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We are one day away from the Iowa caucuses, the first event in the Presidential nominee selection process. Twenty-eight delegates and a whole lots of Media Narrative are at stake.
The Candidates
Romney
Mitt "Mittens" Romney
Bio: Mormon, former Gov of Massachusetts
Strength: its his turn, front runner, "electable", inevitable victory
Weaknesses: Mormon, former Gov of Massachusetts land of gays and universal healthcare, lack of charisma, unpopular with the base
The Not Romneys Each gets a turn as the "front runner"... Paul may be handing off to Santorum
Newt Gingrich
Bio: Former Speaker of the House, book tourer
Strengths: Conservative, Not-Romney, old white guy from the South
Weaknesses: Hasn't held office for over a decade, really old, left his wife because she got cancer, 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 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
Rick Santorum
Bio: Former Senator from Pennsylvania
Strength:
Evangelicalmight-as-well-be-Evangelical-brand-of-Catholic Hard Right Conservative
Weakness: Lack of charisma, name means an unpleasant byproduct of anal sex
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 3, 2012 Iowa (caucus)
January 10, 2012 New Hampshire (primary)
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:
Santorum surges and either Romney or Paul or Santorum leads in Iowa
Romney is clear front runner in NH
No one has polled SC since Gingrich was the surging Not-Romney
Posts
The Iowa caucuses are on the 4th right?
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
It should be interesting to see what the final results are from Iowa. A part of me wants Santorum to win, just so that the wheels can fall off about 3 weeks later.
Edit: I meant to say I liked this OP better.
My current Iowa Caucus results prediction: Santorum 1st, Paul 2nd, Romney 3rd. Bachmann drops out, the others stumble on through New Hampshire or South Carolina.
Being happy is wrong.
Give the poor some guns and see where that ambition gets you!
I got a little excited when I saw your ship.
you only have the right to pursue happiness. You don't actually have the right to be happy.
I honestly think the whole thing would've been better if Romney had been the only competitor from the beginning.
How much would support and enthusiasm have fallen by the wayside by now, how much by the actual election, if the only person standing up there was the guy who fired your dad?
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
He just appeals to crazy christoconservatian values that are so hot in Iowa right now. Judging by how poorly he can expect to do after Iowa, he may as well just settle down there with his family and start a farm or commune or something.
not that I'm saying people have a choice in contracting STDs as most of them don't even know they have it
And somewhere, people cheered. And still think that AIDS is a gays-only thing.
Ron Paul needs a bunch in the face.
Possibly a deleted scene in Bruno.
Media narratives are glorious things. And come on, Bachmann and Gingrich were previous not-Romneys, and Paul is the current one. The bar is low.
Takes you to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rv0Z5SNrF4
I don't get what the banner above is trying to say.
So I saw a Romney stump speech an hour or two ago on CNN and it actually sounded pretty good. If I didn't know anything about economics, the US budget, or his past it would have been convincing.
There's an answer.
At a guess, "Ron Paul is such a swell guy he is too modest to exploit this man's story so please click here and let us exploit it on his behalf without his endorsement." Also the folk responsible hope that it will be an armor-piercing question to any and all allegations of racism or other anti-Paul arguments; since people who don't like him are more likely to click an ad like that.
But that is just a guess.
He justifies this by saying Santorum spends too much, but I still can't help but think a new level of crazy has been reached.
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2012/01/as-iowa-nears-oddsmakers-make-perry-301-ron-paul-at-52/