Should Rick Santorum Quit the Race?

Pressure is mounting for Rick Santorum to quit the race; I can't figure out why nobody is calling on Gingrich to quit the race.  Seems to me Santorum is doing better than Gingrich in the overall count so why isn't the establishment calling for Newt to bail?

The Washington Post:

He lost the Illinois primary badly to Mitt Romney on Tuesday and, in the process, fell 300 delegates behind the former Massachusetts governor. And, adding insult to injury, former Florida governor Jeb Bush finally decided to wade into the presidential race on behalf of Romney on Wednesday, a signal to the Republican political world that primary race is at an end.

The story goes on to quote such luminaries as Bob Dole, Steve Schmidt and Haley Barbour who both think Santorum's time is nigh.

Schmidt:

“If Santorum runs a principled campaign and then concedes graciously then he has a big future ahead,” said Steve Schmidt, who managed McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “If he runs a character campaign attacking Romney, then Santorum’s future is more limited.”

And Barbour:

“I’d argue Santorum should start winding it down,” said Henry Barbour, a Mississippi Republican National Committeeman and Romney supporter. “That would preserve the most options for him — serving in a Romney presidency officially or unofficially or possibly running again one day.”

Where are the calls for Newt to get out?  Last I checked, he was in third place.

The Louisiana primary is Saturday and Santorum looks to be in pretty good shape down here.  Rasmussen reports Santorum has a 12 point lead over Romney and Newt is a "distant third."

Santorum's schedule shows he will be in Monroe tomorrow at 10 a.m., in Shreveport at the Holiday Inn downtown at 1:15, and then he's off to Pineville for a 7 p.m. appearance.

Stacy McCain is on the road, somewhere in Mississippi when we spoke this afternoon, and headed toward Baton Rouge.  He's going to stop in at the Monroe event then head over to SIGIS-land to cover the Santorum events.  We have tentative plans to get together tomorrow afternoon, schedules permitting.

As for the Romney camp, they've finally announced a public appearance in addition to the invitation-only fundraiser he will attend at The Petroleum Club:

Romney is scheduled to hold an energy event at QEP Resources at 12202 Harts Island Road in Shreveport at 2:40 p.m, according to a media release from his campaign. The meeting is free and open to the public.  Romney is also scheduled to attend a fundraiser on Friday, the day before the primary, at the Petroleum Club in downtown Shreveport. General attendance will cost supporters $1,000 per person or $2,500 per person to attend the VIP photo reception.

Check back for updates.

Newt Visits Shreveport

The candidates are making their rounds through Louisiana; today it was Newt.  He stopped in at Strawn's Eat Shop Too this morning to a reported crowd of about 200 to speak about his energy policy.

Northern Louisiana is a hot spot for the Haynesville shale and has been booming with natural gas production in the past few years.  Newt has done his homework and recognizes that:



(Video courtesy of The Shreveport Times)

Mr. Gingrich was off to Ruston, Choudrant, and other parts of the state after leaving here today.  He'll be in Baton Rouge Thursday.

Rick Santorum was in town Sunday.

Mitt Romney will swing through town Friday with an invitation only fundraiser at The Petroleum Club.

Louisiana's primary is Saturday

What If Santorum Wins Big Tonight?

It might be a big night for Rick Santorum or it might be a big bust - who knows!?

Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota are all hosting election events tonight; no delegates on the table but lots of bragging rights.

Some links for the wait:

Google Politics has the maps and results - you can toggle between states on the upper right.

Red State has a Live Coverage event going on.

Allahpundit:

No delegates at stake tonight, but this is probably Santorum’s last chance to breeze past Newt as the race’s designated Not Romney. Read Ed’s post on the latest PPP numbers if you missed it this morning: He’s up by 13 points in Missouri (where Gingrich isn’t on the ballot) and by nine in Minnesota. If he wins both easily, then he gets a bunch of positive media coverage this week and maybe a few more big-name conservative endorsements, which in turn could mean enough movement in the polls to put him on at least an equal footing with Gingrich. Once that happens, the pressure will shift to Newt to explain why he should stay in and divide the conservative vote on the strength of having won one state while Santorum should drop out after having won three. Is that enough to get Gingrich to quit? Why … no, but it’ll make an increasingly dull primary interesting again until Super Tuesday.

The Washington Post also has live coverage and updates.

USA Today is live-blogging.

Predictions?

Added:

Why are they still voting for Cain, Huntsman, etc.?

Protest votes?  Absentee votes?

Sign Me Up For The Sweet Meteor of Death, Too

I've been in a depressed funk over the GOP candidates.  Thus the light blogging, I guess.

Via Hot Air, this is where I am too:

Influential conservative blogger Erick Erickson said he would endorse the “sweet meteor of death” over any of the current GOP candidates, but would back the party’s eventual nominee in the general election against President Obama.

Anybody but Obama.

With the exception of Stacy McCain, I can't find anyone who is really enthusiastic about any of the candidates, for that matter.

Allahpundit:

Honestly, my core problem with the field is less their specific weaknesses than the fact that we failed to entice a top-tier star candidate into the field against a vulnerable incumbent whom conservatives despise. I can’t get past that. Like Erickson, I’ll vote for the eventual nominee, but I can’t bring myself to choose one over the others because the feeling that they’re not our best is ever present. Deep down, I don’t think any of them are equal to the fiscal challenges ahead. How can I have a preference?

Ditto.

Another "Perrybot" Response

I was at work this morning when I saw Stacy McCain's bitch-slapping post to the "Perrybots" and I couldn't respond at the time because, well, I was at work. 

Stacy, it seems, is aggrieved because Rick Perry's campaign burned through $20 million in his failed campaign.  Stacy, who was all for Herman Cain, by the way, is now on the Rick Santorum bandwagon; he seems to be harboring some resentment about his current candidate's cash raising status:

Just ask yourselves, Perrybots, what might have been possible if some other candidate — any other candidate, perhaps one who could remember how to count to three – had an extra $20 million to spend here in Florida. But no, you spent months telling the rest of us that Rick Perry was The Only Conservative Who Could Beat Romney, an argument you didn’t hesitate to repeat as late as December, long after it was apparent that he wasn’t ready for prime time. And you still refuse to admit that you were misled, and helped mislead others, into jumping aboard that hopeless Bandwagon to Loserville.

