| 12/29/2011 1:45 am |
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 OFFLINE | Romney sets pace in Republican race
Republican Mitt Romney is sensing an opening to win next Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, and he is campaigning with increasing confidence - and a new crush of advertising - to bolster his closing argument - that he is the most electable candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in November.
A win in the first voting on the national road to the Republican nomination would help him in the next contest on January 10, in New Hampshire, where the former Massachusetts governor's standing is strong.
"I just have to put my head down and battle as best I can," Mr Romney said.
Mr Romney has not announced where he will be on caucus night, leaving open the possibility that he may stay in Iowa if victory is at hand.
Support for former House of Representatives speaker - and former leader in the polls - Newt Gingrich is sliding after an onslaught of advertisements by a political action committee run by Mr Romney's allies.
And while Mr Romney is largely shying away from criticising his rivals, he jabbed at Texas Representative Ron Paul, who has emerged as Mr Romney's chief rival in Iowa despite some concerns over his isolationist views on foreign policy. "One of the people running for president thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon," Mr Romney said. "I don't."
It is a far more aggressive strategy than the one Mr Romney has employed all year. He poured 10 million US dollars into the state in 2008, only to lose it in a defeat that crippled his campaign. He could not allay concerns about his Mormon faith or his reversals on some social issues in a state where evangelical Republicans and other social conservatives dominate.
Mr Romney approached Iowa more cautiously this time. Until recently, his Iowa aides worked out of an attic on a slim budget. He spent less than 200,000 US dollars on the state before the campaign started buying TV ads in December.
Social conservatives remain splintered among a handful of candidates that include Texas Governor Rick Perry, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.Ms Bachmann's struggling presidential campaign was dealt another setback, when one of her Iowa co-chairmen, state Senator Kent Sorenson, gave his endorsement to Mr Paul at a Des Moines rally. Mr Sorenson said he resigned from Ms Bachmann's campaign to join the most conservative of the top-tier candidates.
A new CNN/Time poll in Iowa showed Mr Romney leading with 25% support. Mr Paul had 22% and Mr Santorum drew 16%, while Mr Gingrich had fallen to 14%.
Can Romney actually win against Obama though, given that a large part of the Republican base are Christian conservatives who aren't going to look kindly on supporting a Mormon? |
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| 12/30/2011 1:58 am |
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OFFLINE | That might be a problem. There are Christian Conservatives out here though who dont let Romney's Mormonism bother us. In my case, I realize that Mormons are big on family values. While we dont agree on some things about our faith, I do like that part and think it would be nice to have a leader who feels the same about that as I do.
I know I would vote for him. I also know that many of my friends would accept him as the nominee.
As for Obama, he cannot escape his record. He cannot escape the failing economy even though he will try to place the blame on someone else. Bush, the GOP, etc. He cannot escape the fact that Conservatives HATE Obama-care. They also hate Eric Holder with a passion. They hate the scandal that has been associated with Holder. They dont like Joe Biden's big mouth. They dont like Chicago style corruption in politics. They dont like the way this administration has snubbed the UK, and Christian conservatives hate how Obama has turned his back on Israel. The GOP thinks he failed with the Iranian and Egyptian uprisings.
Conservatives want Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke fired.
They remember the AG's refusal to protect our borders and Holder's persecution of states and agencies who tried to protect said borders.
They remember Cap and Trade.
They remember his ban on offshore drilling.
Christian Conservatives remember Obama repealed a policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells.
They also remember Obama ended bans on stem cell research as well as "Dont ask Dont tell".
And they know Obama believes in a Palestinian state and wants to partition Israel. Christian Conservatives dont like that.
Conservatives dont like Obama's Judicial nominees.
NRA members remember Eric Holder wanted to have a new assault weapons ban.
And a lot of conservatives really do believe Obama is a socialist.
So, whenya balance all that against Romney's Mormonism, ...I'd say Romney has as good a chance to whip Obama in the election as any other GOP candidate (except Ron Paul). Ron Paul has enough skeleton's in his past that it resembles a graveyard. He cannot explain the racist anti semitic letters, or his isolationist or his plain naive views. If Ron Paul somehow managed to get the nomination, Obama would wipe the floor with him. Heck...I'D vote for Obama in that case. Paul is just dangerous. |
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| 12/30/2011 2:29 am |
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OFFLINE |  Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
That might be a problem. There are Christian Conservatives out here though who dont let Romney's Mormonism bother us. In my case, I realize that Mormons are big on family values. While we dont agree on some things about our faith, I do like that part and think it would be nice to have a leader who feels the same about that as I do.
