• President 2012,  Rick Santorum

    President 2012: Rick Santorum Suspends Presidential Campaign

    April 10, 2012 /


    No surprise since there really was not a path to win the nomination.

    Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, clearing a path for Mitt Romney to become the nominee.

    A Republican close to the campaign says the former Pennsylvania senator was to make the announcement Tuesday in his home state of Pennsylvania, two weeks before the GOP presidential primary there. Santorum faced a tough fight in his home state against Romney.

    Now, the path is cleared for Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination.

    The general election campaign has started – Romney Vs. Obama.

  • Politics,  President 2012,  Rick Santorum

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Mitt Romney’s Lead Over Santorum, Gingrich and Paul Continues to Grow

    April 3, 2012 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Mitt Romney’s gathering momentum in the Republican nomination contest is evident as he now leads Rick Santorum by 16 percentage points as national Republican voters’ choice to be the GOP presidential nominee. He has led Santorum by at least 10 points for the last two weeks, and his lead has been 15 points or more for each of the last five days.

    The latest results, based on Gallup Daily tracking conducted March 29-April 2, show Romney to be the choice of 41% of Republican voters and Santorum the choice of 25%, with Newt Gingrich (12%) and Ron Paul (11%) trailing.

    Romney had led continuously since late February after winning the Michigan and Arizona primaries, but his lead dwindled to four points after he lost to Santorum in Alabama and Mississippi on March 13.

    Romney’s current momentum coincides with his decisive victory in the March 20 Illinois primary, and he has maintained a double-digit lead for the last two weeks. On Tuesday, voters in Wisconsin, Maryland, and the District of Columbia will vote in primaries, with Romney favored in all three contests.

    This race for the GOP Presidential nomination is just about over.

    Newt Ginrich has already scaled back his campaign operation and Rick Santorum is wishfully thinking for a miracle. When Santorum loses tonight, he might as well pack it in and get on board the Romney train.

    This is not to say that Mitt Romney is the best candidate the GOP has to offer as an alternative to President Obama. But, it looks like no one else is stepping forward to lead – so you go with the candidate that you have.

    Romney may win, but may not.

    In any case, Romney is a do NO harm candidate and will not hurt the GOP brand in Senate and House races.

  • Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  President 2012,  Rick Santorum,  Ron Paul

    President 2012: State of the GOP Race

    March 7, 2012 /

    Mitt Romney had a big night last night (Super Tuesday Eve) winning 6 of 10 races but….

    Mitt Romney eked out a win in Ohio over Rick Santorum which, when coupled with victories for the former Massachusetts governor in Vermont, Massachusetts, Virginia and Idaho, ensured that he would remain the frontrunner for the Republican nomination heading out of Super Tuesday.

    And, Romney leads in the actual Republican Party delegate count.

    A few more “bad nights” like Super Tuesday and Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential nominee. With his haul from yesterday, according to AP, Romney now has 415 delegates, Rick Santorum 176, Newt Gingrich 105, and Ron Paul 47 out of the 1,144 needed for the GOP nomination.

    To be the frontrunner, you need to kill the frontrunner. And like a poor marksman—or at least an underfunded one—Santorum keeps missing the target. First Michigan, now Ohio. Online betting market Intrade gives Romney a 90% chance of being the GOP nominee. Of course, no one has a mathematical lock on the nomination yet. The fight will continue.

    But….

    Mitt Romney has not closed the door on Newt, Santorum or Paul. They all will continue in the race and probably draw enough votes and delegates to deny Mitt Romney the 1,144 needed to win the Presidential nomination.

    It’s far from over. Despite claiming six state wins last night and upping his delegate count to 404, Mitt Romney still does not have a lock on the nomination—or even a clear path to claiming it if his opponents don’t leave the field.

    Consider this: if Mitt wins every remaining all-or-nothing state but one, and half of the remaining proportional delegates, he would likely still fall short of the magic nomination number of 1,144—which would force him to rely on unpledged delegates, the Republican version of the infamous Democratic super-delegates in 2008, to claim his party’s mantle.

    After last night’s election results the chances of a “brokered Republican convention” have increased and the nomination of a candidate, like Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels or Bobby Jindal. This will probably not be a bad thing, especially looking at certain polls.

    However, if Rick Santorum can beat Newt Gingrich in the upcoming Alabama and Mississippi primary elections, it is possible that Gingrich will quit the race. Santo would then compete one on one with Romney. Santorum might be able to beat Mitt or vice versa. Perhaps they just divide up the remaining delegates.

