The Republican Nomination For President: The Race For The Race For The White House

I think that Gov Christie has a fine future in US politics. He needs to lose that concern for being a RINO and getting the point across that the GOP isnt a majority of ultra- conservative assholes. Fiscally conservative GOPers with moderate to liberal social views are out ther and are just hiding while the Limbaugh branch of the GOP burns itself out through the next few years.

The ultra conservatives seem to have provided sanctuary to the nuts and batshits and I think that the welcome is rapidly wearing out as the New Yor/ New Jersey/PA brand of GOP reflex their control of the party

This is a time people are worried. They're frightened. They want someone who they have confidence in. And I believe I will be able to instill that confidence in the American people. And, by the way, I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it.

I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I'll continue to take that message across the nation.

I'm OK with that, it will re-open the door for Newt.

It's not like Romney thinks we have 58 states the way Obama does...

I am backing Newt. He 's my guy. He 's very intelligent; thinks fast, speaks well, but not always.

Those same trends have been seen nationally. In a December NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, voters were asked to respond to a statement that read, “The current economic structure of the country is out of balance and favors a very small proportion of the rich. America needs to reduce the power of major banks and corporations and demand greater accountability and transparency. The government should not provide financial aid to corporations and should not provide tax breaks to the rich.” Among Republican primary voters, 60% agreed, and 40% agreed strongly. The same proportions agreed among self-described Tea Party supporters. Among Independents, 79% agreed, and 62% agreed strongly.

A more recent Pew Poll found that 66% of Americans see a “very strong” or “strong” conflict in this country between the rich and poor. When asked by Pew if the wealthy pay their “fair share” in taxes, 38% of Republicans and 57% of independents say the answer is no.

It is in this context that the Obama campaign has debuted a master campaign message that plays right into this class-based sense of injustice now roiling all sides of the ideological spectrum. This is the reason Obama has focused on the so-called Buffett Rule, which would raise taxes on some millionaires while having a minimum impact on the poor. It is why the President can hardly pass a microphone these days without calling on the rich to “pay their fair share.” It is why Obama has refurbished an old Bill Clinton line from 1992. “Let’s never forget,” he said in the State of the Union address. “Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same.”

Just how the Romney campaign responds, beyond decrying such comments as “class warfare” and “attacks on free enterprise,” is still an open question. But some Republican strategists and pollsters doubt that simply blaming Obama will be enough. Henry Olson, a conservative scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that Republicans face a real challenge, that goes beyond the perceptions of Romney’s wealth and past. Working class white voters, he argues, have become increasingly alienated from the conservative policy agenda of spending cuts and continuing low taxes, just as they have been turned off by President Obama’s performance. “You are gambling that they will dislike Obama more than they disagree with you,” Olson said of the current Republican playbook.

But that is a question for another day. First the Republican primary will have to be resolved, and the early signs are that the economic populist attacks, from both Gingrich and Obama’s allies, are already taking its toll. A recent Washington Post poll found Romney dropping to 23% favorability rating among independents, from levels in the mid-40s last fall. Romney still has time to respond, but there is no doubt that he will have to forcefully.

There is no room for debate.
Obama is an abject failure.

I cawt a glimpse of something of a disturbance affecting Romney in last nite's news.