Untangling the Republican Delegate Mess

By Guest Writer Greg Lewis


It is theoretically possible that Mitt Romney might not get the requisite number of delegates before the Republican National Convention is held in August, but that’s looking more and more unlikely as the primary season grinds on. Because it could happen, though, here’s a review of the “delegate math,” as well as a look at how it might be skewed by the tangled web of rules spun by the Republican Party and their flouting by a couple of key states.

We've had 28 primaries as of March 24, with the latest, Louisiana, being held today. Here's the delegate "math": Total delegates decided thus far: 1013. Delegate Count: Romney 560, Santorum 246, Gingrich 141, Paul 66 according to Real Clear Politics. Number of delegates left to decide: 1274 (of a total of 2287, although because of RNC rules, some counts differ by four votes). The actual number of delegates up for grabs should be between 2429 and 2433, but there have been penalties levied against Arizona and Florida for holding their winner-take-all primaries before April 1, so the actual number of delegates is down to 2287, with 1144 needed to win.

Romney to this point has captured 55% of the delegates (560/1013 = 55%); Santorum, Gingrich, and Paul together have captured 45% (their combined total is 453; 453/1013 = 45%).

If Romney grabs 55% of the remaining 1274, he'll have an additional 700 delegates and his total will be 1260 (560+700), well above the 1144 needed to win. It’s not certain whether Romney will continue to win at a 55% pace, but the odds are that he will. The delegate math, calculated in this way, indicates that the nomination is his, especially when this delegate math is combined with what I see as a groundswell of Romney support that is broadening throughout the Republican Party and which I think will soon begin to sway more conservative voters.


Enter the Republican National Committee. In the bizarro world of Republican Party delegate counting as dictated by the RNC, we have to take into account the fact that even though the voters in a number of states might select the nominee of their choice, the delegates that represent them aren’t bound to vote as the people who send them to the convention have indicated they want them to.

According to the RNC, the total of so-called “unbound” voters is as follows: Iowa, 28; New Hampshire, 2; Colorado, 36; Minnesota, 40; Missouri, 52; Maine, 24; Wyoming, 29; Washington, 43. That means that there are 254 fewer voters that can be counted as definite, bringing the total of bound votes down to 759. Compounding the confusion, the RNC says that the delegate count “as reported by state parties” totals only 680. The RNC’s presentation of this important data is among the sloppiest and least dependable I have ever encountered. It makes Jon Corzine’s accounting practices look absolutely beyond reproach.

But wait. According to ABC News, the actual count of bound voters is 708. Of these, Romney has 390, the other three combined have 318. As fate would have it, Romney’s total of 390 constitutes almost exactly 55% of the total of 708 unbound votes as ABC counts them, while the three stooges’ total of 318 makes up 45% of the total. At least ABC’s bound-delegate count actually adds up.

Compounding the mess, the RNC has issued a number of rules governing what might happen in case none of the primary candidates shows up at the convention with a majority of the primary votes; that is — I think, though it’s impossible to be certain — if no candidate has at least 1144 votes on the first ballot. There would ensue the most arcane and potentially corruptible sequence of events imaginable, including the following:

• A hearing of petitions from eligible voters in Florida and Arizona is held by the nine-member RNC’s Committee on Contests — you heard that right — which then issues a report that may or may not decide whether additional votes from Florida and Arizona that had been denied because they staged winner-take-all primary elections before the RNC’s mandated April 1 deadline, as elucidated above, should be counted.

• After that, the entire 168-member RNC (three members from each state and territory) considers the petition of “contest” and makes its ruling.

• After that, an appeal of the RNC ruling can be presented by the losing party to the 112-member (two from each voting state/territory) Committee on Credentials, which would then make a third decision and issue a report.

• Finally, whatever the hell decision has been arrived at is presented to the convention at large for its approval. In this stage, amendments can be offered, further complicating the interpretation of what punishment should or should not be meted out to the offending states.

The kicker in all this is that, as much fun as it would be to watch that perverse, self-inflicted three-ring circus unfold, it’s not going to happen this way. Despite the indecipherable tangle of rules and procedures and impediments to a straightforward, clean, no-problems primary election which actually allows voters to decide the candidates that the RNC has managed to put forth, Mitt Romney is the overwhelming favorite to capture the nomination. Pressure on Santorum and Gingrich to withdraw is going to escalate dramatically over the next several weeks, whether or not Santorum wins Louisiana.

People following the primaries closely are going to look for their primary election results, not at the RNC’s morass of rules and rulings and numbers that simply don’t — can’t — add up, but through sources such as Real Clear Politics. If the RNC should suddenly pull a fast one on the eve of the convention and declare that Romney, with more than the 1200-plus votes I’m confident he’ll have accumulated by that time, is not the winner, all hell will break loose, and the Republicans would risk becoming the laughingstock of the political world, possibly throwing away their chances of even fielding a viable candidate by the time the November elections roll around.

Finally, though, the RNC and the influential conservative politicians and kingmakers in Washington D.C. are coalescing behind Romney. He’ll be the consensus candidate before June 1, obviating the need for the RNC to defend the indefensible.

Now if Romney will only announce Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his Vice Presidential running mate . . .


Greg Lewis Ph.D. is the author of The Politics of Anger, which systematically lays out the communist/socialist foundations of the liberal political agenda by examining the important writings of leftist thinkers of the past 75 years.

Lewis also co-authored "End Your Addiction Now : The Proven Nutritional Supplement Program That Can Set You Free."

Greg Lewis.org

.

Santorum Holds Wide Polling Lead For Louisiana

By Susan Duclos

The next Republican primary is to be held on Saturday, March 24, 2012, and polls by Magellan Strategies, Rasmussen and Public Policy Polling all show Rick Santorum with a double digit lead over Mitt Romney with a 13, 12 and 14 point lead respectively. Newt Gingrich polls third and Ron Paul last in those same polls.

There are 46 delegates associated with Louisiana and delegate allotment is proportional.

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)

.

Despite Wins And Frontrunner Status, Romney Only Holds 'Small' Lead Nationally

By Susan Duclos

Mitt Romney won the Illinois Republican primary last night and before that he took Puerto Rico, but despite recent wins, the latest polling by Public Policy Polling (PPP) shows Romney cannot seem to close the deal nor unite the Republican party supporters across the board.

