Quinnipiac University Florida Primary Survey
- Romney – 43% (38)
- Gingrich – 29% (29)
- Paul – 11% (14)
- Santorum – 11% (12)
- Undecided – 7% (6)
Favorability Among Likely Primary Voters
- Santorum – 58/16
- Romney – 64/25
- Gingrich – 51/42
- Paul – 35/45
Survey of 539 likely primary voters was conducted Jan 27-29 and has a margin of error of +/-4.2%. Numvers from the last survey conducted Jan 24-26 are in parentheses.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:34 am
this poll has Romney ahead with Tea Party and Conservatives? lol
total junk
January 30th, 2012 at 8:35 am
Wow – quite the spring ahead in the last few days! Gingrich getting desperate…
January 30th, 2012 at 8:38 am
i just hope this thing does NOT go to tampa convention cause if it does i think we are asking for it!?
January 30th, 2012 at 8:39 am
Rasmussen today has Obama approval 51%
Romney down 6
Gingrich down 17
January 30th, 2012 at 8:42 am
4, SOTU bump. Romney will have his at convention, Obama too. It’s about what happens in the fall, and how the economy is doing.
If it’s getting better, we lose. Stagnating, we win.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:50 am
I can see the economy stagnating especially if gas goes over $4.00 a gallon this summer.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:56 am
If gas is over $4.00, doesn’t that mean the economy is rebounding? Prices plummeting during the depths of the recession, and have rebounded as global growth as ticked slightly upward. Demand goes up, prices go up.
Not saying global oil prices are necessarily indicative of domestic economic health, but there is some correlation there.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:56 am
*has ticked
January 30th, 2012 at 9:03 am
I don’t see how this works. It adds to 101%.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:04 am
7
It presents a dilemma to 0bama. Economy improves, gas prices go up. Economy tanks, gas prices go down.
Taken as a duo, those two numbers indicate voter confidence in 0bama to an extent, with unemployment as a separate variable factor.
I argue that GDP and gas prices are a wash, and the only variable that will sink 0bama or make him swim is employment, which is only slightly correlated to GDP at the moment.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:07 am
10, agreed.
If it’s over 8%, he loses. If it’s below, and falling, he’ll coast.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:17 am
4. For what it’s worth, as a liberal Democrat, I completely agree. At the moment, I’d give us a slight edge. If the economy reverses course again, e.g. as a result of the Eurozone going into the tank, I’d give you guys a slight edge.
I’ll go further: Within reason, I actually don’t think it will really make that much difference who you guys nominate. The economy will be the determining factor, unless there’s some sort of international crisis.
As for this Quinnipiac poll, the PSRs for each candidate in this survey overlap the PSRs for the other three current surveys, Survey USA, PPP and Insider Advantage (I discount We Ask America; see below). This tends to reinforce the likelihood that all four surveys are accurate, yes, including this latest from Quinnipiac.
As a result, here’s the composite picture I derive from the four surveys, with trends derived from a comparison with the previous six polls taken from 1/26-28 (NBC/Marist, Ipsos, War Room Logistics, ARG, PPP and Rasmussen):
FLORIDA Composite 1/27-29 Final
1. Romney 38.8-39.5 -.5-3.7
2. Gingrich 28.4-30.5
3. Santorum 10.4-15.2
3. Paul 8.4-14.6
5. Undecided 5.5-7.6
While Quinnipiac has shaved the trend somewhat, it still appears that Romney is bleeding slightly at the moment. So far it’s not enough to cost him the primary; but it probably is enough to cost him that game-ending 10+ point win that appeared likely before this past weekend.
