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Virginia Primary

They say that Romney doesn’t excite passion. Well, I plan to vote in Virginia’s primary today, and it occurs to me that this is the most enthusiastic, unconflicted vote I will have cast since Ronald Reagan in 1984. With the greatest distaste, I voted for John McCain last time. And traveling back in time, I recall cycle after cycle of nose holding votes. 

Today, I have the privilege of pulling the lever (ok, touching the screen) for a conservative who is articulate, intelligent, honorable, and doesn’t frighten the horses (er, the independents). 

New on The Corner. . .


COMMENTS   51

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   03/06/12 06:42

Yeah, but the only other guy on the ballot there is Ron Paul, so.

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   03/06/12 06:52

Yeah, but as he's already declared that he's got no intention of attacking Obama, (who he thinks is just a poor well-meaning fellow who's just "in over his head"), what earthly good is he going to be?

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   03/06/12 07:27

Where on earth did you come up with this? Have you been listening to the debates? to Romney's campaign speeches?

Romney attacks Obama all the time. I did a quick Google search on "Romney attacks Obama" and got about 300 MILLION hits.

When you make a ridiculous claim such as "[Romney] has no intention of attacking Obama" it would be helpful if you could back it up with a link, a quote, or something!

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   03/06/12 16:28

"Obama is not a Socialist -- he's just in over his head" -- MITT ROMNEY

McCain redux.

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Amerigo Chattin
   03/06/12 10:38

What does "attacking" mean!?!?

Romney has been BY FAR the most effective and thorough critic of Obama and his policies. He hasn't called him a Kenya anti-colonialist or a snob; he just tells it like it is.

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   03/06/12 07:03

Ms. Charen,
That's a reasonable observation, and I feel the same. By the way, nice job on O'Reilly last evening.

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Eric B.
   03/06/12 07:23

So who are you voting for? Are you calling Romney a conservative? Or are you saying that faced with an alternative of Romney you find the "passion" to vote for Paul?

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Michael D
   03/06/12 07:25

Ms. Charen... there are no conservatives on the Viginia ballot. And McCain was LOVED by the independents, remember ? How did that work out ?

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   03/06/12 07:55

I'm not sure I would characterize the negative ad bashing Mitt has given his opponents as honorable. In fact, it has made me dislike him. I will, however, hold my nose and vote for Ann Romney for First Lady.

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   03/06/12 07:57

We know you're unconflicted over voting for a liberal Republican with impeccable Ruling Class credentials, Mona.

But perhaps we could expect you to be more conflicted about what happens to this country should a Me Too Republican actually win and prevent the GOP from offering any resistance at all to American decline?

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   03/06/12 08:03

I agree! I early-voted in Tennessee and was pleased to punch the button for Romney. Yes, he needs to get tougher on Obama, but I think that will happen as soon as we get this protracted primary thingy over with and he chooses a running mate (hint, hint ... Rubio!)

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   03/06/12 08:10

Santorum is more conservative and is also "articulate, intelligent, honorable" so your vote must have been swayed by the idea of attracting independents. Sounds like a reason to support John McCain in 2008. How'd that work out?

So why did you not support conservative, articulate, intelligent, honorable, independent-attracting Mitt in 2008??? What's that? Mitt "evolved" from his positions of liberal, tounge-tied, ignorant, independent-rebuffing Mitt of four years ago? Ah, so he is a man of long held convictions, then!

I don't get it. Must be the great hair.

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   03/06/12 08:14

National Romney Online ...

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   03/06/12 08:55

"National Romney Online ..."

Except for K-Lo and Maggie and McCarthy and Hillyer and Walsh and...well, you get the idea.

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   JRapp
   03/06/12 08:19

I feel the same way and there's little evidence that crushing (to use my daughter's term) on a Candidate gets us anything.

Fun Fact of the Day: More Conservatives turned out for John McCain then Ronald Reagan, both by percentage and number. Conservative excitement for the GOP candidate is essentially electorally irrelevant - the base is secure, we need moderates and Independents.

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   03/06/12 08:26

It is as easy to say you are a “Conservative” as it is to say you are a “Christian” to some pollster on the end of the line gathering data. The hard part is acting like one.

Captcha: "in the doldrums" Who writes this stuff?

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MikeN
   03/06/12 08:19

With only two candidates on the ballot, Romney could end up with ZERO delegates in Virginia. Vote Paul!

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   03/06/12 08:23

I am very conservative and not of the ruling class. Romney is a conservative with a lot of abilities. I am excited to vote for Romney today. It was painful voting for McCain last time around after Romney dropped out.

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   03/06/12 08:29

Well, that's nice. But Romney probably wishes you were voting in either Ohio or Tennessee...or both (wink).

The RCP averages in both states are absurdly close: Romney by 1.2 in OH, Santorum by 2.6 in TN. External Link  External Link 

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   03/06/12 10:14

Purely an anecdotal observation, but my brother - who lives in Cincy - said that when he voted this morning, he was the 35th person that had voted in that polling station. In comparison, when he voted - at the same time - in 2010 - they were already past 100. I don't know if low voter turnout helps anyone in particular, but it's pretty clear turnout is low, at least this morning.

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