from a political perspective, I dont have a problem voting for a Mormon like Mitt.

[BigJulie]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

On Rush's radio show I heard played a lot of recordings of Rick speaking on the social issues that loom so importantly in the mind's of conservatives.

Listening to him speak, is there any wonder that the conservatives have clearly abandoned Mitt in favor of Rick?

The p***ion in Rick's voice, the heartfelt tone that he can speak to this topic with,,,,there simply is no one else in this election who can come close to Rick's testimony.

I don't know the future, I don't know who will lead the Republican ticket.
But I do know that Rick brings a voice to the issues that I care about.



Long ago in this topic I suggested a little prediction that once Newt were to begin to fade in the polling numbers that the conservatives would likely all gather around Rick, and this seems to now be happening as we finally pick the guy we want to lead the ticket.

Rick is very conservative on social issues. That said---when making a decision, for me, it is far more than just the social issues.

Mitt Romney to me will not only support social issues, but will help this economy get back on track. Right now I am taking an international economics cl***. If we are slaved economically, then social issues will go the way side as well. We can see this already happening.

[alanmolstad]

What conservatives like about Rick over Mitt is the total consistency of Rick's life in supporting his political views.

You know where Rick stands because you can see where he has stood.

Take any conservative issue like Abortion and the right to life for example.
Rick's is a life of always supporting the right of the unborn child to live.

Mitt on the other hand is a flip-flopper and on this issue of abortion he has a flip-flopper's history with it.

That is what concerns conservatives, the fact that Mitt cant be trusted...you just never can be sure what his next flip-flop on the issue of abortion might be?..

Who knows what he might support next week?.....

What we have seen over the last week as well as going back to the SC Primary is the clear sign that Mitt is never going to get the support of the conservatives he would need to win the White House.

I also see going on in the Republican leadership is a much more open move to dump Mitt even if it looks like he has the votes to win the nomination.

Clearly this surge by Rick over the last 2 weeks has caused the whole Party to come to the understanding that "Mitt is just not the guy we want".....

now the only question is...."How to ask Mitt to step aside?"

[BigJulie]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

What conservatives like about Rick over Mitt is the total consistency of Rick's life in supporting his political views.

You know where Rick stands because you can see where he has stood.

Take any conservative issue like Abortion and the right to life for example.
Rick's is a life of always supporting the right of the unborn child to live.

Mitt on the other hand is a flip-flopper and on this issue of abortion he has a flip-flopper's history with it.

That is what concerns conservatives, the fact that Mitt cant be trusted...you just never can be sure what his next flip-flop on the issue of abortion might be?..

Who knows what he might support next week?.....

What we have seen over the last week as well as going back to the SC Primary is the clear sign that Mitt is never going to get the support of the conservatives he would need to win the White House.

I also see going on in the Republican leadership is a much more open move to dump Mitt even if it looks like he has the votes to win the nomination.

Clearly this surge by Rick over the last 2 weeks has caused the whole Party to come to the understanding that "Mitt is just not the guy we want".....

now the only question is...."How to ask Mitt to step aside?"

You know what is interesting---I know two people who personally know Mitt Romney very well....and they have both said unequivobally, he is one of the best people they know.

It is sad to me that if he wins the nomination that there are those like you who seem to think that there are those who won't vote for him because he is a "flip-flopper". To me, this is just a label from those who speak of repentence for people like Newt, but don't believe in it for a person like Mitt.

I personally believe Mitt is a fixer. Those who know him state that he doesn't see a problem without looking for solutions. Rick has his strengths in his strong convictions as a Catholic....but as you said, we are not electing a pastor.

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by BigJulie

You know what is interesting---I know two people who personally know Mitt Romney very well....and they have both said unequivobally, he is one of the best people they know.

Im sure they all are nice people.
But we are not electing someone to be "Nice person of the year"......

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by BigJulie

Rick has his strengths in his strong convictions as a Catholic...

I did not know he was Catholic....
It does not matter to me, but I did not know it anyway....

[alanmolstad]

I think that the phone is ringing for Newt to step aside and let Rick have all the attention now.

Im also hearing about many in the Republican leadership starting to talk about when to talk to Mitt about dropping out too....

[alanmolstad]

More proof that the Republican Leadership is now clearly trying to get rid of Mitt and to push Rick into center stage...

http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...s-turn-editors

[alanmolstad]

a quote from the link I posted above...

"So far Romney has been running mostly on his biography: Republicans are supposed to vote for him because he is a family man and shrewd businessman.
And Republicans, even the many who are well disposed to him, have been saying as loud as they can: It isn’t enough."

that's what i have been saying for a long time now....

