Newsspot – Santorum Says Romney’s Delegate Lead Will Fade as the Contest Continues

Good morning readers! Sorry for the terrible delay, I’ve been out of action lately, but I’ll go in depth about that on my afternoon article later on today. This Newsspot definitely caught my attention though, because I was surprised to see such a bold statement about Romney’s impending downfall. It’s probably old news, or other statements have come before, but as I said, I’ve been out of it, so forgive me if I’m getting a little excited. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did, and I hope you’ll be able to leave your opinions on the outcomes of the caucus below at the end of the post! This is the full article, but if you’d like to view the original gave, look no further than here: NY Times – Santorum Says Romney’s Delegate Lead Will Fade as the Contest Continues

March 12, 2012, 12:53 PM

Santorum Says Romney’s Delegate Lead Will Fade as the Contest Continues

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Meggan Haller for The New York TimesMitt Romney’s speech at the Whistle Stop restaurant in Mobile, Ala., on Monday was canceled because of rain. Mr. Romney spoke briefly under an awning at the restaurant before greeting supporters.

9:29 p.m. | Updated

WASHINGTON — Rick Santorum’s campaign has begun to argue forcefully that Mitt Romney will fail to win the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, leaving the decision to a wide-open national convention in Tampa, Fla., this summer.

The argument suggests that Mr. Santorum’s strategists have all but given up on the idea that their own candidate can reach that magic number himself. A count by The Associated Press found that Mr. Romney has already collected 454 delegates, more than twice the 217 that have pledged to support Mr. Santorum.

But Mr. Santorum and his advisers believe that he — along with Newt Gingrichand Representative Ron Paul— can effectively block Mr. Romney’s march to the nomination over the next three months. If that happens, they argue, Republicans will gather for their convention with no certain winner — and with Mr. Romney at a disadvantage.

Aides to Mr. Santorum predicted that convention delegates — including a majority of the “superdelegates” — would throw their weight behind Mr. Santorum once Mr. Romney failed to lock up the nomination.

“When we go to this convention, if that’s where we end up, it’s a conservative party,” Mr. Santorum said Monday morning on NBC’s “Today” show. “If an opportunity provides itself at an open convention, they are not going to nominate a moderate Massachusetts governor.”

Mr. Romney’s advisers dismiss the idea of a contested convention and say he is on track to accumulate a majority of the 2,286 total delegates. They argue that Mr. Romney has won more than 50 percent of the delegates in the contests to date.

“You can wish for things as much as you want,” said Rich Beeson, Mr. Romney’s political director, of the effort to block Mr. Romney’s path to the nomination. “That’s just not going to happen.”

Mr. Romney’s advisers said the state party chairmen and other veteran activists who make up the 168 superdelegates are likely to vote in accordance with the results of their state primary or caucus, making it hard for Mr. Santorum or another candidate to win their support at the convention.

“You are not going to see them usurping the will of the people,” Mr. Beeson said.

An A.P. poll of 117 superdelegates found Mr. Romney with more support than his rivals, earning the backing of 24 of them, while Mr. Santorum has 2. Superdelegates are party leaders whose clout could help end a contested nominating fight before it results in a brokered convention.

Mr. Romney’s advisers have been pushing the “inevitable math” argument for more than a week as they seek to convince reporters, Republican voters, activists and donors that it makes sense to rally around Mr. Romney so he can focus on defeating President Obama.

But Mr. Santorum and his aides took to the airwaves Monday morning to counter that thesis.

They said Mr. Romney’s current delegate advantage would fade as the contest moved into states where Mr. Santorum was stronger. And they note that some of the delegates the candidates have accumulated are “unbound,” meaning they are free to vote for whomever they choose at the convention.

“Mitt Romney’s math is just like Mitt Romney’s conservatism,” said Hogan Gidley, a spokesman for Mr. Santorum, on MSNBC Monday morning. “It’s bogus.”

The official count from the Republican National Committee shows 258 unbound delegates as of Friday. The A.P. and other news organizations show fewer unbound delegates because they make estimates about how those delegates will probably vote based on the outcomes of primaries and caucuses.

Many of those delegates won’t be officially bound to a candidate until state conventions that may not be held for weeks or months. In some places, conservative activists tend to dominate state conventions, which could give an edge to Mr. Santorum.

