Christie headed to New Hampshire this weekend

some scattered thoughts (0.00 / 0)

on your article before i rush to watch 6pm news.  romney is dishwater dull AND i see lots of ironies in all this. he flip flopped so as to try and appeal to far right in iowa.  he had his eye on iowa all along.  he's going to pay a high price because i think santorum is going all the way.... the irony is rudy guliani and chris christie kept themselves true and also got burned in their separate ways, guiliani holding off till florida in 2008 and christie thinking he could support this awful candidate mitt romney who's going to not even be the nominee.  does that make any sense. no time to clean this up, gotta run

"the black sheep can wear the golden fleece and hold a winning hand" Tim Hardin

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by: gary stein @ Fri Jan 06, 2012 at 23:03:06 PM UTC

can Gov. Cartman resist "Santorum"? (0.00 / 0)

can a mouth as caustic as his avoid making at least a veiled allusion to the "google problem"?

it's got to be a temptation...  

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by: sayitaintso @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 01:17:29 AM UTC

Am I the only person... (0.00 / 0)

...who thinks that Santorum could be a more dangerous general election opponent for Obama than Romney?

My thinking is that Romney will accumulate the most delegates, but may need to cut a deal with Santorum and make him his VP in order to win the nomination on the first ballot, pre-empting a brokered convention that could give the nomination to a candidate who is not currently running.

I think that Santorum will probably have less delegates than Romney, but more than Paul and if he and Paul have enough delegates between them to win the nomination on the first ballot, they could cut a deal that would make Paul Santorum's VP.

So I am sure that most of you are drooling over the idea of Obama (and whomever he chooses to replace Biden when he announces that Biden will replace Clinton as Secretary of State in the next term) taking on Santorum and Paul next fall, particularly if the economy continues to improve slowly, but surely.

But what if it doesn't?  What if Europe implodes?  What if Corporate America conspires to make the economy worse rather than better?  If the economy tanks again for whatever reason, even batshitcrazy teabagging wingnuts like Santorum and Paul could possibly win.

However, if Romney wins either with Santorum or without him, he will most likely be prevented from beating Obama by Paul, running as a Libertarian.  And if Paul is able to get stronger-than-usual candidates to run for Congress and Senate as Libertarians as well with the support of the Tea Party Movement as well, he could bring about the demise of the present-day Republican Party in the same way that the 19th Century Republican Party brought down the Whigs.

So is this my usual pie-in-the-sky thinking or am I on to something?  What do you think?

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 01:37:18 AM UTC

Bert, I'd like you to think about this.. (0.00 / 0)

that if it must be a republican, then perhaps santorum is not the devil everyone thinks.  i actually believe this guy.... if he was elected president... could be persuaded to go in the direction of universal government single payer.  you know he has a very ill young daughter?  and yes i heard him today when asked about health care, how he went even further then the usual republican talking points against obamacare.  well, obamacare is not single payer.  that's what i think. pie in the sky like you perhaps

"the black sheep can wear the golden fleece and hold a winning hand" Tim Hardin

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by: gary stein @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 04:06:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Santorum... (0.00 / 0)

...is more likely to come out of the closet and marry Marcus Bachmann while in New Hampshire this weekend than support single payer.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 04:35:05 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

LOL (0.00 / 0)

I don't which made me laugh more: Gary's post or Bertin's funny mental image of Santorum and March Bachmann.

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by: Alex @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 12:44:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

RS & MB TL4E (0.00 / 0)

I have written elsewhere that I think that Michele Bachmann is going to endorse Mitt Romney and Marcus Bachmann is going to endorse Rick Santorum.

I don't know if I will ever get around to writing it, but I have had in my mind an idea for a play/musical called "Caucus Like A Republican", where the entire story of the Republican Presidential election is told over the course of one debate with flashbacks, flash forwards, etc., and one of the stories told would be that of a love triangle that develops between Marcus and Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum.

Early in the story, it is revealed that Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum are having an affair and Marcus Bachmann has a crush on Santorum.  On the night that Santorum wins the Iowa caucus, Michele and Rick mutually end their affair, knowing that they are not going to be seeing much of each other on the campaign trail anymore, and for the same reason, Marcus finally gets up the nerve to tell Rick how he feels about him.

More focused on the fact that he is finally getting his turn at being a top-tier candidate than his true feelings, Rick blows Marcus off, but at the same time, it becomes clear that it has caused something to click inside of him.  Having to suppress these feelings while being on top of the world, Santorum becomes even more of a flaming, self-hating homophobe.

The climax of this part of the story comes at the Republican National Convention when Santorum is forced to decide whether to make a deal with Romney and become his running mate or make a deal with Paul to win the nomination for himself with Paul as his running mate.  

Surprisingly, he chooses to be Romney's running mate, but the biggest surprise is yet to come when during his acceptance speech, he breaks down, admits that he is gay and in love with Marcus Bachmann, who joins him on stage for a kiss that would put Al's & Tipper's to shame.

If there is anybody who would like to help me flesh this idea out some more and put it on paper, let me know.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 15:44:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks for the giggle (0.00 / 0)

I am glad I was not consuming any beverage when reading this post as my keyboard would have been ruined.

http://outspokenliberal.blogsp...