Now, We Ask America (WAA): their latest survey directly disagrees on Romney’s PSR with the only other survey taken on the 29th, Insider Advantage, 41.2-46.8% vs. 31.9-39.5%. So which is right? Let’s take a look at the survey taken directly before Insider Advantage, which is PPP, on the 28th and 29th. Once again, the two surveys disagree, this time on Gingrich, with WAA’s PSR at 22.2-27.8% vs. PPP’s 28.4-30.5%. In order for WAA to be right, one would have to conclude both that the Insider Advantage is wrong and that Gingrich lost 0.6-13.4 points in one day, between the 28th and the 29th. Sure, it’s conceivable but highly unlikely. It’s considerably more likely that both PPP and Insider Advantage are correct and that WAA is an outlier.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Ryan.9:“I don’t see how this works. It adds to 101%.”
It’s called rounding error. Suppose the real numbers were 49.4, 49.4, and 1.2. That adds up to exactly 100. However, using standard rounding, the numbers would be 49, 49, and 1. That adds up to 99.
Or assume the numbers were 49.5, 49.5, and 1.0. That adds up exactly to 100. But rounding gets 50, 50, and 1 which adds to 101.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:34 am
“If gas is over $4.00, doesn’t that mean the economy is rebounding? Prices plummeting during the depths of the recession, and have rebounded as global growth as ticked slightly upward. Demand goes up, prices go up.”
If people are shelling out $4.00 a gallon that is money that isn’t going into other places of the economy.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:37 am
14
And this is because spending on gasoline goes mostly to exports.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:47 am
#12
For what it’s worth, my son is an attorney for arguably the largest and most prestigious law firm in the US, which deals primary with mergers and acquisitions. He told me yesterday, EVERYTHING has dried up; there is virtually no work. Things are looking more bleak than they did in 2007, when he himself predicted the crash of 2008–not exactly WHEN it would happen, but that it would.
There is reason to believe this economy is the best it’s going to be; the outlook is really, really bad. Even George Soros is beginning to sound like Glenn Beck. Of course, there are players like Soros who are so wealthy that can and do manipulate things.
Read Ron Suskind’s “Confidence Men” and you will see that neither Dems nor Pubs should want the completely clueless Obama in the White House. As former BO supporter Steve Wynn continues to say, “Obama doesn’t understand how things work,” meaning the economy and the financial sector.
No matter if the economy has crashed or is just staggering along by Nov., BO needs to go.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:56 am
16
My father is in the construction management business (which is a leading indicator), and he says there is practically NO corporate construction going on right now. And his company’s specialty is hospitals and colleges, both of which are heavily funded by endowments that rely on investment-type endowments that are peaking right now. This indicates that despite the presence of tons of capital, people are avoiding risking it because they fear the future.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:08 am
I’m guessing the following
Mitt 46%
Newt 27%
Rick 15%
Paul 10%
Oh yeah, and can we start calling him “Teflon Mitt?!?!”
http://www.cmpa.com/media_room_press_1_18_12.html
He’s a VERY vetted and STRONG candidate folks . . . to rise to the top despite the constant TV negativity is HUGE (and that’s just news shows) . . . doesn’t count the constant fire he’s taken as the front-runner in TWENTY debates, nor the DNC’s attack ads, nor his competitors attack ads, NOR talk radio’s penchant for “Crazy Conservatives” and bashing of Mitt. I think Obama and team are sitting there scared right now.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:12 am
I believe that Romney needs to add to his strategy at this point thinking about moving forward. Florida is looking good and I don’t think that he needs to let off but he does need to start pulling in the conservative mantle by tying what his private sector success to conservativism. He needs to get a good handle on the Masscare argument and how conservative principles were what he used to push it forward. That it’s changed since he’s left office but at the the time crafting it, you work with the people that you represent and there are things that an 85% Dem legislature are going to want that you don’t. You veto everything you don’t want but veto power only takes you so far with an opposition that is that large. Conservatism won in the beginning but this is what happens in that constituency – there are things that the voters were willing to accept as conservative and others they weren’t. He fought for conservative principles and in the end this is what the people of Mass wanted. He needs to get ahead of this talk that he’s somehow a big government guy. That it’s Gingrich and Santorum that are big government guys. He can do this by asking the question, what did I do that would show that I was somehow big government? Provide talking points to show that it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Show his ability to shed waste and get companies and enterprises on the successful track. Why anyone would believe he would do this at the government level is wrong. Get indignant about it. He took a $3 billion deficit and turned it into a $2 billion surplus. You don’t do that by growing the government.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:17 am
I think Newt’s done after Florida. Sure, he’ll stay in to be a one-man wrecking ball, but I think his chances are over. IF Romney doesn’t wrap this up in February, we could possibly see Santorum take up the Not Romney mantle.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:17 am
cm. use that brain God gave you my friend. you are believing hte talking points in the media without using your ability to independently.
