Photo source: RickSantorum.com Some GOP 2012 news you might have missed over Super Bowl weekend, via the Rick Santorum campaign: Polls have provided empirical data to this trend in the key battleground states of Minnesota and Colorado, where Rick Santorum has emerged as the clear conservative alternative to moderate Mitt Romney. Public Policy Polling Minnesota: Santorum: 29% Romney: 27% Gingrich: 22% Colorado: Romney: 40% Santorum: 26% Gingrich: 18% Nationally, Rick Santorum is the only Republican contender to beat President Barack Obama head-to-head. Rasmussen Reports Poll General Election Match-Ups: Santorum: 45% Obama: 44% Romney: 43% Obama: 47% Gingrich: 41% Obama: 49% And just as important as the General Election horserace is, Rick Santorum is proving to be the most popular and likeable Republican candidate for President – a key ingredient to winning not just elections, but the hearts and minds of voters. ( Public Policy Polling ) The conventional wisdom tells us Mitt and Newt are the only choices in this race. But these most recent polls clearly suggest that Santorum, not Newt, is the strongest conservative alternative. I’ve carefully and candidly laid out the strengths, weaknesses, and best arguments for Santorum. I’m working in my home state of Colorado to spread the message. Ed Morrissey makes his case for Santorum to his fellow Minnesotans and the Right at Hot Air . David Limbaugh did last week. More support from the Right spotlighted here by Stacy McCain. Is it a long shot? Yes. Is it doable? Yes. There are no inevitabilities in politics. Santorum’s got game. Strong showings in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado could bring the fundraising boost he needs. You can help right now right here . *** A reminder of the Romn-Obama twins: *** The Fishwrap of Record is catching on: Mr. Santorum is, in many ways, a more dangerous opponent for Mr. Romney than Mr. Gingrich at this point. He has run a more disciplined campaign than the former House speaker, has less personal baggage and is less disliked by party leaders. Mr. Santorum can also make a credible claim to challenging Mr. Romney on electability. Mr. Santorum’s current unfavorable rating among all voters is 11 points lower than Mr. Romney’s, 36 percent versus 47 percent. Their favorable ratings are roughly equal: 30 percent for Mr. Santorum to 29 percent for Mr. Romney. Mr. Santorum’s conservative positions on social issues might not make him an ideal fit with certain types of independent voters. States that are moderate to -liberal on social policy, like Virginia, New Hampshire, Nevada and Colorado, could be tougher for Republicans to win if Mr. Santorum is their nominee. But those concerns might be outweighed if Mr. Santorum shows strength in the Midwest — and Mr. Romney shows weakness. …With Mr. Santorum, however, you can at least draw up a coherent path to victory, one that runs through the Midwest. There is a Midwestern state left to vote at virtually every turn of the nomination calendar. After Michigan on Feb. 28 and Ohio on Super Tuesday comes Missouri (again) on March 17, when it holds its caucuses, then Illinois on March 20, Wisconsin on April 3 and Pennsylvania on April 24. (A big disadvantage for Mr. Santorum: He did not qualify for the ballot in Indiana, which votes on May 8.) Mr. Santorum would eventually need to expand his coalition beyond the region — such as to the socially conservative states of the South. But victories for him in Minnesota or Missouri — especially if he wins both — would at once raise new concerns about Mr. Romney’s appeal to working-class voters and make Mr. Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina appear to be a one-off event that is quickly receding in the rear-view mirror.
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Santorum’s got game
-By Warner Todd Huston A Lincoln County, West Virginia Sheriff and Clerk are to plead guilty to charges of vote fraud in the 2010 Democrat primary after the pair were arrested during an election fraud investigation conducted by state and federal authorities. Sheriff Jerry Bowman and Clerk Donald Whitten were caught in a scheme to file fraudulent
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West Virginia Sheriff, Clerk Snared in Vote Fraud Investigation
**Written by Doug Powers Fifty delegates are at stake in today’s winner-take-all Florida primary. The polls close at 8 p.m. EST. Let’s kick off an open thread for comments on the results as they come in. As of 9:15 p.m. with 78% of the precincts reporting, Romney is up on Gingrich 47% to 32% Santorum has 13%, Paul is at 7%, and in Palm Beach County I’m told there were three five accidental votes for Pat Buchanan. CNN has an up-to-the-minute vote tally and county results here . No word yet on who’s ahead in the cracker counties . We’ll have updates as soon as anything worth mentioning happens. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves! Update: Networks saying they’ll be able to call it at 8 p.m. Romney it is. Update II: CNN calls it for Romney. Ditto for Fox News . Delegate count after tonight with 1144 needed: Romney-84, Gingrich-27, Santorum-10, Paul-8 (h/t Curtis Kalin ). The WSJ has it slightly different but you get the gist. A little near future speculation on the delegate front : With Mitt Romney’s win in Florida tonight, he has won all of the state’s 50 delegates – although there is some chance the outcome could be disputed because Florida’s winner-take-all allocation is technically in violation of Republican party rules. But assume that the outcome holds, and that Mr. Romney also wins Virginia on Mar. 6, where only he and Ron Paul are on the ballot. Virginia awards all of its delegates to the winner if he or she gets at least 50 percent of the vote. By definition, the winner in a two-way race will have at least 50 percent of the vote, and the winner is likely to be Mr. Romney in a head-to-head contest against Mr. Paul. That would give Mr. Romney a total of 96 delegates between Florida and Virginia alone (Virginia has 49 delegates, but three of them are automatic delegates, often called super delegates). Although this represents only 8 percent of the delegates that Mr. Romney would