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GOP Arizona and Michigan Primaries: Open Thread

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It seems the Republican circus has now gotten to the trapeze act with no net.  Recent polling for Arizona and Michigan suggests both are statistical ties with Michigan poised to be an all-night cliffhanger.  Romney faces a potentially disastrous defeat and Santorum, well, any momentum he wins or loses is unlikely to change his clear intention to wage electoral jihad.  

And they are both clearly doing themselves no favours:


Both Willard Romney and Rick Santorum – and have I mentioned recently what a colossal dick the latter is? – ought to thank their personal deities that they’re not racehorses. Because, if they were, and given the way they’re both limping towards the finish line in Michigan and Arizona today, we’d already have the screen up, the syringe at the ready, and the veterinary ambulance discreetly parked off to one side.

Charles P Pierce – The Michigan Primary and the GOP’s Bloody Uprising Esquire 28 Feb 12

At this point it is hard to imagine how a win or loss for either changes the fundamentals of an increasingly toxic and historically damaging nomination for the GOP.  Pass the popcorn, please, and make it the good stuff.


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/ 128 Comments

128 comments

  1. fogiv

    we’re in for a longish night, I suspect.

    Republican voters in Michigan and Arizona say the most important quality they’re looking for in a presidential nominee is the ability to beat President Obama, according to CBS News early exit polling.

    Michigan and Arizona Republicans are voting today in what has come down to a fierce battle between the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney, and the social conservative, Rick Santorum.

    In spite of the major differences between the two frontrunners and the volatile nature of the primary race so far, voters’ priorities have remained consistent — in every contest so far with entrance or exit polls, the most important candidate quality for voters is the ability to beat Mr. Obama.

    In Arizona, where Romney has led in the polls, 38 percent of voters said electability was the candidate quality that matters most. Twenty percent said strong character was the most important, while 22 percent said the having the right experience, and 16 percent said being a true conservative.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-50…

    CW would suggest this all favors mittens, but I’m not comfortable applying ‘wisdom’ to anything the GOP gets up to this cycle.

    The concerns about electability strike me as ironic — I’ve never thought either Ronmey, or Santorum, or Newton, of Paul were ever electable — on their best days.

  2. fogiv

    any good D’s up yonder with a credible shot at the open(ing) seat?

    Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe announced she would not seek a fourth term because she is tired of the polarization and partisanship that has permeated Washington in recent years.

    http://content.usatoday.com/co…

  4. HappyinVT

    WARREN, Mich. | If you want a sense of the challenges Mitt Romney and the GOP have in Michigan, you could learn a lot from standing on the corner of Mound and East 9 Mile roads here in suburban Detroit.

    snip

    This is auto industry country, and the people who work in the Chrysler plant or the General Motors plant across the street are not pleased that all of the Republican candidates for president opposed the federal auto bailout that saved their jobs.

    snip

    Scott Kanas works at the Chrysler truck plant. He said he voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008 because “I knew Obama was going to be like this,” which is too liberal for him. But he sees nothing to like in the Republican field.

    “Look who they are giving us now. What do they think, we’re stupid?” Kanas said. His anger is trained especially at Romney, who grew up in Michigan and whose father was head of American Motors. “Now he’s Michigan’s son, before he told us to kiss his ass. He has no loyalty. His loyalty is to the almighty buck.” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ru…  

    The whole thing is brutal.  And, fwiw, Mr. Kanas will likely not vote at all (he says now) unless another candidate emerges.

  13. HappyinVT

    Per Mark Knoller at CBS (via Twitter which I cannot quote):

    “Pres. Obama waives requirements of Natl Defense Authorization Acto to always place suspected terrorists in military custody.”

    Sounds like a good thing to me.

  15. HappyinVT

    in order to have “won” the state in the narrative?  I’m not sure he can win with prior expectations so high.

  16. HappyinVT

    9.40 pm. The under-30s go for Ron Paul again in Michigan. Meanwhile, 2 percent of the vote was black. 92 percent was white. That’s the GOP we have come to know these past few years. http://andrewsullivan.thedaily…  

    And apparently Catholics went for Romney as did those making more than $100k and so did the 65+ crowd.  Unions and evangelicals went for Santorum.

  17. Shaun Appleby

    And a very significant chunk of delegates, like 80% of total up for grabs today.  Dregs to Santorum in Michigan, none in Arizona.

  18. Shaun Appleby

    It would be time to cue Romney stepping on his own whatsit again in the warm glow of a win.  He has a knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  We’ll see…

  22. HappyinVT

    Michigan’s delegate count is officially a tie.  So Romney outspent his closest opponent more than 2:1 in his home state just to tie the number of delegates.

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