the notion that tea partiers don’t like romney is a lie made up by gingrich.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:22 am
#18 Quite right, Jeff, except I would’t call Mitt as much Teflon as titanium. Lies and mischaracterizations have stuck as he’s been demonized by Palin, Limbaugh, Levin, Erikson and others and yet the Mitt Machine Marches On.
You can see Mitt getting tougher and tougher as he’s had to fight the Crazy Conservative wing of the party.
It’s axiomatic: If Mitt can’t beat the constant string of ABRs, he cannot beat Obama. But if the ABRs can’t beat Mitt, neither can they beat Obama. I guess that’s what primaries are for; the strongest emerges.
Perhaps the ABRs/Teavangelicals/anti-Establishment folks will wail and gnash their teeth all the way to the convention, but there is an interesting article from MSNBC interviewing very conservative voters from the FL Pandhandle who are completely turned off by Newt’s bad baggage and nutty behavior and are going for Mitt.
I hope this is a trend as Commonsense Conservatives realize that none of the ABRs measured up, least of all Newt.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:23 am
20
Yep. Hard to see where Noot wins in the next 40 days.
Santorum’s one shot to become the not-Romney candidate is to pull off upsets in MN and MO, but both contests are actually non-binding anyway. It would depend on the manner in which he won them and what he is able to do with fundraising, and how much Mitt is solidified by then.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:24 am
The way Romney would govern is he would make those necessary changes to entitlements and cuts that need to be done and then he would sit back and let the private sector work. Think about it. Government needs a correction and then to back off. He wouldn’t look to add anything to what’s there unless the money was in surplus. Gingrich himself called Romney “cheap” but that’s what the government needs. He will look to be bold where he can to inspire and gain back the patriotism of the American people but in a peripheral way. He understands that for the people to be free is what private enterprise needs with a pro-growth environment. The only area where I believe he would be hands on would be in the area of Commander in Chief. He knows that’s his primary role and he will revamp and re-energize the military bringing it to the level it needs to be to protect this country now and in the future.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Insider Advantage, run by Newt’s buddy, and PPP, run by the KOS kids, can be thrown out. And, in light of other polls out today, this poll clearly overestimates Mitt’s vote….as of today. Mitt is probably ahead by something like 14 to 16 points….not 22.
There are some interesting features to this poll, however. It shows Newt’s net favorables AMONG REPUBLICANS as being 9, while Mitt’s are plus 39. That’s pretty amazing since Newt’s been accusing Mitt of everything except the Hindenburg disaster. He probably hasn’t thought of it.
Also, according to this poll, you could add Santorum and Gingrich together, and Mitt would win. It may be overstated, but I like it.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:26 am
#21:
Not necessarily. Have you listened to Palin and Limbaugh lately? Now they are not truly Tea Party even tho they have tried to co-opt them. But they do represent the Crazy Conservatives, there seem to be a few of them left, and they do hate Mitt.
You can feel the hatred imminating from Levin, Erikson, Limbaugh and Palin toward Mitt. Are they still a force to be reckoned with? Or are they becoming increasingly irrelevant in that they could not come up with a viable alternative to Romney? I hope the latter; I guess we’ll see.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:29 am
#25
LOL: Give Newt time; everything pops into his big fat head and out his big fat mouth sooner or later.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:32 am
25
He blamed Romney for the Challenger disaster as well? Well, I am not surprised. After all, he IS in Florida’s space coast pandering mode.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Gladiator,
Mitt will be cutting Government all 4 years he’s in office, and there will be a long stretch in there that his popularity will be in the gutter….because he’s cutting so much, stepping on a lot of toes. But the budget will be balanced by the end of his term, and much of his popularity will have been restored, due to an energized economy.