PPP finds that nationally Romney only holds a "small" three point lead over Santorum with a 34 percent to 31 percent margin. Newt Gingrich comes in at 20 percent and Ron Paul at 9 percent.

The margin of error for the PPP survey is +/-3.6%.

Full results of the PPP poll HERE.

Next up is Louisiana on March 24, 2012, where Mitt Romney is not even campaigning, his history in Southern states previously showing he cannot seem to get traction in the South.

According to Real Clear Politics Louisiana polling averages, Rick Santorum holding his lead against Romney by 13 points from Magellan Strategies (R) which was the most recent polling data listed.

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)

[Update] As a side note the PPP survey also points out what they call an "interesting finding":

The talk of a brokered convention never seems to die down and one interesting finding on this poll was that Sarah Palin is far more popular than any of the actual Republican candidates in the race. Her net favorability is +48, with 68% of voters rating her favorably to only 20% with a negative opinion. That compares favorably to +29 for Santorum, +19 for Romney, and -26 for Paul.

Palin is someone GOP delegates might be able to unify around in the case of a hopelessly deadlocked convention. She is seen positively by Gingrich voters (85/7), Santorum supporters (80/10), and Romney ones (57/27) alike. That's a contrast to Romney who is disliked by both Santorum (38/48) and Gingrich (32/54) voters and Santorum who is disliked by Romney (38/48) voters and only seen narrowly favorably by Gingrich (46/42) backers.

Heads are expected to explode in 5.....4.....3.....2......1.....

.

Live Blogging/Live Discussion: Illinois Republican Primary

By Susan Duclos

Joining into Right Pundit live discussion, we will be live blogging the Illinois Republican primary, starting at 7pm Eastern when the polls close and exit polling data is released and results start coming out.



Primary results at CNN/Illinois.--- [Update] IL. Primary called for Romney.


.

Is Gingrich Doing The GOP A Favor By Blocking Romney From 1,144 Delegates?

By Susan Duclos


Newt Gingrich is hearing a lot of calls to drop out of the Republican presidential race after coming in second place in Alabama and Mississippi to which Rick Santorum came in first place, Mitt Romney third and Ron Paul last.

For many Republicans and conservative leaning supporters, Newt is doing them a huge favor by continuing. They are people who believe the absolute worst choice for the GOP is a Mitt Romney nomination and that the worst choice for president in 2013 would be Obama and second worst choice would be Mitt Romney because of his political record, changing positions and liberal leanings.

Optics

Both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have made a point that gets mentioned then forgotten.

Santorum from his Alabama and Mississippi victory speech:

People have said, you know, "You're being outspent," and you know, everybody is talking about all the math and all the -- all the things that this race is inevitable.

Well, for someone who thinks this race is inevitable, he's spending a whole lot of money against me for being inevitable.

Newt Gingrich, via ABC News:

"I emphasize going to Tampa, because one of the things tonight proved is that the elite media’s effort to convince the nation that Mitt Romney is inevitable just collapsed."

The optics of Romney winning Hawaii and American Samoa was severely countered by his inability to win down South in Alabama and Mississippi but instead placed third behind Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, despite his campaign and the pro-Romney superPAC, Restore Our Future, inundating the airwaves with campaign ads, outspending all the other candidates combined.

Romney also predicted he would "win Alabama" just a day before he placed third.

They say perception is reality and the optics of Romney not being able to close the deal with conservatives voters across geological divisions is reality. The bad optics of Romney coming in third after all that money spent on campaign ads and predicting an Alabama win, says more than any amount of words could.

Delegate Strategy

Campaign 2012 reports on Gingrich's strategy which is to block Mitt Romney from obtaining the 1,144 delegates a candidate needs to win the Republican nomination for president, thereby forcing the choice to be made at the Republican convention in August.

On election eve, after a long day of campaigning, Gingrich relaxed on a couch at the Wynfrey and vowed to keep challenging Romney through the summer -- long after the primaries have ended. If he can keep the former Massachusetts governor from hitting the 1,144 delegate mark, Gingrich said, "Then on the 26th of June, there's a real conversation. We haven't seen in our lifetime a situation where you actually had a political process beyond who wins the primaries." As he has several times in recent days, Gingrich brought up the case of Leonard Wood, the Army general who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920.

"The reason I keep citing Leonard Wood is because in 1920, Wood goes into the convention as the frontrunner," Gingrich said. "[Warren G.] Harding goes in as the guy who's in sixth place, and at the end of ten ballots, Harding is the nominee and Wood is gone." More than 90 years later, that's the scenario Gingrich sees as his own path to victory.

Does Gingrich think that he would win the nomination if it came to a floor fight?

No one should presume to know what Gingrich's thought processes are and whether he really believes it or not.

With that said, if it did come to a floor fight, it is just as likely that Santorum or Gingrich could walk away with the nomination instead of Romney and that would be the ultimate gift to every person that believes Romney is the absolute worst choice for the nomination and the second worst choice for president behind Obama.

Sean Trende over at Real Clear Politics makes a very good point:

Gingrich may or may not believe that he can emerge victorious from such a convention; that’s beyond our understanding right now. But the 68-year-old politician knows he’s a lion in winter, and that this is probably his last campaign. This brings with it a certain amount of freedom. He’ll run the campaign the way he wants to, and play entirely by his own rules. Viewed in this light, going after debate moderators isn’t just playing to the crowd; it’s something he’s probably wanted to do in interviews and campaigns for years now, and hadn’t because consultants warned him off. He’s going to continue doing it his way, right to the end.

There is nothing Gingrich can be threatened with, no incentive anyone can offer him to force him to suspend his campaign. That decision rests solely on him.

March 17, 2012 is the Missouri caucus and in February they held their primary which did not award delegates but Rick Santorum won with 55 percent of the vote, Romney came in a distant second with only 25 percent of the vote.

March 18, 2012 is the Puerto Rico primary, March 20th is the Illinois primary and March 24th is the Louisiana primary. All of which show that Santorum is competitive which goes against the notion of Gingrich being a "spoiler" to Santorum.

(Full GOP Primary/Caucus Schedule HERE)

The Gingrich campaign recently issued a memo stating that Louisiana's primary on March 24 is just the halfway point in the campaign and the former House speaker had succeeded in a goal of blocking "an early Romney nomination."

