[Primary] Threads, Romney Unstoppable? Newton's Law disagrees!

PantsB

A politics thread got to 100 without being locked (again!). Excellent work everyone, the free market at work!

We are one daytwo days away from the Iowa caucusesSouth Carolina primary, the firstthird event in the Presidential nominee selection process. Romney and his inevitability crash forward like a Juggernaut that pretended to win Iowa and won New Hampshire.

The Candidates
Romney
Mitt "Mittens" Romney

Bio: Mormon, former Gov of Massachusetts
Strength: its his turn, front runner, "electable", inevitable victory, "won" Iowa, won NH
Weaknesses: Mormon, former Gov of Massachusetts land of gays and universal healthcare, lack of charisma, unpopular with the base


The Not Romneys Each had a turn as front runner, can they do it again?
Newt Gingrich

Bio: Former Speaker of the House, book tourer
Strengths: Conservative, Not-Romney, old white guy from the South, Mad-as-Hell, Newt-mentum
Weaknesses: Hasn't held office for over a decade, really old, leaves wives because she got cancer and/or MS, dickishness seeps through

Ron Paul

Bio: Perpetual candidate for President, Representative from Texas
Strength: Legion of fanatical supporters, unique viewpoint
Weakness: Views that both Democrats and Republicans find insane, desire to descend into anarchy, really old, racist or racist adjacent

Rick Santorum

Bio: Former Senator from Pennsylvania
Strength: Evangelicalmight-as-well-be-Evangelical-brand-of-Catholic Hard Right Conservative, won Iowa
Weakness: Lack of charisma, name means an unpleasant byproduct of anal sex

The Dark Horse

Bio: Truthy Pundit
Strengths: Higher approval rating than any other candidate, big PAC money, big soapbox, South Carolina is home state
Weakness: Not actually running, supporters must make Mark of Cain on ballot which SC GOPers see as one of their biggest problems

The Fallen

Rick Perry

Bio: Gov of Texas
Strength: Gov of Texas, conservative and evangelical, fundraising
Weakness: Actual abilities, memory, campaigning

Michele Bachmann

Bio: Representative from Minn
Strength: Evangelical Hard Right Conservative
Weakness: Crazy eyes match crazy, completely lost on any substantive question, not Sarah Palin

Jon Huntsman

Bio: Former Gov of Utah, Former Ambassador to China
Strength: semi-Moderate and not Romney
Weakness: Mormon, semi-moderate, worked for ObamaHitler

RIP PawPaw, 999

The Calendar

January 21, 2012 South Carolina (primary)
January 31, 2012 Florida (primary)
February 4, 2012 Nevada (caucus)
February 4–11, 2012 Maine (caucus)

February 7, 2012
Colorado (caucus)
Minnesota (caucus)

February 28, 2012
Arizona (primary)
Michigan (primary)

March 3, 2012 Washington (caucus)

March 6, 2012
(Super Tuesday) Alaska (caucus)
Georgia (primary)
Idaho (caucus)
Massachusetts (primary)
North Dakota (caucus)
Ohio (primary)
Oklahoma (primary)
Tennessee (primary)
Vermont (primary)
Virginia (primary)

The Polls:

Couscous

When is the next debate?

Burtletoy

Someone in the last thread said tonight?

pyromaniac221

I think there's one on CNN tonight

KetBra

Excited to see if the crowd can ramp up the inappropriate cheers and boos for this debate.

Phyphor

Tonight, yes

http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2011-2012-primary-debate-schedule/

skyknyt

I believe in Newtmentum!

Couscous

PALIN: I call them dumbarses. They, thinking that by trotting out this old Gingrich divorce interview that’s old news — and it does feature a disgruntled ex, claiming that it would destroy his campaign — all it does, Sean, is incentive conservatives and independents who are so sick of the politics of personal destruction, because it’s played so selectively by media, that their target, in this case Newt, he’s now going to soar even more. Because we know the game now, and we just won’t put up with it.

So, good call media! Way to go to covertly hype this, even Gingrich opponents, for being so brilliant they sure are dumb.