I know I would vote for him. I also know that many of my friends would accept him as the nominee.
As for Obama, he cannot escape his record. He cannot escape the failing economy even though he will try to place the blame on someone else. Bush, the GOP, etc. He cannot escape the fact that Conservatives HATE Obama-care. They also hate Eric Holder with a passion. They hate the scandal that has been associated with Holder. They dont like Joe Biden's big mouth. They dont like Chicago style corruption in politics. They dont like the way this administration has snubbed the UK, and Christian conservatives hate how Obama has turned his back on Israel. The GOP thinks he failed with the Iranian and Egyptian uprisings.
Conservatives want Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke fired.
They remember the AG's refusal to protect our borders and Holder's persecution of states and agencies who tried to protect said borders.
They remember Cap and Trade.
They remember his ban on offshore drilling.
Christian Conservatives remember Obama repealed a policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells.
They also remember Obama ended bans on stem cell research as well as "Dont ask Dont tell".
And they know Obama believes in a Palestinian state and wants to partition Israel. Christian Conservatives dont like that.
Conservatives dont like Obama's Judicial nominees.
NRA members remember Eric Holder wanted to have a new assault weapons ban.
And a lot of conservatives really do believe Obama is a socialist.
So, whenya balance all that against Romney's Mormonism, ...I'd say Romney has as good a chance to whip Obama in the election as any other GOP candidate (except Ron Paul). Ron Paul has enough skeleton's in his past that it resembles a graveyard. He cannot explain the racist anti semitic letters, or his isolationist or his plain naive views. If Ron Paul somehow managed to get the nomination, Obama would wipe the floor with him. Heck...I'D vote for Obama in that case. Paul is just dangerous.
So you mean to say conservatives have no grasp on reality? |
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| 12/30/2011 3:43 pm |
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OFFLINE | Lol! Politicians in general have little grasp of reality I guess. 
Seriously though, are you gonna vote for Obama? Seems I remember you said Huntsman or another GOP candidate. So even you must have a good reason for not voting for Obama this time.
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| 12/31/2011 1:59 am |
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OFFLINE | Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
Lol! Politicians in general have little grasp of reality I guess.
Seriously though, are you gonna vote for Obama? Seems I remember you said Huntsman or another GOP candidate. So even you must have a good reason for not voting for Obama this time.
I just typed a long response to this and it didn't post for some reason. I suppose that's what I get for not copying my post before hitting reply. Now for take two!
Thats a good response to my brusque accusation!
Am I going to vote for Obama in 2012? Most likely. Provided the circumstances that Obama has had to confront, from the weak economy and hyper-partisan opposition in congress, I think he has performed admirably. While I may not agree with his every stance or every belief, I am generally satisfied with both his performance and his vision for America.
So if I like Obama, why would I express support for Huntsman? I think the former Governor of Utah and US Ambassador to both China and Singapore is an intelligent, civil man with an exceptional foreign policy and executive experience. I think competition between these two men could bring out the best in both parties and lead to a meaningful dialog about how best to lead our nation into the future. Who knows, perhaps such a dialog could convince me to support Huntsman instead of Obama.
Unfortunately this match-up probably isn't going to happen as Huntsman is barely ahead of Frothy in the polls. Its probably going to be Romney v Obama, which leaves me with little choice.
I seem to remember you saying you are a Newt supporter. What do you think of this 'debate?'
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| 12/31/2011 3:22 am |
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OFFLINE | Oh man...its an hour long and its 3 am here right now. I dont think I'm gonna watch it right now. I do like Gingrich, but to be completely fair, I could live with any of the candidates except Paul. I could vote for Romney or Huntsman. I do like Santorum (probably more than Gingrich) though I honestly believe Gingrich is the smartest person in the race.
I honestly didnt know you were an Obama supporter. I'm not trying to be cruel when I talk about Paul or Romney. I guess it just comes across that way. I'm honestly scared of Paul. And I'm weary of Obama for many reasons.
Romney's religion has been attacked in the past but even though I disagree with some of that stuff, I honestly have never met a Mormon I didnt like. Mormonism does stress family values. And thats something I believe is sorely missed in our culture right now. So I could vote for him. Santorum is a family values type of guy as is Bachman.
Herman Caine was entertaining. I wasnt too crazy about 1 part of his 999 plan, but I hope he gets picked to serve in the cabinet if the GOP wins.