This echoes a recently leaked memo from the Santorum campaign which outlines a strategy where he could unite voters in Tampa, which is where the Republican convention is to be held in August.

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey makes the point that this strategy is not so different than Gingrich's.

What this memo says is that Santorum wants to stay in the race just in case Romney’s candidacy implodes for some reason. That’s not a bad idea, and it won’t hurt to have an alternative with a functioning campaign if that happens. The same argument can be made for Newt Gingrich, too.

There is no question that Rick Santorum should stay in the race and fight up to the convention and Newt supporters and the anti-Romney bloc of conservatives would prefer to see a convention fight rather than a Romney nominee.

The Convention

A brokered convention occurs when there are not enough delegates “won” during the presidential primaries for a single candidate to have a majority during the first official vote at a party’s nominating convention. The nomination is then decided though political deals between candidates, party bosses and subsequent votes until one candidate receives a majority. (Source)

Both Santorum and Gingrich are betting on Mitt Romney not being able win a majority of the delegates at convention, making it a brokered convention, then the pledged delegates would be released and could switch allegiance for the next round of voting.

If Mitt Romney cannot get the 1,144 delegates before the GOP convention, then he will have proven he is incapable of closing the deal, uniting the Republican and conservative supporters and Gingrich, by staying in the race and helping to block Romney's "inevitable" nomination, will be doing those that refuse to back Romney, a huge favor.

.

Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii And American Samoa: Note To Romney, Obama Won't Drop Out

By Susan Duclos

Four contests held last night, in Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii and American Samoa.

Alabama- Rick Santorum took first place with 35 percent of the vote and with 99 percent tallied he came in at 214,488 votes cast for him. Newt Gingrich took second place with 29 percent with 182,123 votes cast. Mitt Romney in third at 29 percent with 180,178 votes cast. Ron Paul at 5 percent with only 30,883 votes.

Mississippi- Rick Santorum took first place with 33 percent of the vote and with 99 percent tallied he came in at 93,261 votes cast for him. Newt Gingrich took second place with 31 percent with 88,768 votes cast. Mitt Romney in third at 30 percent with 86,027 votes cast. Ron Paul at 4 percent with only 12,506 votes.

Hawaii- Mitt Romney took first place with 45 percent of the vote and with 99 percent tallied he came in at 4,250 votes cast for him. Rick Santorum took second place with 25 percent with 4,250 votes cast. Ron Paul in third at 18 percent with 1,712 votes cast. Newt Gingrich at 11 percent with only 1,034 votes.

American Samoa- CNN shows Romney as the projected winner but has no percentage of the vote tallied as of this time. No final numbers until they are reported.

NBC’s current delegate count: Romney 419, Santorum 184, Gingrich 136, Paul 34

[Update] As I am reminded via email from Greg Lewis,, it seems as if NBC's delegate numbers are different from AP's via Wapo, so here are those links as well:

From the Washington Post:

"Because delegates are awarded proportionally in both Alabama and Mississippi, Romney won 23 delegates in those two states, compared to 31 for Santorum and 24 for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Georgia), according to the most recent projections by the Associated Press. But Romney captured 14 more delegates than Santorum in Hawaii and American Samoa, AP said, for a net gain of six delegates. That allocation gives Romney 494 delegates, nearly twice as many as Santorum’s 251."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/santorum-wins-in-mississippi-alabama/2012/03/13/gIQATN5SBS_story.html

Then we have NYT, so might as well add that link as well.

CNN's numbers are different than all three of the above linked sources.

Take your pick.

[End Update]

A candidate must reach 1,144 delegates to obtain the nomination and although Romney is the front runner he has not even reached the halfway mark to that magic number and 27 states have already conducted their primaries/caucuses.

(Full GOP Primary/Caucus Schedule HERE)

There are a few lines of thought going around, all dependent which candidate pundits favor and the anti-Romney crowd which would prefer any of the candidates but Romney walk away with the nomination.

Some believe Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul should suspend their campaigns making it a two man race between Romney and Santorum.

Gingrich and many of his supporters believe if he stays in, it is guaranteed that Romney cannot hit the 1,144 mark in delegate count before the August convention and the candidates can fight it out on the convention floor.

Romney supporters believe that if Gingrich and/or Paul drop out of the race and the delegates for the remaining states are divided by two candidates whoever takes first and second in the remaining contests, then Romney could reach the 1,144 mark making him the defacto Republican nominee to go up against Barack Obama in November.

Santorum and his supporters believe if Gingrich drops out then Santorum would gain his supporters but as per a leaked Santorum memo, even his campaign admits that the path to his nomination is not the 1,144 delegate mark but a convention fight.

The anti-Romney crowd, those who support a candidate other than Romney but would throw their support behind any of the GOP candidates except Romney, would prefer all the candidates stay in, collect delegates and block Romney from taking the nomination.

Some claim the anti-Romney sentiment is some type of myth, but having spoken to many who claim they would rather sit out the election rather than cast their vote for Romney which they see as no better than Obama, they do exist and they are very vehement in their opposition to Romney.

Another consideration for pundits is that the Republican convention is not until August.

Some believe that not having one firm candidate before August limits the time the eventual GOP nominee will have to focus on campaigning against Barack Obama. The flip side of that coin is that Barack Obama cannot focus his campaign machine and supporters on any one candidate while there are four candidates consistently and publicly making the case against Obama.

My Take

Romney would prefer the other candidates drop out and unite behind him but the process is in place for a reason and the process is working as it is supposed to. If Mitt Romney cannot get to the 1,144 mark by taking first place in all geographical areas and is dependent on other candidates suspending their campaign to give him the nomination, then how on earth will he unite a country to favor him over Obama.

If there is one definite is this campaign season, it is that Barack Obama will never drop out of the general election and give it to Romney.

If Romney cannot even fight and win over the conservative base, he will never be able to win over the general populace of this country.

.

Live Blogging, Live Discussion: The Mississippi, Alabama Republican Primaries On March 13, 2012

By Susan Duclos

[Update] AL has been called for Rick Santorum, Gingrich in 2nd place, Romney 3rd and Paul last.
[Update] Santorum took Mississippi as well with 33%, with 96% of the vote tallied. Gingrich has 31%, Romney 30 and Paul 4%. Will update if those percentages change.