I'm quite fond of Stacy and I have great respect for his Shoe Leather Reporting; I link him often and have hit his tip jar several times, but he's dead wrong on this one.  Rick Perry had every bit as much right to run as did Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, or anyone else for that matter.  If he burned through $20 million then it was his to burn.  And the people had just as much right to support Perry as Stacy does his candidates of choice.

Troglopundit refutes Stacy's logic:

One need not be a “Perrybot” to see the logical fallacy McCain is making. To wit: “if Rick Perry hadn’t entered the race, somebody else would have gotten that $20 million.”

I dunno what’s in that pile, but it smells.

Short answer: no, neither Rick Santorum, nor Herman Cain, nor Michelle Bachmann, nor Thaddeus McCotter would have received that $20 million. A small proportion of it, perhaps. I’m speculating, but it seems likely that other candidates would also have received some of it. Therefore whatever financial impact this fictional Perrylessness might have had would be distributive in nature, and thus zero.

Perry had several large contributors who were likely donating for the sole reason that they liked Perry and his record of success in Texas.   Heck, I even donated to Perry (not millions!) but I haven't donated to anyone else as of yet.  In this little microcosm, my small donation would not have ended up going to Santorum even if Perry had never run in the first place.  I'd have kept it.

The fisking of Stacy continues with Wyblog:

Hey, Stacy McCain is a kick-ass gonzo journalist and all. He Knows Things. I'm just a random Polack from New Jersey. But it occurs to me that Rick Perry, a guy who's actually won elections and governed from conservative principles, might have gotten more traction if a certain gonzo journalist hadn't taken a flyer on the likes of Herman Cain, and in the process misled a whole lotta other folks into buying a one-way ticket on the 9-9-9 Restraining Order Express. Cain wanted to be president alright, just not President of the United States. More like president of Hooters, if you get my drift. 

How much cash did Herman Cain suck out of the Santorum coffers?   How much early traction could Santorum have gained had Stacy not been on the Cain Train?

Adrienne chimes in:

Well, who's sucking up oxygen now? 

Michelle Malkin has thrown her support behind Santorum.  I understand her reasons.  I like Santorum, too.  But I also believe that he is not going to be the nominee.  Neither is Ron Paul.

I think that in the end the only one making any sense here is Smitty:

The candidates all suck: get over it. 

Amen.

Remember, when Perry got into the race he was viewed by many as the savior from this stinkin' field of RINOs we have now; he'd never lost an election and had a track record (while not perfect) of conservatism and job creation in Texas.  Why was it wrong to support that, pray tell?

It was much easier to support that than to support a guy who lost a re-election bid in his own state.

As it is, the process is working.  We don't like the candidates, but it's working.  Perry faltered and he failed.  I hate it, but it is the way it goes.  Newt says he's staying in.  Mitt is staying in. 

Krauthammer sees Missouri as Santorum's chance to make a stand (February 7):

I think [he's] staying in. I think the real sleeper event could be in Missouri. Missouri doesn’t have any delegates. It’s only a beauty contest. But Gingrich isn’t on the ballot. I think for Santorum, this is his great opportunity. He’d be essentially one-on-one with Romney.

If polls are to be believed, Republicans need to stop eating their own and start focusing on Obama.  As it is right now, we're handing him four more years.

None of our candidates are perfect.  In fact, Smitty is right - they stink.  All of 'em.  But in the end, blaming the "Perrybots" and continuing the blame game won't win back The Oval. 

Truth is, there's no real conservative in this race and in the end we're going to have to do the same thing we did in 2008.  Hold your nose and vote. 

Let's just hope we don't get the same result.

Charlie Crist Thinks Obama is Doing "What's Right for the Country"

In case you had any lingering doubts about Charlie Crist's true colors:

In a rare television interview, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who left the Republican Party during his unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate bid, told Chuck Todd on “The Daily Rundown” that he’d consider voting for President Obama in November.

“Consider? Sure, I would consider that,” said Crist. “I really think he’s sincere and genuine. I think we have a lot time, a lot of issues to talk about, but I think, in his heart, he’s trying to do what’s right for the country overall.”

More at Not One Red Cent!


(H/T:  The Corner)

A Message for Mitt and Newt

Dear Republican contenders: 

Please start going after Obama and not each other.

Via Legal Insurrection, Obama is trouncing both of you:

In potential Election 2012 matchups, it’s President Obama 47% and Romney 42%. However, if Gingrich is his Republican opponent, the president holds a double-digit lead, 50% to 37% (see tracking history).

Thanks,
Pat
xoxoxoxo

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around: The Perfect Weekend Edition

The camellias are starting to bloom but it's clear that mine have suffered from the drought last summer.  I spent a little time this afternoon pruning dead wood from my camellia bush and now I'm hoping it makes a comeback this summer.

But when the camellias start to bloom I know spring is not too far behind.

Mr. SIGIS and I had a busy Saturday and a lazy Sunday which is just about a perfect weekend.

Saturday I hit up a couple of estate sales early in the day then we headed over to Minden for the kickoff of Mardi Gras with their German Fasching celebration.  We had a grand time catching beads and watching the infamous Milly Rose dancing in Main Street along with the parade (video below).

My shopping treasures this weekend include this pretty jadeite vase (left).  I also picked up an old "depression era" green water bottle.  I remember we always had one of these in our refrigerator when I was growing up and it just reminded me of my childhood so I bought it.  I also bought an old Kosmos Brenner brass oil lamp.  And finally, Milly gave me a beautiful depression glass pink serving tray which I adore.  So as far as treasures go, it was a great weekend!