The fucking conservatives perfected that kind of politics.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/romney-snaps-at-questioner-americas-right-and-youre-wrong.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

http://bcove.me/m0oztzo2
Man, America has never been united between rich and poor. Also, I hate that disagreeing with the status quo means you should go to fucking China. Pretending to be all together and singing kumbaya just distracts people from fighting out the issues in a respectful manner.

dbrock270

more like


versus

versus

versus

Harry Dresden

Pants:

Santorum has charisma.

Honk

Wait - they changed Iowa to Santorum now?

kildy

Honk wrote:

Wait - they changed Iowa to Santorum now?

Well, it's totally a tie if you factor in that he only won it by 4x the amount Romney had been declared the winner by!

Z0re

Honk wrote:

Wait - they changed Iowa to Santorum now?

No, they recounted and he is up 30 votes but they "lost" eight entire districts of votes so they aren't calling it for anyone.

Romney calls it a tie now.

SammyF

Z0re wrote:

Honk wrote:

Wait - they changed Iowa to Santorum now?

No, they recounted and he is up 30 votes but they "lost" eight entire districts of votes so they aren't calling it for anyone.

Romney calls it a tie now.

Look, man, don't get bogged down by outdated ideas like "winning" or "losing." That was, like, so two weeks ago.

Since then, we've realized that elections aren't about winning or losing. They're about America.

Jars

newtmentum: like a snowball rolling down a hill

Harry Dresden

SammyF wrote:

Since then, we've realized that elections aren't about winning or losing. They're about Romney winning.

mindspork

Couscous wrote:

PALIN: I call them dumbarses. They, thinking that by trotting out this old Gingrich divorce interview that’s old news — and it does feature a disgruntled ex, claiming that it would destroy his campaign — all it does, Sean, is incentive conservatives and independents who are so sick of the politics of personal destruction, because it’s played so selectively by media, that their target, in this case Newt, he’s now going to soar even more. Because we know the game now, and we just won’t put up with it.

So, good call media! Way to go to covertly hype this, even Gingrich opponents, for being so brilliant they sure are dumb.

The fucking conservatives perfected that kind of politics.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/romney-snaps-at-questioner-americas-right-and-youre-wrong.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

http://bcove.me/m0oztzo2
Man, America has never been united between rich and poor. Also, I hate that disagreeing with the status quo means you should go to fucking China. Pretending to be all together and singing kumbaya just distracts people from fighting out the issues in a respectful manner.

Ok, humor me, I'm not able to actually play the video file at work. What the fuck did he get asked?

Couscous

Herman Cain has endorsed "we the people."

Couscous

mindspork wrote:

Couscous wrote:

PALIN: I call them dumbarses. They, thinking that by trotting out this old Gingrich divorce interview that’s old news — and it does feature a disgruntled ex, claiming that it would destroy his campaign — all it does, Sean, is incentive conservatives and independents who are so sick of the politics of personal destruction, because it’s played so selectively by media, that their target, in this case Newt, he’s now going to soar even more. Because we know the game now, and we just won’t put up with it.

So, good call media! Way to go to covertly hype this, even Gingrich opponents, for being so brilliant they sure are dumb.

The fucking conservatives perfected that kind of politics.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/romney-snaps-at-questioner-americas-right-and-youre-wrong.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

http://bcove.me/m0oztzo2
Man, America has never been united between rich and poor. Also, I hate that disagreeing with the status quo means you should go to fucking China. Pretending to be all together and singing kumbaya just distracts people from fighting out the issues in a respectful manner.

Ok, humor me, I'm not able to actually play the video file at work. What the fuck did he get asked?

What was he going to do to support the 99 percent?

The obvious answer is to say that his policies will certainly help the 99 percent. The Republican answer is to question the person's patriotism.

PantsB

Think this was in the last thread but...
Gingrich Tied With Romney in South Carolina Forecast
By NATE SILVER

The question I posed yesterday — does Newt Gingrich have momentum in South Carolina? — now appears to have an unambiguous answer. Yes, Mr. Gingrich does have momentum — and a lot of it.

Mill

I despise Newt, I also despise the current GOP. Just going to throw that out there before commenting on what the potential impact will be from the interview with his ex-wife before anyone can get the wrong idea.