And, we will have a future.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:32 am
20 and 23 – I don’t think it’ll be that hard. Gingrich is solidifying the career politician vs. the American private sector business baron argument and Santorum is just another career politician who has no private enterprise experience. Romney only needs to point to Medicare part D and the labor constituency and that Santorum is a great conservative but a career politician who has been compromised at times by the Washington DC culture. The country needs a real change from the outside and a leader who has the experience and strength to truly lead that change to Washington.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:37 am
#29: Really? I haven’t heard Mitt promise to cut government. Ron Paul has. Rick Perry would have. 4 years ago, Rudy made specific promises in this regard, too.
I don’t expect Mitt to cut squat. He’ll effectively manage the decline of the United States, however.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:37 am
JUST GOT an invite to the results party tomorrow!
WOOT!!!
January 30th, 2012 at 10:38 am
#32 Those are so much fun! Enjoy yourself.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:40 am
I’m stoked, never been to one.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:41 am
It’s also about 5 minute walk from my office.
Question, do I wear my custom-made “Mittens 2012″ t-shirt (complete with a mittens logo…actual mittens), or suit with red/white/blue tie?
I’m thinking Mittens 2012 shirt.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:41 am
#22 “Perhaps the ABRs/Teavangelicals/anti-Establishment folks will wail and gnash their teeth all the way to the convention, but there is an interesting article from MSNBC interviewing very conservative voters from the FL Pandhandle who are completely turned off by Newt’s bad baggage and nutty behavior and are going for Mitt.”
Thank goodness they are seeing there is something unstable about Newt.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:42 am
31
Can you stop repeating that ridiculous notion? WHEN has Romney ever “effectively managed the decline” of ANYTHING?
He’s done QUITE THE OPPOSITE, his whole life!
When there are BIG PROBLEMS, Romney FIXES THEM. Look at his work at Bain! He laid people off who needed to be laid off, he sold assets that needed to be sold. He fired executives who were screwing up.
For you to say he either doesn’t have the werewithal to pursue challenges, or he’s incapable of recognizing them is ridiculous and unfounded. Get your head out of your ass.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:43 am
#34 I was to one for GWB. It’s such an energetic party mood. People were dancing around the room. The food was fantastic. And this was the election when they called it for Gore and then took it back. Celebration time. It was the best feeling in the world that our days of working hard paid off.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:46 am
#31:
I have. It’s not only in his policy papers, but I heard him say it in a radio interview with Hannity this week. Not a “managed decline,” but managed cuts. His policies are intentionally “clear, consistent and REALISTIC.” He made the point on Hannity that you can’t go in with a wrecking ball like Perry promised to do or you upset the apple cart and cause a crash. (My words)
You have to be smart; that’s why Mitt’s worth $250 million and would be worth a lot more if the hadn’t left Bain to do other things. Mitt’s smart; he’s proved he knows how to do things.
However, look at Scott Walker in WI: he promised small cuts, he made small cuts and now they are rioting in the Capitol and impeaching him. There’s always pushback. Ron Paul has never worked with anybody to do anything. It’s great to say stuff; even better to actually accomplish stuff.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:47 am
#37: Interesting that was your response, instead of linking me to any promises Romney has made about cutting spending.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:47 am
37
Where have Gingrich, Santorum and Ron Paul been while America has been in decline? That’s right, in Washington! If anyone would “manage America’s decline”, it would be one of those three.
Time to put in a turn-around artist in the White House who has done nothing but FIX things his whole life.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Ron Paul, to use a medical metaphor, is great at diagnosis.
His bedside manner and treatment recommendations leave much to be desired.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:49 am
40
MEDICARE, MEDICAID, SOCIAL SECURITY, REDUCING EMPLOYMENT BY 10%, LINKING PUBLIC PAY TO PRIVATE PAY, CUTTING PROGRAMS, AND MORE!