Join us and we join Right Pundits this evening in live blogging and live discussion of the Alabama and Mississippi primaries on March 13, 2012. The live discussion is schedule to start at 7pm ET.

Alabama has 50 delegates at stake and Mississippi has 40. Also included in the action tonight will be any information that becomes available on the Hawaii (20 delegates) and the American Samoa (9 delegates) caucuses.



Results will be continuously updated at CNN, Alabama HERE and Mississippi HERE.


Updates will be added as results come in.

Confirmation Of Obama's Sinking Approval Ratings- New Lows Again

By Susan Duclos

Yesterday we reported about the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll showing Barack Obama's disapproval numbers rising in six separate key areas where majorities disapproved of his handling of gas prices, federal budget deficits, the economy and Iran and pluralities disapproving of his handling of energy and Afghanistan.

Today we see confirmation of Obama's freefall with a CBS News/New York Times to which CBS headlines with "Obama's approval rating sinks to new low."

President Obama's approval rating has hit the lowest level ever in CBS News polling, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times survey. The drop may be partially attributable to rising gas prices.

Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, according to the poll, conducted from March 7 to 11. Another 47 percent disapprove of his performance, up from 41 percent last month.

Mr. Obama's approval rating was 50 percent last month.

As the news continues to report that the Obama administration is setting new records for monthly deficits, Obamacare has come into focus again, first with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear arguments against the constitutionality of the individual mandate and secondly with Obama's HHS abortion mandate (part of Obamacare) which would force religious institutes to provide access to contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs which polling shows is not popular and a majority (51-40) favors allowing an opt-out–increasing to 57-36 where religiously-affiliated institutions are involved. (Source)

Add to that the rising gas prices, which the MSM would have their readers/viewers believe is the main cause of Obama's freefall in the polls, at the same time that Obama and the majority of Democrats killed the Keystone pipeline amendment in the Senate which would have streamlined the approval process. Obama and Democrats in the Senate (minus 11 of them which joined with the GOP in voting for the amendment) did this in direct opposition to what the majority of Americans want including 49 percent of Democratic supporters, according to Pew Research.

In November 2012 Americans will go to the polls and decide whether to allow Barack Obama another four years in the White House and the recent news, the pattern being seen, does not bode well for his chances of being reelected.

.

Live Updates- Kansas GOP Caucus- Santorum Wins

By Susan Duclos

Kansas is holding their caucuses today, March 10, 2012, with 40 delegates (proportional) at stake according to Green Papers. CNN shows 73 percent of the vote tallied (at the time of posting this) and Rick Santorum is leading at this time with 53 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are battling for second place with Romney showing a one percentage point lead with 17 percent and Gingrich coming in at 16 percent. Ron Paul in last place at this time with 13 percent.

[Update] CNN has projected the winner now as Santorum. Romney still leading Gingrich by 1% and Paul still at 13%.

[Update] With 99 percent of the vote tallied, Santorum won with 51 percent, Romney in second with 21 percent, Gingrich 14 percent and Paul 13 percent.

Santorum and Paul have been actively campaigning in Kansas, Gingrich cancelled his stop there earlier in the week and is focusing on Mississippi and Alabama more and Romney hasn't put much effort into campaigning in Kansas.

.

Video- Newt 2012 Releases New Ad: $2.50 Plan In Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama

By Susan Duclos

Hot on the heels of a We Ask America poll showing Gingrich just one point behind Mitt Romney in Tennessee (30 Romney, 29 Gingrich, 29 Santorum), Newt 2012 announced it is going up on the air in Tennessee to sway the remaining undecided voters.

The spot, $2.50 Plan, which will also begin airing in Mississippi and Alabama later this week, outlines Newt Gingrich’s bold energy development plan which will massively increases domestic oil production to lower the price of gasoline to $2.50 per gallon, create millions of new jobs, and improve our national security.

The ad will run today and tomorrow, election day, and is 150 gross rating points.

Video below:




Transcript: (Via Newt.org.)

Since Barack Obama’s inauguration, gas prices have doubled.

They didn’t go down when Obama bowed to Saudi oil princes.

But they can go down under the Newt Gingrich two-fifty per gallon plan.

The Gingrich two-fifty plan slashes gas prices by increasing domestic production, opening up off-shore drilling…building the Keystone Pipeline…cutting red-tape regulation.

The Gingrich two-fifty plan stops the great gas hold up…and puts money back in your pocket.

Newt: I’m Newt Gingrich and I approve this message.

PPP reports:

In Ohio Romney leads with 37% to 36% for Santorum, 15% for Gingrich, and 11% for Ron Paul.

In Tennessee Santorum leads with 34% to 29% for Romney, 27% for Gingrich, and 8% for Paul.

In Georgia Gingrich leads with 47% to 24% for Romney, 19% for Santorum, and 8% for Paul.

A week ago Santorum had a huge lead in Tennessee, a decent sized one in Ohio, and seemed like he had a good chance for second in Georgia. Now he's barely holding on in Tennessee, ever so slightly behind in Ohio, and seems doomed for third in Georgia.

Romney's fortunes have swung the other direction. What was looking like a runner up finish in Ohio is looking more like a win with each passing day. He has an outside chance at pulling off an upset win in Tennessee. And it looks like he'll finish a solid second in Georgia.

The news for Gingrich is good too. It's been expected he would win Georgia, but it looks now like he could even hit the 50% mark. And he's pulled within striking distance of Santorum and Romney in Tennessee.

Full results here

Tomorrow 10 states hold contests in what is called Super Tuesday and the delegate count for those states is as follows:

Alaska (caucus)- 27 delegates - 10 base at-large / 3 re: 1 congressional district / 3 party / 11 bonus

Georgia (primary)- 76 delegates - 10 base at-large / 42 re: 14 congressional districts / 3 party / 21 bonus

Idaho (caucus)- 32 delegates - 10 base at-large / 6 re: 2 congressional districts / 3 party / 13 bonus

Massachusetts (primary)- 41 delegates - 10 base at-large / 27 re: 9 congressional districts / 3 party / 1 bonus

North Dakota (caucus)- 28 delegates - 10 base at-large / 3 re: 1 congressional district / 3 party / 12 bonus

Ohio (primary)- 66 delegates - 10 base at-large / 48 re: 16 congressional districts / 3 party / 5 bonus

Oklahoma (primary)- 43 delegates - 10 base at-large / 15 re: 5 congressional districts / 3 party / 15 bonus

Tennessee (primary)-58 delegates - 10 base at-large / 27 re: 9 congressional districts / 3 party / 18 bonus

Vermont (primary)- 17 delegates - 10 base at-large / 3 re: 1 congressional district / 3 party / 1 bonus

Virginia (primary)- 49 delegates - 10 base at-large / 33 re: 11 congressional districts / 3 party / 3 bonus (Gingrich, Santorum not on ballot)

(Delegate information via The Green Papers Republican Delegate Allocation)

(1,144 Needed To Win the GOP nomination)

Delegate count to date can be seen at RCP.

