On February 28th, Michigan voters will cast their ballots for a Republican presidential nominee. With Rick Santorum in the lead, a victory in Michigan would be impressive for him. It would not, however, help him overcome Romney’s run for the 2012 presidency.
“Motown showdown” has been used in reference to basketball, football, and in other areas. With respect to the 2012 Republican presidential nomination process, it is used to describe the face-off between former Governor Mitt Romney and former Senato Santorum.
Since Romney was born in Michigan and is the son of the late Governor George Romney, this state is important for him. Michigan may be considered part of Romney’s backyard given his lineage and name. A loss there would send a message that Romney was weak and out of touch with voters. It would also help Santorum gain credibility as a viable alternative to Romney. That is what the Santorum camp wants voters to believe.
Since Michigan has open primaries enabling anyone to vote, it is hard to know if Santorum’s current lead is based on real Republican voters’ preferences. The current system allows voters to declare themselves as Republican or Democrat, receive a ballot, and then vote. Liberals are already trying to manipulate the Republican nomination process through Operation Hilarity. This is very interesting since they claim to hold the higher moral ground in the search for equality and fairness for America.
While Santorum’s support grows with evangelicals and Tea Party members, he has no chance of winning over moderates given his views on social issues. His views on abortion and homosexuality would, in turn, make President Barack Obama out to be the more “moderate” candidate for president. This would actually help explain why liberals are trying to skew the nomination process in favor of Santorum.
Obama’s lead over Santorum is currently 8 percentage points and is almost similar to his lead over Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas). Obama’s lead over Romney is slightly less at 5.7 percentage points. Other candidates have surged against Romney but have failed. Since it is difficult to ascertain if Santorum’s surge is based on legitimate voter preference or liberal manipulation, we will have to wait and see.
As the 2012 primary schedule moves into larger and more moderate states, Romney’s polling data will improve and he will emerge as the Republican front runner. Most importantly, if Republicans really want to win the White House then they must provide a viable and balanced alternative to voters. That alternative is Romney, like it or not.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Discussion
Try to imagine our presidential candidate selection process in any other endeavor -- business, nonprofit, whatever.
Right, unimaginable.
The activity would have long ago ceased to exist.
Getting the best is not one of the goals. Kind of a shame.
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If the Republicans were to put none of the above on their ballots then none of the above would win. The Republicans never had a policy that Americans could unite behind. They won the last election because many Democrat voters didn't vote and every Republican in America voted. That won't happen the next election. Mitt Romney can't win the majority of the Republican voters in the primaries because the right wing Republicans know he's not 1 of them.
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Nice article, Darcy, although I don't share the view that open primaries are impacted by manipulation.
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"With Rick Santorum in the lead"
Santorum is not in the lead, his victories have all been in non-binding straw polls. He is far behind Romney in terms of pledged delegates.
"Mitt Romney is Still the GOP's Best Option in 2012"
Nobody's doubting that. The question is whether or not he will be able to win the nomination should Santorum win Michigan.
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"With Rick Santorum in the lead"
Santorum is not in the lead, his victories have all been in non-binding straw polls. He is far behind Romney in terms of pledged delegates.
"Mitt Romney is Still the GOP's Best Option in 2012"
Nobody's doubting that. The question is whether or not he will be able to win the nomination should Santorum win Michigan.
I agree Romney is the best candidate for the GOP. A Michigan loss for Romney could be a huge game changer though. The same goes for Gingrich in Georgia.
I still don't understand Tea Party support for Santorum. I've had a long held belief/theory that the Tea Party is actually a back door movement for social conservatives. Their support for Santorum strongly supports my theory. If the Tea Party really held true to their founding principles their candidate would without a doubt be Ron Paul. And the funny thing is, if the Tea Party fully supported Paul, he could without a doubt win because he also has massive support amongst Millennials who would swarm to the polls for him if he was on a major party ticket.
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Why oh why can't Paul Ryan run?
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Right on man. Good article. I believe the same thing, even though I think Santorum would be a fine president.
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