2012 republican presidential nominee IV: NEEDS MORE BOOING

For bottom of the barrel commentary, go for this instead. All the man's tics on display: the equivocation, condescension.

Rush: "Only the leftists try to use extortion, pressure, threats to silence opposing voices…."

Goldberg reminds me of that Lincoln quote about packing the most words into the fewest ideas.

Chris Wallace on Fox showed Santorum the video clip of Obama making the case for all kinds of further education and training, not just 4 year colleges...

Santorum acknowledged that he might have made a mistake.

"Look, maybe I've read some comments where at least it was characterized that the president said we should go to four-year colleges," he said. "If I was in error, you said you haven't found that, I certainly read that… if it was an error, I agree with the president that we should have options for a variety of training."

Santorum's defensive answers to Wallace re Catholicism and birth control, and his lack of charity donations are uh, entertaining as well

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/04/rick-santorum-fix-news-birth-control_n_1319393.html

http://images.politico.com/global/2012/03/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.jpg

^^^ Real life LOL!

that's really great

omg

cheap and funny

kind of a weird filename tho

That cover's great...up there with the secret lives of Obama/Michelle cover from 2008.

jonathan bernstein thinks we should lock this thread

http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2012/03/endorsements-party-actors-and-2012.html

It sure seems to me that events to date have been all about Mitt Romney wrapping up a very open nomination quickly and fairly easily. Not as easily as George W. Bush did in 2000 (when he had a much better record of endorsements). But to me, Romney's nomination is quite comparable to the nominations of Kerry in 2004, Dole in 1996, and Dukakis in 1988, and a lot more certain a lot earlier than that of McCain last time around. That seems to very much fit a model in which party actors compete and coordinate on nominations and voters in primaries and caucuses ratify it, rather than a model in which candidates compete in a weak party environment and voters in primaries and caucuses determine the nomination. Yes, there's been momentum and press effects and other stuff that has produced a few oddball primary and caucus results, but none of that has really, as far as I can see, done as much to shape the contest as has decisions by party actors. In particular, the party's apparent lack of interest in Rick Santorum, seen through a lack of high-profile endorsements after Iowa and again after Colorado and Minnesota, appear to have been far more predictive than Santorum's strong showing in those states.

No one believes -- and I certainly don't believe -- that a "party decides" view of the nomination process rules out stray candidates winning the occasional primary or caucus. What matters is the nomination. And it sure looks to me as if the nomination has been over for a long time, exactly as those of us who push this view would have expected given most indications of party actor support.

Initiate lockdown.

Romney's 2009 USA Today op-ed in which he encouraged Obama to pass something very much like the individual mandate that he now disowns:

Our experience also demonstrates that getting every citizen insured doesn't have to break the bank. First, we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance. Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages "free riders" to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. This doesn't cost the government a single dollar.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090730/column30_st.art.htm

it makes absolutely no sense to compare this to kerry 2004. there's a big difference between 'everybody else lost' and 'romney won' even though the end result is the same.

I want to frame that New Yorker cover.

Best cover since the Blitt terrorist fistbump.

But Norquist has forgiven Romney for the 2009 "mandate" op-ed:

Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist said Monday that Mitt Romney made a "mistake" in advocating the individual mandate as part of the president's healthcare reform law, but that he was encouraged that the Republican front-runner had shifted "in favor of liberty" and now opposes the requirement.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/214077-norquist-romney-made-a-mistake-in-pushing-individual-mandate

xps: i think the point is to put this primary contest well within recent historical norms, and mark out the 08 republican primary as a real outlier

all polling showing romneys gonna deliver the knockout punch 2moro :/

Jonathon Bernstein is almost certainly correct that the anti-Mitt forces aren't organized enough to stop his getting the nomination, and the nomination is all that matters in the end. What is fascinating to me is the visceral strength of the anti-Mitt emotions among Republicans, and the fact that Mitt (I think) has yet to crack 50% of the vote anywhere, including Michigan. To me, this smells like a sizable chunk of the Republican base sitting on its hands in the general election.

I think the problem is the gop today can't operate as a 'party' in the same manner as previous elections. there was something different about this election - the 15-different frontrunners pattern was abnormal. romney didn't end up w/ this because of party support - he's still not got that much considering how far into the game we are. he ended up w/ this because none of the other candidates were remotely credible as national figures. that is also not normal.

idk. they (and lots of LOTS of white moderates) really, really hate this Obama dude.

xpost

but it is probably the new normal. xp

all polling showing romneys gonna deliver the knockout punch 2moro :/

the gaggle of newt lovers in georgia is really bummed about this btw

If Newt edges Mitt (I love these names, btw) in Georgia, then Newt'll announce himself as still viable and continue his crusade for Newtthink.

Gingrich is going to do more than barely edge out Mitt in Georgia: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/03/split-decision-for-super-tuesday.html

In Georgia Gingrich leads with 47% to 24% for Romney, 19% for Santorum, and 8% for Paul.

its his home state therefor doe not matter

Newt determines what matters, not what the mainstream liberal media tells you matters. Everyone knows that!

o right my bad

Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist said Monday that Mitt Romney made a "mistake" in advocating the individual mandate as part of the president's healthcare reform law, but that he was encouraged that the Republican front-runner had shifted "in favor of liberty" and now opposes the requirement.

Did anyone listen to the episode of This American Life with Norquist this weekend? It was very depressing.

did it turn out he was a happy and well-adjusted person with a keen sense of life's limitations and ironies?

I have it in my head that Grover Norquist sleeps with a giant Planter's Mr. Peanut statue next to his bed, but I have been unable to corroborate this tidbit for years and have no idea where I first heard it

he uses a giant tub of goldfish snacks as a side table iirc

Meanwhile, in the world of photos are just what they are:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff200/baseball_crank/Blog/George-Bush-and-Mitt-Romney-460x307.jpg

Mitt Romney Inhales George H. W. Bush's Soul

its just a thing mormons do everybody be cool

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kRBTLr-TZ68/TCleFog14zI/AAAAAAAAQik/8TaJXnVS928/s1600/PDVD_020.BMP

HW tells romney how the rest of the "there once was a man from nantucket" limerick goes

haha that is the liveliest, most human picture of Mitt I've ever seen

"That, uh, dog thing on the roof--looks bad, not prudent."
"It must have been super-keen being president!"

https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23conservativepoliticalcartoons

are these supposed to be parodies of cartoons or sincere suggestions?

Best hash tag ever?

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/520957/MITT-ROMNEY-OR-MR-BURNS.jpg

Perfect.

Grover Norquist on daily show last week was A+ (might have been an old interview)

New Yorker cover FTW

NBC Nightly News story on the current polls tonight asserted that infighting was the big factor on their bad numbers, as though they all haven't damaged themselves in the campaign.

A win is a win is a win. Except when it's a partial win, or a predictable win, or an empty win. Or something.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/03/the_definition_of_a_winner_has_become_elusive_in_this_year_s_republican_primary_.html

or a shootout win