Today we've moved at a slower pace.  I did some much needed housework, went to my mom's and took care of her, then Steve and I took the rest of the day off.  We sat on the deck in the sun, drank a beer, and watched the dogs play and visited with our neighbor for a bit.

I'm disgusted with the Republican race right now.  Like Pundette, though, I'm "bitterly clinging" to Rick Santorum as long as I can.  Deep inside I'm just enraged at the ignorant establishment at the head of the Republican party who has put us right back in the same mess we were facing in 2008.  I can't even verbalize just yet how pissed off I am at the state of things.

Elsewhere:

The Other McCain is still filing great "on the road" coverage of the campaign - this time from Florida.

Speaking of the bone-headed Republican establishment, Sister Toldjah wonders if they're out to get Allen West.

Legal Insurrection points out the "scorched earth" tactics of the Romney campaign.  It's not pretty, folks.  Not a bit.

Saberpoint likes Santorum and calls the Republican fisticuffs between Newt and Mittens "vicious, self-destructive, personal and bitter."

American Power thinks Sarah Palin is endorsing Newt (video at the link).  I'm actually surprised; I'd have thought her to be more of a Santorum kind of gal.

Doug Ross checks out Occuy DC (with photos). 

Wyblog posts on the mandatory contraceptive edict.

Herman Cain has endorsed Newt.

Global warming is out; Cycle 25 is IN.

Be sure to check out The State of Our Disunion at Political Clown Parade.

Mark Levin is very concerned about Romney's character.

Dan Riehl has analysis of Levin's comments.

All in all, this campaign has gone somewhere very ugly.  It doesn't do any good to think about what could have been at this point but there's a lot of that going on inside my head.  It does seem as if Mitt and Newt are eating each other alive and quite possibly Rick Santorum will be the last man standing.

Oh well.  Much will be made of the Florida primary and let the chips fall where they may.  ABO in 2012.

Here's Milly Rose dancing in the streets:

The Spin Begins

My mother said to me the other day, "I'll be so glad when this election is OVER!  It seems like it's been going on for a year!"

I hate to tell her, but it hasn't even started yet.  We've only been dealing with the Republican primary so far.  Just wait until the general election! 

True, Obama has been campaigning for re-election since 2008, but only now are we beginning to see general election 2012 ads cropping up on television.

I've even seen a few "Obama 2012" stickers on a couple of cars in town.  Whenever I see those bumper stickers I just can't fathom it.  Given this man's record, how can anyone still support him?  I tried to get Mr. SIGIS to explain it to me but he couldn't.

It's true that much of the population depends on the liberal mainstream media to inform them.  Much of the general population just doesn't care - they hate politics and politicians and will vote however their editorial page tells them to vote.  In truth, the number of political junkies like me (and you - you're reading this, aren't you?) are much lower in number than those who just vote blindly.

Yet still.  Consider Obama's first campaign ad.  Investor's Business Daily fact checks the energy statements in the ad:

The Obama re-election campaign is already shaping up as the most deceitful in American electoral history. "For the first time in 13 years our dependence on foreign oil is below 50%," the commercial declares, accompanied by goose-bumpy music.

Major economic downturns, in fact, unfailingly produce declines in oil imports. And so do higher gas prices — which went from an average of less than $2 a gallon at the time Obama took office to nearly $4 in the middle of last year and remain well above $3 today.

How could gasoline demand not drop with so many people out of work, businesses dying and jittery investors sitting on a trillion dollars?

Of course "our dependence on foreign oil" is lower.  It's not because we're producing more domestically; we're not.  It's because of the reasons stated above.

This is typical Obama spin.

It's sort of like saying "You will be able to keep your doctor," when ObamaCare was rammed down our throats.  Sure, you'll be able to keep him as long as he's able to stay in practice but once ObamaCare really kicks in, he will probably pack his little black bag and fade into the sunset.  Either that or he'll be so backlogged behind the deluge of patients waiting to see a doctor, any doctor, that you'll be a distant memory.

Deceitful.

"Oh," but you say, "All politicians do that!"  And I won't argue that to some degree.  I take issue with those as well.

Consider this from ABC News:

Turning to the economy, the ad hails “2.7 million Clean-Energy American Jobs,” citing a July report from the Brookings Institution, the suggestion being that Obama deserves credit for the employment in those industries.

But the Brookings report does not claim Obama created or maintained those jobs, just that 2.7 million exist in that sector – which encompasses a diverse array of roles and industries, including all of the nation’s mass transit workers (e.g. bus drivers).

But who's going to read the fine print?

Get ready for a long campaign, Mom.  The lies and the spin are here to stay.  I just hope voters care enough to decipher them and read between the lines.  From both sides of the aisle.

In a Funk

I've been in a funk. 

It's not that I thought Rick Perry was a Perfect Candidate - he wasn't.  It's not that I thought he was the second coming of Ronald Reagan.  He definitely wasn't.

I'm just out of sorts with the process.  When Rick Perry dropped out only Iowa and New Hampshire had voted.  By the time Louisiana gets around to voting, we'll likely be down to just two candidates.  90% of the country won't get to vote for the candidate they want but will have to chose from the candidate a handful of states have deemed worthy. 

Oh, I know, national polls and all that.  I'm still just in a funk because I don't like any of the remaining candidates.  I'll get over it. 

If you are interested in the South Carolina primary, Stacy McCain is running some great coverage over there at The Other McCain, even if he is drinking a Blue Moon.

As for me, I engaged in some estate sale therapy to ease my woes.  There was an estate sale in an old year 1921 home on Kings Highway today that was filled with gorgeous heavy antique furniture.  I wasn't in the market for any of that but I picked up this pretty jadeite candy dish:

I love the creamy green color of jadeite.  It's be great filled with chocolate covered espresso beans! 

I also got this neat framed Remington print "Fight for the Waterhole."  It'll look good in Steve's man-cave:

I also got a neat white and blue enamelware square piece with a lid.  It's seen better days but I thought it was unusual and I wanted it:

It's about six or seven inches square. 

My shopping didn't get me completely out of my funk but maybe the voters in South Carolina will cheer me up a little.  I'm not sure how, but maybe. 

