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

[dfoJC]

I just wanted to drop in and congratulate the two of you on this particular thread! No insults, no name calling, hardly any negativity at all. My hat is off to you both!

While I am here let me add just a couple of thoughts to this discussion.

I plan on voting in this presidential election, and if I do not agree with whoever the nominee is, I will write in someone if that is an option.

When I decide who I am going to vote for I will do so based on a couple of things.

First, the person's ideology, I definitely want a cons***utional conservative in the White house. It seems that some of our current group do not meet that standard. I continue to hope that it becomes clearer as this process moves forward.

Secondly, I want to know the leadership ability of that person. I knew Barak Obama would make a horrible president based on that one thing. A man who has run only a "community" type group is not properly equipped to run a nation. His failure to lead has cost this nation greatly, and we simply cannot afford 4 more years of him, he will in his weakness push us over the edge morally and economically.

I see some strong leaders in our current group of republicans, I am not sure just yet who is the strongest, but I will find out as I study them.

So there is my two cents on this all important election. I would also encourage us to be praying for America, I am devastated in considering that those lost in the Revolution, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and our current wars in the east were for naught because we have forgotten what this nation stands for and represents.

God bless you two, take care and Merry Christ-mas,

dfoJC

[BigJulie]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

These are the two main issues that are behind the rise of the conservative right in this country.

The issue of abortion.
The issue of God being taken away from being part of raising of our children.

I agree these are hefty issues, but I think all of the GOP candidates will back a strong family stance. While you may criticize Mitt Romney on his position on this; Newt Gingrich hasn't really shown himself to be stellar family man.

The economy?......FAT CHANCE!

By this time next year the media will be all on-board with what will be called "The Obama Recovery" and so scratch that issue off the list of things that might get the right to vote for Mitt.

This is why I wish the "evangelical right" would spend more time educating themselves on the economy. Right now, Obama is doing everything in his power to throw money into the economy. This is why our government debt will have almost doubled under his watch. He knows this year is crucial and so he has told his cabinets to scour every bill and find any money they can and start dumping it this year. The end result will be a temporary improvement in the economy, but not a long-term one. Obama knows his best hope is to get us thinking this economy is turning around---to the extreme that Ben Bernanke is even now dumping money into European banks which continue to drag us down. So, if you think "FAT CHANCE" on evangelical right voters paying attention to the economy because of the "recovery"---then they are not paying attention. We are at a critical stage--a tipping point, so to speak--on whether or not we will be a free society as far as business goes. I hope more will spend time thinking about this when they vote. Newt Gingrich stands for the status-quo in how Washington does business. As I said, to me, he is a lobbying crook. Can I thank Michelle Bachman for pointing this out in the last election? She nailed it!

How about the issue of taxes?.......well, being the gov of what is called "Taxachussetts" means that Mitt has no "I will lower your taxes" , type footing to stand on ...

M***. is a very blue state. Mitt was able to take a down-graded credit rating and improve it and worked with both a democratic house and senate. That is impressive from my standpoint.

The point Im making is that no Republican can expect to win the White House without getting the core Republican right all fired-up to help him get out the vote.
This means the whoever is on the ticket has to be able to stand before the Conservative right and say, "Im with you, "

Mitt cant do that.

I think this is more because of the "cult" image than anything else. I think the stereotyping has gone on for so long, he is having a hard time getting past that and Newt knows the talking points and uses them. Huckabee did as well. Sad when there are easy ****ons to be pushed of the voters and they fall for it.

[BigJulie]

Originally Posted by dfoJC

I just wanted to drop in and congratulate the two of you on this particular thread! No insults, no name calling, hardly any negativity at all. My hat is off to you both!

While I am here let me add just a couple of thoughts to this discussion.

I plan on voting in this presidential election, and if I do not agree with whoever the nominee is, I will write in someone if that is an option.

When I decide who I am going to vote for I will do so based on a couple of things.

First, the person's ideology, I definitely want a cons***utional conservative in the White house. It seems that some of our current group do not meet that standard. I continue to hope that it becomes clearer as this process moves forward.

