Iowa Republican Primary...Field of Dreams, or Eight Men Out?

[Peter]

From Thursday, December 29, 2011 Rasmussen Reports

After months of volatility, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul remain the front-runners in Iowa for the third week in a row with the state’s Republican caucus just five days away.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP caucus participants finds Romney with 23% support to Paul’s 22%. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum has moved into third place with 16%, his best showing to date, closely followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry who earn 13% of the vote each.

This Iowa survey of 750 Likely Republican Caucus Participants was conducted on December 28, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

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A little video narrated by Scott Rasmussen that played while I was on the Rasmussen site said that if you ask people who their first choice is they will tell you U, V, W, X, Y, or Z but when you ask them, “Who is your second choice,” THE WINNER IS SANTORUM. Wow. I did not expect that. Newt and Ron have the highest negatives. Countdown, 10, 9, 8, . . .

Fox News is having a New Year’s Eve Party tonight. If you are home, you might want to tune in for the fun and entertainment. I bet if a poll of Iowans who are likely to watch TV at home tonight were taken, 75 percent would vote for a good time at Fox. You know? We need a TOC or Atlas Society network. I would pay for that on cable, and it would probably outdraw CNN.

Peter

[Peter]

I wrote:

We need a TOC or Atlas Society network. I would pay for that on cable, and it would probably outdraw CNN.

A little voice just whispered to me, and I must answer. Are you saying you would not pay for a cable channel where you could see guys dressed up, playing Francisco and John Galt? Harrison Ford as Hank Rearden? Or like at a StarTrek Convention, a babe dressed up as Dagny Taggart? Are you insane? You wouldn’t pay for a cable channel where you could see Barbara Branden getting tipsy on New Years? Sacrilege!

It is 59 degrees here ago so I will jog to work off the resentment.

Peter

[Selene]

Ken Cuchinelli, AG of Virginia, and a future national political force [my opinion], "...is intervening in his state's presidential primary dispute and plans to file emergency legislation to address the inability of most Republican presidential candidates to get their name on the ballot, Fox News has learned."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/31/virginia-attorney-general-intervenes-in-gop-primary-ballot-dispute/#ixzz1iA5BdQW3

This guy is a gutsy, brilliant Attorney General. Keep your eye on him.

Adam

[Peter]

I just got this in my inbox from Steve Forbes. Interesting.

Peter

Dear Friend & Supporter,

There is no question that all Conservatives are united in their unwavering goal of defeating Barack Obama this November. The problem has been that Conservatives haven't been united on who the best candidate to defeat Obama might be.

I'm afraid that the results from the Iowa Caucuses in less than two days will still show Conservatives fractured in their support, leaving a huge opening for Mitt Romney to become our party's nominee.

While I'm not sure of the order in which they will finish on Tuesday night, based on what I've seen it is clear that Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum will be the top four finishers in the Caucuses.

And let me be blunt, facing Paul and/or Santorum would be a dream come true for the Romney high command.

We all know that Ron Paul can't stop Mitt Romney. Romney's campaign will focus on certain of Paul's past positions and his strange willingness to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. All this makes a Paul victory absolutely impossible.

And while Rick Santorum is the latest in a long line of candidates to get a temporary surge, he has only begun to get vetted by the national media and his opponents. He will be constantly forced to defend his inexcusable addiction to earmarks including projects like the "Bridge to Nowhere". And no one has yet to scratch the surface on his unqualified support and endorsement of the liberal, pro-abortion former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter over true conservative Pat Toomey in the 2004 GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Santorum’s support for Specter enabled Specter to win a narrow victory, by a bare 20,000 votes. Specter then provided the critical, 60th vote for the passage of Obamacare and Obama’s budget busting, Economic Stimulus package, which is ballooning our national debt. Please ponder this: if Specter had been defeated we never would have had Obamacare.

Bottom line — There is only ONE consistent conservative that can go toe to toe with Romney and win the nomination — Rick Perry.

We all know that Rick is a consistent conservative and Washington outsider — a man of faith who isn't afraid to stand up to the liberal establishment to protect our values. I've supported him all along because of his outstanding decade- long record and bold positions: creating more than a million new jobs in Texas; his plan to establish a 20% flat tax to do away with the IRS as we know it; and his plan to overhaul Washington by cutting Congress' pay and sending them home. This is the type of leadership we desperately need to reverse the Obama deficit-spending fueled recession.

But as important as his record, beliefs and proposals is that Rick Perry has proven he can raise the money necessary to compete with Romney. He already has an impressive war chest. And he has the necessary national organization for a long campaign.

If we as Conservatives don't want a repeat of 2008, and are serious about nominating a true Conservative as our nominee, then the time is upon us to unite behind the VIABLE Conservative, the CONSISTENT Conservative — Rick Perry.

Steve

[Peter]

From the Washington Times 24/7

Virginia AG backs off fight for freer ballot access

Virginia’s attorney general on Sunday backed off of a proposal to loosen the state’s ballot access rules to allow more Republican presidential candidates to qualify.

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So it looks like Perry and Newt are definately out since the law says there can be no write ins - those ballots will be thrown away.

Peter