Iowa

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

i thought the video was great. I had no idea iowa was a state.

Thats funny.
when you put up pictures of you with long hair, I had no idea you were a man....


Interesting turn with Santorum climbing... I read one reuplican blog who (to paraphrase) said 'Oh great, Rickie Santorum, the only politician dumber than Obama'......
It will make NH, and more interestling, SC fun to watch....

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Thats funny.
when you put up pictures of you with long hair, I had no idea you were a man....


Interesting turn with Santorum climbing... I read one reuplican blog who (to paraphrase) said 'Oh great, Rickie Santorum, the only politician dumber than Obama'......
It will make NH, and more interestling, SC fun to watch....

He's just the flavor of the month for the whackos in the GOP base who won't vote for Romney because they believe that he's a devil worshipper.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by Mike P

He's just the flavor of the month for the whackos in the GOP base who won't vote for Romney because they believe that he's a devil worshipper.

they wont back romney becuause he is to the left of obama on key issues. romney was responsible for the blueprint of obamacare, the repubs biggest issue, he's squishy on immigration. He campaigned for the last 4 years and finished in Iowa EXACTLY where he was 4 years ago, he hasnt made any headway. He is getting votes because he is viewed as the most electable and the rest of the candidates are a joke. Unless the independants get behind romney, its 4 more years of O guaranteed. Im pretty sure I stay home on election day

[spence]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

they wont back romney becuause he is to the left of obama on key issues.

Huh?

romney was responsible for the blueprint of obamacare, the repubs biggest issue,

Actually the individual mandate, which Romney has never advocated at the federal level, was the brainchild of the Heritage Foundation.

he's squishy on immigration.

His position has moved to the right a bit erratically, but the furthest left it's ever been is still similar to President Bush.

He campaigned for the last 4 years and finished in Iowa EXACTLY where he was 4 years ago, he hasnt made any headway.

No, 4 years ago he finished a distant second 10 points behind Huck. This time he finished in first, over 4 points ahead of Paul who was expected to win.

He is getting votes because he is viewed as the most electable and the rest of the candidates are a joke. Unless the independants get behind romney, its 4 more years of O guaranteed. Im pretty sure I stay home on election day

Isn't that the point, to get elected?

Agree the field is weak overall but the lackluster support for Romney seems to be more about his moderate stances on some domestic issues more than his ability to be a strong executive. He may not rally the religious right, but unless you're really anti-Mormon Republicans and a lot of Independents will vote for Romney over Obama.

Romney will likely shift back to the middle and pick a moderate VP like Condi. If so he has a very good chance of beating Obama.

That's the entire point of the article I posted.

-spence

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by spence

Huh?



Actually the individual mandate, which Romney has never advocated at the federal level, was the brainchild of the Heritage Foundation.

as governor for a liberal state he passed mandatory healthcare legistlation. Repubs dont like that, period.


No, 4 years ago he finished a distant second 10 points behind Huck. This time he finished in first, over 4 points ahead of Paul who was expected to win.

No - In the 2008 Republican Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney received 30,021 votes, 25% of the total, In the 2012 caucuses, Romney received 30,015 votes, 25% of the total. Not a lot of headway Spence.

GWB did a lot of damage to repubs and most dont believe he was convervative. I think repubs may stay home so not to risk further tarnishing their reputation.


-spence

taken from another article which sums up my view-
After 39 months of consistent public hostility to bailout economics, after the rise of the tea party movement, after town-hall opposition to "Obama care," after the long-shot Scott Brown win in Massachusetts, after the 2010 limited-government resurgence in the House of Representatives ... after all of these unmistakable signs of public -- let alone Republican -- sentiment, the alleged party of limited government may be on the verge of nominating someone who is running to President Barack Obama's left on Medicare, who helped pave the way for the Obama policy Republicans hate most and who has no real plan for cutting the biggest growth items in the federal budget.

[spence]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

s governor for a liberal state he passed mandatory healthcare legistlation. Repubs dont like that, period.

Very similar to what was proposed by a leading conservative think tank and subsequently applauded by the self described "most principled conservative" in the race.

