Republican Primary

[LisaA]

Went to my local caucus today, but I wasn’t able to stay for the whole thing. I cast my straw vote for Romney and waited while they figured out where to put everybody. HUGE turnout, and I’m hearing the same about other caucuses in our county.

It will be interesting to see the results. The Ron Paul contingent was certainly the most well represented. They had volunteers working the doors…“Are you a Ron Paul supporter? If so, go left…everyone else stand in the line at the right.” They all wore buttons or stickers and handed them out to the other Ron Paul supporters.

Thanks for the report. I have to hand it to Ron Paul…he’s got true believers in his camp!
I’ve got a friend in Vancouver who’s very politically involved. I’ll hear from her how things went today in her area. Glad to hear the turnout was high. I think more and more people are realizing that this election is critical to the future of the country. Four more years of this and we’re heading for oblivion

Lisa (a fellow supporter of Mitt Romney)

 

[rlg94086]

Thanks for the report. I have to hand it to Ron Paul…he’s got true believers in his camp!
I’ve got a friend in Vancouver who’s very politically involved. I’ll hear from her how things went today in her area. Glad to hear the turnout was high. I think more and more people are realizing that this election is critical to the future of the country. Four more years of this and we’re heading for oblivion

Lisa (a fellow supporter of Mitt Romney)

I’m in Camas - just East of Vancouver, and I saw a report at one of the Vancouver High School locations that they were just as packed as we were.

 

[_Abyssinia]

8 ET Fox news channel ‘Huckabee’ is airing Republican Forum, I believe with all the candidates, discussing jobs.

 

[Roselle]

Thought this a nice, character telling article on Mitt Romney.

“Romney’s Real Riches”

commentarymagazine.com/2012/03/04/romney-good-man/

snippet from the article:

I don’t care how many Cadillacs Mitt Romney owns, how many earmarks he requested, or how many individual mandates he approved. This is an extraordinary man.

We first heard about it in the 2008 campaign: how Romney saved the teenaged daughter of a Bain Capital colleague in 1996. Here’s what Mitt did when he learned the girl had gone missing after sneaking from her home in Connecticut to a party in New York City: he shut down the whole office and flew the staff from Boston to New York; he had fliers printed up and got employees at Duane Reade (in which Bain invested) to stuff one into every customer’s bag; he set up a phone hotline; he personally, along with his Bain people and their New York accountants and lawyers, pounded the city’s pavements looking for the girl and asking teenagers if they’d seen her. After a few days of all this – and the publicity it generated – they traced the hotline call of someone asking for a reward and found the girl, who had overdosed on Ecstasy, in the basement of a New Jersey home.

The New York Times is treating the campaign’s current retelling of the story with predictable snide cynicism (“Pressed for Anecdote, Romney Recounts Tale of Missing Girl”); and — surprise, surprise – is trying to gin up some controversy around the ad one of his super PACs is running about it.

The Washington Post describes it thus: “Mitt Romney is striving to show voters that he is more than the Mitt Romney they think they know. He wants to demonstrate that he’s human, too.”

Um. He is? Really?? Who’d have thunk???

Now, I’ve been working for a few decades, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have some really nice bosses and colleagues. But I can’t imagine a single one of them going so far just to help me – not to mention having the calm wherewithal to come up with a workable and effective plan. And I can’t quite imagine our great philanthropists Warren Buffett and Bill Gates doing it either. Or even that paragon of humanness, Barack Obama himself…

 

[LisaA]

Thought this a nice, character telling article on Mitt Romney.

“Romney’s Real Riches”

commentarymagazine.com/2012/03/04/romney-good-man/

snippet from the article:

I know this story and am pleased it’s getting more airtime, despite the Left’s desire to squelch any indication of humanity in Romney whom they call ‘robotic.’ I think one of Romney’s problems is that either because of his faith or maybe because of the way he was raised, he is modest and not self aggrandizing like Obama or sad to say Newt, whom I really admire but man what an ego!

