Polls now favor Santorum, the ninth flip of the nomination

[Mxylplyx]

You're just wrong. You're either not paying attention or your attention to details is selective because you operate from a presumption of media bias and what you notice and don't notice is colored by that presumption. RP gets somewhat less coverage than the front running candidates, of both a positive and negative nature. He's suffered far, far less from negative media attention than the other GOP candidates. Just look at candidates like Cain or even Bachmann. RP's issues with the newsletter and other possible connections to racists has been treated minimally by the MSM. They would sink Romney or Obama if something of a similar nature came out, even IF the allegations were largely untrue and/or exaggerated. If the media possessed the anti-RP bias that you claim it has, they'd be running this dirt up the flagpole on a regular basis, but they're not.

There is a kind of chicken and egg problem here, where you can argue that RP isn't viable because the media doesn't cover him enough, while I'm arguing that the media doesn't cover him enough because he isn't viable. What breaks the deadlock here is that the media remembers his poor showing in 2008, and that is what set them to low expectations and minimal coverage this time around. There's also the problem of Santorum, who got very little coverage, less than RP at the early stages, because he polled lower than RP. Yet somehow in spite of many months of low coverage he ends up rising up to at or near the top of the polls, and now he gets more press. RP could theoretically do the same - rise up in spite of relatively low media coverage and then he'll get more coverage, both good and bad. But he hasn't, and the Santorum phenomenon demonstrates that the degree of media coverage isn't the main issue.

There is also the important detail that GOP voters tend to ignore the MSM because they are convinced, almost to a man, that it has a liberal bias. And they are the ones voting in this primary.

The fact is, too many GOP voters don't like RP's stances on things like legalizing drugs and prostitution, and most importantly, his foreign policy stances. While those stances have become somewhat more acceptable to GOP voters this time around, it isn't enough to overcome longstanding ideological positions among republicans in this country. Whatever you speculate his chances to be in a general election, RP is not electable in a GOP primary, period.

- wolf

Good post.

 

[halik]

You haven't read the other news posts about how several places are still missing, etc, have you?

Though, in truth Ron Paul might still be in 2nd when the dust clears.

So the counted data shows Romney winning, but there is some missing, therefore RP won Maine? And you wonder why no one takes RP nuts seriously...

 

[fskimospy]

It's just a stat. I like how people get really defensive over it though. Other candidates would love the bragging rights of being able to say that military members back them.

Another fact is that Ron Paul has more individual donations than other people. What that means is that corporations support guys like Romney, Gingrich and actual people support Ron Paul.

That's what it really boils down to. Alot of you hating on Ron Paul are waiting on somebody to tell you who you can vote for after a sideshow of primaries in which they botch the results over and over.

This shit flew better before the internet...> But screwing with an election today is just a mess. Think of all of the Iowas in the past where people didn't have the luxury of knowing who actually won. They just had to take the media at their word.

Yes, it's all a terrible conspiracy against Ron Paul. I for one don't care who the military supports. I've known enough military members to realize that they don't know any better than anyone else. Funny thing is that bragging about who the military supports is exactly the sort of vacuous politics that you are complaining about in other ways.

 

[cybrsage]

What the military wants politically is, and should remain, irrelevant. The median age of someone in the military is in the early 20's or so I'd imagine, most of them without a college degree. Why on earth would you base your political judgments on a group with those demographics?

College degree is irrelevant to being smart...heck, many times it does not even mean learned. What the military members want is important, but no more or less so than everyone else. They are just normal citizens when it comes voting time.

 

[cybrsage]

I don't see the Repubs having any hope in this election. They aren't enthusiastic about any of their candidates (cant blame them). It is obvious the establishment is pushing Romney as hard as they can because he is the only one with any hope of a broad appeal to moderates, but the voters refuse to get in line.

Unlike the dems, the reps are not controlled by their party. While it may seem strange to you, and you may even be aghast by it, reps are looking over the candidates critically and making their choices as individuals, not as a group who does what their party tells them to do.

You will see excitement begin after the primary is over. Right now, we are assessing the candidates.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Unlike the dems, the reps are not controlled by their party. While it may seem strange to you, and you may even be aghast by it, reps are looking over the candidates critically and making their choices as individuals, not as a group who does what their party tells them to do.

You will see excitement begin after the primary is over. Right now, we are assessing the candidates.

You think this is the first election I've ever seen or something? You're kidding yourself if you believe a majority of tea party supporters or evangelicals is going to enthusiastically line up behind Romney if/when he gets the nomination. A good portion of Republicans are going to be casting votes against Obama, not for their candidate, and history shows that is rarely a recipe for success, ie John Kerry vs Bush.

And you seriously think democratic voters are controlled by their party? The democratic party has been a loose coalition of disparate interests for quite some time, ie Blacks, liberals, environmentalists. It is the Republican party that has been fairly monolithic over the years, and they have just recently developed a significant rift with the advent of the tea party coalition.

