Iowa Hiho!

[Mattus]

Illinois goes to Romney, for whatever that's worth, as Santorum tries to move the conversation away from jobs and the economy, and toward abstract conservative values such as freedom and liberty. This smells of man down to his last stack in a poker game throwing back his chair and going all in on a pair of Jacks. He's admitting Romney is the better manager, the better man to rescue the economy from its current guttering spiral, but declares this election is about more important things! He's asking for Faith.

A bold move. Or perhaps desperate.

Symbolically Illinois means nothing. Money likes the smell of money and there's plenty of it in Chicago now, and whether Romney, Santorum or Herman Cain are the most popular republicans in the state won't make a lick of difference in the general election because Chicago belongs to Obama. Not even Jesus H Reagen himself could take that one. No, the significance of Illinois is nothing more than a handful more RNC delegates in this seemingly endless Bataan death march to the Tampa.

[Mattus]

Meanwhile...

[AiA in Atlanta]

Newt was last seen eating at an expensive DC establishment rather than campaigning. Meanwhile. Romney is looking for his soul.

[Mattus]

Santorum unsurprisingly takes Lou, and the margin will probably be in double digits in the final analysis. Romney has done well to stay in second place and keep Gingrich out of the picture.

March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb. After a promising start on Super Tuesday, Romney has kept his nose in front, but can't shut the gate on Santorum. In the end, March was a tough month for his campaign, but he has a very good chance of taking a clean sweep in April, if you don't count Penn.

Next week it's DC, Maryland and Wisconsin. Wisconsin is probably Santorum's best shot for the month, but Romney has been campaigning hard there and if the polls are to be believed, it's working. Outside of that, Romney should be able to nail it shut with New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island later in the month. Penn should be an easy win for Santorum, but Romney could pick up delegates in some of the left leaning urban congressional districts. By that stage Romney's delegate count should be insurmountable with big state wins like New York anyway.

[AiA in Atlanta]

Don't think Santorum will make it. Too much of the "Anybody but Obama" attitude in the conservative electorate. Remember all the racial ugliness in the 2008 among the crowds who supported McCain/Palin? It's gonna be much much uglier this time around.

[Mattus]

Don't think Santorum will make it.

Romney has nailed the door shut on Wisconsin and is starting to peg back Pennsylvania. Santorum is only 2 points in front in his home state! Imagine the smugness if Romney can take Penn after all the fanfare in Detroit!

[Mattus]

America votes (again!). A sweep today should just about own it for Romney. So instead lets talk about the veep.

Romney needs a veep who will compensate for his many weaknesses. It must be a Southerner, that goes without saying. It must be someone who oozes the authenticity that Romnotron 9000 lacks. A chick would also be great, but no fucking crackpot Alaskans this time, eh?



Lets start with Marco Rubio. He's a Floridan senator, so we'll put a check in the box next to Southern. Florida is also a Swing state and a must-win for Romney if he has any hope of beating Obama. He's a rising star in the political landscape, with authenticity and charisma (but not too much). He's no chick, but he's part Cuban and that's the next best thing. He's young, perhaps that will draw away some of the youth voters disillusioned with Obama losing his shininess. The job should be Rubio's if he wants it. But he probably doesn't want it. Look at what happened to the last young and inexperienced token minority (female) veep who tried to compensate for the lacking charisma of the primary!



So moving on, lets talk Bob McDonnell. Virginian (South - check, Swing state - check), popular, authentic (check), and actually pretty damn smart. He ticks a lot of boxes, but he's no chick. In fact, his recently signed into law mandatory transvaginal ultrasound for women having abortions makes him pretty damn unpopular with the fairer sex. Lets consider that box (boom, tish!) unchecked. Moving on.



Chris Christie. Hot tempered but lovable fat New Jersey wise guy. He's a hell of a character, but would outshine Romney at every turn. He's too big (and not just physically) for the Romney ticket. Also, a new New Jersey / New England ticket isn't going to sell a lot of votes south of the Mason Dickson. Of course he wouldn't want the job anyway, it would just be a distraction from his already pretty full career. The guy will be president one day, if he doesn't have a heart attack first. Veep's not going to interest him. Stugots to that. Moving on.


Susana Martinez. Token female (check), from the Southern (check) swing (check) state of New Mexico. She's friendly and authentic (check) and hispanic (extra bonus points round, ding, ding, ding!). Unfortunately she's a bit of an unknown quantity (*cough* Palin! *cough*) and probably has a boner for Gingrich anyway. Lets put her down as a "maybe".

Mitch Daniels from Indiana is another likely candidate, and other possibilities include Bobby Jindal, Rob Portman, John Thune, and even Paul Ryan, but I'm bored of this game now so enough said.

[AiA in Atlanta]

Neither of the two "Southerners" you mentioned are Southerners as all. A Florida Cuban? Huh? And New Mexico isn't in "The South."

Christie would be formidable on the ticket.

[Mattus]

Neither of the two "Southerners" you mentioned are Southerners as all. A Florida Cuban? Huh? And New Mexico isn't in "The South."

What an odd thing to say, notwithstanding the fact that I listed 3 southerner, rather than 2. Florida is a fully fledged confederate southern red neck state, so having the Junior senator from Florida on the presidential ticket will absolutely buy much needed credibility in the south for this Massachusetts governor.

New Mexico may not be a confederate state but there's no disputing that at least the eastern parts are in the bible belt, so it's hardly a Yankee doodle dandy. Bordering with Texas and Mexico makes it pretty fucking southern.


In any event, Romney has swept today's trifector, and it's really time for the other 3 to step down.

[Super Nova]

I am not intimate with the process.

What happens once Romney is the number 1 contender. Can they force Abama to not be a candidate in the election, forcing to be only a 1 termer.

Has this ever happened?

Surely the Abama has the poll position for the throne.