Mar 06 2012
Will Virginia Upset GOP Race Using Ron Paul?
Virginia is participating in the GOP Super Tuesday voting today. And as a long term native of this great commonwealth, I hear rumblings of a mini protest vote in the works. The VA GOP screwed up again and somehow we only have Romney and Paul on the ballot. But that provides some interesting options to voters.
Given Romney’s inevitability to be the GOP Presidential candidate in 2012, I am betting a good number of people will cast a protest vote for Ron Paul (now safely out of the realm of potential winners). While everyone wonders if Santorum can stop Romney today, a significant Paul showing in VA would be the real surprise.
I am not banking on this happening, I am just noting how many voters in the state realize the best way to have their voices heard now is to say something very controversial.
Just awaiting the results… and the comments…
If Romney does well it will be due to the Republican Establishment Machine crushing the “insurgents”. If Santorum or Gingrich make respectable showings it will be because the insurgents refused to be crushed.
Then we’ll have the inevitable complaining about the lack of a “true conservative” without defining wha that is or means.
Along with this we’ll have the name calling. I can’t wait! 🙂
I’ve heard similar nuances that KOS is attempting a repeat of what they tried to do in MI, in encouraging cross-overs to Ron Paul, in their attempts to discredit Romney’s vote in that state.
I hope they fail. Political pranks like this do not raise the level of honest participation in these primaries.
How come it’s the Va GOP that screwed up, rather than Santorum and Gingrich? Looks like they should be credited with the error in this game.
I don’t think the rules were that hard to follow.
and I think that people disappointed in the choice will stay home, rather than cast a protest vote for someone they don’t really like.
VA has a nonpartisan system of voter registration. Anecdotes report heavy turnout in NOVA blue areas. Heavier than what you would think in that there are no democratic races. The real irony is that in Ohio, Santorum failed to field any delegates in CD 6 or CD 9. He may win CD 6 and in CD 9 turnout is heavy because two dems are fighting for a combined CD.
As in VA, the conservatives did not fund Santorum or Newt very well and it is costing them now. Perry, Bachmann, and Cain ate up a lot of money that could have helped Newt and Santorum get on the ballot and field all the delegates.
The GOP is hoping Mitt can wrap this up before August because a contested convention will get really contested. I.E. Ohio’s delegates are not legally bound so the Romney delegates could switch to Santorum if he wins their CD by large enough margins, wins statewide and is close in overall delegates by August.
Mitt it is or we will have a real mess on our hands.
My point in Ohio CD-9 is that Santorum would have no chance in that district and still may have none since Ohio is a modified closed primary (this seems to confuse the people at RCP). However, the interest in the race could increase GOP turnout as well which could give Santorum a win in CD-9.
I voted in the Tidewater area; turnout very, very low. My vote was a “not-Romney” vote with apologies to the Romney supporters here. If he is the nominee in Nov. I’ll vote for him then. Romney, to me was a left of center candidate in the progressive-liberal camp. That said, he would be better than Obama no matter what and this election is about anybody but Obama.
P.S. There was a confluence of timing, the GOP getting sued in October over a state candidate’s race and too late to fix issues that were totally unexpected, that caused the final mishap of many of the candidates not getting on the primary ballot. You can blame the candidates all you want, but this is an embarrassment to the GOP, and the numbers will show that.
P.S.S. Romney has been running for president for years with funds that the others didn’t have. The Romney money machine and his way of campaigning has done damage to the party. Still waiting to see him do this to Obama, and that’s where your worry ought to lie. Romney won’t get the job done.
You know with heavier turnout in blue areas and lighter turnout in red areas the VA race could be closer that 70-30. I think anything south of 60% is a huge loss.
that = than. fat fingers.
“”How come it’s the Va GOP that screwed up, rather than Santorum and Gingrich?””
BECAUSE it’s the SYSTEM that lets ineligible people get on the ballot, you can’t blame People for doing anything they can get away with. The SYSTEM can’t be blamed, no one has ‘standing’ to blame the SYSTEM.
