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

I WANT Obamney, boredom and pointlessness is the grail

I thought getting Nader over 5% was the grail

honestly I find it really strange that you think boredom is a motivating force.

i personally find romney v hilarious

you are easily amused tho

Me too. "I'm proud to have been successful in America!"

yeah maybe but come on romney brings the lolz! hes like some pampered rich kid whos trying to act normal but cant stop mentioning the opera

I think morbius may have a point about boredom being the grail of politics. What could be more boring than a well-run country with policies that result in a peaceful, affluent socety, riddled with good health and contentment? It's when things are falling apart that you desperately need to find scapegoats, deflect anger, and manage the ceaseless hubbub of dissatisfaction bubbling up from below.

I thought he meant more along the lines of disaffection being the vehicle of true change...?

I guess we ought to ask him.

some of my ultra-conservative relatives posted pictures from the Colbert-Cain thing... They seem to be approaching the event with no irony.

I find it really strange that you think boredom is a motivating force.

who expects motivation? this is America, nothing that's non-electronic is going to motivate the masses for the rest of our history.

all I want out of boredom with the two bots is a record low turnout and a few more mic checks in the First Detainer's face

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lodraqOev11qeoyveo1_500.png

Faye should get someone like Andrew Niccol to do her a Diana Christensen sequel where she's Queen of the Smartphones.

read an Eleanor Clift quote today on Counterpunch to the effect of "The media doesn't want Romney vs Obama. Imagine that, for all those months."

It looks more and more to me like the media is taking a large part in orchestrating the whole thing. I guess it works, it certainly keeps people watching these debates. In one of those Gingrich clips above I felt like they flew in the audience from Married With Children or something. It's impossible to imagine these debates take place without 'applause' and 'standing ovation' signs lighting up in front of the audience.

Just really sad Sarah's not in there.

There's a poll out today that has Gingrich up 40-26--it looks like he'll win, and he may win by a large margin.

Romney will still be solidly favored to win the nomination going into Florida--I know, I know, I know. Is there any chance that SC could turn Florida around, though? It's not like Florida's in love with Romney, right? Gingrich was way up there two months ago, during his first resurrection. Maybe Alfred or someone else who lives there can speak to this.

(The PBS people were talking last night about how Jim Lehrer would always lecture the debate audiences beforehand about staying silent. A little in-house mythologizing, I'm sure, but there has been a situation created whereby Gingrich is running circles around Romney in knowing how to play to the audience.)

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gingrichlaugh2.jpg

Batshit Idol

What, is he going to perform selections from Les Miz next?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/Bat_Boy.PNG

I'm not allowed to vote in Florida primaries, but at the public library I just visited -- where early turnout usually means swarms of excited purple-haired Cuban ladies -- the polling station was quiet. A lone Santorum supporter, a gringo, held a poster near the driveway.

I'm pretty sure Romney's got the let's-bomb-Fidel vote while Gingrich puts the fire in the potbellies of young conservatives I know from the university.

Either way, it doesn't matter much now whether Romney or Gingrich gets the nomination. I'm convinced now that Obama will win, and the despondency I've seen in the local conservative community signals that they know it too.

clemenza, do you really think Romney has a chance? There's no need to hope Gingrich gets the nomination -- Romney's done.

the economy could always crater before Nov, there's that to hang onto

oh I'm pretty sure it'll nosedive again in a couple years.

newt will win south carolina, and I heard an analyst say earlier on tv that GOP party leaders are thinking it may be better to have this carry on for a while, so that the other candidates will have a chance to take some shots at obama. because romney isn't doing very well at it. so the assumption would still be that romney is the nominee.

it seems to me that the other candidates' attacks have effectively put together a pretty devastating portrait of romney as the personification of everything that's wrong with wall street/big business. i have asked family who don't follow politics too closely what they think about the field, and heard back unprompted an entire list of fairly recent issues like 'enjoys firing people' 'has money in the caymans' 'won't release his taxes' etc. i don't think the obama campaign could have scripted it any better. it's also been my impression that people in the game (politics, media) are quietly looking ahead to 2016.

I really do. (xpost) I can only go by the forecasts I read, but supposedly there's a good chance that the economy will again take a few steps in the other direction. There's that, and there's what I think is going to be a fact of life in every presidential election from here on in--fatigue with whoever is the incumbent. (The 83 Republican debates may help neutralize this.) So even though I give Obama a better chance than I would have four or five months ago, there will be several false starts between now and November, and I still think it's an iffy proposition heading into an election with an economy teetering (minor recovery or not).

(I've come to think of presidential elections as being like basketball games: there will be several lead changes, and the final score will always be determined in the last five minutes.)

And for what it's worth--I'm being completely honest--I want Gingrich to win more for the match-up than the fact it would undoubtedly secure a win for Obama. Gingrich harbors all the contempt for Obama that has marked his party for the last four years; I want to see that play out in a big way. Romney vs. Obama will feel like a cheat; it won't be the right match-up in view of the last four years.

Clarification: everything about the economy in my previous post refers only to an Obama/Romney election.

...heard back unprompted an entire list of fairly recent issues like 'enjoys firing people' 'has money in the caymans' 'won't release his taxes' etc.

