In Ohio, Mitt Romney won the cities and suburbs and Rick Santorum won the rural areas. On CNN, Gloria Borger and Hilary Rosen on the left and Erick Erickson on the Right argued that this was bad news for Romney because he lost GOP strongholds and won in areas Barack Obama is sure to carry in November. This was spoken so confidently, and reflected all over Twitter, that it may become a piece of conventional wisdom. But it makes no sense. It is important for a Republican candidate to show some strength in areas Republicans don’t win in the general election because that support will cut into the size of the majorities Obama will rack up there. Assuming that the Republican nominee will manage to win Republican areas, this is the path to victory not only in Ohio but in every swing state. One can only assume that when November rolls around, even the problems conservatives troubled by Romney’s ideological laxity and evangelicals troubled by Romney’s Mormonism would have with him pale by comparison with their negative feelings about Obama.
May 2013
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Articles
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"My Negro Problem-and Ours" at 50
Norman Podhoretz -
Gay Marriage, the Court, and Federalism
Tara Helfman -
The Spirit of '75?
Algis ValiunasAn audacious, and wrong, argument about the American Revolution.
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In Praise of Sheryl Sandberg
Christine RosenThe controversial Facebook executive's book is exactly the right kind of self-help.
Fiction
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Onto a Good Thing
Joseph Epstein
Politics & Ideas
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The Bureaucrat-Driven Life
Heather Wilhelm -
The Making of an Education Reformer
Sohrab Ahmari -
Bork's Watergate
James Rosen -
Dear Prudence
Paul O. Carrese -
Whose Accomplishments?
Mona Charen
Culture & Civilization
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The Parenting Trap
Dana Mack -
George Saunders, Anti-Minimalist
Fernanda Moore -
A Chekhov in Training
Terry Teachout -
What Ailes the Liberal Media?
Andrew Ferguson
John Podhoretz
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Taking Obama's Foreign Policy Seriously
John Podhoretz
Threat Assessment
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More Genocide Threats from Iran
Jonathan S. Tobin
Letters
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Denying Jewish Peoplehood-and Reality
Our ReadersResponses to Robert S. Wistrich's "The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism"
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Gun Laws, Crime, and Freedom
Our ReadersResponses to Benjamin Domenech's "The Truth About Mass Shootings and Gun Control"
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Don't Confuse Principle and Pose
Our ReadersResponses to Matthew Continetti's "Poseur Politics in the Era of Obama"
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Jews and Sports
Our Readers
Enter Laughing
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If you consider the Dems that crossed over and voted for Santorum Romney won by a 92,000 vote total from exit polling.
Rick Santorum would have carried Ohio by a very comfortable margin, if his organization had filed complete delegate slates in six of Ohio's 16 congressional districts. Santorum already had forfeited delegates in three other districts by not submitting slates there at all.
Romney's not simply outspending the other candidates. He's burying them with cash. Add that to the panzer-like campaign machine vs Santorum's seat-of-the-pants effort and you would think Romney would've locked it up already. n nThe GOP needs to be very careful. There are a lot of Reps saying, "I refuse to vote for X." The party had better take a long hard look at the negatives of each candidate because clearly that is what this campaign is about.
Barack Obama's 2008 win was as much a matter of class as it was race. Higher educated, higher income people went overwhelmingly for Obama. When combined with the larger-than- usual turnout among young people and the natural enthusiasm of African-American voters for the first black candidate with a serious chance to win, Obama was unbeatable. n nRomney, for all his deficits as a candidate, offers those affluent voters who are disappointed with Barack Obama's performance an acceptable alternative. It won't be easy, but he has a viable path to victory that Santorum and Gingrich can't match.