Ohio is almost a must win for both Santorum and Romney. On the 10th we have Kansas (not so Romney friendly), the 13th we have MS and AL. (Newt may rise up and take them both). So if Mitt loses Ohio and then go 0-3 in the next week, we will have to wait until late April for some big friendly states for Mitt to put the nomination away. And anything can happen in 6 weeks.
Mitt needs to go 0-3 from a standpoint of this is my race it will just take awhile longer as opposed to 0-3 and this looks like I could fall short on the first ballot.
BIG DIFFERENCE
Good news, finally! No, can’t say any of the primary candidates had a good night, but – Dennis Kucinich lost his race! Finally!
Doesn’t look like Mitt is going to pull away as much as he would’ve liked. Tonight is making him look weak.
Dennis is GONE!?!?!?!?! Yahoo!! “bout time!!
“Tonight is making him look weak.”
worse than that, tonight is making Obama look strong.
I never agree with wws. But last night made obama look strong. Romney is definitely a mile wide and an inch deep. On the surface it looks like a big win for Romney, 6-3-1. But on further reflection, depending on the delegate allocation in OK, it looks like 3-3-1 with two virtual ties and one huge travesty.
Paul/KookSpinach 2012 3/4
This will be my protest vote against the Establishment should Ronulan have the foresight to pick KookSpinach as his running mate.
Mitt winning only cities and democrat strongholds should give every Repunk pause.
Will he win them in Nov and if not will he win enough to beat the kING or will the kING intrude upon the Burbs enough to hand him a shellacking.
Future primary voters who have not experienced the scorched earth of a Romney campaign keep this in mind going forward.
His scorched earth has not won him the base support only wins in Liberal nirvana that he will have a hell of a time winning come Nov when the occupiers, professional baby makers get the obamaphone txts to rock the vote and rock the repunks, along with the union thugs and black panthers I submit it might be hard for a Repunk to even get to those polling places inner city!
People are having a hard time defending Romney AND converting people. And that is in spite of the GOP endorsements.
People are starting to think independently from the GOP establishment as they already saw how “socialism-lite” the GOP establishment is.
McConnell comes to mind….
serious question, dhunter: do you see any realistic path to anything other than a repeat coronation of the current kING in November? You’re right about Romney’s weakness; the problem is that last night told us Santorum is even weaker. Gingrich and Paul are just punchlines now, but by hanging around they effectively kill any chances of Santorum getting any momentum. The biggest problem Santorum has now is that mathematically, there’s little realistic chance left for him to get enough convention delegates to win, and who knows what would happen in a brokered convention? Remember, that would shift the choice to the Establishment rather than the voters.
Just read some analyst saying that Romney is going to be the GOP’s Dukakis. Seems a likely analogy to me. If I were placing bets right now, I’d bet on Romney to win the nomination and Obama to win in November. Unless some unforseen miracle happens – but counting on that is the epitome of desperation.
Newt needs to come in second or first in ks, ms, and al or he needs to drop out
WWS,
Either Newt needs to run the south and end up the pick at a brokered convention,
or we need a third party run against the kING to siphon off some votes,
or Romney needs to pick a very strong conservative or populist Palin/West/Rubio as his VP. Sarah alone nearly pulled McCains fat from the fire and had he not suspended his campaign to surrender in DC he might well have won.
I don’t think Santorum can win and I fear Romney even more as the OWS, Union, class warfare schtick is aimed at Romney with both barrels , his scorched earth method he uses against his repunk opponents will not work against the kING as the Presstitutes will have scorched the earth before him.
Not lookin good but than again the kING is unacceptable ,his supreme court picks alone will turn this country into all out socialism and I fear the cowards in DC have not the backbone to fight him on them!
We may be doomed to servitude to those who pay off the left and those who don’t want to work or support themselves and their habits.