[alanmolstad]

"Rick Santorum Has Conservatism in His Bodily Fluids"

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/20..._bodily_fluids

[BigJulie]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

"Rick Santorum Has Conservatism in His Bodily Fluids"

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/20..._bodily_fluids

Yes, I actually heard that on Rush today. I thought to myself---is he one of these "radio" personalities the group of pastors who got together in Texas were using to promote Rick Santorum?

[alanmolstad]

I think if we check we will not find any real strong support for Mitt among any Conservative talk radio...

Mitt does have support, mostly from the establishment Republicans like George Will who are well known on TV but not so much on radio.

Also the dems who post on internet blogs and do Tv commentary are all in Mitt's camp and ready to run agauinst him in the fall.

The Liberals want Mitt to beat Rick because running against Mitt later means so much is off the table.
Healthcare, social issues, Abortion, personal faith, all the core issues to Conservatives would be left out of the debate.

Rick's stumbling block is in debates.
I watch Rick in each debate and he just seems about another 10 years from being ready to be up there on the stage.

Mitt is a way better in the debates.

The counter for me in that is that there is just something about Rick that says at all times "Genuine" ....as in "What you see is what you get"



The only gut feeling many conservatives get when they watch Mitt is, "artificial"


There is talk that the money is finally running out for Newt, and that his rich supporter is not all excited to toss more Newt's way.
If Newt runs out of cash then it does not matter if he stays in the race or not.
There is some suggestion in the media that Newt might want to stay in the race just to have a soapbox to stand on to hurt Mitt all the way to the general election.

we shall see.

[alanmolstad]

Because Florida gave Mitt a victory that just short of what he needed to drive others out of the race, they all are now headed to the big show-down on Super Tuesday. (on March 6th)

On that day we will see 10 States take their turn at picking the winner of this race...
We here in ND also get to vote that day!

I used to think that it would be 'all over' by the time I got to vote, but that is just not true this year.

The fact is that this year my vote will actually matter.
So few of us vote here, that each vote has the ability to cause a swing at times, so we shall see how we do?

At the current time I would have no problem voting for Mitt over Obama, but right now I also would have no problem voting for Rick over Mitt.

But no matter how it ends up here, the truth is that the real telling States will be coming up on Feb 28 .
Arizona...will show us all if Ron Paul should get out?
Michigan ...will show us how strong Mitt's support still is ?
........

[BigJulie]

So, I have liked Rick--and when I think about whether or not I want a candidate---I go to their voting record.

This is what I can see from Rick. He is very conservative on social issues. He is very liberal on the size and scope of government. He knows nothing about economics or how growth is obtained and works. He knows nothing about national security when it comes to economics.

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by BigJulie

This is what I can see from Rick. He is very conservative on social issues.

I think the general election will center on the social issues for conservatives.

I dont really think the economy will really be all that much of a big deal by then.

What i want is a guy to stand up to Obama on social issues, and be able to put his record up against Obama's ...

At the current time I dont see Mitt being able to act in a manner that Im looking for in the leader of the ticket.

Im not sure what ranking Rick has by the leading conservatives for ranking people?....but that might be learned later.

Right now Im glad that Rick is stepping up into the bright lights and saying the things that Mitt was not saying and I wanted said by someone!

Rick still seems not really all that ready to out-debate Obama, but thats what getting a good staff is for I guess.

The future is unknown to me, so i dont really know who will lead the ticket at this point.

But I do see a lot of conservatives like myself looking at Rick and being "ok" with him leading the ticket.

What I see when i look at Rick is a guy who has truly lived a life that reflects a life-long , deep conservatism that I expect out of a good Republican president.

Rick is genuine...
Rick is real....
Rick does not have the "baggage" that Mitt and Newt have....

[BigJulie]

Rick has plenty of baggage--it is not hard to find blogs or articles written about his baggage when one does a little looking into Rick.

So, you think this election will be about social issues and not the economy. Well, as someone who has been studying economics for the past couple of years--I guess, we can all put our heads in the sand and think that a rise in the stock market is enough to satisfy.

I, on the other hand, know that some key components of our economy have been on the downhill slide since 1983. I know that our debt level is unsustainable and how we address it will be key to not only our prosperity, but our freedom. I know that if we continue on this trend, our children will suffer greatly and their children more so after them.

So, you go ahead and vote for social issues. I will vote for someone who I think will get not only get our economy on the right track, but do so with conservative underlying principles, the ability to see both sides of the issue, and the ability to work with all kinds of people.

