Mitt Romney dispelled any doubts tonight whether he wants to be president badly enough to fight for it. He was much more comfortable, and effective, on the attack against Newt Gingrich than he was on Monday. Newt had a better debate as well, and Santorum turned in one of his better performances, especially when attacking Romney on Romneycare. But with polls showing Romney beginning to pull back into the lead, the real question is, as it was going into the final weekend in South Carolina: Does the Republican party want to nominate Mitt Romney?
Whether Florida will answer that question differently than South Carolina might turn on how they perceive Romney’s character after tonight. If they perceive Romney’s attacks as strong and fair, he’ll keep his lead. But if they view him as arrogant and rough, enough could pull back to make the outcome close enough to keep the race open.
One bad point for Mitt: He didn’t know it was his own radio ad that attacked Gingrich for allegedly calling Spanish the language of the ghetto. Newt picked up on this at one point, and if a man whose primary rationale for running is his ability to run his company, the fact he seemed not to know what his company was doing might undermine his credibility.
Mitt tonight:
Didn't know what was in his own ad.
Doesn't know where his own money goes.
Lied outright about only voting for Dems when there is no GOPer on the ballot (there was a GOP primary that year)
And got killed by Santorum on healthcare.
Yeah, he beat Newt. But you think that's going to stack up in a general election debate? The MSM will tear those lies and evasions apart, and be right to do so.
He sucks. He flat out sucks, and this party is going to pay a heck of a price for it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMitt performed well, but Rick Santorum did a good job pointing out why Romney must not be allowed to be our nominee - it would be an abject surrender to Obamacare. Romney's only complaint against it is the funding mechanism. When he raves about how wonderful his plan in Massachusetts works, Obama can simply say, "that's how my plan will work too, because we modeled it after yours." And Romney really doesn't have much of an argument against that because it will be true. Even worse, if any GOP candidate for any office tries to argue against Obamacare because of the individual mandate or top-down government-dominated approach to healthcare reform, their Democratic opponent can respond that it was a reasonable program based on what the Republican Presidential nominee signed into law. We absolutely must nominate someone else.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Mitt performed well, but Rick Santorum did a good job pointing out why Romney must not be allowed to be our nominee - it would be an abject surrender to Obamacare. Romney's only complaint against it is the funding mechanism..."
No.
His main complaint is that the Federal Government can't have a mandate. A state CAN have a mandate. If you don't like it, you MOVE to another state.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe GOP support for Romney is making me wonder if they really don't *want* Obamacare repealed.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think its very dangerous for the Republicans to be making a commitment to the total repeal of Obamacare. Parts of it are popular. Parts of it are already in place. The system will still need to be reformed and no one in this group of candidates is suggesting how they will address the core issues of availability and affordability.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Dems will provide little or no support for repeal so at best you have a one-sided victory that will be just as unpopular - but for different reasons - as the one-sided victory that enacted the bill.
SNewt is just plain icky, slicky, just like a newt. A few things to ponder about Newts:
-Newts are known best for their lizard-shaped bodies and are able to regrow limbs, should the original limbs of the newt become damaged. Chemicals that allow newts to regrow limbs, are the same as chemicals that produce tumors in other animals.
-Newts generally come together during the mating season, and then it’s over.
-Some newts have enough toxins in their skin to kill an adult human. However, most newts can be safely handled, provided the toxins they produce are not ingested.
Capcha: "ear mark" - really!
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