If Rick Santorum surges in the the next few states (Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri’s nonbinding “beauty pageant,” where Newt Gingrich will not appear on the ballot), it’s not that unthinkable that he could end up the premier challenger to Romney. It’s a surprising thought, because since Iowa, Santorum has finished fourth, third, third and fourth. But for whatever it’s worth, Public Policy Polling has Santorum leading Romney slightly in Minnesota and eight percentage points ahead of Gingrich in Colorado for second place. And Romney isn’t competing in Missouri, dismissing the value of a nonbinding contest that amounts to a poll ( albeit one that will cost the state $7 million to administer ). Keep reading this post . . .
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Are We Due for a Surge for Rick?
Palin segment ended after she insists that the primary process should not end after Florida and urges voters to cast their ballot for Newt to “annoy a liberal.”
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FOX News segment with Sarah Palin abruptly cut off
AP – South Carolina voters in Saturday’s Republican presidential primary were focused on the economy and looking for a candidate who could defeat President Barack Obama in this fall’s election, preliminary results from an exit poll of voters showed.
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SC GOP voters focused on economy, beating Obama
(AP)
Today is the day Virginia is supposed to begin printing its absentee ballots for the Republican presidential primary, to be held March 6. The printing must be completed so that they can be mailed by January 21; that deadline is a result of federal law that requires ballots to be sent to members of the military (Virginia residents serving overseas) at least 45 days before the primary. But . . . the printing of the ballots has been held up by the court fight over whether the ballot should include candidates besides Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Keep reading this post . . .
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Virginia Republicans Could Have More Options Friday
Big Labor leads the drive to gather the requisite 540,208 signatures by January 13 to place a measure on the ballot.
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker likely to face recall, say state GOP assembly speaker, attorney general
**Written by Doug Powers Rick Perry, along with Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum all failed to qualify to appear on the ballot for the Virgina primary on March 6th. It looks like Perry will be the first to offer a legal challenge : Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign announced Tuesday it will file a lawsuit in an attempt to get on the ballot for Virginia’s Republican presidential primary. Perry failed to qualify for the ballot after the Republican Party of Virginia said his campaign had not filed the required 10,000 signatures. “Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election,” Perry campaign communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement published by National Journal. In the statement announcing the legal challenge, Perry’s campaign said only 119,034 Virginians voted in the 2008 Republican primary, making the requirement of 10,000 signatures “unrealistic and onerous.” Meanwhile, after learning he didn’t qualify for the VA primary ballot, Newt Gingrich pledged an aggressive write-in campaign , but that’s probably not going to happen : When a reporter noted that state law prohibits write-in votes in primaries, Gingrich said: “There’s time for them to change it. If something’s wrong, they ought to fix it.” That appears unlikely this year, even if lawmakers were so inclined. Section 24.612 of the Virginia State Code says: “The electoral board shall make printed ballots available for absentee voting not later than 45 days prior to any election.” That means absentee ballots must be mailed to voters – such as Virginians serving in the military — no later than Jan. 21. The legislature does not convene until Jan. 11. To make the change, lawmakers would have to pass emergency legislation — a bill that goes into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature, rather than on the customary enactment date of July 1. Emergency legislation requires a supermajority. Eighty of the 100 members of the House of Delegates and 32 of the 40 state senators would have to vote to change the law. As for Gingrich’s proposed change, “I’d say it’s pretty tough at this point,” House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said Monday in a phone interview. So, lawsuits all around then? However, I assume the logistical complications alone would render any legal ruling even in a candidate’s favor irrelevant this time around. **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Perry Campaign to File Lawsuit Challenging Virginia Primary Ballot Rules
**Written by Doug Powers Rick Perry, along with Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum all failed to qualify to appear on the ballot for the Virgina primary on March 6th. It looks like Perry will be the first to offer a legal challenge : Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign announced Tuesday it will file a lawsuit in an attempt to get on the ballot for Virginia’s Republican presidential primary. Perry failed to qualify for the ballot after the Republican Party of Virginia said his campaign had not filed the required 10,000 signatures. “Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election,” Perry campaign communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement published by National Journal. In the statement announcing the legal challenge, Perry’s campaign said only 119,034 Virginians voted in the 2008 Republican primary, making the requirement of 10,000 signatures “unrealistic and onerous.” Meanwhile, after learning he didn’t qualify for the VA primary ballot, Newt Gingrich pledged an aggressive write-in campaign , but that’s probably not going to happen : When a reporter noted that state law prohibits write-in votes in primaries, Gingrich said: “There’s time for them to change it. If something’s wrong, they ought to fix it.” That appears unlikely this year, even if lawmakers were so inclined. Section 24.612 of the Virginia State Code says: “The electoral board shall make printed ballots available for absentee voting not later than 45 days prior to any election.” That means absentee ballots must be mailed to voters – such as Virginians serving in the military — no later than Jan. 21. The legislature does not convene until Jan. 11. To make the change, lawmakers would have to pass emergency legislation — a bill that goes into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature, rather than on the customary enactment date of July 1. Emergency legislation requires a supermajority. Eighty of the 100 members of the House of Delegates and 32 of the 40 state senators would have to vote to change the law. As for Gingrich’s proposed change, “I’d say it’s pretty tough at this point,” House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said Monday in a phone interview. So, lawsuits all around then? However, I assume the logistical complications alone would render any legal ruling even in a candidate’s favor irrelevant this time around. **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Perry Campaign to File Lawsuit Challenging Virginia Primary Ballot Rules
Moe Lane and Richard Winger take a long look at the rules for getting on the Virginia Republican presidential primary ballot, and conclude that the candidates who didn’t make the ballot this year — everyone except Mitt Romney and Ron Paul – have something of an excuse, that the rules changed in December and that if the bar to qualify for the ballot wasn’t raised by itself, then certainly the recommended “cushion” was raised significantly. Moe writes, “If it is true that the Republican party of Virginia decided
Moe Lane and Richard Winger take a long look at the rules for getting on the Virginia Republican presidential primary ballot, and conclude that the candidates who didn’t make the ballot this year — everyone except Mitt Romney and Ron Paul – have something of an excuse, that the rules changed in December and that if the bar to qualify for the ballot wasn’t raised by itself, then certainly the recommended “cushion” was raised significantly. Moe writes, “If it is true that the Republican party of Virginia decided
**Written by Doug Powers Ouch. Sure, Gingrich is recognized in some circles as the “smartest” in the field, but, as George Coote once advised , every family should have three children — that way if one of them turns out to be a genius the other two can support him. Or in this case, get him on the Virginia ballot : Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, state GOP officials said Friday evening and early Saturday. The Republican Party of Virginia announced early Saturday that Gingrich and Perry failed to submit 10,000 signatures of registered voters required to get their names on the ballot for the March 6 primary. “After verification, RPV has determined that Newt Gingrich did not submit required 10k signatures and has not qualified for the VA primary,” the party announced on Twitter. Earlier Friday, the Republican Party of Virginia certified former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) to appear on the ballot. Bachmann, Huntsman and Santorum also failed to qualify to appear on the Virginia ballot. At last glance Gingrich had a slight lead over Romney in Virginia. The Gingrich campaign says Virginia has a “failed system” and will now pursue a write-in campaign. Look for Newt to challenge Republican Party of Virginia officials to a series of Lincoln/Douglas-style debates. **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Gingrich, Perry Fail to Qualify for Virginia Primary Ballot
