Isn't it ironic that the Iowa caucus has been a 3 way... something so vastly against their family values.

At this point in time, his lead in the polls is large. But, the Iowa rsults could narrow that margin. Since New Hampshire runs a traditional primary, its results can be significantly different from Iowa's.

I hear Fox News had Mark Sanford on. He must have gotten back from the Appalachians.



TIS

Perry has officially not just suspended his Presidential campaign, but also easily the biggest presidential primary flop in a dog's age.

So yes Texas, unfortunately you're getting him back.

Keep him this time.

So anyway, whats the FNC spin?

"Romney WINS!!!"

or is it

"Romney wins but Santorum is the STORY!"

Poor Ronnie Paul at#3. Fascinating how the one candidate against perpetual pre-emptive war was apparently the only one to attract significant Democratic and Independent cross-over voters, and actually excited the youth behind him. And why not? He was the only sincere (if slightly bonkers and probably racist) candidate that wasn't puckering up to the 1980s.

Will those groups go to Ricky or Mittens now or the fall? (Better yet, why would they?)

Congrats Mittens, you won Iowa by just 8 votes.

Go ahead and brag. I know it'll come off as silly as the New York Yankees bragging about beating a Single-A minor league farm club, but hey that works for you dude because you have no shame!

Total Iowa Votes

Romney '08: 30,021
Romney '12: 30,015

Wow, that is amazing. Mittens just can't feel the love.


Btw, I see that Newt is up bright and early trashing Romney. LOL He's pissed at all the negative ads. Then again, Romney, thus far, has pretty much slid by unscathed by "real" attack ads. It's his turn I guess.




TIS

Looks like Bachmann is going to "suspend" her campaign this afternoon.

Santorum will not come clse in NH, and now that Mittens has Newt in a tizzy we can expect a ton of negativity, which is good for the Dems.

Agreed.

It will also benefit the Dems if the wingnuts drop out sooner rather than later. If they hang around in the Primaries, it will benefit Mittens, because the people who would vote for a Perry or a Bachmann are probably more likely to vote for Santorum or Paul.

So as a Democrat, you'd rather see a long, drawn-out bloodbath with the Republicans. If the wingnuts stay in play, Romney will coast to the nomination. If they drop out, I still think he'll get it, but the cost will be very high, what with the infighting and negative campaigning that a close race will bring.

Ding-Dong the psychotic is out.

Michele Bachmann Drops Out of Presidential Race

By Amy Bingham | ABC News

Rep. Michele Bachmann will "suspend her campaign" a senior campaign officials tells ABC News, just hours after placing last in the Iowa caucuses and vowing to continue in South Carolina.

Bachmann finished sixth in Tuesday's Iowa caucus.

Iowa has played a visible and vital role in Bachmann's campaign since its inception.

It became the backdrop of her presidential bid when in June she announced her candidacy in her hometown of Waterloo.

It became the springboard for her stint, albeit short-lived, as the GOP frontrunner after she secured the top spot at the Ames Straw Poll in August.

And today it became the insurmountable hurdle that ended her run for the White House after she finished dead last among the GOP candidates competing in the Iowa caucus.

Bachmann, a three-term congresswoman from Minnesota, emerged on the national political scene riding the wave of Tea Party activism. As the founder of the Tea Party Caucus in Congress, Bachmann's socially conservative, family-oriented approach initially captured the support of the staunch conservatives and evangelical Christians.

Bachmann has five children of her own and has taken in 23 foster children.

She supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman and opposes abortion under any circumstances. She came under fire in June after a gay patient treated at the Christian counseling center Bachmann and her husband own told ABC News that the clinic tried to "pray the gay away" using so-called reparative therapy.

She also took some heat after implying that the HPV vaccine, which rival candidate Rick Perry mandated as Texas governor, could cause mental retardation in young girls, a claim the American Academy of Pediatrics said was had "absolutely no scientific validity."

When it comes to the economy, which the majority of voters say is their No. 1 issue this cycle, Bachmann touts her experience as a "federal tax litigation attorney" aka tax evasion prosecutor for the IRS.

Her tax code tag line is often that every American should pay at least some income taxes, rather than just 47 percent who currently pay them. Bachmann says that broadening the tax base will pay for tax breaks for high-income earners.

Bachmann's 11-point jobs and tax proposal, the "American Jobs, Right Now" blueprint, also calls for ending taxes on repatriated profits and expanding domestic energy production.

The Minnesota congresswoman claimed that Perry's flat tax plan, which he announced in October, is an "imitation" of her plan.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; thank you Governor Perry for using my ideas for your tax plan," Bachmann posted on her Facebook wall shortly after Perry announced his plan.

After a similarly poor showing at the Iowa caucus Tuesday, Perry said he will take a few days off to "determine if there is a path forward for myself in this race."

Don't be so sure. NH has a large Catholic and working class population. The former is Santorum's faith and the latter is something that Santorum has emphasized in his campaign.

Is there a less flattering picture of Ms. Bachmann than this? Candidates need to learn not to eat corn dogs!