Secondly, I want to know the leadership ability of that person. I knew Barak Obama would make a horrible president based on that one thing. A man who has run only a "community" type group is not properly equipped to run a nation. His failure to lead has cost this nation greatly, and we simply cannot afford 4 more years of him, he will in his weakness push us over the edge morally and economically.

I see some strong leaders in our current group of republicans, I am not sure just yet who is the strongest, but I will find out as I study them.

So there is my two cents on this all important election. I would also encourage us to be praying for America, I am devastated in considering that those lost in the Revolution, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and our current wars in the east were for naught because we have forgotten what this nation stands for and represents.

God bless you two, take care and Merry Christ-mas,

dfoJC

Thanks dfoJC. Have a merry Christmas as well. I am praying for America and I pray for Obama as well and all of our leadership. Regardless if I support his positions or not, I still love this country and pray for God to help us and them together.

[alanmolstad]

I got a chance to listen to a TV round table of well known political guys. and it was interesting to see them talk about Iowa and Mitt.

Their conclusions matched my own as I have posted here.
That Mitt can lose Iowa and come in 2nd easy with no damage all all....as long as he does not come in 3rd, or even 4th.

If in 10 days (or whats ever it is when you read this) we watch Tv that night that Iowa decides and we see Mitt come in 3rd, it better be a close 3rd....or the next week might be very messy for Mitt.

On the other hand, if Mitt comes in a nice 2nd place in Iowa it will not mean anything bad at all..

2nd in Iowa is good news for Mitt.

A Mitt win in Iowa would really work to clear the decks and force the lower 3 people out of the race,

[BigJulie]

Ron Paul is rising---the next "not Mormon" candidate---tee hee hee.

P.S. Do you think it will eventually circle back to Michelle Bachman?

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by BigJulie

Ron Paul is rising---the next "not Mormon" candidate---tee hee hee.

P.S. Do you think it will eventually circle back to Michelle Bachman?

there is a chance that Bachman might be able to close on the conservative vote...I know she has good standing in the conservative voter's mind.

In fact all 3 of the lower ranking people are actually the 3 strongest conservatives in the race.
So there is a chance any of the lower 3 can improve their numbers as this thing starts to draw to the moment of voting.

Remember being ahead in Iowa is more or less not all that important.
So the fact that in Iowa we may see one person rise up in the poll numbers and another drop down does not mean anything in the real world.

The real poll numbers that we should pay attention to are in NH, SC, and Florida.
These 3 states will tell us who will be leading the ticket and if they have a chance to actually beat Obama.

NH, because it is the first real State to decide anything that really matters...NH will give us our answer about Mitt and his ability to rally people to his side?

SC, because it will show us the level of support each person in the race can expect to get from the Christian far right.
That is important because a weak showing in SC is doom for anyone who leads the ticket.

Florida, because it has so much at stake at that point in the primary.
Lose Florida and you simply will not become President.

From the beginning I have felt that Mitt has a build-in advantage in this election and if he dont screw up, will lead the ticket.

The main problem Mitt has is that he simply does not reflect the views of Conservatives , nor has the personal history of supporting his views over the long-haul that he needs to draw to his side the number of Conservative voters he needs.

I know a lot of people try to highlight Mitt's history with business, but I think this will not be useful by next year as I expect the media will be giving lots, and lots of credit to Obama, for the better economy by then.

The traditional drawing points that conservatives use to rally people to vote is missing in this election.
The traditional social issues are not in play.
Mitt is never going to be making the rounds outside churches....Mitt is never going to be talking to church leaders, nor talking to Christian media.
So this means that a lot of the normal outreach into the Conservative community will not even happen this time.

If Mill does lead the ticket, how is he going to reach out to the conservative christian?

You can NOT win an election by only pointing out how "bad" the other guy is.

You have to inspire..,
You have to show vision, and an ability to draw people to a common cause.

