2012 republican presidential nominee III: can romney get santorum out of his hair?

it hinted at a larger truth

this, in every campaign "analysis" or color piece x1000000 for the next 10 months

i don't know shit about huntsman but you gotta like that video

Last minute prep:

http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/files/2012/01/RomneyMcCain.jpg

"Remember: not 'Newt' or 'Rick' or 'Ron'--'that one.'"

Absolutely, totally, fundamentally, not bad so far. Romney must love these guys sniping at each other but just barely at him. My favourite moment so far was the look of complete indignation and confusion on Perry's face when Paul said, "You keep calling me a libertarian, Rick..." Don't forget, Governor--two Ricks up there.

question for process experts here - I know from when my stepdad used to run for Congress every four years that in California if you get a certain % of total votes, you qualify (or used to) to receive some kind of funding from the state. is there anything like that at the federal level, some sort of "below x percentage, no funding"? this would sort of explain ridiculous fighting between candidates who're nowhere near getting the nomination

yer party needs 5% of the campaign vote to get federal funds the next election but that doesn't affect anybody running for the republican nomination and would only be relevant if one of these dudes was planning a nader-esque multiple year 3rd party run

er 'campaign vote' should just be uh 'national vote'

santorum just claimed we don't have classes in america

"well, maybe the middle income people"

"And if you don't like middle-income people, let's call them middle-Earth people."

I guess everyone else just gave up. At 10:27--actually made note of the time--Santorum launched a fairly tepid attack at Romney. Virtually nothing from Gingrich. No one burned the roof. No one came close. Tomorrow morning, we'll do it again.

wait was there another debate tonight? I completely burned out on the debates, like 18-years-old-and-there's-a-new-flavor-of-Doritos burned out, they'd have to do it gladiator style to make me actually watch another one

might be worth it for gingrich, idk

oh wait it already happened and clemenza watched it and that didn't happen nvm

I feel like I know so much about gingrich after reading two profiles on him

I feel like one of those people the FBI hires to profile serial killers based on cut up magazine pages left at a crime scene, I think I have a good handle on newt

he is probably a fucking lunatic

I'm so stumped by Gingrich's complete abdication tonight. Maybe he lost nerve, maybe he thought better of it, maybe it's just too difficult to go after anyone when there are six people up there. Only time he got really angry was when Paul called him on his lack of military service.

well it's gotta be exhausting straight hating on literally all your peers 24 hours a day

maybe he realized he could piss of liberals more by not attacking romney and making them watch the debate anyway

he's like 5 steps ahead of us

Mission accomplished...Sullivan just reminded me of one of the funniest lines of the night: Perry said that Iran will be back in Iraq now "literally at the speed of light." I'm really going to miss him.

xp lol otm Newt's central goal is to anger the maximum # of people per gesture or non-gesture

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/WilliamCrump63/romneybot.jpg

Josh Marshall: "The entire evening read like the other candidates are either resigned to Romney's expanding lead or were simply unaware of it." My guess: four resigned, one unaware.

The "Romney won the debate because he wasn't knocked out" analysis doesn't sit right. His answers are defensive even when he's not being attacked. And that exchange with Stephanopolous about the contraception issue was extremely awkward. Whether or not people noticed that he didn't answer the question after being asked at least four times, who knows?

Huntsman had a better night. (Santorum, fwiw, did not.)

When Stephanopoulos got onto contraception, I knew it was theoretically a legitimate question, I knew it tied into Roe vs. Wade, and I knew it was the kind of question that forces Republicans to carry out their beliefs to their logical conclusions. And Romney was definitely ducking. But in all honesty, I shared Romney's exasperation. To me, it wasn't all that different from Republicans deflecting the gay-marriage question with all sorts of nonsensical things that just aren't going to happen.

Romney did look stupid not knowing the Supreme Court precedent, though.

the major contraception case was griswold v connecticut

Meanwhile in lala land:

Being willing to push back against the MSM with the right amount of disdain is a delicate balancing act, easily overdone. But it is what Romney did with the astonishing exchange with George Stephanopoulos on contraception, and when George doubled and then tripled down on the inanity, not only did the audience boo the former Clinton front-man, the nation groaned, and Romney deftly hammered him again and again. If it was a fight it would have been stopped, and the exchange seemed to have rattled both Diane Sawyer and Stephanopoulos who struggled to ask good questions or follow-up appropriately throughout.

You can’t plan a “I paid for this microphone” moment, but Romney’s “silly” rebuff to Stephanopoulos was pretty close, and Newt’s following slam on how the reverse sort of question is never asked completed the rout of ABC.

Astonishing, no. But whatever Stephanopoulos's point, it got undermined by general "Is he really asking this?" befuddlement.

Thought I heard some name like Griswold in there. It made me think of Plan 9 from Outer Space.

http://files.myopera.com/edwardpiercy/blog/Criswell-1.jpg

the nation groaned

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx9cr7AMFg1qzxejoo1_r1_500.jpg

wow love that a lot

is there an emoticon for santorum's expression there? Something between :) and "go fuck yourself"?

this vanity fair profile of mitt isn't quite gotcha! material but it confirms that he's a cold-hearted imperious prick underneath his veneer

^^http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/02/mitt-romney-201202

Much better this morning. (Yes, another one.) I think Perry's the only guy up there who the others still like. He's like a harmless mascot at this point--his last answer was genuinely funny.

Has Romney's numbers against the entire Republican primary slate ever floated much farther up than 24% or whatever?

Nationally, I think he's still pretty close to 25%; in New Hampshire and South Carolina, though, he's well above at the moment (40-50%).

it confirms that he's a cold-hearted imperious prick underneath his veneer

So another great twinning for the fall campaign. "You're likable enough, Mitt."

santorum just claimed we don't have classes in america

jeezus, neither have most Democratic pols since Bubba; wake up.

contraception question was relevant because romney tried to ban over-the-counter emergency contraception in MA.

oh mean what Obama did for the whole nation? that dangerous Mitt Romney!!

lol otm

Holy shit, was there another debate this morning?

Do these knobs actually have anything to debate, or is it all jockeying/posturing for position somewhere in Santorum's ultra conservative orbit?

How to play dumb

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/08/mitt_romney_and_the_power_of_playing_dumb/singleton/

Romney does have an air of unfrozen caveman lawyer to him, doesn't he?

contraception question was relevant because romney tried to ban over-the-counter emergency contraception in MA.

― the acquisition and practice of music is unfavourable to the health of (abanana), Sunday, January 8, 2012 4:29 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh mean what Obama did for the whole nation? that dangerous Mitt Romney!!

― Frobisher (Viceroy), Sunday, January 8, 2012 4:33 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol otm

― rebecca blah (k3vin k.), Sunday, January 8, 2012 5:39 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

angry lol @ this

Obama needs to debate a rep from this board