    Should Gingrich prove obstinate and stay in the race (no matter what), it is very likely that NO candidate will have the 1,144 needed on the first nomination ballot. Then, hold onto your hats for backroom deals and the emergence of a “NEW” candidate.

    Stay tuned….

  • Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rick Santorum

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Close Race in Michigan

    February 20, 2012 /

    Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney

    A couple of recent polls show a dead heat in Michigan.

    We Ask American Poll:

    • Romney – 29%
    • Santorum – 29%
    • Gingrich – 10%
    • Paul – 12%
    • Undecided – 20%

    PPP Poll:

    The Republican race for President in Michigan has tightened considerably over the last week, with what was a 15 point lead for Rick Santorum down to 4. He leads with 37% to 33% for Mitt Romney, 15% for Ron Paul, and 10% for Newt Gingrich.

    The tightening over the last week is much more a function of Romney gaining than Santorum falling. Santorum’s favorability spread of 67/23 has seen no change since our last poll, and his share of the vote has dropped only 2 points from 39% to 37%. Romney meanwhile has seen his net favorability improve 10 points from +10 (49/39) to +20 (55/35) and his vote share go from 24% to 33%.

    What we’re seeing in Michigan is a very different story from Florida where Romney surged by effectively destroying his opponent’s image- here Romney’s gains have more to do with building himself up.

    Groups Santorum has double digit leads with include Protestants (up 47-30), union members (up 43-23), Evangelicals (up 51-24), Tea Partiers (up 55-20), ‘very conservative’ voters (up 54-23), and men (up 40-28).

    Romney is leading the field with women (38-34), seniors (42-34), moderates (35-24), ‘somewhat conservative’ voters (40-34), and Catholics (43-31).

    As I have said, if Mitt Romney were to lose Michigan, the state of his youth and family legacy, there will undoubtedly be another candidate who will jump into the race. If Romney wins Michigan by a point or two, then there may also be a challenge.

    Take your pick: Mitch Daniels or Jeb Bush.

    Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are not polling well in general election match-ups against President Obama. The GOP Establsihment will not stand by and let Santorum and/or Gingrich sink their 2012 prospects.

    But, the new candidate will have to move quickly since election deadlines loom in early March.

  • Bobby Jindal,  Jeb Bush,  Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  President 2012,  Rick Santorum

    President 2012: If Mitt Romney Loses Michigan – We Need a New Candidate Says Top GOP Senator

    February 17, 2012 /

    Former Gov. Jeb Bush speaks at the Hispanic Leadership Network’s conference, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 in Miami

    You knew it was going to start.

    The GOP establishment is getting antsy about Mitt Romney and if he does manage to lose Michigan – well, he is done.

    A prominent Republican senator just told me that if Romney can’t win in Michigan, the Republican Party needs to go back to the drawing board and convince somebody new to get into the race.

    “If Romney cannot win Michigan, we need a new candidate,” said the senator, who has not endorsed anyone and requested anonymity.

    The senator believes Romney will ultimately win in Michigan but says he will publicly call for the party to find a new candidate if he does not.

    “We’d get killed,” the senator said if Romney manages to win the nomination after he failed to win the state in which he grew up.

    “He’d be too damaged,” he said.  “If he can’t even win in Michigan, where his family is from, where he grew up.”

    What about Rick Santorum?

    “He’d lose 35 states,” the senator said, predicting the same fate for Newt Gingrich.

    And, who would the new candidate be?

    Jeb Bush, said this Senator.

    I, frankly, think it will be Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels or Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – or even Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan.

    If the GOP wants to win against President Obama, they had better hope Santorum beats Romney in Michigan.

  • Foster Freiss,  President 2012,  Rick Santorum

    President 2012 Video: Rick Santorum Mega-Donor Foster Freiss and Aspirin Between Your Knees

    February 16, 2012 /

    Well, I already said that Rick Santorum was way out of the mainstream with his own views on contraception.

    His mega-donor Sugar Daddy, Foster Friess confirms it.

    Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s big mega-donor kicked up a controversy over the issue of contraception today when he urged a return to the good old days when gals had a simple solution for it: aspirin between the knees.

    We’re not kidding.

    Wealthy entreprenuer Foster Freiss, who’s backed Santorum’s Super-PAC, made the statements to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell today, after being asked if his candidate has expressed some extremist views on contraception.

    He appeared to express wonder that women even have to worry about the issue of paying for contraception these days, Politico reports. “On this contraceptive thing, my Gosh it’s such [sic] inexpensive,” he added. “You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”

    Good grief….this entire discussion is killing the GOP.

    Mr. Freiss should get back in his time machine and disappear – as should Rick Santorum.