The question tonight isn’t whether Mitt Romney captures the most delegates. That’s a given. The question is whether he’ll meet current polling predictions, which he failed to do in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.
And the expectations are high this morning. Gallup shows Romney with a 16-point national lead on Rick Santorum, a sign that Romney may have an even better performance tonight than previously thought:
Mitt Romney leads Rick Santorum by 16 percentage points in Feb. 29-March 4 Gallup Daily tracking of national Republican registered voters’ preferences for their party’s nomination. Romney is at 38 percent, Santorum 22 percent, Newt Gingrich 15 percent, and Ron Paul 12 percent. Santorum led Romney by 10 points as recently as Feb. 20.
Romney’s current 38 percent of the vote is the highest percentage any candidate has obtained since Gallup Daily tracking of the race began on Dec. 1, and comes in the wake of Romney’s wins in the Feb. 28 Michigan and Arizona primaries.
Other polls also indicate similar movement for Romney. In Ohio, he’s pulled into the lead in most polls in the last few days, but Santorum is still ahead in Rasmussen and Suffolk, and the margins are way too close to call.
The polls are a blessing and a curse for Romney. They suggest that the momentum is moving in his direction, which could mean he’ll collect even more than the 267 delegates that Nate Silver is projecting – a landslide victory. On the other hand, if he falls short of expectations, the narrative will once again be that Romney doesn’t have what it takes to appeal to Republican voters..
Two factors, at least, have to be considered in the truly battle ground states today: whether independents and Democrats can vote in them, making some mischief for Romney as they did, to some extent at Santorum's request, in Michigan; and that late deciding voters in Michigan, like right up virtually to the time of voting, broke substantially for Romney. With Romney trending positively that last factor, as it happened in Michigan, ought to play out well for him today.
I agree, Scrumptlous. I think Santorum's overt appeal for Democrats to cross over and vote for him in Michigan has really backfired on him. My guess is that Romney may well remove all remaining doubt as to the final outcome of the GOP race tonight. If can can, in fact, pull out a win in Ohio, it's over. n nLet's hope so. Aside from the fact that Romney is, far and away, the best candidate the GOP has, all this continued in-fighting is only strengthening Barack Obama's chances for re-election, and that is something this country can ill afford.
If "Romney is, far and away, the best candidate the GOP has", the GOP deserves to lose – and lose big – in November.
We've seen the Jekyll and Hyde of Newt and Gallup says they have never seen a candidate plummet like Santorum has in their daily tracking. There are actually things I wish I could combine from each of the four, including Paul. One candidate beats the economic and jobs failure drum consistently. Romney is not perfect, but when Obama, Michael Moore and unions have picked him out for crossover voting, it is not because they believe Santorum is better than Obama. When the unions dump millions in ads against Romney but none against Santorum, there is a message. They know they are vulnerable against Romney unless they produce big results in short order. Obama already gave that fight up when after 1134 overnights as President he declared that there is no silver bullet for an overnight fix of gas prices.. This President does not even have any real bullets in the chambers. They are clogged with algae and other green stuff. Romney scares Obama and that is wonderful.
Mitt Romney, the inevitable GOP nominee, will inevitably lose the election to Barak Obama in November. Consistent opinion poll evidence points to this inevitable outcome. n nThis just in – n n"The Super Tuesday edition of Rasmussen’s poll of likely general election voters shows Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum trailing President Obama by nearly identical tallies. Romney trails Obama by the tally of 48 to 42 percent, while Santorum trails Obama by the tally of 48 to 41 percent." (The Weekly Standard, 6 March 2012) n n
Wall Street Willard Mitt Romney will not be the Republican nominee…. Romney IS the Republican nominee. When Dowager Queen Babs does robocalls for you, it's OVER! n nIT IS TIME TO SHUT IT DOWN, and FALL IN LINE!!!!!!!!!!!! n n"A dog on every roof, and two Caddies in every garage!" n nMUTTS FOR MITT!!!!!!!!! nJump on the station wagon and join Mitt's "Poop on America 2012" campaign today!!!!! n