Mittens in third place might do the trick.

Time to Stick My Head in the Oven

Okay so we all saw Perry's big announcement today coming.  You can't hang around in last place in the polls for too long before you become a drain on the whole system.  I hate that Perry's bid played out the way that it did but what are you going to do?  Wasn't his time.

Perry had improved a great deal since those first debates but maybe it was too little too late.  I think also that too many people listened to Rick Perry and heard George W. Bush and they just aren't over Bush yet.  Although I still think history will redeem Bush in the end.  Somewhat.

So where to go from here?

Pundette has gone to Rick Santorum.   Stacy McCain has been with Rick Santorum since Herman Cain dropped out.  Legal Insurrection is still with Newt.

I don't know where I'm going right now.

To be honest, I just don't like any of them.  I don't.

How can the Republican establishment have farked this up so badly?  That's a rhetorical question - you don't have to answer it.  It's because they're the Republican establishment.  All this PR about "we really do have a strong field of candidates" is just crap.  I don't even want to begin listing my grievances with these candidates.  Not enough time and it's all been said. 

Is it too late to get Michele Bachmann back?

I suspect that the Democrats are more afraid of Newt than anyone else and you can call me a conspiracy theorist if you want to but I think that's in part what pulled Marianne Gingrich back into the limelight.   I don't think Team Obama wants to debate Newt.

And when in the hell did debating skills become a prerequisite for running for president, anyway?  Speaking skills are important but so is executive experience, intelligence, foreign policy knowledge and experience, business acumen, character, integrity, and honor.

Coming into this election I've always said that "a dust bunny could beat Obama," because WTF is he going to run on?  His record?  His job killing, debt hiking, food stamp raising, partisan, scandal ridden record?  Seriously? 

But here's the Republican establishment about to hand it right back to him.

I'm going to stick my head in the oven.  Maybe there's a beer in there.  And a match.



(Cross posted at Not One Red Cent!)

Live-Blogging the South Carolina Debate UPDATED

We're just getting started.  Stay tuned.

Update 1:   We begin with Newt trying to defend his negative attacks on Romney after vowing not to go negative.  Romney defends by touting his private sector record.  If an Olympics reference is on your bingo card, DRINK.

Update 2:  A "vulture capitalism" question to Rick Perry.  DRINK.   Perry seems a little stiff.  He's calling on Mitt to release his income tax records and gets applause.  Perry calls for the repeal of Dodd-Frank and when he says we have way too many regulations in this country he gets lots of applause.

Romney gets a chance to respond but says he needs more than 30 seconds.  Uh, okay.

Update 3:  Romney:  "You never want to see anyone lose a job."  That ought to play well with his "I like to be able to fire people," comment.  Context or not.   Romney dodged the call for his tax records, by the way.  Why is that?  What's he hiding?

Update 4:   Shift to Ron Paul who comes out swinging on Santorum by explaining he couldn't hit Santorum on everything he wanted to in one single ad.  Ouch.  Santorum says he voted for NCLB and "I shouldn't have."  On right to work, Santorum says he supports it.

Juan Williams asks Santorum if "barbed personal attacks" should be abandoned.  Dumb question.  Santorum hits Romney with question about a negative ad his PAC ran.  Romney dodges the question from Santorum and says "We've got plenty of time, I'll get to it when I want to."  The crowd is applauding Santorum who is really drawing blood here.  "It's MLK day!" he says.  The question is about felons being allowed to vote.  "I don't believe that people who have committed violent crimes should be allowed to vote again," Romney says.

Santorum calls him on it.  Bam!

Santorum is relentless on this and Mitt is stuttering. 

Update 5:  Perry just stuck them both by pointing out that the "Washington insiders" need to get out of it and let the states decide.  Applause.

Update 6:  Fox sets Romney up give a summary of his "conservative" positions.  He's pro-life, he says, against gay marriage, believes in freedom and free enterprise, on and on and on.  Oh, and not a flip-flopper.  Yeah, okay.

Juan to Perry on the voter ID law in South Carolina.  Are you suggesting on this MLK day that the federal government should not scrutinize the voting laws in states where blacks were once denied the right to vote?

Perry's response is that the federal government should stay out of it and pulls the right to work issue into it as well.  He says this administration is at war against religion too, for that matter.  Strong answer by Perry, I think.  "South Carolina is at war against the federal government."  Huge applause, too.

Update 7:  When asked how long someone should be able to draw unemployment checks, Newt says it should all be tied to a training program.  "99 weeks is an Associates Degree!" he says, to applause.  Newt just called Obama "the food stamp president."  Heh!

Update 8: Romney:  our tax rates are too high and regulations too burdensome.  We have an energy policy that doesn't take advantage of our natural resources.  This president has opened no new markets around the world.  Bailouts aren't the answer.

To Ron Paul a defense cuts question:  "what do you say to people in this state" that worry that your positions will cost jobs?  Paul says we would not be weaker under his policies and says he gets lots of donations from active military.  "There's a difference between military spending and defense spending," Paul points out.  Building embassies is not defense spending "it's waste," he says. 

What is the highest federal income tax any American should have to pay?
Flat tax - Perry
25% - Romney
15% - Newt
0% - Ron Paul

Question to Mitt:  "Will you release your income tax records?"  Romney says he looked at what other candidates like Bush and Reagan did, they released in April.  He'll probably do that in April, then.  He's stammering on this a bit.  "What's happened in history is that people released them in April and that's what I'll probably do."

Update 9:  Why is every question from Juan Williams race related?  He's asking Ron Paul now about disparate numbers between arrested blacks and whites.

Next he goes to Newt and asks if he could be perceived as anti-black.  "Only the elites despise earning money," he says.  Juan says people of all races ask him if Newt's comments are "anti-poor."  Juan gets boo'd.  "It sounds as if you're trying to belittle people," when you use the term "food stamp president," Juan says.  Newt schools him on political correctness and using uncomfortable facts.  The crowd stands and applauds.