While this is good to hear, you should ask them again in early September, after the conventions. That's when you start to get a better fix on the ideas that people who don't pay much attention will take to the polls.

Romney vs. Obama will feel like a cheat; it won't be the right match-up in view of the last four years.

^^this!

yeah, except for it to "reflect" the last 4 years, NG have to shower Bam w/ alt-universe epithets for 90 mins.

Meanwhile, it rests with the Occupy diaspora to paint Obama as an equal partner in Wall Street/big business being catered to.

Just want to commend M.White for his multiple truth bombs yesterday on this thread.

Modern political life:

Darlene Kleckley was at home recovering from knee surgery one recent afternoon when she heard the phone ring. It does that a lot these days.

When her answering machine clicked on, she heard Mitt Romney’s voice greeting her husband.

“He said: ‘Hi, William. This is Mitt,’ ” recalled Ms. Kleckley, 65, a retired university administrator.

This struck her as odd for two reasons. First, her husband died in September. “And besides,” she added, “no one called him William. Everybody called him Bill.”

“Oh, it’s awful,” sighed Tina Hampton, 59, an office administrator. Her mailbox is filled with glossy brochures from candidates and the “super PACs” that support them. Her television blares with sniping politicians in commercial breaks of her favorite shows. Her respite at work, an iPod Touch that plays soothing music through Pandora radio, was overtaken by Rick Perry ads. “It’s a scourge,” she said.

“Last night, I was trying to watch ‘American Idol.’ I was like, I just want to watch Steven Tyler,” Ms. Hampton said. “I don’t care that Newt has lied and that Santorum has lied and that Romney has lied, and that everybody is just a bunch of big, fat liars.”

She added: “I’d really just like to see a coffee commercial. Seriously.”

Ms. Hampton sifted through her mail Thursday, having left it unchecked for two days this week. Upon retrieval, 12 pieces of political literature were waiting for her: four from Ron Paul, four from Mitt Romney, three from the pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, and one from a group called Strong America Now, which is supporting Mr. Gingrich. “I have no idea what’s in these things because they just go in the garbage,” she said, pausing to glance at one of the Paul letters, which was written on letterhead that said “From the Desk of Jedd Coburn.”

“Who is Jedd Coburn?” Ms. Hampton groaned. (He worked for the National Right to Work Committee, an antiunion group.)

When Cory Ezzell arrived at his downtown law office on Tuesday, after a long holiday weekend, his voice mailbox was so full he thought he was facing a crisis.

But there was no emergency. Just eight separate pleas from politicians and their surrogates, most supporting Mr. Romney. One was from Senator John McCain of Arizona lauding “my good friend Mitt Romney.” Another was Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, saying that Mr. Romney “will work tirelessly to stop labor crews from coming in and controlling your economy.”

One invited Mr. Ezzell to an event featuring Mr. Romney with the Nascar legend David Pearson. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum had left messages, too.

“Getting these calls makes my blood pressure shoot up,” Mr. Ezzell, 31, said, adding that he plans to vote for Mr. Gingrich. “They are a tremendous waste of my time.” He said he still got three to four a day.

Frankly, I kinda want these people pissed off at their purported candidates.

rip bill he was a voter

Gingrich harbors all the contempt for Obama that has marked his party for the last four years; I want to see that play out in a big way. Romney vs. Obama will feel like a cheat; it won't be the right match-up in view of the last four years.

yeah this is fascinating & otm; in an entirely social way it would be so fascinating & hopefully cathartic for a lot of the more personal anti-Obama shit to be played out

social as in not political

I'm amused how "the last 4 years" -- 3 actually, we take a full year off for this wank -- only can be represented by the idiot extremes.

(ie, ppl who think Bam is a socialist vs ppl who think Bam is a liberal)

well, whatever else it may be (deluded, for instance), thinking of obama as a liberal is hardly "extreme". it's pretty much the definition of centrism, which of course = right-of-centrism these days. it's a position of despondent, defeated acceptance, not radicalism of any stripe.

Another SC voter speaks:

“If you could mix them together, then maybe you’d have someone,” said Kelly Burrell, 32, a single mother working at a cellphone cover kiosk in a Spartanburg mall. “Like, if you had a cross between Newt and Ron Paul, maybe with a little Santorum thrown in, we’d be great.”

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rVz64IizjuY/TZ3jtCNx3eI/AAAAAAAAABw/3HydK9J0mkY/s320/250px-Blinky.jpg

maybe with a little Santorum thrown in, we’d be great
maybe with a little Santorum thrown in, we’d be great
maybe with a little Santorum thrown in, we’d be great
maybe with a little Santorum thrown in, we’d be great

The Island of Dr Rove

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly61fj6o0a1qdmmiqo1_r1_500.gif

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/files/2012/01/KingDCD.jpg

hahaha, I looked at that for 15 seconds waiting for King to move or blink

Thing is, in the original clip (go to around the 50-second mark), King's head barely moves at all. Maybe ZS can animate that still and make his head fall off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc4lnlDVW3o&feature=related

C'mon, he's ZS, not LSUFreek.