[Official Thread] OBAMA WINS RE-ELECTION

[Mr Bean]

Newt only needs one backer and that's Sheldon Aldelsons who can keep his campaign alive as long as it takes to ensure Santorum loses. Aldelson hates Santorum with a passion because he's a fundamentalist, a christian fundamentalist. With Romney and Newt he gets someone who 100% blind supports Israel, wants to lower his taxes and would give him a hand job on command. But Santorum's not a big fan of people who are not Christians at least in Aldelson's eyes.

And I don't say I blame him in that regard, Frothy has a little to much of the missionary preacher in him.

[Straha]

This day was phenomenal for me, and the Santorum wins only make it better. The idea that Mitt would come in third in both deep south races just seals it for me.

Can this race get any better?

[Dalton]

Romney currently leading in Hawaii.


EDIT: Hawaii called for Romney.

[vengence]

its interesting to note that the difference between first and third was only worth something like 10 more delegates where as, as of last night Romney leads some 489 delegates to Santorum's 234.

[UnderAGreySky]

The real danger, as I read somewhere (likely Slate) is that self-professed 'conservatives' will now ditch Gingrich for Frothy because they want to back the winner. I can see that happening, and Mitt would be worried now as this would cause Santorum to start picking up delegates in the deep south without Newt being a spoiler. The article even speculated that, for the first time since '68, California's primary would be crucial in deciding the nominee - and while on average California is neutral, the R side apparently is batshit crazy (especially in the OC area).

[Alferd Packer]

If Frothy's strategists are at all smart, they are now looking not to win primaries, but capture as many delegates as possible. If they can deny Romney the necessary 1144 delegates to lock up the nomination, they then force at least a second vote, during which all delegates are free to vote as they see fit. Essentially, denying Romney is almost as good as a win, because Frothy doesn't have the money or boots on the ground in the remaining states to win straight-up. Romney is still the heavy favorite, of course, but he just can't seal the deal. Frothy, with some well-played maneuvers for key delegates, could drag this out until the convention.

[Dalton]

I predict that this will indeed go to the Conventions. Santorum has picked up a lot of momentum with all those midwest wins, especially with the upsets in MS and AL, and all three of them are bleeding the race for every delegate they can get. I would be very surprised if Romney pulled ahead far enough to declare Mittens the winner.

We won't have an Obama/Clinton situation, but it won't end until September.

[Lord Zentei]

Is there any candidate that is even slightly pro-environment? Or are they all like the environment, let's focus on petty things like abortionand gay marriage?

Fuck, even todays democrats are lukewarm on green issues.

Gingrich accepts the reality of anthropogenic global warming. Or at least he used to: linka.

He has even appeared in a TV ad to promote awareness of it, co-starring with Nancy Pelosi: linka.

Then he backpedaled when it turned out that his position wasn't politically smart in the GOP: linka.

[Questor]

(especially in the OC area).

If you think OC is the nuttiest area of California, you've never been east of the mountains or north of the Bay.

And I say this as an Orange County resident who routinely wonders exactly how crazy people can get.

EDIT: I'm also going to add that I am aware that at least one OC Republican has actually advocated for the privatization of police and fire departments. And the less said about immigration, the better.

BTW, if OC ends up being a decider, Paul might make this interesting.

[Mr Bean]

Illinois is tonight, the polls have closed and it's to close to call. Lead is Romeny's but exit polls don't show any 10 point Romney win.

[Dalton]

NBC calls Illinois "beauty pageant" primary for Mitt Romney.

[Dalton]

Several groups are beginning to point due Romney. I get the feeling though that this will still go to the conventions.

[SirNitram]

If my math is right, this is basically over. Sanotorum would need damn near complete victories from here to the convention to win. Even Newt might not score enough to make himself a kingmaker.

[Mr Bean]

If my math is right, this is basically over. Sanotorum would need damn near complete victories from here to the convention to win. Even Newt might not score enough to make himself a kingmaker.

Don't do the math assuming Santorum is going to win out-right. Do the math assuming Mittens fails to achieve 1144 delegates.

*Edit
Nate Silver of the valuable 538 blog goes into the math here

[Dalton]

I think April 24 will probably solidify Romney's stance - but I think it's going to be a photo finish. Each media outlet has its own metrics for awarding delegates. Truly this will go to the conventions.

[Dalton]

Etch-a-Sketch-gate begins!

[Flagg]

I swear to god I haven't seen this many self-inflicted wounds on a cutter.

[Dalton]

It's like every anchor tonight has an Etch-a-Sketch. There's one on Rachel's desk right now, and Ed did a gag with it at the end of his show.

[Flagg]

Yeah I loved Rachels segment. It's not often enough that news people flat out call liars what they are, so it's nice to see it happen and in detail.