At any rate recently Romeny was on O’Reilly’s show and O’Reilly actually helped him out by pressing him on the subject of being “born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” While his family did end up with some wealth which he inherited, Romney gave the money away and made it on his own. While you might disdain his business, venture capitalism, he was successful and didn’t simply live off his family’s wealth.

I’m a Romney supporter and have been since the 08 election because of my perception of him as a problem solver and an ethical person. But stories like his assistance to his employee and his charitable inclinations make me like him even more

Romney Rubio in 2012!

Lisa

 

[_Abyssinia]

Thought this a nice, character telling article on Mitt Romney.

“Romney’s Real Riches”

commentarymagazine.com/2012/03/04/romney-good-man/

snippet from the article:

It is also worthy to note, money Mitt inherited from his father, George Romney, Mitt donated to Brigham Young University. Very kind!

 

[ishii]

Romney Rubio in 2012!

Lisa

Romney-Rubio 2012!

Ishii

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Today on the tv talk shows, suggestions of a Romney-Cantor ticket.

First Jewish VP?

Jim

 

[ishii]

Today on the tv talk shows, suggestions of a Romney-Cantor ticket.

First Jewish VP?

Jim

It would also be the first time in quite a while that we had a congressman on the ticket. (George Bush was a former congressman who had also been head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican party). I would like to see a runningn mate that helped deliver an important swing state - like Florida.

Ishii

 

[LisaA]

It would also be the first time in quite a while that we had a congressman on the ticket. (George Bush was a former congressman who had also been head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican party). I would like to see a runningn mate that helped deliver an important swing state - like Florida.

Ishii

Agree on the political aspects of the Rubio choice (Hispanic, swing state) but another thing is that Rubio is an AMAZING communicator. He’s very smart on the issues and can convey relatively complex economic problems and proposed solutions in a way that is both unthreatening and understandable. He’s a rising star in the Republican party (and a Catholic!)

I see putting Newt in the Cabinet and making Santorum HHS Secretary…oh and let Ron Paul loose on the fed…everyone gets their wish and the Dems heads explode

Lisa

 

[irishpatrick]

Agree on the political aspects of the Rubio choice (Hispanic, swing state) but another thing is that Rubio is an AMAZING communicator. He’s very smart on the issues and can convey relatively complex economic problems and proposed solutions in a way that is both unthreatening and understandable. He’s a rising star in the Republican party (and a Catholic!)

I see putting Newt in the Cabinet and making Santorum HHS Secretary…oh and let Ron Paul loose on the fed…everyone gets their wish and the Dems heads explode

Lisa

Wow, can you imagine the migraines the left would have if Santorum was given the HHS Secretary spot? Wow, that would be amazing.

Cudos to you, I had not thought of that, hopefully a President Romney will. “That” alone would make a huge difference.

 

[ProVobis]

I see putting Newt in the Cabinet and making Santorum HHS Secretary…oh and let Ron Paul loose on the fed…everyone gets their wish and the Dems heads explode

Better yet, disband HHS and the Fed and reduce the size of the Cabinet. New bodies in a corrupt government won’t change a thing.

 

[LisaA]

Better yet, disband HHS and the Fed and reduce the size of the Cabinet. New bodies in a corrupt government won’t change a thing.

Agree completely but since I live in the real world as opposed to some imaginary universe I won’t hold my breath for any of that to happen. I mean if we cant get rid of the stupid Dept of Agriculture which IMO has ZERO reason for existence in 2012, we are never going to unload those other departments that are slightly more relevant.

Lisa

 

[JimR-OCDS]

It would also be the first time in quite a while that we had a congressman on the ticket. (George Bush was a former congressman who had also been head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican party). I would like to see a runningn mate that helped deliver an important swing state - like Florida.

Ishii

Obama not supporting Israel’s pressure to attack Iran will turn the Jewish lobby against him, and that will be politial doomsday, especially if Romney chooses an conservative Jew like Cantor.

In other words, our president’s no longer make ME policies which are based on what’s good for the USA, but what’s in Israel’s interest.