In Iowa, for example, the A.P. count shows Mr. Santorum winning 14 delegates and Mr. Romney winning 12, based on the near tie in the state’s caucuses in January. In fact, those delegates will be awarded based on a process that began with local conventions over the weekend, and ends with a state party convention. Mr. Santorum claimed on Sunday that his campaign would eventually win the “vast majority” of these delegates.

“These numbers are going to change dramatically,” Mr. Santorum said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Advisers to Mr. Romney scoffed at the idea that Mr. Santorum will pick up delegates at state conventions. They said Mr. Santorum’s campaign had demonstrated little organizational ability in areas like early voting and would not be able to match Mr. Romney’s on-the-ground operation.

Newsspot – Romney on a Nuclear Iran, and Love

Morning faithful viewers! Today I thought I’d post that Newsspot I was hoping to get up before, but didn’t. It’s from one of my favorite sections of The Times. The Caucus. This is the whole post, but there will still be a link below to the original page, so get reading!

February 29, 2012, 6:05 PM

Romney on a Nuclear Iran, and Love

By ASHLEY PARKER

Yana Paskova for The New York TimesMitt Romney held a rare town hall meeting at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, on Wednesday.

BEXLEY, Ohio — After the New Hampshire primary, where question-and-answer sessions with voters and retail politics are an inextricable part of winning the state, Mitt Romney’s campaign began slowly cutting back on the number of town halls he held.

But he held one Wednesday afternoon in Ohio, holding forth on a variety of topics, from foreign policy to health care. The event revealed a more personal side of the candidate when a young girl asked how he would most like to be remembered.

“Well, around my home, I like to be known as having been a very good father,” Mr. Romney said. “If I am lucky enough to become president of the United States, there is a legacy I also would like to leave, and that would be that I helped the American people with good jobs and with a bright and prosperous future. I want people to know that I have passion for America and that I made America stronger and made our future brighter.”

A few other topics Mr. Romney covered during his 31-minute question-and-answer session with Ohio voters, as well his own introductory remarks:

On his top foreign policy priority:

“Yeah, No. 1 objective is keeping Iran from having a nuclear weapon. The greatest threat to America is nuclear material in the hands of fanatics from Iran, whether the ayatollahs or Ahmadinejad.”

Mr. Romney added: “This president has failed to secure crippling sanctions against Iran. I believe he could have done so. When he decided he was going to give Russia their No. 1 foreign policy objective, which was a decision to remove our missile defense sites from Eastern Europe, he could have gotten something in return – such as their willingness not to veto crippling sanctions against Iran. He didn’t, inexplicable. When voices of democracy, or voices of dissent, took to the streets in Iran, and were calling out for support around the world, our president had nothing to say. Even Bill Clinton would have said something!”

On Rick Santorum, and his other Republican rivals:

“We’ve got some other folks in this race, in the primary – good folks they are – but they haven’t spent their life in the private sector. They don’t understand business and job creation and entrepreneurs and innovation, like someone who spent 25 years doing that. Rick Santorum’s a nice guy, but he’s an economic lightweight that doesn’t understand what it takes to make an economy work on a personal basis.”

Mr. Romney added: “If I’m the nominee, I’m going to beat Barack Obama. I don’t think anyone else can. I’m going to get the job done.”

Asked to offer an example of his heart:

“I think like the rest of you in this room, by far the most important thing in my life is my wife, all right? Ann and I fell in love young; we’re still in love. We have a marriage that is still filled with love. And her happiness is my happiness. I care more about that than anything in the world.”

 

I have to admit, Romney is quite a good guy. If I was an American, I’d definitely go for him, but there’s probably stuff I don’t know. Anyway, if you want the original page, complete with the cool ‘The Caucus’ logo, look here: NY Times – Romney on a Nuclear Iran, and Love

Photo Of The Day/The Afternoon Article – Issue 8

Untitled a photo by samyaoo 山姆搖 on Flickr.

Good afternoon readers!

What’s this? A combined post?! Yeah, I’m tired like that…

Today’s been quite peaceful so far, and seeing as I just posted a newsspot not that long ago, I thought I’d update you on my condition…

I’m getting better!

Finally…

I went to the doctors yesterday, and I was prescribed some eye cream and eye drops for the inflammation and bacteria in my eye. It was relieving to know that I don’t have conjunctivitis, and that it would be back to normal within a week.

There’s not much to update you guys on though, unfortunately, because I’ve been resting my eye sleeping for the past few days, and nothing’s been going on. There was yesterday though, which was my Mum’s birthday! We didn’t do much, because she just wanted a rest day, but we did go and have a well deserved Subway for lunch, and she had some friends over in the evening. Needless to say, she enjoyed it. Other than that I’ve just been playing Junk Jack with my one good eye, which you can probably tell from my recent tweets. I was thinking of uploading some photos later of my adventures, so we’ll see what happens.