And what became aparently obvious from looking at Rick's voting record is that other than strong Catholic values, Rick does not understand our world from an educated viewpoint. In fact, I think I am going to go look at what his degree is in. I will be surprised if it is in business because he doesn't vote as if he understands it.

Okay, I just looked it up---he has an MBA and a JD---he's a lawyer. But I am shocked he has an MBA because his voting record seems to show a lack of insight into economics and you usually have to have at least basic economic cl***es for an MBA. It makes me wonder why he voted the way he did.

[alanmolstad]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...g-republicans/

I think we can no longer maintain the myth that Mitt is the front-runner...

Clearly despite Rick being outspent in every state and in every county he has now proved to be Mitt's equal in the eyes of Republicans.

we can only imagine what this race would be like had Rick been given the same built-in advantage that Mitt has enjoyed from the beginning.

Chances are that had Rick the money of Mitt at the start, that by now we would be saying "Mitt? ... Mitt who?



I think that Rick now stands at a very important point in his race to the White House....
What Rick needs is to beat Mitt in a State that represents the Party.

I think that the next big test to see what future Rick has will come in AZ.........

Should Rick do well in AZ we may be talking about only a short matter of time before Mitt drops out....

[alanmolstad]

I did a little checking with how Rick rates with conservatives, and with Christians, and with gun owners...

http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/27054

hard to find a place to find fault with Rick's ratings.....

My kinda guy!

[BigJulie]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

I did a little checking with how Rick rates with conservatives, and with Christians, and with gun owners...

http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/27054

hard to find a place to find fault with Rick's ratings.....

My kinda guy!

Yup, now---that all your pastors have gotten together and decided that for you. I guess you couldn' t have figured that out two months ago.

[alanmolstad]

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000073023


The media is now saying that Michigan is starting to loom bigger and bigger in this election.

from this link Im getting the idea that Mitt is tossing a lot of chips into this State because he knows that not doing well there will only lead to more talk about an open convention.

I cant predict the future , but should Mitt get into trouble in Michigan its going to really kick this down the road and we will clearly end up at the convention with a lot of talk about dropping Mitt no matter how many votes he has at the con.

On the other hand, if Rick does poorly it will not really be all that bad for him in the long run...
It will slow him down for sure, but the main battle Rick and Newt is in right now is all about Super Tuesday...

[BigJulie]

So, they published Rick's tax records for the past four years---hmmm, he gave 2.2% in 2011 of his 3 plus million to charity--dropped to 1.7% before that---why am I not surprised that he does not put his money where his mouth is?

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by BigJulie

So, they published Rick's tax records ...

Is there even the slightest hint that there is a legal problem with his taxes?

[alanmolstad]

I also would like to ask how much money compared to others does Rick make?

[alanmolstad]

Now to the issue of tax returns, why is this such a big deal?

The answer is that it is a valid concern to know where someone is getting their money.
This helps us all know where a person's heart is...what they are up to.

Knowing where a guy is getting the most money helps us all be able to trust that the person is not working for China, or other foreign governments, or in the pocket of special interests.

As to what the people do with their money?...thats more a personal issue.

As long as they dont spend it doing something against the law its not really any of our business what a guy spends his money on.

We all know that all these guys are giving to different causes out of their great abundance, and that none of us is saying that Mitt, Newt, Rick or Paul , gave so much money away they ended up in the poor house.

Im sure a guy who is worth around 300 million can get a nice reputation for cutting checks for different needy causes over the years...
and if we were deciding who was to be president on the question of who gave more of their money away?, then this question would not be moot.

But we are not deciding who gave the most money away, so the question as to what Mitt and Rick do with their wealth is moot.

The only issue with getting the tax returns out is that we all can know where they "earn" their money.

I dont actually care if they spend most of it on buying ice cream and cigarettes.

[alanmolstad]

Has everyone seen the newest polling numbers coming out of Ohio?....

Very interesting....
It appears that the election now has a new front runner in Rick!


http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/in...367e06f0510970

[BigJulie]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

I also would like to ask how much money compared to others does Rick make?

The bigger question is where does Rick make his money? The fact that he only gives such a meager amount to charity while making millions speaks to his real beliefs about charitable giving in the U.S.---at the same time, he is a huge supporter of foreign aid which has been shown to aid corruption in this country as well as the country given to while statistically proven that it hurts the poor in aid-country. Sheesh---I swear, I would love to find any evidence that this guy actually learned something in school.