Remember Pat Buchanan getting in trouble for his statement saying the same thing?

Jim

 

[onenow1]

Santorum and Gingrich connecting… moral decay in our culture that affect all aspects of our life.

God Bless
onenow1

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Santorum and Gingrich connecting… moral decay in our culture that affect all aspects of our life.

God Bless
onenow1

Jim

 

[_Abyssinia]

Romney at highest level of support in Real Clear Politics moving average

 Romney wins BIG in Washington Causcuses -[ Weekly Standard](http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/romney-wins-washington-caucuses_633148.html)

 Ron Paul edged out Rick Santorum for second place with both men earning five delegates apiece - [American Spectator](http://spectator.org/blog/2012/03/04/romney-wins-washington) | [HotAir](http://hotair.com/archives/2012/03/04/romney-wins-wa-caucus-santorum-falls-to-third/)

 Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates - [Nate Silver](http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/romney-could-win-majority-of-super-tuesday-delegates/)

 Ohio even between Romney and Santorum - [USA Today](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/03/rick-santorum-mitt-romney-ohio-poll-super-tuesday-/1#.T1SRCFGt8so)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor endorsed Mitt Romney on “Meet the Press” - Politico | USA Today

“This year, nothing trumps the economy. Nothing else is even close.” - Senator Tom Coburn endorses Romney, via NRO

The New York Times reports that John Ashcroft is also endorsing Romney.

A new poll puts former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ahead by double digits in Georgia, the biggest state to vote on Super Tuesday and the linchpin of Mr. Gingrich’s southern strategy - WSJ

"Ron Paul on Sunday dismissed Rick Santorum’s suggestion that he’s staying in the Republican presidential race to help rival Mitt Romney. “It sounds like he’s trying to concoct a conspiracy,” Paul said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”" - Politico

Paul steadily building a big role for himself at GOP Convention - [Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/04/ron-paul-s-slow-and-steady-strategy.html)

"Four in 10 of all adults say the GOP nominating process has given them a less favorable impression of the Republican Party, versus just slightly more than one in 10 with a more favorable opinion." - MSNBC
**
In GOP circles, some wonder whether the party needs to lose big to eventually win** - Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post

“When a political party begins to fail competitively, as the G.O.P. is clearly doing now, it, too, simply rebrands itself. Recall that in 2008, the G.O.P. was assumed by pundits to be dead for a generation because of the profound, historic unpopularity of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. But the G.O.P. simply re-invented itself with a new brand identity (the Tea Party) and swamped the Democrats a mere two years later. If the G.O.P. is weighed down by obsolete or unpopular associations — anti-immigrant or anti-gay animosity — it will simply jettison those planks or change their image, just as Democrats did under Bill “New Democrat” Clinton to escape the stigma of Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis.” - Glenn Greenwald for the New York Times

What would President Obama do in a second term? The left has its hopes, and the right has its fears. But both are fundamentally guessing - Washington Post

Romney warns America on Iran: “If Barack Obama is reelected, Iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will change,” Romney told a crowd of more than a 1,000 people at a pancake breakfast that his campaign hosted in this Altanta suburb." - LA Times

GOP Hopefuls Losing Ground to Obama Among Latinos, Poll Says - Fox

 

[Robert_Bay]

MODERATOR NOTICE

This thread is for the discussion of the primary, not campaigning for your favorite candidate. For more information see the forum rules posted at the top of the forum.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Latest Ohio polling: Romney 33%, Santorum 32.9% - RCP polling average

Outside spending nears $11.5M in Super Tuesday states - USA Today

The key battleground state: Ohio

“A CNN/ORC International poll released Monday indicates that Ohio is a dead heat between Romney and Santorum, with each grabbing 32% of likely GOP primary voters. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was at 14% and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was at 11%.” - CNN

 "Romney told the crowd that if he wins Ohio tomorrow, he will be the GOP nominee. “I hope that I get the support of people here in Ohio tomorrow and in other states across the country. I believe if I do, I’ll get the nomination,” he said. “Then we can start organizing our effort to make sure that we replace President Obama.”" - [Politico](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73628.html)