Are you suggesting that he doesn’t plan on cutting spending? Are you that dense?
January 30th, 2012 at 10:49 am
39
That’s right. Part of fixing things is making sure you don’t piss off everyone around you so can actually get the job done. Ron Paul has proven he CANNOT work with others and, therefore, does not understand how things can be truly fixed.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:50 am
26 – The thing that I believe is happening in drips is that people are looking at the Palins and Limbaughs of the world and they’re starting to scratch their heads wondering what they’re talking about with Gingrich. It’s one thing to prop up the guy, it’s quite another to have nothing to back it up other than saying that it’s gone negative. Where is Romney lying is going to be an ever growing question. To say Romney is lying is not enough, where is he lying? This is where the door is beginning to open on the “conservative” media’s faces. Gingrich is also going nuclear on Romney. Throwing everything out there in desperation and it shows. If people aren’t turned off yet, they will be.
Laura Ingraham is a hypocrite. I saw her say that there are three people that were champions of conservatism, William Buckley, Ronald Reagan, and Newt Gingrich. I’ll let you think about that one but that’s how these people think. Newt Gingrich is NOT the same as William Buckley or Ronald Reagan. He is the same though as Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. This is the problem with conservatives today. They’re lazy and all they do is follow what the Rushes of the world say. The great thing about conservatism is that it’s all about the individual and I believe that each person will take each candidate, look at the record as individuals and make the best decision. I have faith that they’ll see Gingrich for what he is and go in a different direction. I believe that after Florida Romney’s strength will grow while Gingrich and his conservatism will dwindle and be rendered ineffective.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:51 am
what does newt do if he loses BIG tomorrow night? same question for Rick santourm?
January 30th, 2012 at 10:51 am
#41: Good point. These are the guys you can say contributed to the decline. Paul just talks; Santorum stood up for Spector and Newt defended Freddie when he should have been the historical figure Paul Revere, sounding a warning from the roof tops.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:51 am
45
I was listening to Ingraham this weekend. She spent her entire show saying how mean unfair Romney and everyone was being by attacking Newt. She didn’t spend any time actually defending him – just deflecting and whining.
Seems to be a campaign theme of camp Gingrich these days: whine.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:53 am
In fact, if ANY of the other Republicans besides Romney were president, they would be INEFFECTIVELY managing the decline.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:54 am
41 is irrelevant. I’m not discussing Romney vs the other options. I prefer him over the other options.
Still, nobody has shown me any specifics about Romney’s plans to cut spending. Fascinating.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:55 am
#46 They will keep going. Each is gaining some supporters in some quarters; each has a big ego; each has hope the hated “Establishment” Romney will be brought down in favor of the “Crazy Conservatives.”
January 30th, 2012 at 10:56 am
Romney has cut excess wherever he has been. Others talk about doing it, but Mitt has actually done it
January 30th, 2012 at 10:58 am
Metro,
Cutting government is Mitt’s raison d’etre. If you haven’t heard him talk about it, you haven’t been following the campaign. He’s promised to:
1. Cut all programs that it’s not worth borrowing money from the Chinese to finance.
2. Issue a waiver on his first day in office so states can ignore ObamaCare.
3. Work to repeal it outright.
4. Cut the Federal Government from its current 25% of GDP to less than 20%.
5. If he can, he wants to cut it to 18%.
6. He wants to Cap it at no more than that.
7. After this is done, he will fight for a balanced budget amendment to end deficits.
8. He wants to immediately terminate all regulations instigated by the Obama Administration.
9. He wants to immediately authorize private enterprise to produce oil and other energy without having to worry too much about bureaucrats.
