Romney won Hawaii and American Samoa last night, while coming in third behind Santorum and Gingrich in Mississippi and Alabama. The Guardian has the guts to use the M-word:
Exit polls in Alabama and Misssippi showed evangelical Christians, who tend not to vote for Romney, a Mormon, made up about eight out of ten of the voters. Four out of ten voters in both states said it mattered to them that a candidate shared their religious beliefs.
In addition to dragging out the primary, Santorum’s surge has been pushing Romney farther to the right. Yesterday he told Fox that Santorum would be too liberal to be his running mate. He also told a Missouri media outlet that he wanted to “get rid” of Planned Parenthood. By the time this thing is over in June, Romney will have joined Opus Dei and taken communion.
Peregrinus
Is Santorum an Opus Dei member? If he is Romney would be too liberal to be his own running mate . . . Which would be just like him.
Schlemizel
If this keeps up John Birch will be too liberal to be Willards running mate!
I am worried though, it does appear that Willard is screwing the pooch here & we need him to get the nomination so the wingnuts can freak out when he gets his ass handed to him in the general. That guarantees an even bigger wingnut GOP in 2016 and the destruction of the criminal enterprise know as the Republican Party.
Arclite
With apologies to any theist members of BJ: So fucking pathetic that entire states vote based on a shared belief in a fairy tale.
Arclite
And speaking of Santorum, I wonder how many men have surged in his santorum. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop: Santorum caught doing lines of coke while his boyfriend does him up the ass. The guy has such an anti-gay hard-on that he must be gay himself…
Strangepork
No, Rick belongs to an even more super-secret shadow brotherhood of shadowy Jeebus secrets…Opus Derp.
Betty Cracker
So what scenario should we hope for to ensure that this ugly contest drags on all the way to Tampa? Some say it would be best for Noot to hang in there and keep splitting up the hardcore wingnut vote with Santorum, but doesn’t that help Romney in the post-Reconstruction states?
MattF
Seriously, if Santorum is too librul to be Romney’s VP, who would qualify? Bachmann? Torquemada?
Added: Oh, wait… Joe Arpaio. Damn.
Villago Delenda Est
OvenMitt’s authenticity problem will haunt him all the way to Tampa, and beyond. His pandering is so obvious that even 27%ers aren’t buying it, and they are gullible idiots who love Sarah Palin.
I note that at least ABC is continuing to ignore, pointedly, the gnome while acting like only OvenMitt, Rih, and Noot are still in the race.
magurakurin
@Arclite:
hmmm, that seems a bit vague. Could you bit a bit more direct and specific about what you think Rih has hidden in the closet.
dmsilev
Erickovich has a sad:
Arclite
@Villago Delenda Est:
I know, right? When the dude start’s sayin’ “Y’all” and taking about cheese and grits, it just comes off as fake. No one from the south buys that shit, so why does he do it? Mitt might not be the most intelligent guy, but his handlers MUST be giving him advice, no? It just strikes me as so stupid.
Arclite
@magurakurin: Sorry, was that a bit too on the nose? Seriously, I keep waiting for this guy to pull a Larry Craig or Ted Haggard. I guarantee if you show that guy gay porn that he pitches a tent in his pants.
mikej
I get the impression that Mitt’s handlers look to Mark Penn as a role model.
Chyron HR
Aw, man, is VICTORY!! banned? I really wanted him to come in here and start bragging that Hawaii is a bastion of true conservatism (except when you-know-who goes there).
Arclite
@mikej: Maybe, but Clinton was actually from the South. Mitt is about un-south as you get.
Raven
@Arclite: cheesy
Debbie(Aussie)
Just thought of a concept for a new reality show; Romney and Santorum trying to out-whip each other to prove who loves g-d most. Now that I’d like to see :)
Arclite
@Chyron HR: Thankfully, Hawaii (where I live) is as un-conservative as you can get, pretty much. Maybe folks in Oregon or Vermont have it better, but if they do, not by much. Honestly, I think it has to do with the demographics: only 25% of the population is white…
dr. bloor
By the time this thing is over, Rmoney will be accusing Opus Dei of being a front organization for the ACLU.