Juan should be under the desk about now.

Update 10:  Ron Paul gets to spend a long time rambling about his foreign policy position.  He sounds nuts.

Newt is strong on the Bin Laden question - "He's not a Chinese dissident!"; in other words, you kill your enemies.

Going to Romney after Paul only makes Romney sound more sensible.  A run over dog would sound more sensible than Ron Paul when he gets cranked up on "all these WARS!!!"

Mitt says we "absolutely not" negotiate with the Taliban.  "We should not negotiate with the Taliban, we should defeat the Taliban!"

Update 11: Rick Santorum does not support a military mission into Syria but wants the international community to help remove Assad.

To Rick Perry:  "Does Turkey still belong in NATO?"

He advocates cutting foreign aid to zero.  "Our president has a foreign policy that makes our allies very nervous and emboldens our enemies."  I'm not sure he answered that question, exactly.

Perry has mentioned his military service several times in this debate.  Somehow the marine urination video comes up here.  He blasts Biden for calling those Marines despicable, and he says "Let me tell you what is despicable: cutting Danny Pearl's head off" is despicable.  Hanging our contractors from bridges is despicable, he says.  Applause.  Perry suggests that this administration has strong disdain for our military.

Update 12:  When asked if he would have signed the national defense act as written, Mitt says yes.  He gets boo'd.

Pivot to the housing market - Perry basically says to get the federal government out of it.

To Newt - a Social Security question.  The Chilean model comes back out.

Update 13: Santorum and Newt duke it out on Social Security.  Santorum calls Newt's privatization "irresponsible" right now.  Newt defends the personal savings account model.  Draw.

Romney agrees with Santourm:  "Rick is right," he says.

Update 14:  A gun owners question for Romney from Juan.  No race baiting on this one.  "How can you convince gun owners you will be an advocate for them?"   Mitt says he's signed pro-gun legislation in his state.  He disagrees with new legislation and does not believe in new laws restricting gun use and gun owners.  Juan asks Mitt if he's gone hunting since '07.  Yep - elk hunting, he says.  Heh - Romney says Rick Perry is probably a more serious hunter than he is.  Perry agrees.

Update 15:   Santorum attacks Ron Paul on gun liability.  Sigh.

Woah.  Newt just jabbed Romney saying if he can't control his SuperPAC "it makes you wonder how much influence he would have as president."  Random.

Final update:  We end with Romney disavowing SuperPacs and Perry vowing to secure the border.  Who won this one?  Man.  Tough one.  They all had strong moments.  To my mind, though, this is the first time Romney took any hits.  Perry continues to improve.  Newt was strong as was Santorum. 

Glad it's over. 

Heigh ho - there's another damn debate this week! Thursday?   Good grief.

Debate Prep

Another day, another Republican debate.  This time from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Watch live here.  The moderators will be Bret Baier of Fox News' 'Special Report' and Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal.  Kickoff:  9 ET, 8:00 SIGIS time.

SIGIS will be live-blogging, of course.  Professor Jacobson will be covering at his place, too.

In the meantime, here's your debate prep:

We are down to five now that Huntsman has bowed out.  Michael D. Shear and NYT has What to Watch for in Tonight's Debate.

Nate Silver has a poll analysis and says Romney is it.

Newt says he can unite Republicans.

Senator Jim DeMint won't endorse but he does predict Romney wins S.C.

South Carolina state Senator Tom Davis has endorsed Ron Paul.

Christian conservative leaders have gone with Rick Santorum although there are now cries that the vote was rigged.

Rick Perry joins the chorus of those who want Mitt Romney to release his tax returns.

Cognitive Disonance will have Bingo cards for the debate up shortly.

As for me, as long as there are no long dissertations on contraceptives again, I guess it'll all be a win. 

Live-blogging later, folks.

"Are You Better off Today Than You Were Four Trillion Dollars Ago?"

Rick Perry filed a great performance Saturday night at the second Huckabee forum in South Carolina. 

I particularly liked this segment:



The polls are not favoring Perry, of course, although some polls have Perry making gains ahead of Santorum in South Carolina this week.

Pundette is still on the Perry bandwagon:

His limited-government message, with his impressive record as Texas governor to back it up, should appeal to conservatives who understand the terrible mess we're in.

I'm still there, too.  So he had some poor debates...he's more than made up for those in his most recent performances.  Perry's record in Texas is more consistent and conservative than Romney's record; Santorum's conservatism can't stack up to Perry's, and Newt has so many issues I find myself wondering why he's still polling so high.

It's time for people to take a second look at Perry before it's too late.  The media has already anointed Romney as the nominee.  That's enough to give me pause.  Team Obama's obvious glee in a Romney nomination is enough to stop me in my tracks. 

Rick Perry is the leader we need to get us out of this mess.  No doubt in my mind.

Live-Blogging the New Hampshire Debate

Start up in a couple of minutes.

Update 1:   You can watch on ABC's site if you've got NFL on your TV!

Mitt comes out swinging on Obama blaming him for the jobless rate.  Santorum points to Iran as "the most pressing issue today," but I'd bet all those jobless people think the economy is the most pressing issue.

Newt defends free enterprise.

Stephanopoulos questions Mitt's jobs created numbers.

Huntsman says his record in Utah is better than Perry's in Texas.  Why is he going after Perry who is floundering in the polls?  Romney says having jobs experience is necessary to creating jobs (something Obama wouldn't know about).

Ron Paul rises to Stephanopoulos's bait and goes after Rick Santorum as a "big government person."

Santorum:  "I'm a conservative, I'm not a libertarian."  Defends his record as protecting the interests of his state.  Ron Paul comes back and accuses Santorum again of being a big government person.

Is Rick Perry here?

Update 2:  Ah, here comes Perry.  After the Ron Paul/Rick Santorum bickering, Perry cites too much Washington insider experience;  Perry says with the exception of Huntsman, he's probably the only outsider in the race.

Ron Paul attacks Santorum for voting to increase the national debt.  Santorum is on shaky ground, I think, trying to defend increasing the debt ceiling.