There is much more….but in all cases he wants to leave us with far less government than he found. In Massachusetts, he left the state with fewer employees and, in terms of constant dollars, a smaller budget….as well as a sizable surplus. He would have done better, but he had more than 700 vetos overridden.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:59 am
What about government spending capped at 20% of GDP, which would be a cut from where it is now
January 30th, 2012 at 10:59 am
50
His specifics are there for the reading. Take some time and read them.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:01 am
The Commonsense Conservatives have a choice to make: Join with Mitt or join with the Crazies.
IMO, it’s an easy choice; Mitt is the commonsense conservative. By trying desperately to make themselves relevant, the Crazies are rendering themselves irrelevant. They forced themselves into a corner of demonizing Mitt and glorifying Gingrich.
I thought they were smarter than this.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:03 am
50 – Don’t be scared to go to the Romney website and educating yourself about his proposals on cutting the federal government.
45 – That’s their problem. They’re tying themselves to a non-factor has been from Washington DC who is only going to get more and more irrelevant and they’ll all be looked upon as whiners. No one likes whining. People want to be with winners because they know they will win too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Gingrich wanted to take this to another level thinking that Romney would back down. Romney is not someone to mess with and they may not like it now but they’ll eventually have to respect him. I believe that many will eventually. Gingrich is an ego maniac who will go down kicking and screaming, again to irrelevancy and some will follow to their own detriment.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:06 am
Metro,
If you’re complaining about Romney during the primary, even when he is the best choice, there is no point. So you don’t think he’s amazing, good for you. What’s the point?
January 30th, 2012 at 11:08 am
can we really keep this nomination process going till Tampa convention or do we need to have this thing wrapped by a certain time?
January 30th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Ingraham——–>FIRED for biased, manipulative talk! She, Levin, Rush ——–> FIRED.
We won’t forget the hypocrites these talkers are for flipping on their Mitt support and their bias and promotion of a problem riddled candidate! They are thinking ONLY of their ratings and wallets, not our country.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:10 am
#58: Um, because I’m interested in politics to fix the nation.
#53: Thanks for some specifics. Why isn’t he talking about those in the debates? Other than cutting Obamacare. I really don’t care what’s on a candidate’s website if he isn’t actively campaigning on it. You only get a mandate for what you campaign on. And I don’t hear Mitt talking about spending cut goals.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Rush saying Romney won’t go after Obama. He’s an idiot.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:13 am
61
He’s actively campaigning in all his rallies on repealing Obamacare, cutting employment by 10%, sending Medicaid to the states with spending caps, cutting the budget to 20% of GDP or less, and the Balanced Budget Amendment.
Actively. At all his events.
He’s never on Fox, so you don’t get to see him much. And as for the debates, the moderators never ask about the deficit or the economy. Have you noticed?
January 30th, 2012 at 11:24 am
61. http://www.cmpa.com/media_room_press_1_18_12.html
Why isn’t he talking about those in the debates? Because the questions are never asked and/or they’ve been covered in previous debates. As it turns out, the debates are for seeing how much you can one-up your opponent (as proven by SC and Gingrich, and reinforced by FL and Romney.)
He would talk about this stuff in interviews, but Brett Baier, Bill O’Reilly, et al. have rarely ever asked questions about policy. They’re more concerned about why Romney thinks he is not doing so well with the overall electorate. Why does he think Perry/Cain/Gingrich are ahead of him in polls. Nothing about policy – which is why Romney got annoyed with Baier and does so few interviews.
But as Mass Con indicated, Romney is talking up these points on the trail.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:25 am
Metro,
Let me guess….you haven’t been watching his speeches and interviews.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:25 am
According to MSNBC, they estimate that 500,000 have already voted with Romney ahead of Gingrich 40% to 27%. With 2 Million expected to vote, here is the early breakdown:
Romney, 245,000 (49% of 500,000)
Gingrich, 135,000 (27% of 500,000)
Romney early lead is approx 110,000 votes. Last week, with 17% early voting in Romney held a 60K vote lead, he has increased the lead by 50,000 in early voting……Going to be almost impossible for Gingrich to even come close.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:26 am
#66, sorry, “Romney ahead of Gingrich 40% to 27%”
Should read “Romney ahead of Gingrich 49% to 27%”
January 30th, 2012 at 11:27 am
BTW,
It should be mentioned that it’s not employment he wants to cut by 10%…..it’s the Federal workforce. That could have been one of my points, concerning ways Mitt wants to cut the government.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:28 am
50. This is a by product of the type of campaign Romney is running.
Instead of a contest of ideas and proposals for our nation, we are treated to smears and negative ads about the other candidates.