Those numbers will change as results from March 6, 2012 contests are reported.

(Join us as we live blog Super Tuesday contests with live discussion via Cover It Live)

.

Super Tuesday Republican Primary Polling Updates

By Susan Duclos

Super Tuesday is March 6, 2012, just four days away and there will be 10 states holding Republican primaries or caucuses and for those curious as to where the candidates stand in the polls for the upcoming contests, let the searches begin.

(Join us as we live blog Super Tuesday contests with live discussion via Cover It Live on 3/6/12)

Information on polling dependent on availability.

(Full GOP Primary/Caucus Schedule HERE)

The states to hold primaries or caucuses on March 6, 2012, are;

Alaska (caucus)- 27 delegates - 10 base at-large / 3 re: 1 congressional district / 3 party / 11 bonus

Georgia (primary)- 76 delegates - 10 base at-large / 42 re: 14 congressional districts / 3 party / 21 bonus

Idaho (caucus)- 32 delegates - 10 base at-large / 6 re: 2 congressional districts / 3 party / 13 bonus

Massachusetts (primary)- 41 delegates - 10 base at-large / 27 re: 9 congressional districts / 3 party / 1 bonus

North Dakota (caucus)- 28 delegates - 10 base at-large / 3 re: 1 congressional district / 3 party / 12 bonus

Ohio (primary)- 66 delegates - 10 base at-large / 48 re: 16 congressional districts / 3 party / 5 bonus

Oklahoma (primary)- 43 delegates - 10 base at-large / 15 re: 5 congressional districts / 3 party / 15 bonus

Tennessee (primary)-58 delegates - 10 base at-large / 27 re: 9 congressional districts / 3 party / 18 bonus

Vermont (primary)- 17 delegates - 10 base at-large / 3 re: 1 congressional district / 3 party / 1 bonus

Virginia (primary)- 49 delegates - 10 base at-large / 33 re: 11 congressional districts / 3 party / 3 bonus (Gingrich, Santorum not on ballot)

(Delegate information via The Green Papers Republican Delegate Allocation)

POLLING

ALASKA- No polling information available at this time.

GEORGIA- Rasmussen has Gingrich leading the other candidates with 38 percent, Romney 26 percent, Santorum 20 percent and Paul 7 percent. SurveyUSA has Gingrich leading with 39 percent, Santorum in second with 24 percent, Romney at 23 percent and Paul 9 percent. Landmark/Rosetta Stone has Gingrich leading with 38 percent, Santorum 25 percent, Romney 19 percent and Paul with 5 percent.

IDAHO- No polling information available at this time.

MASSACHUSETTS- Suffolk/7News has Romney leading with 64 percent, Santorum with 16 percent, Paul at 7 percent and Gingrich with 6.

NORTH DAKOTA- No polling information available at this time.

OHIO- Quinnipiac University, the poll released Friday found Santorum leads the former Massachusetts governor 35 percent to 31 percent among likely Republican voters, compared to a poll released Monday showing Santorum with 36 percent to Romney's 29 percent. Gingrich and Paul in third and last place respectively.

OKLAHOMA- Rasmussen has Santorum in the lead with 43 percent, Gingrich in second with 22 percent, Romney 18 and Paul 7.

TENNESSEE- Middle Tn. State U. shows Santorum in the lead with 40 percent, Romney 19 percent, Gingrich 13 percent and Paul with 11 percent. Tennessean/Vanderbilt has Santorum at 38 percent, Romney 20, Paul 15 and Gingrich 13.

VERMONT- Castleton State College has Romney leading with 34 percent, Santorum with 27, Paul 14 and Gingrich 10.

VIRGINIA- Roanoke College polls Romney ahead of Santorum by 31 percent to 27 percent

Note: December 2011 polling had Gingrich ahead for the state of Virginia, but Gingrich and Sanotrum did not make the ballot in Virgina, so the only two that will be on the ballot will be Romney and Paul.

This post will be updated as new polling information becomes available.
.

Romney Wins AZ Primary Big And Squeaks By With Home State Win In MI By 3%

By Susan Duclos

Mitt Romney was declared the winner Arizona immediately after the polls closed, no big surprise since he was leading in the polls consistently in the weeks leading up to the contest. With 82 percent reporting Romney has a 47-to-27 margin win.

All eyes were turned to Michigan which Romney was expected to win handily since it was his home state and his father was a popular governor for most of the 1960's, but polling leading up to it showed Santorum momentum and lead, then Romney took a small lead this past week and as of the night before the primaries, Santorum started getting momentum again but it was too little too late and Santorum was outspent in campaign ads by 2-to1 resulting in a win that is described by MSNBC as "ugly.".

CNN shows that with 95 percent reporting Romney won with a 3 percent, 41 to 38 percent.

As with Romney's Florida win, where he took the state but won less counties than Newt Gingrich did, the same happened in Michigan with Rick Santorum winning more counties than Romney, but Romney took the larger metro areas as the map below shows.



Romney cannot seem to close the deal with conservative voters and while he is the front runner and is positioned well, Super Tuesday is around the corner (March 6, 2012) and 10 states hold their primaries/caucuses, many of which are larger and have not been penalized with a loss of delegates for moving the date of their contests forward against RNC rules.

To obtain the Republican nomination a candidate must hit the magic number of 1,144 delegates, and after Super Tuesday's contests, conservative voters and pundits will be better positioned to know if that magic numbers can be reached by Mitt Romney.

As of now, according to Real Clear Politics, Romney has 142, Santorum 59, Gingrich 32 and Paul 20.