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| 01/03/2012 8:16 pm |
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OFFLINE | Well, though I've said Huntsman was a RINO, I could still live with him as a President. I prefer Gingrich, or Santorum, but I could actually find myself voting for all of the GOP candidates except Paul. But I'm not worried about that. Though he probably would win the Iowa Caucas tonight, he wont be the nominee. |
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| 01/04/2012 1:58 am |
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OFFLINE | Well, looks like Romney got it. Not by much tho:
Iowa G.O.P. Declares Mitt Romney Caucus Winner
The Iowa Republican Party pronounced Mitt Romney the winner of the state’s caucuses Tuesday night by a margin of just eight votes over Rick Santorum, with Mr. Romney receiving 30,015 votes to Mr. Santorum’s 30,007.
With Ron Paul coming in a not too distant third, the caucuses did not deliver a clean answer to what type of candidate Republicans intend to rally behind to try to defeat President Obama and win back the White House.
Once at risk of finishing last in the caucuses, Mr. Santorum had a meteoric rise in the final weeks leading up to Tuesday’s vote. Appealing to social conservatives and evangelicals, Mr. Santorum staked his entire campaign on Iowa and had visited all 99 counties in the state by November. He will face a difficult challenge in New Hampshire, where he has spent little time campaigning.
Mr. Romney had gained confidence recently as he saw his Iowa poll numbers rise and decided to compete more aggressively in the state. He will now head to New Hampshire, where he has a strong hold in the polls.
What exactly is the whole deal with the Iowa caucus anyway?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/opinion/feel-free-to-ignore-iowa.html
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| 01/04/2012 7:28 pm |
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OFFLINE | Dod told us awhile back but I cant remember. Best I can tell the caucuses sort of winnow down the candidates. Seems the object is to just not finish last.
Seriously, there's something wrong with an electoral process where a mere 125,000 people in the middle of our country can decide all by themselves who the entire nation's candidates will be. There are roughly 312 million people in the states and only a tiny portion has already eliminated some candidates. |
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| 01/08/2012 10:39 pm |
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Regist.: 04/10/2011
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OFFLINE | Originally Posted by Kieran Colfer:
Can Romney actually win against Obama though, given that a large part of the Republican base are Christian conservatives who aren't going to look kindly on supporting a Mormon?
When did Mormons quit being Christians??? |
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| 01/08/2012 11:18 pm |
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Regist.: 04/10/2011
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OFFLINE | Originally Posted by Bryant Platt:
Am I going to vote for Obama in 2012? Most likely. Provided the circumstances that Obama has had to confront, from the weak economy and hyper-partisan opposition in congress, I think he has performed admirably. While I may not agree with his every stance or every belief, I am generally satisfied with both his performance and his vision for America.
Really Bryant!?!? I am quite shocked.
So you think he did admirably even when he had the most sympathetic Congress he could have hoped for and still put us further into the hole with it???
Even though his appointed adviser on "US job creation" is busy using his company's tax free status to move his jobs to China???
Even though Obama preaches that we need more sustainable energy and backs that up by not only banning drilling here, but giving other countries tons to further develop their own drilling (in which we will then pay for again in preferential trade status....basically we are gonna be paying for foreign oil twice)???
Even though he pushed for a health care bill that was written by someone who doesn't understand it, passed by his party that didn't even read it (but are exempted from it), adds 10000000 people to the system without adding a single new doctor but requires more than 16000 new IRS agents, has its funding administered by the Treasury Chief who didn't even pay his taxes and may even be unconstitutional to begin with???
Bryant, our creditors have already stated what will happen if we do not get our debt under control. We have already hurt our ability to do that when our credit rating dropped. Obama and his buddies are screaming for more while giving you lip service. You are buying it so far. If we do not curtail our debt.....this nation will split into several pieces. You study history. You should realize this. You should realize that is the single most important issue right now. You should realize that Obama will never do what must be done.
If we were to look at this objectively, overall this President was even worse than the one before him. Take his ability to read a teleprompter away and we really have nothing of substance left. Every move he has made has been the wrong one. I can't really think of even one of his actions that has benefited tUSA and I'm not even thinking about he and his advisers totally sabotaged our efforts to save our salt marsh after the Horizon spill.
But alas, Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and all those other guys that the religious right are supporting are pretty much the same thing.
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| 01/11/2012 2:05 pm |
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OFFLINE | I have a feeling that if Romney can win SC, he'll get the nomination. Gingrich has pretty much lost any credibility he had I'm afraid. Too bad. He knows a lot about govt and has some good ideas to get our economy going. |
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Romney sets pace in Republican race
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