Diane Sawyer jumps in with a national security question.  She goes to Huntsman with a question on Iran.  "Why would you be better as commander in chief than anyone else on this stage," she asks.  Huntsman says his was the best managed state in America and he created jobs.  It's all about trust, he says.  Americans don't trust their leaders anymore.

Sawyers continues the baiting and offers Huntsman the chance to go after "someone on this stage," but he refuses.

Same question to Romney who says that anyone can do better than Obama.  He cites Obama's total lack of experience upon election and he's made one error after another.  He's blasting Obama on his Iran policy.  "This is a failed presidency."

Romney refuses to attack his fellow candidates.

To Perry:  "Do you believe that having worn the uniform of our country better prepares you" to be president?  Perry says yep and then pivots back to Iran.  You cannot cut one trillion dollars from America's defense budget and believe that we won't be compromised, he says.  Obama simply doesn't understand the military.  Excellent answer. 

Newt cites his father's military service and his experience growing up in a military family.  About veterans, Newt says, "I feel for veterans." 

Ron Paul comes after Newt for his military deferments and Newt gets rankled.  Accuses Paul of being dishonest. "Newt:  I wasn't eligible for the draft."

Paul gets asked about the newsletters and he says it has already been explained.

Ron Paul turns this question into some civil rights, Rosa Parks moment and says blacks are disproportionately arrested and sent to death row.  The drug laws are "unfairly enforced" he says.

Commercial.

Update 3:   Why in the world are they spending so much time on the right to contraceptives?

This debate doesn't seem to be firing well; the candidates are seldom sure what the question is and end up answering about whatever topic they want to answer.

Diane Sawyer tries to lead them into the gay marriage issue.  Huntsman is all for civil unions which "add dignity" to a relationship.  Romney stands by his position that marriage is between a man and a woman.  He says children will be better off if they're raised in a setting with a male and a female.

Newt seems disgusted that they've spent so much time on "these issues," and takes off on media bias and the Catholic church.

Did Romney just say that John Adams wrote the Constitution?  Hunh?
  
Update 4:   Santorum gets schooled by Ron Paul for interrupting him.  I don't mean to be petty, really, but I could not stand four years of listening to Ron Paul's whiny voice.

Ah.  Perry is still here.  On third party candidates, Perry rejects that question and opts to answer someone else's gay marriage question.  He blasts this administration for its war on religion.

Jon Huntsman says the Taliban is no longer in power.  For now.

Newt runs through all of the foreign policy pitfalls that lie ahead and paints a scary picture.

Santorum fires back at Obama on foreign policy; the moderators continue to bait the candidates against each other.  The candidates need to reject the baiting and stay focused on Obama.

Update 5:  Perry says he would sent troops back into Iraq.  Ooops.   He says "this president just wants to cowtow to his liberal leftist base."  He says Iran will move back in and all our efforts will have been done for nothing.

That won't help him in the polls any.

Newt says if you're worried about the Iranians in Iraq then deal with Iran.  Good point.

I'm not loving this debate.  No questions on Fast 'n Furious; little discussion of the economy.  Baiting and pitting the candidates against each other.

Update 6:   Mitt Romney hasn't taken any hits at all tonight.

Diane Sawyer is warming up to a jobs question about investing in infrastructure and economic growth.  Yawn...Romney is all for it.  Like, who wouldn't be?  He points out that government doesn't create jobs.

I'm sure Perry is itching to get in on this question.  After his send troops back to Iraq bomb, he needs to do some damage control.

Newt says you can't compete with China if you don't have a decent infrastructure.  He supports and energy program that breaks us free from foreign oil and would invest some of those proceeds to infrastructure.

Huntsman is off on the tax code tangent and supports Simpson-Bowles. 

Romney suggests we are "only inches away from no longer being a free economy."  The middle class has been hurt in the Obama economy, he says.  Simpson-Bowles becomes Bowles-Simpson under Mitt Romney, who also supports it but does not support raising capital gains taxes.

Rick Perry is being ignored again.  Still.  Huntsman is getting much more airtime than Perry.

Update 7:   Perry finally throws himself into the debate by answering a question when not called upon.  He spins off his "get America workin' again" spiel and gets applause.

Huntsman seems to be getting more air time than anyone else.

Romney rejects a question from the moderator and blasts the moderators, gently, about not being focused on the important issues, like the fate of America.   He's off on an apparently untimed speech about what America needs and how we don't need to be like Europe.  He's hammering Obama pretty eloquently.  Score for Mitt.

Mitt gets applause at the end of his speech.

Update 8:  Newt tries to land some hits on Romney saying Romney's plan is a little cautious and not as bold as his own.

Santorum seconds that.

Santorum rejects the term "middle-class" and says there are "no classes in America."  Hunh?  His bigger point is about not waging class warfare but it is awkwardly stated.

Romney blasts Obama for not opening up trade; he's defending his growth plan and insists it is bolder than they give him credit for.  Cites his business experience and his knowledge of regulations.  He steals Rick Perry's line and says he will "get America workin' again."

Shocker.  Back to Huntsman.  More air time than anyone so far.

Update 9: Romney interrupts Huntsman and says uh, excuse me, but you were working for Obama, dude.  China is hacking into our systems, manipulating their currency, stealing patents from us, and you were right there.  Ouch.  If I'm president I'm not going to spend my time talking about how great China is.

If you're playing the drinking game you just got the jackpot - Huntsman responded in Chinese.  Oh.My.God.

Update 10:  Close and wrap up now.  What else would you be doing if you were here tonight, is the question.  Perry:  At the shooting range.  Newt:  watching football.  Same for Santorum.  Ron Paul would be reading an economic textbook.  Huntsman would be on the phone with his two sons in the US Navy. 

Thankfully this horrid debate is over.  Too full of non-issues and too full of candidate baiting.  Nobody laid a glove on Romney, Perry was ignored, Huntsman got way too much air time for a non-contender nationally.  Santorum seemed a bit stiff and off his game.  Maybe that's just him, though.