Villago Delenda Est
@dr. bloor:
Not to mention a secret sponsor of Planned Parenthood.
Keith G
He has friends who own Opus Dei.
Anton Sirius
Robert Gibbs dug that same knife in on CNN last night, jokingly dog-whistling about whether G-d was really behind the Romney campaign or not. It’s right at the end of this clip:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/13/video-robert-gibbs-on-gop-primaries/?hpt=ac_mid
Nice to see the Dems using the GOP’s own tactics back on them to kill the enthusiasm of their base. Also nice to see that the Obama campaign recognizes that Mitt, and not Santorum, is the candidate they really want to be facing.
magurakurin
@Arclite: Hmmm, I can’t say much for Vermont, but Oregon isn’t the liberal paradise that it is known to be. Basically everything north of the Columbia River(Pat Roberston’s Washington) west of the West Hills, south of Woodstock Blvd(until you get to Eugene DPR) and East of 82nd is a miasma of wingnut hells. And don’t even begin to think about everything east of the Cascade mountains. But Portland is pretty nice place for the most part even if it is totally surrounded. If you have any doubts, take a drive through Errol Heights. Haven’t been for a while though.
marcopolo
Think we need a countdown till when Mitt sets his hair on fire. Can’t be too far off now!
magurakurin
The really sad thing is that Romney actually did win the night in delegates. He is going to end up getting the nod despite being a pathetic loser. Rih is puffing his chest but even though he won the total votes in Miss, Romney ended up with one more delegate. As hated as he is, they will have no choice but to nominate Mitt in the end…after a bitter convention showdown.
bwahahahahahahahahaha. What a fucking clown show.
Romney is going to get curb stomped come November. Wingnut tears are going to flood the “heartland.”
WereBear
I’m really torn: if Mitt is defeated in the general election, it would be because he was too plutocratic, a Mormon, a terrible campaigner; there will be tons of excuses.
But if it’s Santorum; what would the excuses be then? He’s a homegrown Savanarola, the “male Palin” of crazy religion crossed with terrible inhumane policies; I don’t see how there would be talk of him not being conservative enough.
MikeJ
@WereBear:
Teh librul media, duh.
rikyrah
I have to admit…saying Little Ricky wasn’t conservative enough to be his running mate was truly the W-T-F moment for Willard yesterday.
MattF
@WereBear: How about (as Charlie Pierce will remind us) his being a colossal dick?
Added: And I’m not being entirely unserious about this. Re: Huckabee.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
And come November, that statement will read
Anton Sirius
@WereBear: The problem is that while Ricky would still lose to Obama, the GOP would win more down-ballot races because their base would have their dream candidate and their GOTV efforts would be through the roof.
Romney at the top of the ticket kills their GOTV stone dead.
There is a much better chance for big Dem pickups in the House and Senate facing Romney than there is facing Santorum.
WereBear
But that’s never been a detriment to Teh Basest.
WereBear
Excellent point. I’m sold! And I do think it’s gonna be Romney. It’s his last chance and he has all the money in the world.
greennotGreen
When mistermix said the Guardian used the M-word, I thought it was going to be “moron.”
jibeaux
He can’t even get his pandering right. They’re “cheese grits” not “cheesy grits.” Outside of the UK, we generally say “sports”, not “sport”. Do his handlers need to make him note cards that say
cinemaMOVIES andtavernsBARS?kd bart
Can’t wait to the New York primary when Mitt goes to Crown Heights and becomes a Hasid Jew.
WereBear
@kd bart: The sidecurls are going to do wonders for him.
Bulworth
I know Mittens is supposed to be less insane than Newt and Santo, but I’m not seeing any evidence of that.
mk3872
Sure, sure, Romney is weak candidate, we get it. That’s the media trope and it’s not going away any time soon.
But get this: most recent polls show Mr. Weak R-Money BEATING or tying Obama.