I suspect it's not going to amount to much. If him being on wife number three didn't sink his chances of getting the nomination, then nothing she can will, this is assuming she doesn't have access to damning evidence that isn't available to public yet. Newt can pretty much say that she is being spiteful because their marriage didn't end well and the reality of the matter is most sane people are forced to concede that this is a he said she said thing. Again that's assuming she doesn't present new damning evidence against his character that can't be written off as hearsay and I kind of doubt she will.

Now I find her timing suspicious. If she was interested in this country's welfare she would have stepped forward with this interview when he first entered the race. If this were solely a ploy to get attention, she would have done such an interview when he rose in polls before Iowa. I hate to resort to conspiracy theories but I'm wondering if the Romney camp or even the establishment has a hand in this. Newt is catching to Mitt the Ripper in a race that is suppose to seal the deal for the nomination and that can't happen if Mitt is the anointed one.

Personally, I want to see either Newt or Santorum win the nomination so that when the GOP crashes and burns in November, they can't write it off as "we weren't conservative enough," and have to finally come to terms with the fact that they have alienated too many people with their shitty ideals. Sure if Mitt the Ripper gets the nomination, it will still happen but that means were forced to wait for mortality to eat away at their older base, which is going to take time and increases the likelihood that they make gains in an off year election, resulting in them having an easier time continuing to screw up the country.

Burtletoy

Couscous wrote:

Herman Cain has endorsed "we the people."

So, he really was just trolling the GOP?

Thomamelas

Mill wrote:

I despise Newt, I also despise the current GOP. Just going to throw that out there before commenting on what the potential impact will be from the interview with his ex-wife before anyone can get the wrong idea.

I suspect it's not going to amount to much. If him being on wife number three didn't sink his chances of getting the nomination, then nothing she can will, this is assuming she doesn't have access to damning evidence that isn't available to public yet. Newt can pretty much say that she is being spiteful because their marriage didn't end well and the reality of the matter is most sane people are forced to concede that this is a he said she said thing. Again that's assuming she doesn't present new damning evidence against his character that can't be written off as hearsay and I kind of doubt she will.

Now I find her timing suspicious. If she was interested in this country's welfare she would have stepped forward with this interview when he first entered the race. If this were solely a ploy to get attention, she would have done such an interview when he rose in polls before Iowa. I hate to resort to conspiracy theories but I'm wondering if the Romney camp or even the establishment has a hand in this. Newt is catching to Mitt the Ripper in a race that is suppose to seal the deal for the nomination and that can't happen if Mitt is the anointed one.

Personally, I want to see either Newt or Santorum win the nomination so that when the GOP crashes and burns in November, they can't write it off as "we weren't conservative enough," and have to finally come to terms with the fact that they have alienated too many people with their shitty ideals. Sure if Mitt the Ripper gets the nomination, it will still happen but that means were forced to wait for mortality to eat away at their older base, which is going to take time and increases the likelihood that they make gains in an off year election, resulting in them having an easier time continuing to screw up the country.

It could have been that she simply didn't feel that Newt had a legitimate chance of winning previously and wanted to spare herself the inevitable response of being dragged through the mud.

Mill

Thomamelas, I suppose that's possible but in that case she would have been better off waiting till he somehow got the nomination. It would have had more of an impact on people outside the GOP base. If the debate on Monday proved anything, most of them are bigots and aren't going to give a damn about what she has to say.

Boring7

Burtletoy wrote:

Couscous wrote:

Herman Cain has endorsed "we the people."

So, he really was just trolling the GOP?

Still is, he's proudly involving himself in Colbert's SC run, because all this ever was was about attention for Herman Cain and obeying the Koch's in getting his "regressive taxes are good!" message out there until the money ran out.

Boring7

Mill wrote:

Thomamelas, I suppose that's possible but in that case she would have been better off waiting till he somehow got the nomination. It would have had more of an impact on people outside the GOP base. If the debate on Monday proved anything, most of them are bigots and aren't going to give a damn about what she has to say.

