On Monday, on Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, Rhodes Cook found it noteworthy to point out
. . .that Romney’s share of the vote has steadily declined as the primaries have unfolded. He drew 41% in the six primaries held before Super Tuesday (March 6), 38% in the seven primaries that took place on Super Tuesday, and 30% in the two Deep South primaries in Alabama and Mississippi) held since then.
Yesterday, he finished with just shy of 47% of the vote in Illinois, running 12 points ahead of Rick Santorum, routing him, as one headline writer had it. The Massachusetts governor won decisively in Cook, DuPage and Lake Counties, taking 57, 54 and 56 percent of the vote, respectively. Unlike last week when Santorum outperformed the exit polls, this week, as Michael Barone noted, the former Massachusetts governor ran ahead of what had been “projected by the exit poll“.
He won well enough to change the dynamics of the race. Instead of a slow crawl to the nomination, he should now start picking up the pace.
I was doing cardio at the gym when the returns started coming in and when the race was called. I watched Mitt Romney’s speech, catching the words via closed captioning. He seemed to largely repeat his economic freedom speech of the previous day. One phrase stood out. More on that anon.
Rick started speaking just as I was finishing my workout. And he was still speaking after I had changed and returned home. And still speaking. Jennifer Rubin, who heard his words, thought, that in his overlong address, he was acknowledging that the nomination is not to be his:
He publicly congratulated Romney, and tried to take credit for Romney’s economic freedom theme. It certainly looked as if, for Santorum, the light is dawning and recognition is slowly setting in: He’s not doing to be the nominee. In his excessively long speech, you could sense he is not keen on trashing the presumptive nominee.
Perhaps, it was Santorum who pushed Romney to adopt the economic freedom theme. Or, perhaps, the governor himself acknowledged the appeal of those Reaganite ideas as he watched the contest unfold. Whatever the case, last night, in declaring victory, he offered a line that would be a great campaign theme, “an economy fueled by freedom.”
Think about it; it hits two of the main issues facing voters and provides a clear alternative to Obama’s policies while referencing this nation’s founding ideal. And the founding ideal of the GOP.
For the balance of the campaign for the Republican nomination, Romney would be wise to stop attacking his Republican rivals and focus his attacks, as he did last night, on the president’s record. And keep promoting economic freedom.
Outspending his oppponents 7 to 1 may also have had something to do with it.
Just a quick note — Santorum lived in and graduated from high school in Lake County, Illinois. He lost that county by 28 points – http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/327685.php
Romney has no real message for his campaign. Going by Romney’s own logic–if he’s in the general election–people should vote for Obama because he has the superior election infrastructure & campaign in contrasts with Romney. Without a resonant message theme–that Santorum & Gingrich posses–Romney is nowhere.
Therefore, Santorum is still a significant factor because of his message.
Sebastian, please read the “economic freedom speech” linked above. It’s simply untrue to say that Romney currently lacks a message. Perhaps, he once did, but he now he has one.
Romney’s problems is today’s message isn’t always next week’s message.
And he’s still not getting majorities in important GOP electoral states. A nice “win” in a state who’s Presidential Electors will go to Obama doesn’t presage much…and there’s little enthusiasm for Romney outside of his core of support. It’s nice for Romney that that he won in Illinois, but Illinois is voting for Obama in 2012.
Santorum is sucking the energy out of Romney’s support in the ten or twelve moderate or swing states that Romney need to win for Electoral success.
Congratulations Romney. Good luck in November.
Is this point from here on out where GP starts reporting on how the MSM (Mainstream Media, not to be confused with My Sharia Moor) continues to manufacture doubt that Romney is indeed the frontrunner in order to play down his prospects and protect “their guy” Obama?
I know it’s hard to be enthusiastic about Romney, but if there is still little enthusiasm for Romney if and when he wins the nomination, then there is something wrong with Republicans.
No. This is the point where the MSM goes full tilt “vetting” Romney, focusing on his inconsistencies, sniping at his wealth, finding dissatisfaction for him among the old, middle aged, young, females, males, minority this and ethnic that, the educated, the uneducated, the comatose, the transfat users, the vegans, the employed, the unemployed, the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, the Scientologists, the lame, the able bodied, the entitled, the scum, the toothbrush users, the snaggle-toothed, pet owners, people with two TV’s, tattooed lesbians, formerly enthusiastic snipe hunters, those who wore braces, those with braces, others yet to be discovered.
Meanwhile, Obama will certainly undergo similar scrutiny.
I don’t know why the blockquote HTML is not working for me.
It looks like the slash wasn’t inside the final brackets?
My computer skills are often lacking. Thanks!
No, the problem is Romney’s such a weak candidate. It’ll be even worse if he picks a real turkey for Veep…or disastrous if he allows the fatally-toxic Santorum on the ticket.
I f#ck up all the time. And, I had to have been posting on GP for months before I actually dared even try using the html. There are some listed I now notice that I have zero experience with.
Like, why does del datetime create a strike?em looks like it’s another version of italics
strong is, I guess, the same as bold
code lets you put code in? At the very least, it seems to give the font a courier-like appearanceAnd some posters know how to link to a specific part of a previous GP thread. I have no idea. Probably has something to do with q cite or cite. or the del datetime.
I need to google all of this so I’m more educated on these matters. Or maybe ND30 can teach a class.