Obama does this very well.
Obama will have the core of the Liberal wing of his Party all fired up to vote.
Obama will be speaking at churches, praying with ministers, bringing up God in his speeches.
Obama knows that Christians, and both liberal and conservative are well known to be good voters.

Christians vote....and in high enough numbers that Christians swing elections that are close....or provide landslides too sometimes.

So we can count on Obama seeking out the Christian voter.
Obama will speak with Christian wording.
Obama will go where Christians go...address issues that other Christians think about.


Has Mitt yet even slightly attempted to do the same?

[alanmolstad]

http://video.foxnews.com/v/132829047...ntcmp=obinsite

[alanmolstad]

What I see in the conservative media is that there is a very strong push by conservatives for someone else other than Mitt.

This does not mean for one second that it should be seen as good news for Obama.
Rather it should only be seen in the light that the conservatives are pushing back inside the republican party , and that this needs to be accounted for later in the year by whomever leads the ticket.

I expect Mitt to lead the ticket, and I expect that he is smart enough to understand that he does not have a hope in hell of beating Obama without the conservative base of his Party fully supporting him.

That being the case, I expect Mitt to see the wisdom in appealing to the conservatives in the naming of his VP...as well as in the Party Platform.

The VP picked does not have to appeal to the middle of the road voter....Rather Mitt needs a VP name that will draw the unquestioned support of the conservatives Christians that he clearly lacks right now.

[alanmolstad]

all this will be a moot point if in a few days Mitt does not turn out to do well in Iowa.

Mitt needs a good 2nd place finish in Iowa to really put him in the lead going into NH and headed to SC and Florida.
If Mitt actually wins Iowa?..well, thats going to drive half the names off the playing field right away.

Everyone else in this race is counting on Mitt to come in 3rd...
They all want Mitt to come in 3rd because that would be seen as a big **** to Mitt's chances of beating everyone, and it would open up the field for other names to fill the void.

In-fact, if Mitt came in 3rd, or worse yet, 4th, it would open up the race to the idea that new people might think about getting into the hunt too.
Sarah Palin would be tempted to toss her hat into the ring should Mitt finish 3rd.
Trump is also watching from the fence....
as are a few other names we could list who are also looking for the sign in Iowa's results that Mitt does not have it wrapped up already.

So in a few days we shall see what we shall see.

I dont know the future, and so I can only offer a guess, and then go back later as see how my guess worked out?

My current "guess" is that Mitt comes in a close 2nd in Iowa...
and that this leads to one or two names dropping out before the next week in NH.

My current "guess" is that based on the lack of a real conservative name that is able to challenge Mitt for more that a few days in a row, that there is a good chance that Mitt could actually win in Iowa.

In such a situation, if Mitt wins in Iowa? then it is my "guess" that we could lose up to half the names in the race in the 2 weeks after Iowa and from that point on it's an easy ride for Mitt all the way to the convention.

On the other hand, if Mitt were to come in 3rd or 4th in Iowa, then it is my "guess" that this would make this race a lot more interesting for everyone, and would tempt other names into getting into the race too.

In fact, should Mitt actually come in 4th in Iowa it would be almost a knock-out punch to his chances to go on to win. a 4th place finish for Mitt would be very close to a sign that his run to the White House is doomed, and would put him in position to really get spanked later if he stayed in the race.

[Libby]

I don't think any of the GOP candidates have a chance in hades of beating Obama, as it stands right now. Mitt Romney would be their best bet, but the polls are showing Obama beating him, as well. The Republicans are really messing up in Congress, right now, which is going to make it difficult for them in November, if things haven't gotten better, by then.

[Libby]

Alan, I think you are right that many of the Republicans are looking for "anyone but Mitt". There is prejudice against his religion, whether it is spoken or not.

[alanmolstad]

I listened to NPR on my car's radio last night and was amused to find that the political expert that were interviewing was saying point-by-point the very same ideas that i have come up with on this topic.

The ideas the expert was talking about were dealing with the likely results of Iowa and how they will change who is in the running the next week in NH?


