Friday, February 24, 2012

Is the stage being set to play down Michigan and Arizona if Romney wins?

I've been watching/listening to the ABR pundits off and on all day today to hear their collective take on Mitt Romney's winning debate performance Wednesday night.

When the topic of Michigan has come up, the "Romney must win or else" statements seemed to have toned down a bit. I'm asking myself, WHY?

Before the debate on Wednesday, Romney had already begun to cut into any lead Santorum had in Michigan. So it's almost as if, some of the pundits are de-emphasizing Michigan and Arizona perhaps because Romney's chances of winning there have greatly improved. IMHO, what's really going on is some preemptive damage control for Rick Santorum.

Not one pundit today that I had listened to said that it is a must win in Michigan for Rick Santorum either. They were saying it last week when he was leading there by 10-15 points, but not anymore. So I think the new game is, lower expectations for Michigan and Arizona so that when/if Romney wins, it will be played down as,....well it was his home state....or for Arizona, they'll talk about the Mormon vote.

By playing down Michigan and Arizona now, It would minimize any Romney bounce going into Super Tuesday if he should win.

Santorum's Last Stand?

If the ABR pundits can play down Michigan & Arizona, my guess is they will make a big deal out of the Washington State Caucuses scheduled for Saturday, March 3.

Right now, Santorum is leading there. If he could somehow pull off a win, I could see them trying to build that up to try and give Santorum some steam going into Super Tuesday, that would be 3 days after that.

Maybe I think to much? Then again, when was the last time you heard any of the pundits talk about the Washington Caucuses? I'll bet, if Romney wins Michigan and Arizona, the media will make Washington a must win for Romney and 3 days before Super Tuesday, THAT IS ALL YOU'LL HEAR!.

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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Santorum must win a primary to be considered viable. Winning only caucuses means you have the support of only the hard core party member who attend such meetings. A primary win demonstrates wider appeal, and Santorum does not have that. I seriously doubt Santorum will win a primary, except maybe in Pennsylvania.

Anonymous said...

The thing with the Mormon vote...if that vote helps Mitt wins lots of Primarys and caucuses and delegates that put him higher than he would be other wise, when do we start to say the Mormon vote is worth working for?

In the West the Mormon vote counts. This year and all years... and Republcans who think it doesn't, and are trying to discount it... would do well to think about how they will win the West in the future, if they successfully bigot Romney out of this race.

They are treading of tricky ground here... and could well lose the West forever.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that Santorum will win PA. PA really disliked him when they voted him out. I think that Romney's team needs to continue to show the flaw' in Santorum's record and experience. A great call out by Mitt Romney with this comments on Santorum’s support for Arlen Specter. This was a definate blow that took the air out of Santorum. Romney needs to continue to hit that home with the public. They need to continue to dig to inform the public that Santorum is two-faced. Loved it when Santorum kept saying, I voted for it but should not have or I did not believe in it but I took one for the team and voted for it. What a flip-flopper. They need to continue to vet those items as well as his illegal charity, the usage of his PAC funds, his relationship with Jack Abramoff and K-street, his voting record, etc, etc. Great job on this forum with the great articles and with offering the chat box – great place. They need to vet the entire K-street relationship – Watch the Gang of Four starring Rick Santorum http://www.youtube.com/user/GichiGumiPress?feature=mhee – There is a reason that Crew listed him as one of the most corrupt politicians in DC. Romney needs to speak with his friend Senator McCain and get the real scoop on Santorum. I read that McCain has yet to release the documents from the K-street scandal – anyone else confirm this? I'll try to find an item I found about PA and Santorum.

Anonymous said...

And let’s make no mistake about it — when Pennsylvanians sent Rick packing from the Senate, we made him THE BIGGEST LOSER in recent Senate history.
We were unequivocal in our rejection of Santorum. He lost by 18 points, the biggest loss for a sitting U.S. Senator since 1980.
So can Santorum — a politician who engenders such strong and negative feelings in the voters of his home state — truly believe that those home state voters are going to sit quietly on the sidelines while he tries to persuade Republican primary voters in other states that he’s their best choice the be the leader of the free world, when we didn’t even think he was our best choice to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate?
Let’s just cut to the chase here — he’s underestimated our resolve to spread the truth about Rick Santorum’s record and his agenda for America.
Just for starters, we’d like to share a list of the top reasons that Rick Santorum became Pennsylvania’s BIGGEST LOSER (and trust us, we have many, many more to share as this presidential primary season — and Rick’s candidacy — marches on.

