Many are discounting Rick Santorum's big win in Louisiana last night as too little too late. Perhaps they should take a second look.
The former Pennsylvania senator almost beat the front-runner by a two-to-one margin, reeling in almost 50 percent of the vote in a four-person race. More important to Republicans who want to win the White House this fall is the continued weakness Massachusetts' Mitt Romney is showing in the South.
Romney's performance south of the Mason-Dixon line has been pathetic. Despite having all the money, organization and endorsements that matter, Romney finished third in Alabama, third in Mississippi and a distant second in Louisiana. He was stomped by Newt Gingrich by an average of 20 points in South Carolina and Georgia and had his 13 worst performances in 2008 in the Deep South.
There was a time when the South was solidly Republican but those days are gone. Barack Obama won Virginia and North Carolina four years ago and came close to beating John McCain in Georgia. Bill Clinton beat George Bush in Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Romney's continued weakness in the Heart of Dixie spells trouble for the GOP this fall. The only question is whether it will take a Santorum win in Wisconsin to refocus Republican minds on the unassailable fact that GOP presidential candidates cannot win unless they have the support of rock-ribbed conservatives. Mitt Romney does not, and that is becoming clearer by the day in this painful primary season
The former Pennsylvania senator almost beat the front-runner by a two-to-one margin, reeling in almost 50 percent of the vote in a four-person race. More important to Republicans who want to win the White House this fall is the continued weakness Massachusetts' Mitt Romney is showing in the South.
Romney's performance south of the Mason-Dixon line has been pathetic. Despite having all the money, organization and endorsements that matter, Romney finished third in Alabama, third in Mississippi and a distant second in Louisiana. He was stomped by Newt Gingrich by an average of 20 points in South Carolina and Georgia and had his 13 worst performances in 2008 in the Deep South.
There was a time when the South was solidly Republican but those days are gone. Barack Obama won Virginia and North Carolina four years ago and came close to beating John McCain in Georgia. Bill Clinton beat George Bush in Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Romney's continued weakness in the Heart of Dixie spells trouble for the GOP this fall. The only question is whether it will take a Santorum win in Wisconsin to refocus Republican minds on the unassailable fact that GOP presidential candidates cannot win unless they have the support of rock-ribbed conservatives. Mitt Romney does not, and that is becoming clearer by the day in this painful primary season
31 comments:
The Republican Party is going to be trouble during election time if their candidate does not get support from the traditionally Conservative Southern States. The front runner Mitt Romney will not be a good candidate for the Republican Party if he cannot gain the South’s support. If he continues to be unable to win over the Southern States, he will become a detriment to the party’s hopes of getting their candidate elected to the presidency. Santorum beat Mitt in Louisiana, but he still does not have the support needed to be the candidate for the Republican Party. None of the candidates have clear support from the Southern Conservatives, necessary to win the Presidential election.
The Republican Party is going to be trouble during election time if their candidate does not get support from the traditionally Conservative Southern States. The front runner Mitt Romney will not be a good candidate for the Republican Party if he cannot gain the South’s support. If he continues to be unable to win over the Southern States, he will become a detriment to the party’s hopes of getting their candidate elected to the presidency. Santorum beat Mitt in Louisiana, but he still does not have the support needed to be the candidate for the Republican Party. None of the candidates have clear support from the Southern Conservatives, necessary to win the Presidential election.
Mitt Romney has not had much support from the southern states. Even though the south has normally supported Republicans the south does not appear to like Romney or support the issues on his platform. Rick Santorum's win did come at a late point but it is still a big win. If Santorum continues to get support from the south he could become a stronger competitor against Romney. Even with this win a the gain of support from the south Santorum still can not take a break with trend of voters leaning towards Domocratic candidates. Santorm will need to win Wisconsin to make Republicans think of him as a competitor against Obama.
Romney's failings in the south have the potential to lose him the nomination. Though he led the Republican candidates for long while, with seemingly little opposition, he cannot hope to sek the nomination without winning some key states in the south.