IF MITT WINS-
if Mitt wins in Iowa, then this will cause about 1/2 the field to drop out...perhaps 2 names would drop out of the race the night of Iowa is over, and within the next 2 weeks it might be down to Mitt and one other person headed to a final show down in Florida.


IF MITT COMES IN 2nd -
If Mitt comes in 2nd in Iowa this will cause the top polling conservative to ask all the other conservatives to drop out of the race before NH...
The reason is that the Top Conservative will say that you cant expect any conservative to beat Mitt in NH if the conservative vote is split between 4 different people all polling in the mid-teens, and all losing to Mitt who is polling in the mid-20s.

The leading conservative in the race after Iowa will point out that if there was only one conservative name to pick from he would be able to draw on all the conservative votes, and beat Mitt easy...



IF MITT COMES IN 3RD OR 4TH -
Then the race is WIDE OPEN!!!!
A 3rd place finish for Mitt in Iowa kicks open the door to other names not even in the race right now.
a 4th place finish by Mitt would be also hint of doom for Mitt's chances.

But even a close 3rd place finish for Mitt would be all the proof everyone would need to understand that the whole Conservative wing of the Party feels that the current names in this election are not the best team the Party can come up with, and so there will be a lot of talk about who else there is left to pick from?


Its all up in the air right now, but the NPR expert did talk about the same thing I have always thought when it comes to looking at pre-Iowa polling numbers in this election and how they seem to suggest Mitt is in the lead.

Consider that from the start we have seen Mitt poll in the low 20%.....never really getting any higher polling numbers no matter who else if getting the media attention.

A lot of pro-Mitt supporters look at the lower polling numbers of the 4 conservatives in the race and are fooled into thinking that Mitt is still in the lead....
Im not sure that we can say that.

Yes, Mitt has better numbers compared to any of the others, but is he really in the lead?
I think this is a false understanding of the polling.
The real understanding should be that Mitt is stuck at about 20% whereas the more conservative names in the race are splitting around 60%-70% of the polling numbers between them.

Had there only been one name for the conservative voters to choose from, then it is a good guess to say that Mitt's lower 20s% numbers would never give us the idea that Mitt has ever once been in the lead in this election.

But that's all just water under the bridge right now.

The current situation is that Mitt is seen as the Liberal in this race, and he is going against 4 conservatives right now....
and that in all likelihood we shall see 2 or 3 names drop of the list following Iowa and NH.....
and so in a very real way everything right now is in flux....

But with each day that p***es we are a little more closer to the ending of all this political speculation .....

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by Libby

I don't think any of the GOP candidates have a chance in Hades of beating Obama, as it stands right now.

Here is some information to always keep in mind when thinking about Obama's chances...

Any president going into his re-election that polls below 45% will always lose..
Everyone that polled 45% or lower always turned out to lose in the general election.

and...

Every president that polled at 50% before the election always wins later in the general election.

so if Obama can come up in his polling numbers in about the next 6 months he will get reelected....

But right now Obama polls in at around 43% or lower.
This means that as of right now, it is clear from the polling numbers that Obama is going to lose.

Obama has about 6 months to raise his numbers up to 50%...

For most president this would be something they could pull off...But Obama has shown a very poor ability to raise his polling numbers over the last 2 years no matter what new program he came out with.

Obama's last address to congress about the ***'s bill of his was planned to raise his numbers and help him sweep into the election with higher polling numbers.
But after his address before Congress we never saw much of a rise in his polling numbers at all.....

The ***'s Bill more or less turned out to moot point in this election.

The speech before congress turned out to be also a moot point as far as a kick-start to his election.

So when you take all this into account:
#1 - The fact they he spoke before Congress in such a big-deal manner and to was all for nothing...
#2 - The fact that the one issue Obama was going to hang his reelection on (***'s Bill) had just dropped completely off the radar screen.
#3 - And that fact that Obama has not had any rise in his polling numbers over the last 2 years of being stuck around 43% no matter what elses he tried...

All this adds up to a very weak president, and a very good likelihood that he can be beaten by a strong Republican candidate,....