She'd get my vote if she swallowed that whole.

If she had, by the twisted look on her face, she might've suffered a seizure.

How much each candidate spent per Iowa vote:

Perry $478.40
Romney $154.90
Paul $103.30
Newt $89.84
Santorum $20.50
Bachmann $3.95

"We're going to be defining Romney out of the mainstream of the Republican party." - Newt

Well it just goes to show a leopard's spots do not change. Its the "Old Newt," and he can do for his party's presidential hopes in 2012 what he did in 1996.

Well, there was no way Old Man Dole was beating Slick Willie in '96 anyway, but your point is well taken. Newt is the same guy today that he was 15 or 20 years ago, with the same backwards, angry, cracker mentality. He wasn't fooling anyone who didn't want to be fooled.

Good article by Stanley Crouch (who I seldom agree with).

The year of the Republican loon

From Boehner to Paul, the right has shown itself to be crazier than ever

Stanley Crouch, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Although this new year is just beginning, it is clear that we are still fighting some version of the Civil War, North against South, urban American life versus the rural version. Perhaps we get the most insight into our ongoing problem from the “Goon Show” tendencies that have taken over the GOP.

Those tendencies come through the influence of the Tea Party, which has no respect for compromise. We recently saw its power when some in the House of Representatives pushed Speaker John Boehner into a position on the payroll tax holiday that brought the elephants scorn from every corner of America — even from fellow Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell.

President Obama and his troops had the Republicans backed into a corner where they might lose at least a few of the gains that the 2010 midterm election had given them, and Republicans aware of how angry voters were over the issue did not intend to be smashed against the wall by some congressional refusal to extend the payroll tax holiday as promised. One must always stand tall, but sometimes you have to know when to slide if it is too hard to glide.

Today’s GOP reflects in detail what happened to it when rednecks left the Democratic Party and became Republicans. It was a done deal when Presidents Nixon and Reagan made it clear that being something as American as a redneck would not cause party bosses to close the door on them.

They had to drop some casual insults but would finally have a voice on Capitol Hill, Southern accent and all. They meant additional power to the elephants. More rednecks, more votes. More votes, more power. We have lived through that for a while.

Ron Paul, a Texan like Rick Perry, seems to have few qualms about the racist ideology his newsletter once harbored, just as Perry had none about using a hunting ranch that was once called “N ----rhead.”

Newt Gingrich said Paul will be rejected “as people get to know more about Ron Paul, who disowns 10 years of his own newsletter, says he didn’t really realize what was in it, had no idea what he was making money on, had no idea that it was racist, anti-Semitic, called for the destruction of Israel.” There it is.

Paul may seem comical to some, but it is important to realize that Jon Stewart’s jokes will not do what serious reporting from the media can actually accomplish. Last week in the Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz attacked the media for not looking into terrible things said in Paul’s newsletter because Paul had not placed high in the polls until recently. The common wisdom now is that renewed attention to Paul’s use of free but reprehensible speech will not harm him in the Iowa caucus.

The question facing us all and rising from the mud that covers the media is whether any side, right or left, conservative or supposedly progressive, will look hard at any candidate expressing views with which they happen to agree. The impeachment of President Clinton is an example.

Had the first President Bush loudly and self-righteously denied having sex with an intern not far from the legal age of consent, then been proven a liar, feminists would still be marching in front of the White House. But Clinton was seen as a friend of feminists and one willing to put women in positions of power and authority. Therefore, many on the left gave “Slick Willie” a pass.

This is a troubling tendency to look the other way that we might one day move beyond by growing up. For now, though, our nation still scars its knees crawling behind the so-called celebrity culture we take much too seriously.

crouch.stanley@gmail.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/columnists?columnist=Stanley+Crouch#ixzz1ibkmyuNp

The CPAC keynote speaker this year is The Mistress of Alaska.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/01/05/palin_looks_to_regain_spotlight.html

My first thought is oh boy! YET, she does draw crowds and in the midst of the wingnut clown show this election season why not have the head clown. I wonder if SHE endorses Santorum IF the lapdogs would follow?



TIS

She's so fucking dangerous that I can't even laugh at her anymore .

Since 1992 there have been five Presidential elections. Of those five, the Democrat contender received the most popular votes. The exception was the 2004 election. During the 2008 election, the Democrat received 10 million (7+%) more votes than the Republican. I've not read or heard the media comment on this. I think it deserves analysis. It will be interesting to see what the spread will be this year.

And I am certain she is just itching to get back in the spotlight especially since she probably won't be asked if she's gonna jump in the race at this point. She never intended to but would love for people to ask her to. God forbid!



TIS

She'd do about as well as Bachmann did, Tis. And she KNOWS it.

The military moves Obama made today will be great fodder for the Reps going through the election.

Yeah, I'm sure they'll claim that this is the first step in completely dismantling our military.

Romney has already stated that he would add 100k soldiers to the DOD and double the size of the Navy. Why? Imagine the expense.