A region rooted in conservative values, the south has always contributed a lot of votes to the republican candidates, so it is important that the 2012 republican presidential candidates do well in the south. If republican Mitt Romney is losing crucial votes in the south during the primaries, it could pose difficulties for him if he were to win the republican candidacy.
In my opinion the primary purpose of this article is to stir the pot among Mitt Romney supporters by saying debasing the strength of his campaign and his current lead. The article points out election patterns of the past and suggests that Mitt Romney's southern weakness will eventually lead to his defeat. Instead, Romney's lead, suggests that the classic political geography lines are changing and disappearing. There is proof of this as seen by Obama's campaign in 2008 when he won Virginia, North Carolina and came close to capturing Georgia.
Although Romney's performance in the South has been pathetic, I can't imagine for a moment, that those voters would vote for Obama instead of Romney. I also don't think they'll stay home. I think their opposition to Obama is enough to drive them to the polls.
Romney has relied too much on advertisement in the South he needs to become more independent from his advertisements. His dependence on his campaign budget is no longer fooling people.
In this election I have a feeling that it might end up like the election of 1860 where the two major people split the votes causing the third place person to win. This seems like Santorum will win the south and Rommey will win the north causing a split letting one of the other two candidates win the Republican nomination. Then of course it will be a competition between Obama and the Republican nominee.
They are saying that Rick santorum's big win was too little too late, but yet they are letting Romney be a candidate when he doesn't even have the support of rock-ribbed conservatives.
Romney has had all the money, organizations and endorsements, but none of that matters because either way his performance was pathetic and he can't win unless he has that support witch he doesn't!
They should stop focusing so much on Rick santorum's win that was too little too late and pay more close attention on Romney, that can't win because of the fact that he has not gotten the support he needs to do so.
They are saying that Rick santorum's big win was too little too late, but yet they are letting Romney be a candidate when he doesn't even have the support of rock-ribbed conservatives.
Romney has had all the money, organizations and endorsements, but none of that matters because either way his performance was pathetic and he can't win unless he has that support witch he doesn't!
They should stop focusing so much on Rick santorum's win that was too little too late and pay more close attention on Romney, that can't win because of the fact that he has not gotten the support he needs to do so.
I think it is true times are beginning to change. Most states that originally would be considered republican have been persuaded by the recent actions of american politicians such as the president of the united states. I think that the states have come to the realization that the democratic party is going to make the united states a better place to live for
all Americans. Mitt Romney's unsuccessful outings in the south only proves that time have changed in the united states.
Looks like since last week Mitt Romney still might not carry the southern states even with the proper backings from different organizations who specifically cater to the south. Even though many organizations support Romney the people who work within them don't seem to have the same views as the group because even with all his endorsements he is still losing votes. Obama must have really shaken up the south to have Mitt Romney losing support.
This just shows no matter what support you think you have for the election in a state you might not actually have. You can't expect for the things to be the same has they have been for the past few years. What people want in a presidential candidate may change over the years. This is likely why Romney lost some of the southern states.
It's strange that Romney, a southerner himself, is losing states to Santorum, who is seen as a Yankee here in the South. This might be due to religious reasons, which are a strong factor in the South. Many do not agree with the Mormon's beliefs which might change their minds when voting for Presidential Candidates. Also, the fact that southern states are not as blatantly Republican is partially due to the changing population as we continue to take in far too many immigrants from Mexico and South America.
If the Republicans want any chance at beating Obama they are going to have to be more unified in their candidate. Right now it looks like Romney won't be able to do much even if he wins the nomination. Its too late for any other candidate so their best hope is that after the candidate is picked the rest throw their support behind him.
I quite recently won an Apples to Apples round on the green card "Odd" with the red card "Republicans." The judge was a Democrat and thought the comparison was funny, but my Republican friend was upset that I would even play that card there. Yet, it made me wonder: What's defines a Republican? And what in the world is a Democrat? Usually political parties are something we're born into; we become (horrid thought) our parents, absorbing their opinions and habits rather unwillingly but subconsciously. But growing up with parents without certain party affiliations makes a child quite confused. Which is which? Which is right? Is any of them right? I don't see the point of political parties and George Washington didn't either. Parties divide up the nation into unclear and ever-changing groups which loyally rival one another. Maybe we could stop blaming parties and their leaders for messes made by politics itself.