[General Mung Beans]

The real danger, as I read somewhere (likely Slate) is that self-professed 'conservatives' will now ditch Gingrich for Frothy because they want to back the winner. I can see that happening, and Mitt would be worried now as this would cause Santorum to start picking up delegates in the deep south without Newt being a spoiler. The article even speculated that, for the first time since '68, California's primary would be crucial in deciding the nominee - and while on average California is neutral, the R side apparently is batshit crazy (especially in the OC area).

Not really, the OC after all is demographically speaking Romney paradise (ie rich suburbs) not Dixie-In-the-West.

[General Mung Beans]

(especially in the OC area).

If you think OC is the nuttiest area of California, you've never been east of the mountains or north of the Bay.

And I say this as an Orange County resident who routinely wonders exactly how crazy people can get.

EDIT: I'm also going to add that I am aware that at least one OC Republican has actually advocated for the privatization of police and fire departments. And the less said about immigration, the better.

BTW, if OC ends up being a decider, Paul might make this interesting.

Ron Paul's support in CA is going to be more NorCal (places like say Redding) then Orange County.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Not sure if this counts as "News" but an incident at a Santorium event reminds us all of the people who support him:
From yahoo news

WEST MONROE, Louisiana - At a campaign stop at a firing range, while Rick Santorum was firing off some rounds, a woman shouted, "pretend it's Obama."

Santorum, who was far from the woman, couldn't hear the comment as he proceeded with his target practice. Neither could his staffers.

But the yell - the identity of the yeller is not clear, although the words were clearly audible - was in close proximity to journalists traveling with the candidate.

"It's absurd," Santorum said of the woman's outburst when reporters told him about it. "No we're not pretending it's anybody but shooting pistols. It's a very terrible and horrible remark and I'm glad I didn't hear it."

Santorum is expected to easily win the Louisiana primary on Saturday, but his chances of wresting front runner status from Mitt Romney have dwindled as Romney has built a strong delegate lead.

Perhaps sensing Romney's proximity to clinching the nomination, Santorum has sharpened verbal attacks on the former Massachusetts governor, suggesting he is too moderate for Republican voters and could not beat President Obama.
Santorum sought in a written statement to clarify today that he did not mean he vote against Romney if Romney is the nominee in November.

"I would never vote for Barack Obama over any Republican and to suggest otherwise is preposterous," he wrote. "I was simply making the point that there is a huge enthusiasm gap around Mitt Romney and it's easy to see why - Romney has sided with Obama on healthcare mandates, cap-and-trade, and the Wall Street bailouts. Voters have to be excited enough to actually go vote, and my campaign's movement to restore freedom is exciting this nation. If this election is about Obama versus the Obama-Lite candidate, we have a tough time rallying this nation."

The comments in the news section are just as bad.
Makes me recall that even during the worse days of Dubya, I never once wished him dead. But it seems totally ok to joke about "Ridding america of it's greatist threat" among conservatives.

[Questor]

The real danger, as I read somewhere (likely Slate) is that self-professed 'conservatives' will now ditch Gingrich for Frothy because they want to back the winner. I can see that happening, and Mitt would be worried now as this would cause Santorum to start picking up delegates in the deep south without Newt being a spoiler. The article even speculated that, for the first time since '68, California's primary would be crucial in deciding the nominee - and while on average California is neutral, the R side apparently is batshit crazy (especially in the OC area).

Not really, the OC after all is demographically speaking Romney paradise (ie rich suburbs) not Dixie-In-the-West.

No doubt. But the local republican party, especially at the local level, has a decidedly large number of lolbertarians. And Paul does very well in university areas, and do I have to mention the Ayn Rand foundation? We could also point to the high number of evangelicals in south county.

I don't recall claiming that Gingrich (the "Dixie" candidate) would be viable in OC, nor do I recall Paul doing particularly well in the south.

To restate: If California is so close that the melange of nuttieness that is OC is a deciding factor, Ron Paul has done significantly better than expected. Santorum's share of the vote is most likely capped around 30-40%. Which means that in order for a three way race (and CA is a three way race, Gingrich is a non-entity here), both of the other candidates need to be pushing 30%ish numbers.

[Raw Shark]

Makes me recall that even during the worse days of Dubya, I never once wished him dead. But it seems totally ok to joke about "Ridding america of it's greatist threat" among conservatives.

Oh c'mon - I have no problem suspending disbelief that Rick Santorum does not want to shoot Barack Obama with a gun, and can yet still otherwise be a total douchebag. We don't have to equate the guy with the very worst of his lunatic fringe when he's placing himself so close to them with his every word and deed.

[Dalton]

Rick Santorum wins Louisiana