 

[Mxylplyx]

College degree is irrelevant to being smart...heck, many times it does not even mean learned. What the military members want is important, but no more or less so than everyone else. They are just normal citizens when it comes voting time.

You are quite naive if you believe a college degree is irrelevant to being smart.

 

[fskimospy]

You are quite naive if you believe a college degree is irrelevant to being smart.

Not to mention that education would have no effect on the ability to understand or act on the issues.

 

[micrometers]

My gut tells me that santorum is going to win the nomination, and lose to Obama.

Santorum is really only vulnerable on the quacky religious right stuff he dwells too much on.

Also, Santorum IMO got the better of this ad exchange.

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/15/the_anti_santorum_onslaught_begins/

 

[Londo_Jowo]

You are quite naive if you believe a college degree is irrelevant to being smart.

Please explain why I've had to educate young engineers and correct their screw ups if a college degree means they're so smart. A college degree doesn't automatically mean that a person has a high IQ or is smart.

 

[micrometers]

college degree = religious dogma of the educational industrial complex.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

The lack of a college degree made life miserable for Bill Gates

 

[Remobz]

Please explain why I've had to educate young engineers and correct their screw ups if a college degree means they're so smart. A college degree doesn't automatically mean that a person has a high IQ or is smart.

Agreed.

What you call a medical student who graduated at the absolute bottom of his class?


Answer ----> Doctor!

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Agreed.

What you call a medical student who graduated at the absolute bottom of his class?


Answer ----> Doctor!

Not so fast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_license

Licenses are not granted automatically to all people with medical degrees. A medical school graduate must receive a license to practice medicine before he or she can be called a physician in a legal sense, a process that usually entails testing or examinations by a medical board.

 

[micrometers]

The lack of a college degree made life miserable for Bill Gates

Bill Gates though had the benefit of his parents being in the establishment. They could hook their son up, so to speak.

 

[Jhhnn]

The Repub faithful are lost in the weeds, waiting for somebody to beguile them by telling them the lies they want to hear, to get them to believe the same way they believed in Dubya... the more any candidate does that, the less chance they'll have with moderate voters... who got a lesson in Reality from the financial crisis & aftermath...

 

[Craig234]

The Repub faithful are lost in the weeds, waiting for somebody to beguile them by telling them the lies they want to hear, to get them to believe the same way they believed in Dubya... the more any candidate does that, the less chance they'll have with moderate voters... who got a lesson in Reality from the financial crisis & aftermath...

Republicans are very sad, like a guy with a hooker saying he 'got a girlfriend'.

Just have some second rate used car salesman tell them 'USA #1 best exceptionalism flag' and attack Democrats as commie anti-American people after their money and guns.

They don't know what America's values are and just eat up the con, the suckers.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Fifty-two years after John F. Kennedy had to reassure the American public that he wouldn't use the presidency to impose his Catholic beliefs on the United States, Rick Santorum makes imposing his Catholic beliefs on the United States the cornerstone of his campaign.

 

[soundforbjt]

Fifty-two years after John F. Kennedy had to reassure the American public that he wouldn't use the presidency to impose his Catholic beliefs on the United States, Rick Santorum makes imposing his Catholic beliefs on the United States the cornerstone of his campaign.

So true...

 

[Smartazz]

Fifty-two years after John F. Kennedy had to reassure the American public that he wouldn't use the presidency to impose his Catholic beliefs on the United States, Rick Santorum makes imposing his Catholic beliefs on the United States the cornerstone of his campaign.

Heh, interesting point.

 

[spittledip]

Santorum is the male Palin. Amazing that he can garner any votes at all. Sad perhaps the more accurate word. Scary is a good word too.
My guess is that Romney will clinch it in the end, though.

 

[etrigan420]

Romney will clinch it in the end, though.

There's a joke in there somewhere...Santorum is involved...meh, I got nothing.


Anyways, of course he will. The Republicans will realize that their desire to beat The Kenyan-Muslim trumps everything else.

 

[dank69]

Unlike the dems, the reps are not controlled by their party. While it may seem strange to you, and you may even be aghast by it, reps are looking over the candidates critically and making their choices as individuals, not as a group who does what their party tells them to do.

You will see excitement begin after the primary is over. Right now, we are assessing the candidates.

That is fucking hilarious. Best joke I've read all day. Thank you.

 

[nageov3t]

Fifty-two years after John F. Kennedy had to reassure the American public that he wouldn't use the presidency to impose his Catholic beliefs on the United States, Rick Santorum makes imposing his Catholic beliefs on the United States the cornerstone of his campaign.

Rick Santorum is a cafeteria Catholic at best.

he has no take with the Church's opposition to war, support of universal health care, and encouraging immigration.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtOcrS6axnE&feature=youtu.be