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by: tabbycat31 @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 16:24:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Gary (0.00 / 0)

I am sorry, but that is simply delusional. It doesn't show much understanding of who Santorum is.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 05:13:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

not going to start rating comments (0.00 / 0)

but i'm tempted to give bert a 4. that's hillarious.  rosi, time will tell. santorum has the smarts and character (i think) to admit he's been completely wrong about government controlled health care.  why?  because the present system with hundreds of insurance carriers is spiraling out of control and the whole things makes about as much sense as the federal income tax code.

and like i said up top, santorum has this young daughter who is not well.  if he doesn't realize there but for the grace of god goes i, if he had less money to take care of her........then maybe his wife will point it out? i will be watching the debate tonight very carefully.  i've been following this stuff since i'm 12. i've been democrat, republican back to democrat.  ehhhh, i think that counts for something.

"the black sheep can wear the golden fleece and hold a winning hand" Tim Hardin

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by: gary stein @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 13:21:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

National health insurance under Santorum stands a snowball's chance in hell... (0.00 / 0)

The idea that any of these Republican candidates would possibly support national health insurance is pure fantasy.

The only one to support something approaching universal healthcare (Romney), is running away from his record as fast as his Mormon legs can carry him.

The whole race so far has been a competition to see who can be more heartless toward the poor, who can do a better job of making the rich richer, who can do a better job of depriving women control over their own bodies, etc.

I would, however, like to see Ron Paul win. I think this would have the likely effect of forcing Obama towards the left on civil liberties (i.e., indefinite detention for U.S. citizens) and domestic spying, and force Obama to definitively say that he will NOT bomb Iran.

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by: mgm8822 @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 19:27:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Attorney General Chris Christie (0.00 / 0)

This has nothing to do with becoming Veep, and everything to do with following in the footsteps of his mentor, John Ashcroft.

http://christiegonewild.blogsp...

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by: ken bank @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 02:08:20 AM UTC

that's what i said other night (0.00 / 0)

somewhere on this blog.  christie was counting on vp, or attorney general.  i think he's not getting either.  santorum will knock it out of the park in both debates this weekend and really start his inexorable climb to the nomination.

"the black sheep can wear the golden fleece and hold a winning hand" Tim Hardin

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by: gary stein @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 04:00:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Santorum vs Romney (0.00 / 0)

After a long hiatus from paying close attention to federal news, this week I took up my old MSNBC habits and watched the coverage of Iowa.  And I wish that more Republicans who are trying to attack him would go after his record as Outsourcer in Chief during his days at Bain.  There's a guy who's factory job was outsourced by Bain, and now he is a labor activist speaking out against Romney.  I am sure there are thousands more like him out there and their voices need to be heard.

Now Romney I have paid a lot of attention to as my brother in law works for his campaign (yeah holidays are VERY interesting in my family) and I just see him as an empty suit who will chase every opportunity he has.  He also strikes me as a guy without a soul (evidence in how he treated the family dog while traveling when his kids were younger) and does not see the human side of things (reason #1 why I think the government should not be run like a business).  

As for Rick Santorum-- he brings a lot of negatives off the bat (his Google problem) and there is not a single issue that I agree with him on, but at least he sincere in his beliefs and will not change his positions to appease the flavor of the day.  He strikes me as a much more "real person" than Romney does.   I think his other major negative is that he went down in flames the last time he was on the ballot in a state that many consider a "swing' state.  Granted it was a Democratic year in 2006, but for an incumbent to lose by 18 points is entering sacrificial lamb territory.  

Another major problem with both Romney and Santorum is that neither will carry their home state (well the state that each of them held statewide office in).  

http://outspokenliberal.blogsp...

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by: tabbycat31 @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 16:32:48 PM UTC

I am not convinced... (0.00 / 0)

...that Santorum could not be competitive with Obama in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.  In fact, I think that he could be quite dangerous.

The name Casey in PA is like the name Kennedy in MA.  Add that to the fact that 2006 was a wave year and you have your landslide.  Obama is not nearly as popular in PA as Casey and Santorum would not have to deal with a 3rd party run from Paul, especially if Paul is his VP.

I am not saying that Santorum is a lock to beat Obama, but I think that anyone who underestimates him does so at their peril.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 16:52:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Take it from somebody who lived in PA (0.00 / 0)

I don't know where your ideas regarding Santorum come from, Bertin, but Santorum is a joke. He is certainly no Casey. Besides, he's already imploding in New Hampshire so an discussion of Santorum is merely hypothetical. In any event, he might appeal to those in the far right fringe of the Republican Party but we all know you don't win a general election and you don't win a state as diverse as PA (conservative big T, socially moderate-to-liberal SW and SE) with a candidate preaching criminalizing abortion rights, banning contraceptives, etc. Even the gay-bashing is a dog that just doesn't have the bite it once did. Unless you're going to tell me people will vote for him just because they like his sweater vests, I'd say any talk of Santorum seriously being a successful Republican nominee is pure fantasy.

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by: Alex @ Sun Jan 08, 2012 at 00:06:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

"Santorum After Dark" (0.00 / 0)

I hope Saturday Night Live reprises its parody of "Playboy After Dark" like they did with Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis in 1988.

http://christiegonewild.blogsp...

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by: ken bank @ Sat Jan 07, 2012 at 23:14:41 PM UTC