Examples: Santorum leads in the polls for Ohio and Ohio has 66 delegates. Gingrich has a massive lead in Georgia polls (his home state) and Georgia has 76 delegates. Romney is ahead in polling in Massachusetts, where he was Governor, but that state only has 41 delegates.

Before Super Tuesday is one last contest, in Washington on March 3, 2012, where Rick Santorum holds a double digit lead over Mitt Romney.

In the end it is all going to come down to delegates and if any GOP candidate in this race can obtain the 1,144 by the end of the primary/caucus schedule.

Barring any candidate dropping out before Super Tuesday, which looks highly unlikely, the delegate strategy both Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich have been implementing may keep any of the GOP candidates from hitting the 1,144 mark by June, which holds the last contest.

Which increases the odds of a brokered convention.

Santorum's Popularity Rises Among GOP Women 13 Percent Since January

By Susan Duclos


Despite far left liberal women screeching about Rick Santorum and his supposed anti-woman views, seems GOP women do not see his views on contraception, prenatal screenings and his opposition to abortion as being anti-woman. Conservative women understand his personal feelings stem from his upbringing, his religious views and his personal philosophy.

His popularity among GOP women has jumped in the last week alone and has risen 13 points since January, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The Post-ABC poll, conducted on the heels of a week of scrutiny of Santorum’s conservative views on a variety of women’s health issues, shows that his popularity among GOP women has moved up 13 points since January, with the biggest bump in the past week, so that 57 percent hold a favorable view. Santorum is now within reach of Romney on that score: Sixty-one percent of Republican women view Romney favorably. Romney has higher negative ratings among GOP women than Santorum does — 28 percent to 18 percent — and those negative ratings of Romney have grown over time.

Furthermore, showing that the high volume screeching of the far left progressive liberal women does not speak for the majority of Democratic women (a whole different species), as WAPO reports "there is no evidence that Santorum’s position among women in either party has dropped in recent weeks."

As a conservative woman, but not a Santorum supporter, I can say his popularity has not risen in my eyes, though I respect his views as principled and a see him as a person who is not scared of standing up and acknowledging his views proudly.

The problem I see for Santorum going forward is his habit of saying whatever he thinks without filter. Those types of gaffes, comments that while true, can be edited and used as a hammer to the head.

Soundbites, in a general election, can and will be used against a candidate.

For Santorum it was the "politics is a team sport, folks. And sometimes you’ve got to rally together and do something." Or his emotions remark about women in combat. He later explained it was not the women's emotions he was concerned about, but the men's emotional responses also, but the damage, via soundbite, was already done.

For Romney it was the "I'm not concerned about the very poor," remark within a larger paragraph, yet that will be the soundbite Obama uses against him if he were to become the Republican nominee. Or the clip of his now infamous debate gaffe where Romney challenged Rick Perry to a $10,000 bet.

Romney's gaffes are inexcusable since he has been basically campaigning for President on the national stage for two cycles, since 2007 at least, he should know better than to provide Team Obama with that type of material.

Romney simply cannot unite the Republican party. Many believe that four more years of Obama is better than a potential 8 years of an Obama-like Romney.

Newt Gingrich has the debate skills to go head to head with Barack Obama as well as the memory of an elephant to attack Obama on his failed record as President, his past no votes on the born-alive protection act, his failed stimulus, Obamacare, his energy policy failures, his direct attack against religious freedoms, etc.... the problem for Gingrich is when behind he rises well but when ahead seems to fizzle out giving him that bouncing ball effect of up and down, up and down.

Ron Paul has some very loyal supporters, does well in online polls and straw polls, but cannot seem to garner actual conservative votes and many of his political ideas simply do not resonate with conservatives. Paul is also on his second cycle in a bid for presidency, yet out of the four candidates he is the one who has not won even a single state's primary or caucus.

Those are our four candidates and while many wish for more, Larry Sabato nails it on the head:

At every polling opportunity, Republicans have expressed their desire for a wider choice. Put another way, Republicans would love to combine the economic acumen of Mitt Romney, the social conservatism of Rick Santorum, the debating skills of Newt Gingrich and the enthusiasm of young voters for Ron Paul into one candidate. That feat must await several generations of advances in genetic engineering.

In my perfect world, Newt Gingrich would become President in 2013, Ron Paul would be in charge of replacing Obamacare with a health care fix that was not socialized medicine, Rick Perry would be put in charge of creating jobs, Rick Santorum would head up the social issues and Mitt Romney would be put in charge of negotiating with foreign countries for our business interests.

We do not need genetic engineering to develop a dream team, but we do need a group with smaller egos.

.

Michigan Polls Show Close Contest Between Santorum And Romney

By Susan Duclos

After a dismal Arizona debate performance for Rick Santorum last night, these numbers may change, but a variety of polls from different organizations have Santorum and Romney running neck and neck in Michigan, a state where Romney was the odds on favorite to win since he was born there and his father was a popular governor in for most of the 60's.

American Research Group has Santorum 38 percent and Romney 34 percent. (CNN)
NBC News-Marist has Romney 37 pecent and Santorum with 35 percent. (CNN)
Detroit Free Press has Santorum with 37 percent and Romney with 34 percent. (Detroit Free Press)

Real Clear Politics averages in Michigan has a Santorum lead by 0.6 percent.

Michigan, along with Arizona, holds their primaries on February 28, 2012.

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)

.

CNN Republican Debate in Arizona Transcript and Analysis Links

By Susan Duclos

As always, readers should read the debate and determine what answers they liked and more importantly believed, and decide for themselves which candidate provided what readers are looking for in the Republican nominee and choose accordingly.

The Weekly Standard provides the debate transcript in full.

My favorite part of the debate was when an online debate viewer asks the GOP candidates to describe themselves in one word. (46 second video below)



Paul said "consistent," Romney said "resolute," Santorum said "courage" and Gingrich said "cheerful."

Analysis links

Philip Klein over at Campaign 2012, headlines with "Santorum stumbles in Arizona debate."

I agree. He did stumble. Santorum was stronger in the Florida debates, had good moments but as front runner, with Romney leveling everything he had at him, he showed he isn't up to fighting when directly attacked and in November, whoever the candidate that is nominated by the GOP is, he must be able to sustain attacks and fight back without excuses, justifications and constantly explaining and apologizing.

Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air declares in his headline "Downer debate denouement winner: Newt."