The nastiness of this campaign is 100% all on Mitt. He started it. He was ruthless in Iowa, when Newt was leading, ans now after Newt won SC he has dumped $20 million dollars worth of sewage on Florida.
It proves negative campaigning works, which we knew. So now you guys think Newt is being too negative and dishonest, well, the aggressor sets the rules.
And like I said, the byproduct is, Mitt may win by destroying Newt, but people still do not trust him or know much about what he would propose if elected.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:28 am
Ray,
How would they know if Romney is ahead of Gingrich on the absentee and early voting? Is that conjecture on their part, or some official tally?
January 30th, 2012 at 11:28 am
That should read he wants to cut the Federal Workforce by 10%….thought it was obvious, but…..
January 30th, 2012 at 11:30 am
#70, Matt
It seems like it is their own poll, here is the link. I bet they are right on or very close to the actual voting.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10270260-first-thoughts-writing-on-the-wall
January 30th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Telly,
“The nastiness of this campaign is 100% all on Mitt.”
As they say about ballroom dancing, affairs, and arguments….
It takes two to tango.
I don’t know who threw the first punch in the race (Pawlenty?) but it doesn’t much matter. They all ended up using the beer bottles, metal chairs, brass knuckles, and tire irons.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Ray,
Thanks.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Romney to stay on offense after Florida:
Good! Can’t wait to see Newt’s face smashed even deeper in the mud. It’s no longer just about beating Newt, it’s about destroying his career, his image, and his legacy.
I just can’t stop smiling!
January 30th, 2012 at 11:33 am
75
YES!!!!!!!!!
YESS!!!!!!
TAKE NOOT TO THE WOODSHED!!!!!
January 30th, 2012 at 11:44 am
#50: Metro
You can read part of Mitt Romney’s plan for jobs here http://www.mittromney.com/jobs
There is also other stuff on the website, too.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:45 am
CF,
A nominee facing uncertain prospects in the Fall cannot afford vengeance within his own party.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:46 am
http://www.suffolk.edu/images/content/FINAL_Florida_GOP_Marginals_Jan_30_2012.pdf
47Romney-27 Newt
January 30th, 2012 at 11:47 am
73. This is different. yes, politics ain’t bean bag.
No one has ever spent $4 million on negative ads in Iowa. We’ve never had the phones ringing off the hook with such vile distortions and character assassination. We’ve never seen anything close to the Romney scorched earth campaign.
I’ve followed politics for a long time. Here in Iowa we see a lot since we kick it off.
And Newt didn’t punch back in Iowa. He was trying to run a positive campaign, granted, he didn’t have the resources to fund a big smear campaign on TV. But we saw how not responding worked for him. He went from 1st in the polls to what 4th or 5th…
So yeah, politics can get down and dirty, but this is unprecedented.
To quote one Romney supporter: “It’s no longer just about beating Newt, it’s about destroying his career, his image, and his legacy”
January 30th, 2012 at 11:54 am
78
LOL! The only ones looking for “vengeance” in this race (against the GOP) is Gingrich, Palin, Limbaugh and their ilk.
What Romney is doing is called, “smackdown”, not vengeance.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Gingrich’s problem seems to be that he has no actual sense of his own hypocrisy. He wanders around calling Romney a liar and evades anything that he himself has ever said and done.
The “language of the ghetto” comment is a perfect example. Gingrich claims it had nothing to do with Spanish. That’s just a lie. He was talking about bilingual education. Do we really have vast programs of bilingual education in the United States for any language other than Spanish? In French, perhaps? Vietnamese? Hindi? No. So, he did not say, “SPANISH” is the language of the ghetto. The reference pretty clearly could not be to any other language.