She's likely still a Republican, so if she is politically-minded at all she wants him to stop hurting the GOP in the primary.

Thomamelas

Mill wrote:

Thomamelas, I suppose that's possible but in that case she would have been better off waiting till he somehow got the nomination. It would have had more of an impact on people outside the GOP base. If the debate on Monday proved anything, most of them are bigots and aren't going to give a damn about what she has to say.

Because while she doesn't like her ex-husband, she is a Republican.

Honk

Well I'd say.

This primary is getting better and better!

CommunistCow

PantsB wrote:

Think this was in the last thread but...
Gingrich Tied With Romney in South Carolina Forecast
By NATE SILVER

The question I posed yesterday — does Newt Gingrich have momentum in South Carolina? — now appears to have an unambiguous answer. Yes, Mr. Gingrich does have momentum — and a lot of it.

Well that is quite the leap. I have a 538 tab open from this morning that had Gingrich ~5% behind and now he is < 1% ahead.

Harry Dresden

Honk wrote:

Well I'd say.

This primary is getting better and better!

Yeah. I'm glad the primary is become a competition again.

CommunistCow

Harry Dresden wrote:

Honk wrote:

Well I'd say.

This primary is getting better and better!

Yeah. I'm glad the primary is become a competition again.

I seriously doubt that it will be much of a contest. Newt is still 20 points down in Florida and I doubt he'll pick up that much support if he eeks out a victory in SC.

DoctorArch

That video of Mittens yelling at the man for daring to question him is solid gold.

Lawndart

I'm not sure that if Gingrich is able to win South Carolina by blasting a dog whistle 24/7 that he'll be able to translate that to future primary victories.

It'll be at best a speed bump on the Mitt Romney Sound Of Inevitability Tour, with Gingrich then being able to charge more for speaking fees, book signings, and his other scamtastic income streams.

Harry Dresden

CommunistCow wrote:

Harry Dresden wrote:

Honk wrote:

Well I'd say.

This primary is getting better and better!

Yeah. I'm glad the primary is become a competition again.

I seriously doubt that it will be much of a contest. Newt is still 20 points down in Florida and I doubt he'll pick up that much support if he eeks out a victory in SC.

Okay. That it'll drag on for a little longer before Romney is anointed.

Burtletoy

CommunistCow wrote:

Harry Dresden wrote:

Honk wrote:

Well I'd say.

This primary is getting better and better!

Yeah. I'm glad the primary is become a competition again.

I seriously doubt that it will be much of a contest. Newt is still 20 points down in Florida and I doubt he'll pick up that much support if he eeks out a victory in SC.

Maybe Palin will endorse Newt in Flordia, too.

That is obviously what tipped the scales.

Harry Dresden

Burtletoy wrote:

Maybe Palin will endorse Newt in Flordia, too.

That is obviously what tipped the scales.

It baffles me why she's endorsing Newt over Santorum.

lonelyahava

there's a debate tonight?

Ohsweetjesus yes.

hehehe.

i'm a masochist, what can I say

Harry Dresden

When's the debate on tonight?

Mill

Palin probably figures that Santorum will drop out and getting Newt to quit is a lost cause.

Romney is getting the nomination barring dead girl or live boy. This primary season is just proving how much of joke the primary process is, well at least in regards to the GOP nomination.

dojango

tonight at

Mill wrote:

Palin probably figures that Santorum will drop out and getting Newt to quit is a lost cause.

Romney is getting the nomination barring dead girl or live boy. This primary season is just proving how much of joke the primary process is, well at least in regards to the GOP nomination.

nah, the only reason why this primary season is a joke is because only joke candidates are running (and Romney). Nobody wants to be crushed by Obama in the general, and all the savvier candidates realized that last year.

Harry Dresden

Mill wrote:

Palin probably figures that Santorum will drop out and getting Newt to quit is a lost cause.

Romney is getting the nomination barring dead girl or live boy. This primary season is just proving how much of joke the primary process is, well at least in regards to the GOP nomination.

The primary process has its flaws, but the Republicans aren't doing themselves any favors with horrid candidates this year.

Was it better during the primaries when Dubya and McCain won their nominations?