What Romney enacted in Massachusetts certainly isn't Obama care.

No - In the 2008 Republican Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney received 30,021 votes, 25% of the total, In the 2012 caucuses, Romney received 30,015 votes, 25% of the total. Not a lot of headway Spence.

Jimmy jimmy jimmy...

Ron Paul and Rick Santorum made serious investments to mobilize support across the entire state while Romney largely ignored Iowa until just before the caucus. Santorum made a late run because of some effective campaigning as well as being the only player left to pick up the evangelical support left by Bachmann and Perry.

So in context of 2012, Romney did pretty well. I don't think anyone expects Paul, Santorum or Gingrich to do well in New Hampshire. In fact, I think Gingrich will get knocked out or nearly out before he has a chance to gain some momentum with a success down south.

Huntsman could benefit from all of this coming out of New Hampshire, but Romney is clearly in the lead.

taken from another article which sums up my view-
After 39 months of consistent public hostility to bailout economics, after the rise of the tea party movement, after town-hall opposition to "Obama care," after the long-shot Scott Brown win in Massachusetts, after the 2010 limited-government resurgence in the House of Representatives ... after all of these unmistakable signs of public -- let alone Republican -- sentiment, the alleged party of limited government may be on the verge of nominating someone who is running to President Barack Obama's left on Medicare, who helped pave the way for the Obama policy Republicans hate most and who has no real plan for cutting the biggest growth items in the federal budget.

This doesn't make a lot of sense. Who ever wrote it clearly knows nothing about Romney care or his quite detailed economics plan.

-spence

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

they wont back romney becuause he is to the left of obama on key issues. romney was responsible for the blueprint of obamacare, the repubs biggest issue, he's squishy on immigration. He campaigned for the last 4 years and finished in Iowa EXACTLY where he was 4 years ago, he hasnt made any headway. He is getting votes because he is viewed as the most electable and the rest of the candidates are a joke. Unless the independants get behind romney, its 4 more years of O guaranteed. Im pretty sure I stay home on election day

You're giving them way too much credit. Santorum ran strong in Iowa because 60% of the voters who turned out believe that LDS is a false religion that was formed by a false prophet, and a significant percentage of those believe that they are idol worshippers.

NH's Republicans are just as fiscally conservative, just as anti-immigrant, as any state's, and Romney currently leads there by double digits. And BTW---they, among all voters, should know Romney's record as governor.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by Mike P

You're giving them way too much credit. Santorum ran strong in Iowa because 60% of the voters who turned out believe that LDS is a false religion that was formed by a false prophet, and a significant percentage of those believe that they are idol worshippers.

NH's Republicans are just as fiscally conservative, just as anti-immigrant, as any state's, and Romney currently leads there by double digits. And BTW---they, among all voters, should know Romney's record as governor.

You're referring to less than a hundred thousand people vs. millions in the repub party. I'm not out on a limb here, every single pundit shares the same view. In a period of increased focus on conservatism among voters, Romney is a weak candidate. He will get the nomination but reluctantly.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Interesting turn with Santorum climbing... I read one reuplican blog who (to paraphrase) said 'Oh great, Rickie Santorum, the only politician dumber than Obama'......
It will make NH, and more interestling, SC fun to watch....

Exit polling showed something like 60% of voters were Evangelical or Born-again Christians. Is it really that surprising that a social conservative "came out of nowhere"?

Now that he's the flavor of the week, it'll be interesting how he deals with questions like being named the "Most Corrupt Congressman" in 2006. Newt had to answer to his infidelities while at the top, Santorum will not have to answer to this.

Another interesting part of the exit polling was who did and didn't vote for Paul: he got 48% of Independents, over half of the 17-29y/o crowd and (if I remember correctly) only 18% of baby boomers. If the numbers are similar going forward, it demonstrates that "business in Washington as usual" candidates aren't going to fly with the younger crowd. Also, as the baby boomers start dying off, there is a potential for a political evolution moving forward. Obviously, that's a far too deep look into what's merely a sliver of the nation but, I'm actually pretty curious to see how the next few polls work out in terms of the details of demographics each candidate is attracting.