Perhaps even spanked hard in the 2012 elections.

[Libby]

That's the problem (for the GOP), though, Alan. They don't have a "strong" contender. Not even Mitt is beating Obama in the polls, right now, and Obama is polling at 49% approval. He's getting a lot of help from the poor performance of the Congressional Republicans.

I am an Obama supporter, btw. Not a Democrat. I am a left leaning Independent voter.

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by Libby

....There is prejudice against his religion, whether it is spoken or not.

If you have a chance Libby you might drop back to my post on 12-20-2011 07:36 AM where I talk about the reason for a lot of Christian/Conservatives always looking for "anyone else but Mitt".

Turns out that while there is some connection to religion, its more based on the fact that Mitt is just not the guy the Conservatives were looking for in this from the start.

Let me quote what i have said on this issue to save time-

"The main problem Mitt has is that he simply does not reflect the views of Conservatives , nor has the personal history of supporting his views over the long-haul that he needs to draw to his side the number of Conservative voters he needs."


and....

"The traditional drawing points that conservatives use to rally people to vote is missing in this election.
The traditional social issues are not in play.
Mitt is never going to be making the rounds outside churches....Mitt is never going to be talking to church leaders, nor talking to Christian media.
So this means that a lot of the normal outreach into the Conservative community will not even happen this time."

The point Im getting to here is that Mitt has really done nothing so far at all to draw closer to the very voters he must know he will need to stand behind him in order to beat Obama.
And in all likelihood will do nothing much else to draw closer to the Christian Republican voter.
Yes, there is a issue of religion in this, but it's not Mitt's relationship to a cult that is the problem....its the fact that its up to him to draw closer to the voters he wants to support him.

and he has not done that...

and chances are, he never will....

So we really cant turn and point a finger of blame at the typical Christian/conservative republican voter and blame them for not supporting Mitt, when Mitt has not done SQUAT to attract such a voter.

Mitt has never been the type of person that would appeal to conservatives at this point in the election.

The problem is not based on his religion, rather its the total un-connection Mitt has with the typical Republican conservative that is going on in Mitt's continued lower polling numbers with conservatives.

Mitt is just not the best conservative in the race....and when you add this to that fact that there are 4 different strong conservatives in the race right now all splitting up the conservative vote.....
well.....all this adds up to the fact that if Mitt does win the lead spot on the Republican ticket he will need to make a lot stronger effort to attract the conservatives than he has managed to do so far...



So at this moment, the "anyone but Mitt" movement is not really based on his attachment to a Cult.

Rather it is based mostly on the fact that Mitt does not have the conservative voice in this election.
And there are 4 others in this race right now that have the needed conservative voice.

There are 4 others in this race right now that have the personal track record that the Conservative wing of the Party is looking for in their candidate.


The Future:
Right now the opposition to Mitt by the conservatives is all split up with the 4 or 5 other names in the race...
But after Iowa that list of names for the conservatives to pick from will be shorter.

After NH we may be down to a very short list of names to pick from.

Then the people out to stop Mitt will move from a "Anyone but Mitt" point of view, to a "This other guy and not Mitt" type of mindset.

The support for a more conservative person to go against Obama will not be split up among 4 names, but will have centered on just one person to take out Mitt.

After Iowa we shall see what becomes of this.....

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by Libby

That's the problem (for the GOP), though, Alan. They don't have a "strong" contender. .

yes.....but a lot of this is just the normal bickering between names that goes on before Iowa and NH voting.

traditionally a person who has the lead for the republicans going into NH, SC and Florida will watch as the other names drop out of the race and his own polling numbers getting better and better.

But it is true that Mitt right now is polling lower that Obama at times...

But lets remember to keep this in context.
We have to keep in mind that all the more conservative voters are not in Mitt's corner at all.

So if you poll them right now, they are never going to say that "as of right now" they support Mitt over Obama...because right now in the heat of the moment,its like comparing apples and apples to them.

But after Iowa, after NH, after Florida this election will have narrowed down to likely a race between two names on the republican side...
At that point the Republican Conservatives will be not so split up between 6 different names on a list.