I agree. Newt Gingrich did a good job. Stayed focused, provided good answers that are consistent with his positions throughout the campaign season and focused his fired where it belongs, on Barack Obama.

Robert Stacy McCain at The Other McCain actually nodded off for a few minutes, so that pretty much tells us that there has been too many debates with too many of the same questions, but he did live blog it.... um.... when he wasn't snoozing.

Rich Lowry over at NRO declares Santorum the loser and says Newt "looked at ease and jaunty even."

Tony Campbell over at The Moderate Voice calls Ron Paul a fake.

I disagree. I wouldn't go as far as to call Paul a fake. Ron Paul is.... Ron Paul. His supporters adore him, are loyal and nothing in this performance will change any minds about him one way or another. Paul's stances are the same as they have always been and reasonable people can reasonably agree or disagree with said stances, but he truly believes his rhetoric, so in my mind it makes him very real even though I disagree with many of his positions.


In my mind, Guy Benson at Townhall pretty much nails the night for each candidate.

•Newt Gingrich won the debate, vindicating his team's "let Newt be Newt" strategy.

•Mitt Romney was, as ever, steady and serious throughout the evening; he didn't piece together his finest debate of the cycle, but he did just fine.

•Rick Santorum was tonight's clear loser.

•Ron Paul was a devastatingly effective Romney surrogate tonight, pummeling Santorum on his go-along big-government conservatism during the Bush years.

This is probably the last Republican debate of the cycle and now it is up to them in campaign stops, stump speeches and interviews to win over any voters that have not decided on a candidate of their choice as of yet.

.

Arizona GOP Debate Info- February 22, 2012

By Susan Duclos

[Update 2/23/12] Two separate pieces, one with debate transcript link and analysis of last night's debate HERE and another with Gingrich's statements on Barack Obama's record of voting against the born-alive infant protection act while he was a state Senator. (with video) HERE

The four remaining GOP candidates will be participating in another GOP debate tonight, sponsored by CNN and the Republican Party of Arizona at 8pm ET on CNN – Live Stream.

Participants: Romney, Santorum, Paul, Gingrich

This will be the last Republican debate before the Michigan and Arizona primaries are held as well as the last one before the Super Tuesdays contests. (10 states) This will be the first debate since Rick Santorum took the national lead in polling, so it is expected that more attention will be focused on Santorum, his past statements, recent statements and voting record.

Gallup has Santorum over Romney by 10, Rasmussen by 12 and Quinnipiac University by 9.

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)


CNN Republican presidential debate.

Romney, Pro-Romney SuperPAC Negative Ads Total More Than All Campaign Ads Of Other Candidates Combined

By Susan Duclos



Interestingly there is a Forbes piece being discussed in the political world today where Sheldon Adelson who has donated $11 million into Winning Our Future SuperPac, which is pro-Gingrich, says he may donate $10 million or $100 million and some critics accuse Adelson of trying to buy the presidential election.

The Washington Post has a piece with a chart which will be shown below that references how much more negative and viscous this primary season has been in comparison to primaries past but the chart also shows something else..... It would take far more than the $11 million or even the rumored additional $10 million that Adelson is expected to hand over to Winning Our Future, to even begin to level the playing field.

The chart shows that not even counting the positive ads produced by Mitt Romney or the pro-Romney SuperPac, Restore Our Future, just the negative ads alone, total more spent that all the other candidates positive and negative ads combined.



Green is the positive ads and how much each campaign spent on them through February 12, 2012, and the gold is the negative ads.

Combined, Gingrich, Santorum and Pauls, positive and negative, totals 10 and Romney's and/or Romney's SuperPAC totals 14.7 just in negative ads.

This brings up another point. After Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney attempted to justify his pure negative campaigns in Florida, where 99 percent of pro-Romney ads were negative, by saying "In South Carolina we were vastly outspent with negative ads attacking me and we stood back and spoke about President Obama and suffered the consequence of that. If you’re attacked, I’m not going to just sit back, I’m going to fight back and fight back hard."

ABC News at the time shows that claim to be demonstratively false.

As it turns out it was Romney who vastly outspent his opponents.

According to sources tracking media buys during the South Carolina primary, Romney and his allies, which include two super PACs, purchased more than $4.6 million of television airtime during the run-up to the state’s Jan. 21 primary. The two pro-Romney super PACs, Restore Our Future and Citizens for a Working America, chipped in millions.

By comparison, the Gingrich campaign and a pro-Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future, spent more than of $2.2 million in the state.

Every time Mr. Adelson donates to the pro-Gingrich SuperPAC, it is major news, and Romney and Romney surrogates attempt to convince Adelson to stop donating to Winning our Future, which begs a few questions.

Why is Romney and his surrogates so scared of Adelson attempting to level the playing field?
Why are the major news outlets and the Republican establishment not accusing the Romney billionaire donors of trying to buy the election?"
Why is Romney spending more than he is taking in , by three times the amount, and still not able to close the deal with conservative voters?

Sheldon Adelson's estimated net worth is $25 billion, he is a 78 year old self-made billionaire and casino owner and his friendship with Gingrich aside, self-made billionaires do not make a habit of throwing their money away or making bad bets.

"What scares me is the continuation of the socialist-style economy we’ve been experiencing for almost four years. That scares me because the redistribution of wealth is the path to more socialism, and to more of the government controlling people’s lives. What scares me is the lack of accountability that people would prefer to experience, just let the government take care of everything and I’ll go fish or I won’t work, etc."

"U.S. domestic politics is very important to me because I see that the things that made this country great are now being relegated into duplicating that which is making other countries less great. … I’m afraid of the trend where more and more people have the tendency to want to be given instead of wanting to give. People are less willing to share. There are fewer philanthropists being grown and there are greater expectations of the government. I believe that people will come to their senses and not extend the current Administration’s quest to socialize this country. It won’t be a socialist democracy because it won’t be a democracy."--- Sheldon Adelson, Forbes

So, the most important question of all, shouldn't be whether Adelson is trying to buy an election, but what he sees in Gingrich that he does not see in the rest of the candidates, given his reasoning for why he is throwing himself into the game and his worries about the Obama administrations push towards socialism.

Why does Adelson think Gingrich is the best person to undo the damage Barack Obama has wrought and put America back on the path to fiscal health?

That should be what every Republican and conservative supporter is asking.