Anyway, on to the photo of the day! This photo comes from another of my most favorite photographers (I have at least 5), Sam Yaoo, from Taiwan… if I’m correct. This photo is just so beautiful that I couldn’t pass it up, and it reminds me that spring is virtually here! The pink tree, and the bike make excellent scenery too, and it adds so much life to the picture it seems almost perfect. Awesome work Sam!

Photo Of The Day – Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum a photo by westchesterbuzz on Flickr.

It’s that time of day again! Today I thought I’d give Taiwan a break, and go back to what I love looking up the most. Politics! Yeah I know I’ve already been an about it in the last post, but hey, a guy can blog about what he likes, right? Yeah, that’s what thought. Anyway, I have to admit, I don’t usually look up photos of the presidential candidates much, so when I finally got around to looking up Rick, I finally saw his face, and I have to say…

I’m loving the hair…

Newsspot – In Santorum’s Sweep, Sign of G.O.P. Unease With Romney

Oay, I’m back! Sorry for the lack of posts and all, but you know, duty calls…as usual. This week’s actually  been a real rush to be honest, but I’ll explain more in my evening post.

Today’s Newsspot caught my eye, and since I’m a big fan of american politics (as I said a while ago) I just thought I’d share it with you guys. Most of you are probably aware of what’s going on, since more viewers are from the states anyway, but for those of you who aren’t, here’s the lowdown: Romney had steam, it’s running out, and Rick is stepping up. It’s all too complicated to explain fully, so forgive me for skimming over the last few months. On with the news!

In Santorum’s Sweep, Sign of G.O.P. Unease With Romney

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Published: February 8, 2012

Rick Santorum’s sweep of Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s three Republican presidential contests sets the stage for a new and bitter round of intraparty acrimony as Mr. Romney once again faces a surging conservative challenge to his claim on the party’s nomination.

Mr. Santorum’s rebuke of Mr. Romney could scramble the dynamics of the Republican race even as many in the party’s establishment were urging its most committed activists to finally fall in line behind Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Voters in three disparate states forcefully refused to do that on Tuesday.

Instead, the most conservative elements of the Republican Party’s base expressed their unease with Mr. Romney by sending a resounding message that they preferred someone else. And they collectively revived the candidacy of Mr. Santorum, who has been languishing in the background since a narrow victory in Iowa’s caucuses at the beginning of the year.

Mr. Santorum’s success on Tuesday night awarded him no delegates from contests that were essentially nonbinding straw polls and drew small turnouts in all three states. And Mr. Santorum’s campaign has few of the organizational advantages of Mr. Romney’s well-financed effort.

The long-term damage to Mr. Romney is difficult to assess. His campaign has so far weathered several surges from challengers — Mr. Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perryand Herman Cain — only to re-emerge as the leading contender to face President Obama in the fall. He also has the support of a well-financed “super PAC,” which has demonstrated a willingness to spend heavily on advertising critical of Mr. Romney’s rivals.

Aides to Mr. Romney said they were preparing to quickly expand their attacks on Mr. Santorum’s record as they try to define him, aggressively and negatively, for voters who still see Mr. Santorum largely as a blank slate. The advisers said Mr. Romney would most likely take part in the attacks on Mr. Santorum much like he did in Florida against Mr. Gingrich.

“He’s a limited guy, he’s been in Washington all his whole life, voted for the Bridge to Nowhere, voted against right to work,” Stuart Stevens, a top aide to Mr. Romney, said of Mr. Santorum on Tuesday night. “He’s cut tons and tons of deals, lost his own state by 18 points.”

Mr. Romney’s campaign is prohibited from coordinating privately with Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing him. But the public message from Mr. Romney’s aides seems to be: hit Santorum now, and hit him hard. For the moment, however, officials at Restore Our Future said the group is continuing its criticism of Mr. Gingrich with a new ad in Ohio.

 

So, there’s our post for today! Intriguing, huh? I know, it’s addictive. I’m so steeped in politics that my country’s status seems to pass me by. Not that there’s much going on in the UK, of course, but hey, I may post one UK newsspot this year if you’re lucky. Anyway, I’ve left some links to some more articles below, and I’ll be posting a photo of the day, quote, and evening post shortly.

 

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