Mitt always polls amoung republicans in the lower 20%

But when you add up all the names who are being supported by the more conservative voters, you have up over 65% to at times 70%.

In other words....if after the NH and SC primary there is only one conservative name on the list to go up against Mitt???, then it may be possible for the last conservative name on the list to draw all the 65% conservative voters to his side...

at that point, it may get very interesting....

[alanmolstad]

A lot of people that dont know much about how to view polling numbers get the wrong ideas about how things actually stand when they see results that seem to support their own private views.

Like the polling numbers that people quote that suggest that Obama is beating Mitt right now.
The polling numbers might suggest to you...'if" you dont do a little more thinking about the issue.

Let me give you an example of what Im talking about.

lets pretend that we have been hired by President Obama to see if as of right now Mitt is winning or losing to him?

So the typical way this question is answered is to come up with a representative study group and poll them and from their answers project to the wider numbers of voters how things stand...

So in our case, lets pretend we have a study group of 10 people.

After questioning we find that of these 10 people, 3 of them identify themselves as lift long Democrats.

Also we learn that 5 of the people list themselves as life long Republicans.

and that leaves us 2 people that swing back and forth between the two parties.


Now we ask them all "If the election were held today, who would you vote for as President?

Then you have a list of all the names or everyone in the race right now....for example right now there are 7 - 9 Republicans and one Democrat to pick from.

We let the people in the room vote, then we add of the votes...

Obama got 3 votes.
Mitt got 2
Paul got 1
Newt got 1
the chick got 1
and so on down the list until all 10 votes are accounted for.


So, what did we learn?


Did we learn that Obama is winning?

Did we learn that Mitt is behind or winning?


Some might just count the 3 votes for Obama and the 2 for Mitt and conclude Obama is winning.

Well perhaps on paper it might look like that is so...
But the real message to take away from this sample polling is that of our sampling of 10 likely voters, only 3 that support Obama, while the other 7 voted for anyone else but Obama.

This seems to suggest that the election is very close right now.

Current polling of support for Obama is running in at around 40 - 43% in favor.
But we got to be careful how we understand that number and what we compare it to....

We cant compare that 43% to Mitt's support numbers of around only 20% because there is still the matter of how baddy the more conservative voters are split between 4 other names right now.


My guess is that in real numbers of likely voters we have a basic 50/50 split right now between Obama and whomever ends up leading the ticket against him....


This also means that anyone who claims that Obama is leading, or is far behind is simply stating their personal views....and thats fine....
My own gut feeling is that Obama is dropping way behind and the Republican has a chance to win in a landslide election. ...

But being able to support such personal views with polling data is risky, because there are a lot of ways to become convinced the polls are showing you just what you wanted to see....

I think it's best to see what we can learn from the polls after Iowa and NH, and SC have voted and the herd of names on the Republican list has thinned...

[alanmolstad]

Any questions?

[Libby]

No, no questions. I know that it is early and anything can happen. Politics is very volatile and things can change overnight.

But, it will be interesting to see what happens with Romney. I am thinking that, normally, most Republicans would jump behind the candidate that is finally chosen, but in Mitt's case, I'm not so sure that will be true. I have seen a lot of religious conservative claim that they would not vote for Mitt under any circumstances. Not sure how large that group is....if it is large enough to make a difference...but, as close as political races have become, it may very well have an impact.

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by Libby

I have seen a lot of religious conservative claim that they would not vote for Mitt under any circumstances. .

meaningless, and yet expected at the same time.

remember we are in the middle of a fight ....and because we are in the middle of a primary fight no one wants to say they would support anyone except for their guy alone.

We all want our guy to win.

and remember>
We have 4 very good conservative names in the race right now, and so there are always going to be people that support them that swear up and down they would never even consider supporting anyone else..

Thats expected....