eventually need to cinch the Republican race, it would nevertheless constitute a tangible advantage in the event of a close back-and-forth race against Mr. Gingrich. A reporter caught up with Gingrich to ask if he still sees a path to the nomination. “Of course…” (h/t HAP ): Update III: Good news: Rick Santorum said his daughter is doing much better after being hospitalized with a serious condition. **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Florida Primary Open Thread; Update: Romney Wins
A Virginia man claimed to be a Navy SEAL to talk his way out of a gun possession arrest on Thursday, and the New York Police Department committed him to a psych ward thinking his claims of elite military status were the rantings of a lunatic. Turns out the guy was in fact an elite Navy SEAL. But as the New York Post put it, telling the NYPD “I’m in an elite military unit, you can’t arrest me,” doesn’t help much when the city’s draconian gun laws are at issue. Twenty-nine-year-old Shaun Day was on a leave from his duty as a Navy SEAL duty when cops nailed him for running a red light in Manhattan, New York on Thursday. NYPD officers searched Day’s pickup truck and found a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and three magazines full of ammo. During the arrest, police claim Day was babbling incoherently and repeatedly claimed that he was an elite Navy SEAL with “top- secret clearance,” but was unable to provide any documentation for police. After getting shipped off to the psych ward, sources told The Post the Navy sent staffers to talk to Day in Bellevue Hospital, where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. According to Gothamist : “He was released [Friday] in their care, and they were going to treat him for post-traumatic stress. All charges against Day have been deferred, and it’s unclear how he was able to prove his status.” So far, the charges against Day of weapons possession and a traffic violation have been deferred. Over the past few months, other out-of-towners , however, including a former marine , have been arrested for illegal gun possession in New York and face years in prison despite pleas for leniency . Editor’s note: The lawyer for former Marine Ryan Jerome, one of those arrested recently, joined The Blaze Editor-in-Chief Scott Baker on Friday’s GBTV ‘For the Record’ program. Here’s an excerpt from that interview:
Daily Caller – CHARLESTON, S.C. — Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell endorsed Mitt Romney’s campaign for president on Friday and told a rally of supporters that both character and values matter when selecting a nominee to run against President Obama.
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Stumping for Romney, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says character counts
(Daily Caller)
A couple of Sarah Palin fans are looking at today’s article about the proposed, and ultimately dismissed, idea of writing in Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, or Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan in New Hampshire’s primary and wondering whether to try to write in Palin in the remaining GOP primaries and caucuses. If a Draft Palin movement were to begin in earnest, the best-case scenario would leave the former Alaska governor with a decent number of delegates, but not enough to win the nomination — unless she pulled off the Tebow-esque political miracle of winning a significant number of delegates in primaries as a write-in option. While anything is technically possible by persuading enough Republican primary voters, it would be a Herculean task. (For Palin, perhaps Athena is the better metaphor?) Keep reading this post . . .
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The Uphill Climb a ‘Draft Palin’ Effort Would Face Today
A couple of Sarah Palin fans are looking at today’s article about the proposed, and ultimately dismissed, idea of writing in Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, or Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan in New Hampshire’s primary and wondering whether to try to write in Palin in the remaining GOP primaries and caucuses. If a Draft Palin movement were to begin in earnest, the best-case scenario would leave the former Alaska governor with a decent number of delegates, but not enough to win the nomination — unless she pulled off the Tebow-esque political miracle of winning a significant number of delegates in primaries as a write-in option. While anything is technically possible by persuading enough Republican primary voters, it would be a Herculean task. (For Palin, perhaps Athena is the better metaphor?) Keep reading this post . . .
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The Uphill Climb a ‘Draft Palin’ Effort Would Face Today
Over on the NRO homepage, a what-might-have-been story : Some frustrated GOP consultants contemplated starting a long-shot effort to draft Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, or Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan into the presidential race, despite the trio’s repeated statements that they’re not interested in running for the office. Noting that Henry Cabot Lodge won the 1964 New Hampshire primary on a write-in bid (when Lodge was not a declared candidate), these veterans of past presidential campaigns wondered if a strong showing from a similar write-in effort might prompt one of those men to change his mind. Unaffiliated GOP leaders were tempted by the idea, but were doubtful it would lead to anything constructive; a candidate who jumped in so late would not be able to win enough delegates to win the nomination, at least in states where there is still time to qualify for the ballot. A strong late entrant could probably lead to a divided convention, but could not win the nomination outright. In a primary campaign cycle that has seen high drama and plenty of twists and turns, a convention fight leading to the nomination of a figure who didn’t intend to run throughout 2011 might have been the biggest shock ending of all.
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The Jindal, McDonnell, and Ryan Bids That Almost Happened
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
