In a series of meetings across the state of Iowa, Republicans will vote on candidates for President. Mitt Romney is defending a narrow lead against Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.
I’m not predicting the winner in Iowa, but I can predict that whoever the winner is, they won’t be raising crank birther claims against Barack Obama in the general election. Birthers think that only Obama supporters deny birther claims, but the Iowa caucus belies that.
anyone denying claims against the usurper is a proven obama supporter, and no matter what happens, the iowa caucuses will be just more evidence of the breadth of the corruption in our entire electoral system.
Wow, Doc, who knew the caucuses had a logo? You’d think after going to all that trouble, they’d be beating us over the head with it!
Even the young red bull on the McLaughlin Group took a moment to bash the birthers this week, noting the Brither Trump crusade as worst political theater of the year.
Borowitz has been on fire with a string of posts re: Iowa. His latest is a pitch from Kim Jong-Un to the Iowa Reds: “Write me in!”
It’s a follow-up to the “voters finally remembering who Gingrich is” post, and neatly with his suggestion that Trump replace Kim Jong-Il 😛
I hate to admit it, but, like the Reds themselves, I too am pulling for the “anything but Romney” result. Let’s keep the hilarity rolling!
“It’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I’m going to be the nominee.”
— Newt Gingrich, 2011
PS — you know how Google always tries to finish your search term for you? While Googling the above quote, Google turned “Gingrich I’ll” into “Gingrich Illuminati” …. which led to this beautiful link (dial stupid screens to “extra strength” before viewing):
The Illuminati Choice for 2012
will the mention by matt romney come up again. i think romneys taxes will, romney seems to be avoiding the subject. transparency of the rebublican variety.
Romney will steer clear of such follies. But his history does not allow him to differentiate himself much of Obama when it comes to healthcare… And Obama’s foreign policy successes…
Romney may try for something foolish but to go full birther… Unlikely…
I highly doubt it. The Romney kids seem to have simply inherited the same awkward and lame attempts at humor as their father. That’s all they were doing, attempting to make a joke that fell a bit flat and even backfired a little on them. Matt was quick to try to make amends on his twitter feed.
The issue of Romney’s financial disclosures mainly comes down to this – there are certain FEC filings and other disclosures required when running for such an office. I’m not exactly sure what has to be reported and by when and how much is required simply for prospective candidates in a Primary in respect to an actual nominee.
As always, the media and people can ask for additional documentation beyond what is required by law, but the candidate has the right to simply say no to releasing any more private information than they have to. Same as the media can ask any question they wish, but a candidate doesn’t have to give them an answer.
what about trump ??
trump who? Come on, he is playing defensive guard for Obama, is that not clear by now…
What about Santa Claus?
His head badger is running as an independent.
what about trump being a birther ?
He is a show man what can you expect.
Yes. What about him? Do you have an actual point or question?
Trump deserves to be classified as a Birther, simply for spouting and pushing the meme. The basic definition of being a Birther right there. That is all it takes.
So if your actual question is: “Is Trump a Birther?” – My answer is yes. Doesn’t matter whether he himself buys what he’s spouting or not. That is irrelevant. He’s a Birther.
So if your actual question is: “Do you think Trump actually believes what he says?” – My answer is that who honestly knows or cares and it doesn’t really matter. Do Farah and Corsi actually believe all their own hype and lies that they create? I seriously doubt it and that is beyond the point or definition of what a Birther is. Pushing Birther talking points makes you a Birther, whether said person believes the bull their selling or not. Some Birthers are probably gullible “true believers”. Others are just con artists. Doesn’t matter at all in the end.
Or was your actual question wondering “if we think Trump will make an independent run in 2012?” On that note, I highly doubt he’ll ever pursue any real run for office. The man has a long history of making the threat to run and playing up towards making a run, but he never actually does so. He’s simply trying to get attention.
Or was your actual question wondering “what would happen if Trump actually *did* run for President this year as an independent?”
Now that unlikely event truly would provide a lot of entertainment fodder. But no, I would not view him as a credible contender for the office or a serious threat. Do I think he could capture the “Birther” vote and the “Trump Fan” vote as well as a small number of protest and joke votes along the way – Yes, of course. But I seriously dont’ see that being anything other than a small number of votes and ones that will mainly pull away from the GOP ticket and thus end up helping Obama win.
There. That should cover it. Next time Scott, learn to actually make a point when you attempt to ask a question.
“The Romney kids seem to have simply inherited the same awkward and lame attempts at humor as their father.”
Santorum’s daughters too putting on a fake mustache isn’t comedy. I saw them on a news show patting themselves on the back fr their parody video of Herman Cain and it was pitiful. Who told them they were funny?
I think you mean the Huntsman daughters.
I actually thought their parody of his ad was quite comical. Also, I find his daughters to be quite pleasing to the eye and seem to be genuinely decent people.
Here is a pretty good site to see the county by county results of the IA GOP Caucus as they come in:
It provides a nice color-coded map…
http://iowagop.org/
Terrific site, G. Thanks for the link!
Talking Points Memo has a good page on cacuses results that is continually updated. With 31% reporting, Paul has slipped slightly behind Santorum (2nd) and Romney (1st).
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/
Thanks much for that link! I’ve added that to my list of windows I’m trying to monitor (plus all 3 major cable news networks…)
What I like about the TPM site is the solid summary totals, including showing the vote totals for Cain (who suspended his campaign), Roemer & “Other”.
Once the results are done, I’ll be trying to dive into the “Other” votes as I always find that a fascinating point of the story and see if any minor candidates have risen above the “statistical noise” threshold…
G:
I believe Santorum is going to take Iowa. Western counties around Sioux City are still not reporting, and they are very much dominated by evangelical fundamentalists who are suspicious of Romney’s Mormonism. Once the votes come in from this area,they’ll put Santorum over the top. I think.
Wow, 92 percent in now, and only 13 votes separate Romney and Santorum.
Google has an excellent page
If Santorum wins, I will be having a small party
I like this web page from Google better:
http://www.webpagescreenshot.info/img/36182-14201290603AM
In the final count, Santorum lost to Romney by 8 votes.
However, in the overall dynamic of the night – between the amazing surge from distant 6th place to only missing 1st place by 8 votes in the span of two weeks…and the impact of the candidates post-vote speeches… Santorum *IS* the story coming out of IA, so really is the true winner of the night.
I’m getting too tired now, but I’ll get to providing some post-contest analysis when I get a chance…hopefully tomorrow. I’ll post it under the new “Open Thread” that Dr. C. set-up.