So let’s just hope that Mitt governs as the centrist that he and his father were at one time and not like a right-wing lunatic like he is acting as now.
The Republic of Stupidity
Aaaaaaaaaaw shite… by the time this is over, Willard will be appearing on stage in a hooded robe and carrying a rood, if he thinks it’ll get him a few more votes…
Soonergrunt
Hell, by the convention, I expect Romney to have become a minister in the Southern Baptist Convention and proud member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Anton Sirius
@mk3872:
Bzzzt. Wrong. Thanks for playing, there are some nice parting gifts waiting for you backstage.
samara morgan
that is his only hope.
the GOP is 50% WEC, up from 40% in 2008.
WECs are WHITE PEOPLE.
the pundits say “evangelicals”, but black and brown evangelicals vote democrat.
Romney needs 65% of the white vote to beat Obama, and if he loses even a fraction of the WECs to anti-mormon sentiment, hes toast.
samara morgan
what we saw in the Alabama Mississippi pre-contest polling, was a mormon bradley effect. where white “christian” people are ashamed to say they wont vote mormon to a pollster.
its prolly there in national polling as well.
and WECs may very well sukk it up and vote Romney in the general (i saw commenters at Weasel Zippers claim they would would for an amoeba over Obama), but indies and moderates wont after he has run all the way to the right to pander to the WECs.
Joey Maloney
@Arclite: The problem with Hawaii (where I live part time) is that while it’s majority nonwhite, it’s also very religious. LDS, the JWs, 7th Day Adventists all have a strong presence. So despite being very socially relaxed and tolerant, it was also one of the first states to put a no-gay-marriage amendment in the state constitution. Passed handily, as I recall.
MariedeGournay
@Arclite: Especially when their view of the fairy tale is empty of its moral.
peach flavored shampoo
Wait…why is everyone here referring to Santorum as “Rih”? Did I miss a meme?
El Cid
Any decent exit polling yet? I’d like to see how it broke down. Plus, I’m still curious as to if those who might be voting fundie anti-Mormon right now will still do so (or fail to ‘vote Mormon’) when it comes to the Kenyonesian madrassa Bill Ayers Muslim in the White House.
Redshift
@peach flavored shampoo: Because he was caught on tape talking about not giving money to black people and then his campaign implausibly claimed he said “blah” people. Black=>blah = Rick=>Rih.
Herbal Infusion Bagger
Voter fraud by brown people, young people, and slutty women. Organized by ACORN funded by Soros.
Plus I’m sure they’ll conclude Santorum was too librul. Somehow.
Linda Featheringill
@peach flavored shampoo:
You’re probably long gone but I’ll share anyway:
Some time ago, Santorum said something about not wanting to put black people on welfare or some such. He later walked that back by claiming that he actually said “blah” people.
So we figured if he could substitute H for CK, so could we. Rick became Rih.
Betty Cracker
@Linda Featheringill: Thank you. I didn’t get that either but was too lazy to ask.
Socraticsilence
@mk3872:
Um, no, no they don’t- two outlier polls show this but the RCP avg you yourself linked to on Kos shows an almost 4 point lead for the president.
ReflectedSky
Would Santorum really help in down ticket races? Is there analysis that backs that up, or just supposition? Because last time I checked, overall voting was down in the Republican primaries. The far right evangelical segment seems to be enthusiastic about Santorum, but if everybody else stays home, doesn’t that still mean that the down ticket voting will also be lower on the R side?
Last night MSNBC kept blathering about how shocking it was that Santorum won the “working woman” vote — after pointing out that 80% of the voters were conservative, white, evangelicals. I think that term does not mean what you think it means, in that situation.
I think Santorum looks more like a human on camera than Mitt does, but he so helpfully explains his nutjob views and values on such a regular basis, I don’t see how he’s going to drive voting energy in the general. If primary voting was up, indicating that the evangelical base represents the kind of numbers the Village constantly says it has, I’d get worried. But the evidence from the primaries seems to be suggesting the opposite.