Gingrich, of course, then apologized that his comment gave offense to “the Latino community” and offered some of his apology IN SPANISH! Why would he need to do that if his comments had nothing to do with Spanish?
You see this same pattern over and over again. The problem is, it’s not just Gingrich who is like this – basically, it’s Rule #1 for any Washington pol. Blame. Evade responsibility. Ad infinitum.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:59 am
CF,
Semantics aside, I think a nominee with uncertain prospects in the Fall can not afford gratuitous “smackdowns” within his own party. It’s not necessary for Romney to try to “ruin” Newt. I dare say few in this party share you bloodlust.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Telly,
I think Newt was such a seriously flawed candidate, he who doomed to fail one way or the other.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
82
Oh get off it, Matt. You KNOW everyone would be doing the same thing to Romney if he were the one losing on the eve of Florida. We already got a taste of that in South Carolina. Romney decided enough was enough.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Since Gingrich is promoting himself now as “Honest Abe” Gingrich rather than Newt aka “the lying Georgia crapweasel,” he should probably not be surprised when people call him on this issue. The amazing thing is that almost no one does call him on it. He made a career out of slamming the ethics of others in Congress and politics. He denies or glosses over any ethical issues he has faced in his political dealings.
The 1990 House Banking scandal ended the careers of many a US House member who resigned. Santorum was right on the money when he noted that Gingrich admitted he was aware of this practice for 10+ years and that he, himself, was clearly responsible for writing something like 22 bad checks – one for about $10,000 to the IRS! But . . . we have heard no mention of this, except once from Santorum.
The entire process has gotten ridiculous, but it’s even more ridiculous to act as if Gingrich has a blemish-free, conservative record when the actual record shows anything but that.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Metro…here’s a link to Mitt’s speech on cutting the size of Government… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vaVWUgqcrk&feature=related
He talks about doing away with a lot of specific programs as well as his specific goals for entitlement reform and capping spending.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Rush trying to get Gingrich the sympathy vote. Hahahaha…what a douchebag. Newt like him are victims. What a bunch of pu**ies. I watched Ingraham on TV yesterday look at Donna Brazile call Republicans names and did nothing. These people hide behind their desks on the radio and never look people in the face and then when they do they cower and cowtow. Romney looked Gingrich in the face and told him what he thought of the things he was saying. Pu**ies the whole lot of them.
January 30th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Rush is whining his head off today, crabbing that Mitt and the Establishment “will never go after Obama like they are Newt. So if you’re voting for Mitt because showing strength against Newt, don’t, because he won’t go after Obama.”
Well, you have to admit, there’s a lot more to go after Newt on then Obama, but still.
They complained that Mitt was a moderate, mushy-mouth, Massachusetts Mormon. And now they are complaining that he’s a scorched earth SOB. Which is it?
Glenn Beck completely confused that Sarah Palin would endorse Newt. Apparently Sarah is not ANYTHING like we thought she was. She appeared to be a know-nothing who wouldn’t do her homework; only loved to be on stage. But still: I did believe she was a woman of commonsense and integrity. Now we see her as a bitter old shrew completely losing her mind. Gingrich? Really Sarah?
Why not Santorum? He’s the socially conservative underdog, not the nasty, nutty, Newt.
January 30th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Remember that article of a few weeks ago? The one that said: Killer Mitt. That Mitt has that instinct: Kill or be killed.
No rational person wants Newt to be POTUS. It would be a complete disaster. Newt is Captain Ahab, Captain Bligh, and Captain Queeg rolled into one. Who wants to be in the clutches of an evil madman. That’s why we have a democratic republic; so we can vet and elect our leaders. So we don’t give our power away to a crazy person.
We have natural rights and the right to protect them, ergo we lend our power to government. We’re going to “lend” our power to Newt Gingrich? Who would do that? Only stupid voters whom Mitt and other sane people need to stand up and defeat–for their own good.