 "Ohio-based strategists point to two areas of the state where [Rick Santorum] could be poised to exceed expectations. One includes the state's eastern edge, in the areas of Youngstown, which borders Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania." -[ National Journal](http://decoded.nationaljournal.com/2012/03/two-areas-that-could-boost-san.php)

The new battleground state: Tennessee

“Mitt Romney is showing signs of closing in on Rick Santorum in Tennessee, drawing new attention to the state as a battleground ahead of this week’s Super Tuesday balloting. … a victory by Mr. Romney in Tennessee would damp claims that he has only a weak hold on the South, the region where his support in polls has been softest. … Two polls released Sunday showed the former Pennsylvania senator ahead of Mr. Romney by four percentage points—within the polls’ margins of error” - WSJ ($)

 "Gingrich is expected to easily win Georgia on Tuesday, but his chances in Tennessee — with 58 delegates at stake — are slimmer. Losing Tennessee could blow a hole in the ex-House speaker’s argument that he can remain a viable candidate after Super Tuesday, when the presidential race turns south." - [Politico](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73647.html)

The one state that appears off-limits for Santorum-Romney: Gingrich’s home state, Georgia

“Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is banking on a big win in Georgia Tuesday to keep his fading hopes of winning the nomination alive. “It looks now like in Georgia we will carry the state by four or five times the margin that Romney had in Michigan,” Gingrich told supporters in Alcoa, Tenn., Monday.” - Washington Post

“Gingrich is still in position to do what many conservatives have feared for weeks — play the spoiler role for Rick Santorum and siphon off enough votes from him that Mitt Romney will walk away with the nomination.” - ABC

Romney camp hopes the contest will be over after tonight

“Virtually assured a majority of delegates awarded tomorrow, (Rick Santorum is ineligible for 16 percent of them, according to a release from the Romney campaign), and eyeing a symbolically important victory at the polls in Ohio, the campaign — yet again — can almost taste the opportunity to put and end to the bitter primary season. … Barring an unexpectedly poor performance tomorrow, Romney’s campaign will seek to signal the end of the race by rolling more endorsements and emphasizing their candidate’s lead in the delegate count.” - BuzzFeed

Ron Paul is focusing on small-state caucuses

“He says that he’s looking instead for a strong performance in Alaska, Idaho or North Dakota. All of them are caucuses in small states, so it’s easier to out-organise the opposition and leverage his activist muscle into a victory… He never expected to win anything in the early rounds (except, perhaps, Iowa). Instead, he hoped to pull in a consistent 20 to 30 percent of the vote in every contest – snagging the odd caucus here and there. If he’s never seemed depressed in interviews by his results thus far, it’s because everything is sort of going to plan.” - Tim Stanley

 "The states holding Republican caucuses on Tuesday have received little attention [but] will help decide how the overall Super Tuesday scoreboard is reported and may seem more important in the rear-view mirror." -[ Nate Silver](http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/in-caucus-states-a-chance-for-almost-every-candidate/)

 Ron Paul endorsed by Mitt Romney's relatives - [USA Today](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/03/ron-paul-mitt-romney-relatives-endorsement-/1)

 

[_Abyssinia]

Key things to look out for - suggested by Politico

• Can Romney win a clear majority of states?

•  Where can Newt Gingrich come in second?

•  Can Santorum win the Catholic vote?

•  Can Romney make inroads with lower-than-$50,000 income earners?

•  How will women vote?

•  Will Ron Paul finally win a state?

•  How many states produce a winner by majority, instead of plurality?

• Where do evangelical voters go?

•  Will the turnout beat 2008 levels?

What if nothing changes after tonight?

“Republicans agree that Super Tuesday will not determine the party’s nominee, but it could very well harden the emerging outlines of the Republican race. If Gingrich comes up short in the South and Romney fails to demonstrate momentum, Santorum can plausibly make the case to Republicans that he is the last conservative standing. He has been claiming that’s the case, even in the wake of his Michigan loss.” - CNN