same face my kids make when I bust them in a lie. Then Mitt said he hadn't seen the commercials, but went on to point out line-by-line the one commercial he had seen.

It was basically the second significant Romney bashing portion of the debate. The first time was significantly stronger and I thought Santorum pulled it off better.

I don't think either candidate came off looking good from the exchange, but Newt looked worse. He was whining and Romney got the opportunity to encapsulate some of the huge negatives with Gingrich under the auspices of describing the commercial he had seen ( inadvertently bashing Gingrich). So basically we're left with this: Newt -- "Quit lying about my record!" (where have we heard this before?); Mitt -- "I'm not sure about what commercials you're talking about, the one I've seen talked about the coup d'etat in the House and your fling with Nancy Pelosi."

Romney as the frontrunner doesn't want to sit there in a debate and attack other candidates. He wants their voters' support later on. Also it takes away Romney being able to present a calm, controlled demeanor. But the worst thing to do is simply not fight back when Newt goes at him like that. It would have been ideal for Romney if he didn't have to do it all.

[Uncle Ted]

Interesting. I thought that was one of the worst parts of the debate for Mitt. His face after Newt asked him to acknowledge that the PAC was run by Mitt's former people, etc. It was the same face my kids make when I bust them in a lie. Then Mitt said he hadn't seen the commercials, but went on to point out line-by-line the one commercial he had seen.

Agreed. Newt is much better at lying than Mitt but at least we can tell when Mitt is lying.

I recall Newt back when he was the speaker of the house leading the charge against president clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. We find out later that Newt was involved in a scandal of his own cheating on his 2nd wife at that same time.

[YOhio]

Looks like Newt just locked down the Alaskan snow machine enthusiast demo.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/todd-palin-endorses-newt-gingrich/

[Surfah]

Looks like Newt just locked down the Alaskan snow machine enthusiast demo.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...newt-gingrich/

Why is this news? Embarrassing. This is right there with Ashley Madison's endorsement.