Everyone has to support their team after all....

but in the long run lets back-up and look at the situation from a wider point of view.
And from a wider point of view we find a lot of conservative Republican are active, and that they are attempting to push what they think is the strongest conservative voice to the head of the pack over Mitt.

in the end, no matter how this ends up, we have to keep in mind this core of conservative Republican voters that is all fired up to beat Obama..

The goal of Mitt, (should he win the primary as I expect) should be to draw closer to the Christian conservative movement any way he can...

so right now,,,,it's no big deal that many Christians say they would never vote for Mitt
That's fine, because we are still in the middle of a race with many better conservatives in the hunt.

[alanmolstad]

from my own point of view this Christmas season was a very good one , from the stand point of the economy.

I believe that when the final numbers come on how much money was spent this last month , that it will show that Americans spent tons of money....and yet did not go into debt too much with the use of credit cards.

This points to a lot more spending from savings, and that hints that people are saving their credit for other things,

So if asked do I think the economy will be doing way better in a year?...I would have to say 'yes"

I think the economy will be doing a lot better in a year, and that might take that whole issue out of the next election.

This means that there might be a return to the core issues that Republicans have always used to get elected.
Issues of faith.
Issues of how we raise our kids.

[Libby]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

This means that there might be a return to the core issues that Republicans have always used to get elected.
Issues of faith.
Issues of how we raise our kids.

Really, those should not be political issues, but, rather, personal issues.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Alan!

[alanmolstad]

to the voter , all national politics are local politics, all political issues are personal...

The lack of the traditional issues in this election is going to mean that the traditional things that a republican votes to support are missing.

There is none of the normal calling to arms that the Conservative voter hears in his heart.

What things will Mitt use to bring support from the conservatives?

I believe the economy will be in the up-swing by this time next year, and so i dont believe ***, or the unemployment rate will be an issue.

Health care is not going to be an issue because Obama's health care plans are all just dressed up plans based on Mitt's home state.

Obama will be able to claim he ended one war and is wrapping up a 2nd as well as having killed Osama, so the defense of the country is not going to be an issue that Mitt can raise.

Mitt has made fun of people that spoke up is support of a bigger budget for NASA, so that issue is off the table.

Both Obama and Mitt have made statements in the past supporting abortion rights, so that issue will not even come up in this election.

Mitt is in a cult, so he cant even pretend to speak about the issue of religious faith and the raising of children, so that issue is mute.

Mitt is from one of the highest taxed states in the country, so the normal issue of wanting a guy who has always supported lower taxes is not going to be in play this election.

I have no idea what issue Mitt could use that would cause Conservative Christians republicans to draw closer to him?

and without the conservative voter coming out strong in his corner, Mitt would not have a chance of beating Obama.

You cant just say that unless the Christians support Mitt that they are bigots,,,you have to give Christians a REASON to support Mitt...

what reason would there be for a Christian to support Mitt?


http://www.grandforksherald.com/even...cle/id/224965/


All this leads me to fully understand the search for "Anyone but Mitt" that has been going on for the last 2 months within the conservative wing of the Party.
Simply put, the conservatives look at Mitt and see nothing worth voting for.
Mitt stands for not one single issue that the conservative voter supports.

Mitt is the poster child for the middle of the road.

[BigJulie]

Just finished reading Boomerang---you should read it Libby and Alan--I think you would both enjoy it.

Mitt is rising. I will be interested to see if "the christian right" will support him. Santorum (sp?) is rising as well. I am not surprised as the group shifts again. At least he has more going for him.

I think Europe will either help or drag our economy and I think it will be the economy that ultimately decides this election IF "the christian right" votes out of rational versus emotion.

[Libby]

Had to look up "Boomerang", as I hadn't heard of it. Looks kind of interesting. I might put it on my Kindle. Thanks, Julie.

I do think Mitt will, ultimately, pull off the nomination, simply because there is no one else. The GOP candidates are dropping like flies. It will be interesting to see, if he gets the support from his own (in the fundamentalist camp, I mean). I think he could give Obama a run for his money. He is smart, well spoken, defends his positions well, doesn't have a lot of personal baggage, as so many of the other candidates do. Will be an interesting election year.