Romney better step it up in order to gain some popularity. It's a harder game out there now all states are fair game.
Romney better step it up in order to gain some popularity. It's a harder game out there now all states are fair game.
I think that Mitt Romney is not focusing the appropriate amount of attention to figuring out what will win him the most votes in the deep south which is why he's failing relative to his opponents. If he reevaluated his intentions and adapted his methods for campaigning and speaking to the desired audience he would be a lot more successful than he is right now.
The reporter or the person that wrote this article does not like Mitt Romney. Romney is just trying to get people on his side. The reporter may be right when he said "Romney's performance south of the Mason-Dixon line has been pathetic." Because of the his performance, Mr. Romney may put doom for the GOP. I think Romney should change his ways and it might put doom for the GOP.
This primary season is giving each set of candidates a run for their money. With Santorum taking Louisiana, and a lot of the south Romney is starting to look a bit so called "pathetic". With the south being for the most part conservative, Romney is having difficulty pulling ahead in the polls. From the beginning, Romney should have found a strategy to target the hearts of the conservatives and liberals to draw in the votes. But then again, how easy is that in today's terms? For now, Romney will just have to settle with the wins from the north, and accept the losses in the south.
I think out of all the Republican candidates, Romney is the most moderate. Unfortunately, the GOP wants candidates who are more conservative in their views and not as moderate as he is. I think that if Mitt Romney is not the GOP candidate for the election against Obama, the president will gain another term. I personally think that Romney is better suited to run against Obama in this specific election period.
I agree with the statement mentioned in the article about Santorum's win being "too little and too late". Mitt Romney has a solid foundation for the Republican nominee already with about half the delegates needed, doubling Santorum's count, and quadrupling Gingrich's count. Romney is and will get many more endorsements from interest groups because of his lead so far in the race, and that will help give him a little push through the south, and hopefully the nomination in the end.
Mitt Romney has definitely lost his assured victory for the republican nomination and Rick Santorum is edging closer and closer everyday. This divide in Republican opinion will probably end up in Obama's reelection. Whatever happened to Ron Paul? He had this huge internet following, then poof. He disappeared.
As i have said before,nobody likes Mitt! :D Yea yea he has everything, he has all the money and organizations and blah blah blah hahaha too bad hes missing the most important thing,the VOTES!!! i have no idea what its gonna take for him to realize that he needs to step out now cause he just keeps getting put to shame!! :) oh well,not my problem! :]
The only reason Romney isn't doing as well as Santorum in the South is because Romney is a moderate conservative compared to Santorum. Usually raging Republicans and yellow-dog Democrats are going to vote for the most radical candidate. And the results of that have shown because Santorum's view are way more radical than Romney's.
Romeney has weakness which will make the GOP fall. Because of this the GOP president candidates cannot win unless they have support which Romney does not, which is an issue. Romney pretty much as 13 worst performance.
Satorum appeals to the evangelical southern voter. So his Tenn, MO, Al, MS and LA victories and South Carolina was so early in the primary season that southern conservatives still felt Newt was a real player. Most of the Deep South continues to be solidly Republican. Whether or not turnout is low in those states, they will be in the Republican column. The battle is going to be in actual swing states because that's where GOP enthusiasm, or lack thereof, will matter.
Romney is just relying on everyone else's hard work to just kind of skate by in the states that he assumed were for him. You can't expect for things to be the same, things change, people start liking "better" things. Maybe he shouldn't be what people use to want because obviously we don't need what we have. Obviously this is why Romney lost some southern states.
Romney is just relying on other peoples hard work to kind of skate by and expect to get an automatic vote. Why doesn't he realize people change what they want and although there is a good image he needs to back it up. He lost the some of the southern states since he just expected to get there vote.
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