Kim said...

If they lower expectations on Romney in Michigan, it allows them to lower expectations on Santorum as well, who really needs to win there in my opinion.

Terrye said...

Anon:

I don't like Santorum,but CREW is a Soros funded lefty group and you can not count on anything they say.

And yes, McCain did release all documents and he was cleared of any wrong doing. He never asked for an earmark either..not in all his years in office. McCain might be a grumpy old man but he is not a crook.

I think Santorum is just a typical politician who did things in Washington to get by and get support for projects and programs he cared about. And at the time, that kind of behavior was not a big deal. Maybe it should have been..but it was not.

My problem with Santorum is not that I think he is a crook. I just do not think he is qualified to be president and I think his cultural and social beliefs are out of sync with most Americans.

Terrye said...

I think the rightie pundits are trying to keep hope alive for Santorum, but I also think some of them are trying to figure out a way to accept Romney without looking like the back stabbing two faced self serving motor mouths they are.

They have backed themselves in a corner.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

When Romney won Iowa, the ABR media said that he barely squeaked out a win there.

When Romney won New Hampshire by a landslide, the ABR media said no big deal, New Hampshire is next door to his home state of Massachusetts.

When Romney won Florida by a landslide, the ABR media said it was only because he carpetbombed Gingrich with negative ads.

When Romney won Nevada by a landslide, the ABR media said it was because of the Mormon vote.

When Romney won Maine, the ABR media all but ignored it.

Regardless of how many primaries & caucuses he wins, or how many delegates & votes he accumulates, the ABR media will continue to demean, disparage and denigrate Romney's performance all the way to Tampa, all the way to the White House, all the way through his 8 years as POTUS, and all the way to his well-deserved place on Mount Rushmore.

Anonymous said...

You're right Bosman.

All hell seems combined against Romney. This is the most ridiculous primary I've ever seen.

Newark hawk, I think you said it very well.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Terrye, I agree with you that it does boil down to Santorum just not being qualified for president. And even though I mostly agree with his social beliefs, they do appear too extreme to win a general election.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Absolutely right Bosman.

DanL

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with Bosman and Newark. This primary is ridiculous.

Santorum isn't any more corrupt than any other Washington insider. Sanotrum is part of the dysfunctional system and is not qualified to be president,especially since he has not lead anything in his entire life.

I still will never forget his support of Specter over Pat Toomey. By the way,Specter was interviewed on CNN yesterday and he said there was no such deal between him and Santorum regarding judicial appointments. In other words Santorum completely misrepresented why he endorsed SPecter. I wonder why this little bit of news is not showcased on FOX.

Anonymous said...

Look when all is said and done Mitt will bring all the pundits ie. Rush and Hannity back into the fold and with all, will obliverate Obama in NOV.

Anonymous said...

I have been upset by how little attention the press have paid to Arizona and the primary here. They looked at the polls, every single one showing Mitt winning, and decided not to even say anything about Arizona. I wonder how many people just found out that Arizona has a primary the same day as Michigan when the candidates came here for a debate? Our primary is WORTH MORE DELEGATES SINCE IT IS WINNER TAKES ALL. Somehow, they have made Michigan more important because Rick has a better chance there or because the midwest is better than the west, or what? I have no real explanation. THE CANDIDATE WHO GETS THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF DELEGATES WINS! I guess the media hasn't gotten that memo.

Of course, if--when--Arizona votes for Mitt then it will be because "of the Mormon vote." Nonsense! It is widely believed that Matt Salmon lost his race for Governor here because he is a Mormon. Guess who he lost to? Janet Napolitano. We all know how that has turned out for both Arizona and the country. :) Wish we could rewind the tape on that one.

AZ

Machtyn said...

"and all the way to his well-deserved place on Mount Rushmore next to Ronald Reagan."

There, added an adjustment to that phrase.

Jerald said...

Very true Bosman.

They should have betting on Intrade for this stuff.

As of today, the media is working hard to cover Washington and get ready to announce Santorum's huge upset win there and how it could propel him to the nomination.

Mitt wins in MI and AZ will be ignored except to say he suppressed turnout and didn't win as strongly in MI as last time, that 60% of MI voters were against him, and how none of the other candidates actively campaigned in AZ, so it is just a default win by Mitt. (Whereas the Santorum win in Missouri was a huge upset...)