.

Perfect New Slogan For Obama's Reelection Campaign.... 'Things Could Be Worse'

By Susan Duclos

Reuters reports the Obama reelection campaign team will need another slogan other than the "Change we can believe in" mantra of 2008 and Obama surrogates have road tested a couple things including "Winning The Future," "Greater Together", etc...

Well here is one because it was so memorable when Obama actually made the case for it in 2010.

"I know that sometimes people don't remember how bad it was, and how bad it could have been," Obama said in Racine, Wis.

Obama 2012- "Things Could Be Worse"

John Hawkins over at RightWing News has some interesting suggestions for the Obama Team, a top ten list, with graphics.

Teaser:



Go see the rest.

Any suggestions?

[Update] Twitter hashtag- #Obama2012slogans

.

Multiple Polls Confirm Santorum Surge

By Susan Duclos

It is well known that candidates see a slight uptick in polling when they come off of a win, that's just the way the poll bounces, but Rick Santorum took three for three contests on February 7, 2012, Minnesota and Missouri, then he won Colorado where Mitt Romney was projected to win in a surprise upset.

The bounce, the uptick, turned to a surge for Santorum in national polling and now multiple polling organizations are documenting that surge with poll data.

Gallup shows a 14 percentage point surge, putting Santorum in a statistical tie with Mitt Romney. Romney at 32 percent, Santorum at 30. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul come in third and fourth place respectively 16 and 8 percent..

Pew Research shows a 16 point jump for Santorum since they last polled in mid January, with Santorum at 30 percent and Romney at 28 percent, Gingrich 17 and Paul 12.

CBS News gives Santorum the support of 30 percent of GOP primary voters in their poll, followed by Romney at 27 percent. Ron Paul is now in third at 12 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich at 10 percent.

Losing Colorado was troubling for Mitt Romney, but the polling data for Michigan, a state where Romney was born, where his father served as governor during most of the 1960s, where pundits by and large assumed Romney could not lose, Santorum is now ahead of him in the polls there for the primary being held on February 28, 2012, shows the potential for a devastating loss for Romney, 33 to 27 percent in the ARG poll .

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)

Public Policy Polling gives Santorum an even larger lead over Romney in Michigan, 39 percent to 24 percent. Paul comes in at 12 percent, Gingrich at 11 percent, though neither of those candidates have focused on Michigan or the other contest in Arizona also to be held on February 28, 2012.

The media and the Republican establishment have pushed the Romney is inevitable meme from the start of the campaign season, but Romney's less than conservative history of votes, actions and tax and spend policies from when he was Governor of Massachusetts, may actually make him unelectable, instead of inevitable, among conservatives.

Disclaimer- While I am a Newt Gingrich supporter, I realize we do not always get the candidate of our choice and as a conservative Republican voter, I can say that if Santorum becomes the candidate the GOP nominates to go against Obama I would support him with enthusiasm. If Romney became the nominee, I would vote for him against Obama because anyone could do a better job than Obama has, in my opinion, but I would be far less enthused in doing so.

I am not the only one, states Romney has won the primaries in, Republican turnout has been down compared to turnout in 2008. Romney does not excite the Republican base.

In 2012, Republicans need a candidate that supporters can enthusiastically get behind.

Mitt Romney is not that candidate.

.

Santorum Rolled Over Romney In Missouri, Minnesota And Colorado

By Susan Duclos

American voters watched three contests last night, a "show" primary in Missouri (the MO. caucuses are on March 17, 2012), caucuses in Minnesota and caucuses in Colorado.

Rick Santorum won in all three contests.


The surprise of the night was the Colorado Caucus results where Santorum won with a 5 percent margin despite expectations across the board of a Romney win, with Intrade even giving Romney a 97 percent chance of winning.

In Missouri, only Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul were on the ballots, Newt Gingrich is on the March 17, 2012 caucus ballot didn't participate in the show primary. Santorum took 55 percent of the vote, Romney took 25 percent and Paul 12 percent.

Note-The Missouri primary is non-binding and has no impact on delegate allocation. Delegate selection begins at county caucuses on March 17. 52 delegates tied to caucus process.

In Minnesota, CNN reports on 95 percent of the vote reported and Santorum took 45 percent, Ron Paul took second place with 27 percent of the vote, Romney third place with 17 percent and Gingrich with 11 percent.

In Colorado, CNN shows 99 percent reporting and has Santorum the winner with 40 percent of the vote, Romney in second place with 35 percent, Gingrich in third place with 13 percent and Paul in fourth with 12 percent.

Note- As per previous statements in the media about focusing on Super Tuesday contests (March 6, 2012, where 10 contests occur in one day) and the Gingrich campaign's schedule, Gingrich spent his day in Ohio campaigning.

As headlines and discussions across the Internet about last night, there is no doubt that Rick Santorum was a big winner coming into this morning.

The biggest losers last night were Romney and every media outlet, every Republican establishment member and anyone else that continued to perpetrate the "Romney is inevitable" meme.

There were other winners last night as well. The anti-Romney voters. Voters that do not want to see Romney get the 1,144 delegates needed to obtain the GOP nomination for President. Voters that would rather this battle be fought right to convention rather than see Romney as the nominee.

AndyZ over at Right Pundits brings me to the next two headlines I noticed over at Memeorandum.

Andy writes:

So why did Rick Santorum win all three elections? A combination of elements contributed to the results. First, Santorum was the least tainted after a nasty dogfight between Romney and Gingrich in Florida. Mitt may have won in Florida, but he won ugly, carpet bombing Gingrich with some 13,000 negative TV ads compared to only 200 aired by Newt. Romney′s favorables have been declining nationwide since then.

He ends his excellent analysis with "Look out, Rick, because you will be carpet bombed by the Romney machine next!"

Good call Andy, because the headlines I referred to are, CNN with "TRENDING: Romney will take tougher approach to Santorum, adviser says," and WSJ with "Front-Runner Is Targeting Santorum."

The pro-Romney SuperPAC, Restore Our Future, has just been given their marching orders: Carpet bomb Santorum.!!!

Next up will be the CNN and the Republican Party of Arizona sponsored GOP primary debate on February 22, 2012, on CNN at 8pm ET held at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona.

Then on February 28, 2012, Michigan and Arizona will be holding primaries.

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)

.