When the highlight of the debate is Huntsman's Chinese, well, hell.  It's not good. 

Romney came off good when he blasted Huntsman for defending China and for his service for Obama. 

I rather missed Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann.

If you care, there's another debate on Meet the Press tomorrow.  I think I'll be skipping that one.  I've had enough.

Back to the Saints game now.

Did Rush Limbaugh Endorse Rick Perry?

Did Rush Limbaugh come close to endorsing Rick Perry yesterday? 

You be the judge:

Let me tell you something, folks: I wouldn't have one ounce of doubt about Rick Perry. I've been hoping Rick Perry would catch fire, but I have people in my sphere who don't want to vote for Perry (and largely they're women) because he sounds too much like Bush.

Not an endorsement but darned close. 

Limbaugh cites Perry's record in Texas and his tax policy as pluses, and insists debating skills and "electability" should have nothing to do with picking the most conservative candidate we can.

By the way, it's debate night again.  I'll be covering the debate here.

Back to Regular Programming

I'm back at work now - we had inservice today and the kids come tomorrow so my blogging will be light for a day or two.  Some quick links to check out:

On Obama's recess appointments - check out Doug Ross:

In other words, through his blatantly lawless activities, the President has initiated a Constitutional crisis.

And we all know that if a Republican President had even publicly considered this option, legacy media would be beating the war-drums for impeachment.

It's high time the clueless John Boehner and Mitch McConnell started playing hardball. Real hardball. Impeachment-style hardball. Heaven knows, there are enough charges to impeach five or six presidents at this point.

This is a big deal, folks, but you won't likely hear much about it from the legacy media.  If there's a Republican candidate worth his salt he'll take this drum and bang it through the election.

Professor Jacobson has something to say about the appointments as well.

Speaking of elections, check out Pundette's coverage of Rick Perry's indecision; and ironically, it's the second reference to "Casey at the Bat" that I've heard today (on totally unrelated stories).

Stacy McCain had terrific coverage of the caucuses last night. 

Obama felt the need to speak to Iowa Democrats last night in a weirdly sketchy video feed; he's trying to reinvigorate his base from four years ago:

"[O]ne of the things that we learned four years ago was that when people at grassroots level are getting involved and they're getting engaged, and they're feeling empowered and they're joining hands with each other -- that's a powerful force," the president said.

A group at "grassroots level" is empowering and wonderful as long as they're for him; if it's the Tea Party, well, that's something else again...

Donald Douglas has his own ideas about Michele Bachmann's collapse.

Hang in there.  I'm busy getting to know 65 new sophomores and teaching them the lay of the land in room M205, but I'll be back online shortly.

Iowa Caucus Day: News, Aggregation and Updates

Scroll for updates throughout the day.

Iowans are heading out to the caucuses tonight.  The weather is beautiful and should not be a factor in keeping folks from going out.  The governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad said on Fox News this morning that he is expecting record turnout.

One thing to remember about Iowa is that the percentage of people that go out and caucus is relatively small.  I have several family members in various parts of Iowa and I asked them about the phone calls and the caucuses.  Only one of them even knows anyone who actually goes to caucus.  All of them have been barraged by phone calls and most of those have been robocalls.  The robocalls are not particularly effective: it's easier to hang up on a computer than to a person.  As for support for a particular candidate, I got a variety of answers, including undecideds. 

That is the thing about this particular caucus event, I think, that is interesting.  There are so many undecideds.  This thing could be a blowout for one candidate or a photo finish among three.  Who knows?

Throughout the day I'll be posting updates and linking to others who are covering the event.

Legal Insurrection is doing the same thing and he will have a live event tonight.

Stacy McCain has been traveling through Iowa with the Santorum camp and he has terrific coverage and photos.

Real Clear Politics has an Iowa Caucus Primer on how the process works.

Here is Rick Perry's latest ad hammering Rick Santorum on earmarks.  Effective or no?



Stay tuned for updates.

If you're blogging the caucuses, let me know and I'll link you.

Update 1:  Yet another reason why the caucuses are so unpredictable:

Update 2:  Pirate's Cove has analysis of what comes after Iowa.  I don't necessarily agree with this, but we shall see:

By Wednesday, we could see Bachmann and Perry out, though they say they are going to South Carolina and bypassing New Hampshire. Santorum should survive. When it comes to Newt and Paul, we’ll have to see.

It will be interesting to see if the surge of volunteers that arrived Friday in support of Rick Perry pays off.   Also, Perry has the cash to stay in for a while.  I don't think Iowa will be his Waterloo.

Update 3:  Megyn Kelly is broadcasting today from the Iowa state capitol building.  It's one of the most beautiful state capitol buildings I've ever seen.  Here's a YouTube video someone shot of the inside.  

And, speaking of looking past Iowa, the GOP brain trust is already considering VP candidates:

While over a dozen names were suggested by the strategists, some with the campaigns, four top the list: South Dakota Sen. John Thune and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, both surrogates for Romney, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the most talked-about Hispanic in Washington, and former Secretary of State Condi Rice.

Others receiving multiple votes were Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

"Romney is likely to have to go right," said one former Bush aide. "He'll need somebody to generate enthusiasm from the base. Rubio fits the bill."

What do you think?   They're writing off Santorum as the nominee, obviously, as assuming it's Mittens even before a single vote is cast.

Update 4:  The Des Moines Register has a handy guide and graphic to keep a vote tally.  But...notice the ad at the top of the page.  A glimpse of what is to come:

Update 5:  Rush Limbaugh replayed the audio of Perry's smack down of Mike Allen.  "This is NOT somebody stupid," he said.  Rush said, "I LIKE Rick Perry!"  Rick Perry makes him smile, he says.  Rush also said he LOVES Rick Santorum and says that any of these contenders would be great.  (Even Ron Paul?)

