Nope. Our proper primary for state offices is in August. There was nothing on today’s ballot but the presidential primary. And they printed four ballots, including one for the Constitution Party, which didn’t even have any candidates registered. I don’t know if there was even an option to write a name in.
The GOP run the legislature, too, so what they’re thinking I don’t really know. Well, thinking may be the wrong word for that bunch.
I took a GOP ballot and voted for Gary Johnson as a small protest against the warmongering and such. Apparently four times as many people voted for Herman Cain as for Johnson, though.
as far as I can determine, no. There’s not. Legislative primaries are in August. City council would be in March but it’s an off year. School boards don’t have a primary, just the general in April.
No it was a complete waste of 7-8 million dollars. Huzzah!
As an Iowan, I just want to give a heartfelt thanks to Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri for not just having Santorum win, but having huge Santorum blowouts and making Iowa look rational again, by comparion. At least we managed a statistical tie with a more normal candidate (by current GOP standards).
Interesting that in Missouri–where Gingrich didn’t qualify for the ballot, making Santorum the only true conservative (outside of the usual 12% who vote for Paul no matter what)–Santorum won 55% of the vote. This lends fuel to the argument that if the not-Romneys can settle on a candidate, Romney is in serious trouble.
Did you catch the AP headline “Romney looks to squelch Santorum in 2 states” from before yesterday’s contests? Truly, Savage has given us a gift that keeps on giving.
It really seems that the Republicans are suffering from “Throw the bums out” fever to the point that it extends to whomever is leading in their own nomination. As soon as one candidate climbs to the top he gets knocked down the next week.
This all took me completely by surprise. I had no idea that these non-primary/non-caucus primaries/caucuses were even taking place.
As for Romney, his strength has been when he can just be Steady Eddie and not get all worked up over blips like this. Play the long game, and he’ll win. That’s sort of what Obama did in '08. Hillary was thrashing around tacking back and forth, and it didn’t work out for her. Romney’s got a few big wins pretty much in the bag coming up, and he’ll slowly accumulate real delegates for the win.
There’s always been an element of that in the Tea Party, although people who don’t like the TP have been reluctant to point it out. Many of the people who are up in arms have been used by the Republican Party for quite a while and they aren’t happy about it- and they have reason not to be.
I agree. He’s seen as the most electable, he has the most money and the best organization, he’s got the most professional campaign, and Gingrich and Santorum’s flaws aren’t going to magically disappear. It’s depressing that such a large part of his strategy is reciting patriotic song after patriotic song and running out the clock, but if that’s all you need to do and the guys who are competing with you can’t overcome that, it’s their fault.
While I admit Newt having the lead in Ohio puts a big grin on my face I think once Mittens gets busy blanketing the state with attack ads Gingrich’s numbers will sink like a stone.
The silver lining for Romney is that these wins strengthen Santorum and keeps him in the race without making him so strong that Newt is forced out. Both Newt and Santorum will be around till at least Super Tuesday which suits Romney just fine.
Going back to the turnout thing - I think that probably hurt Romney a lot, and I’m wondering how much of it had to do with the perception that he was going to win anyway. The people who were voting for him were probably the ones most likely to take a pass on these contests.
I agree - while Mitt can’t carpet-bomb every Super Tuesday state with negative ads about his rivals, he really needs a win in at least one Midwestern state, other than Michigan where his father was governor. And Ohio is the only Midwest state up for grabs on Super Tuesday. So my expectation is that he’ll hit Ohio with everything he’s got.
Ohio is also the second-biggest delegate prize of Super Tuesday (after Georgia) and it’s a state where he looks competitive anyway. But in reflection it really doesn’t look like he has a good chance of knocking anyone out on March 6. This is going to last a while.
Personally, I think the Virginia thing is telling. What does it say about a candidate’s organizational skills that they can’t even meet the filing deadline for a major state like that? Do you really want to even consider anyone for President who can’t meet that basic a test of competence?
To be fair, Romney and Paul are the only ones on the ballot there. Virginia’s change of their rules for getting on the ballot seems to have thrown all the other candidates for a loop.
It’s possible Virginia made its standards too strict, but no, it doesn’t speak well for the other candidates that they couldn’t get their acts together.