Going into Saturday night’s debate in New Hampshire, Rick Santorum’s rise might have made him the focal point of the event. Although he had a good night, the real story was the failure of any of his rivals to lay a glove on frontrunner Mitt Romney. Though the evening began with a brutal attack on Romney from Newt Gingrich, it fell flat. From then on, Romney cruised, and the night ended with him looking more like the inevitable nominee than ever.
Santorum sounded strong and confident and he also had help from Newt Gingrich that made the two of them look like a wrestling tag team. Nothing that happened tonight will interfere with his momentum, and he may well do better than expected in New Hampshire and set himself up for a good night next week in South Carolina. But the failure of the GOP field to successfully attack Romney will only strengthen his position as the man who looks like the eventual winner.
Other than a last-minute riposte to Jon Huntsman for his defense of China, Romney avoided attacking the other candidates. Though many criticized President Obama, he was the only one whose real focus was on November.
Other than his embarrassing opening slam at Romney in which he approvingly quoted a New York Times hit piece, Gingrich was back to being the man who rebuilt his candidacy via the debates. But the break since the last one in mid-December was fatal to his hopes. Though he scored consistently, his obvious deference to Santorum showed he’s probably lost hope of winning the prize himself.
Interestingly, the only candidate to attack Santorum was the man who is quickly being displaced by him in the first tier: Ron Paul. Santorum ably turned aside Paul’s comments. But the contest between them looked very much like the battle for the runner-up position. While the long slog to the nomination is far from over, the Saturday night debate made it look as if Romney is about to lap the field.
No matter HOW MANY candidates leave the field, Romney can't break above 27%! That is a disturbing fact. Voters are desperately looking for a REAL conservative with the ability to best Obama in the 2012 elections and they cannot FIND anyone in this field….very very sad state of affairs (sorry Mr Cain).
Actually, he can – and is. Here's a summary of his average poll numbers. Yes, his averages; some polls put him higher: n n41% in NEW HAMPSHIRE – Paul is in second with only 20% n32% in SOUTH CAROLINA – Santorum is in second with only 20% n30% in the NATIONAL polls – Gingrich is in second with only 20% n nGet your facts straight. As you can see Romney is not only pulling away from the pack, but he is rising above the "25% ceiling" that the press is trying to stamp on his forehead. The facts don't lie. n nRomney 2012!
Gov Romney had another good debate. Every day he looks more and more like the candidate best able to beat Obama. Obama had done terrible damage to our nation over the last 3 years. If Obama gets 4 more years our nation will never be able to recover! So its time to come together behind the most conservative candidate that can beat Obama, and that looks like Gov Romney!
The real truth is that no one has broken 25% and probably will not. Romney will complete a four-state win and steamroll to the convention as the nominee. Newt still looks puerile and peevish. Perry looks perplexed and should be at home in Texas. Santorum tried to look Presidential instead of just being a social conservative, but alas, it is too little, too late. Paul thinks he can take out all the other candidates and then it will be mano-a-mano with Mitt. Maybe, but then again, maybe not!
Santorum's bounce is already fading in New Hampshire according to the latest polls as Paul and Huntsman climb (see fivethirtyeight.com for instance). He will finish a poor fourth. Paul will soldier on and Huntsman will be the new flavor of the week and potentially Romney's biggest challenge.
Bravo, George Stephanapoulos! A new "Mitt Fit". n nHow can Mr. Romney claim he has a Harvard Law degree, and is so smart if he has NO CLUE about 1965 SCOTUS Griswold v CT. n nMr. Romney has no clue that almost every state in the USA had Comstock Laws starting in the 1880's that banned contraception??? n nIt took until 1965 and the SCOTUS to FINALLY make it legal for doctors in Connecticut to prescribe contraception to married (man+woman) couples. n nTesty and ignorant, former governor of Massachusetts. n nThe phrase "Banned in Boston" was coined when Margaret Sanger was arrested and dragged off the stage of a theatre, by the Boston police, for speaking about contraception, maybe about 1920. n nGOP can not trust Romney on judicial appointments if he is this ignorant. n nDems are going to have fun with this level of complete ignorance, and another "Mitt Fit" n
Hey Genius…Romney has a Harvard Business School MBA. He never ever claimed to have a law degree. n nI think you are the ignorant one.
Actually he does have a Harvard Law degree, from the Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration four-year program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business Schoolrnrnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney
Thank you Doug, on confirming Mr. Romney's Harvard Law degree. nGeorge S actually mentioned that although Romney was screaming at George at that time, for Pete's Sake
n nFor once, DNC's Debbie W-S framed this perfectly as I saw her do at 4:00pm ET on FOXNews – the ignorance of a Harvard lawyer AND the "Mitt Fit" n nHow Mr. Tobin can continue to deny reality is beyond my comprehension. n nMr. Romney does NOT have the temperament to be anything but a retired CEO – he should retire and scream at the contractors working on his four castles.
Romney has stated that the doctrine of his church and his faith in general are off limits, and so far it hasn't been discussed a great deal. He comes across as being more accepting of people who don't agree with him on matters of faith and religion. IMHO, Santorum should have never opened the discussion of contraception…it is a no-win, even among conservatives. Few outside the catholic church favor "no contraception" (even many within the RCC disagree with Santorum). As much as social conservatives want to tell people what to do in their private lives, we really can't legislate such issues. n nSimilarly, there are many poor and uninsured people who need access to healthcare. When conservatives are so anxious to kill some kind of insurance coverage for them, conservatives come across as heartless.