The Perry camp is fired up.  He gave a motivational speech to his volunteers this morning:

“This election is about stopping a president of the United States and his administration that is abusing the Constitution of this country, that is putting America on a track to bankruptcy, and folks, we’re going to take America back. That’s what this is about,” Perry told the crowd as it gave him a standing ovation. “It is a powerful moment in America’s history, and you are on the front lines.”

Of course, then he compared it to Omaha beach which is, I think, an unfortunate comparison.   He's trying to make the case that this is historic, critical even.   Considering the catastrophic losses on D-Day, this might be an overreach.

Update 6:  Ed Rollins, talking to Shepard Smith on Fox, says Michele Bachmanm will come in last tonight (no organization and no money, he says) and that the winners will be Romney and Ron Paul.  Santorum has momentum "but no organization" he says.  When asked about Rick Perry, Rollins says if Perry comes in 4th, he actually stands the best chance to challenge Romney because of his money and organization.  Perry may come in first or second in South Carolina.  "His campaign is very alive," he says.  Rollins says Perry has done a much better job than people recognize.  He doesn't see much for Santorum after Iowa.

As for Newt, Rollins says Newt isn't raising money and is going to have a hard time in New Hampshire.

Rollins predicts Ron Paul will stay in the race to the end and should be treated with respect, but there's no path to the win for him.

Update 7:  Ouch.  Stacy McCain:

"...the Perry campaign is a lamentable joke here in Iowa. I’ve been talking to experienced Iowa Republicans during my travels the past week, and experienced observers are united in the opinion that Perry has wasted millions of dollars on a campaign that has done him more harm than good."

Stacy is, of course, in the Santorum camp and is not a Perry fan as you can tell.

Update 8:  Left Coast Rebel has a live-updating event going on as well.

On Fox, Shep Smith talks to Debbie Wasserman Schultz who says the Republican field is "interchangeable" and "lackluster".   Shep points out Obama's broken promises and DSW says that is "simply not true."  She says he ended the Iraq war which was one of his promises.  He passed Obamacare, she says, yet Shep points out it isn't a single payer system that the base wanted.

The woman is delusional.  She says Obama has turned the economy around and that unemployment is declining.  The Republicans have embraced the Tea Party and "out right winged each other" throughout the campaign.

She says Obama will win "handily."

Silly.

Update 9:  Today's Gallup poll:

Update 10:  Rick Santorum's sweater vest is the new fashion icon.  You too can have a sweater vest:



Update 11:  Rick Perry's just released video:



(H/T: Pundette)

Update 12:  One of our local news stations is conducting its own "caucus," sort of like the Drudge Caucus, I guess.  The results so far?

Update13:  Michelle Malkin has a great Iowa caucus day post.

Phew. Are you ready? There are an estimated 614,000 active registered Republicans in Iowa. A small fraction of them will turn out tonight to vote in the first-in-the-nation GOP presidential caucus. The anticipated top three placers are a toss-up. Sunday’s PPP poll had it 20/19/18 for Paul, Romney and Santorum.

She links to Stacy McCain's Santorum coverage.  Both Malkin and Stacy are NOT Rick Perry fans which might explain why they don't link me. (Just kidding - Stacy has linked me often in the past.  It's been a while since I got a Malkin link.)

Update 14:   Rick Perry gets emotional during a speech today praising America's veterans:

Perry was joined on Tuesday by supporter Dan Moran, a Marine veteran who suffered third-degree burns on his body from a bomb explosion in Afghanistan. Perry, a former Air Force pilot, commended Nationwide for its focus on hiring veterans before turning to Moran.

“He understands the importance of selfless … selfless sacrifice,” Perry said with a pause, wiping a tear from his left eye.

Emotion.

Update 15:  As the caucus results come in, here is a live, interactive map.  And remember, Professor Jacobson will be hosting a live event. SIGIS will continue posts as well.  The Des Moines Register also has a place where you can watch results come in but you have to put up with all the Obama advertising on the page.

Update 16:  Here is a timeline of the upcoming primaries.  Next event:  January 10 - New Hampshire.

Update 17:  I'm closing out this post now and heading over to Legal Insurrection to participate in his live event.  Follow me over there.   And thanks for stopping by this post today!  I appreciate it.

Caucus Crash Course

If you're wondering how the Iowa caucuses work, The Washington Times has a primer for you:

Only registered Republicans may participate, but with an ID that shows Iowa residency and age, voters can register at door, allowing for crossover participation. Democrats are known to have switched sides, if only for a night, to caucus with Republicans. And vice versa. And it’s legal.


The Democrats have a convoluted caucus process that involves good old-fashioned arm-twisting and can run into the wee hours of the night. It won't this year because Obama has no challenger.  The Republican Caucuses, however, are a hybrid: part poll and part GOP meeting. Designated supporters of each candidate are allowed to campaign vigorously, making a speech on why their candidates deserve to win that evening’s votes. This is to convince the fence sitters to go with their candidate or to win over someone who is torn between two candidates.

Then Iowans vote by secret ballot. They are given blank sheets of paper with no candidate names on them. They write down their choice and the GOP at each precinct tabulates the results as they are phoned in. The results are then released to the media.

Mitt Romney seems pretty confident.

Newt says "I don't think I'm going to win," and then says it was a "compound sentence structure" that the media just didn't get.  I've been teaching English for almost 20 years and I'm not aware that "I don't think I'm going to win" is a compound sentence, but hey, Newt is the intellectual.  Not me.

Michele Bachmann won "the coffee bean caucus" but Sarah Palin says it's not her time.

Rick Perry is still hammering Santorum and is looking at this think like a long distance race.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is with Perry tonight and says:

“It is time for us now to take all of this excitement and energy and turn it into real work,” Jindal said. “It is time for us to get our neighbors, friends, family, everybody we know out and make sure that we help to elect Rick Perry as the next president of these United States of America.”

The Duggar family has joined the Santorum camp and the media is thick around the candidate.

Ron Paul is oozing confidence .

All in all I'd say there's a lot of nervous energy in Iowa tonight.

Stay with SIGIS tomorrow for caucus coverage and up to the minute reports.