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In case you are one of those people who have a really, really hard time taking Rick Santorum seriously, and/or wondered if the PPP poll showing the one-time asterisk candidate zooming into the lead was an outlier: Rickymentum is real, according to all the available evidence.
Now both Pew and CBS/NYT have new national polls out showing Santorum leading Romney, albeit more narrowly than in PPP’s survey. Gallup’s tracking poll shows Romney hanging onto a two-point lead, but also reports that Santorum’s surge after the February 7 primaries was “the largest post-primary/caucus bounce Gallup has recorded since the primary season began.”
I’ve got a new column up at TNR which discusses Romney’s quandry in dealing with Santorum, along with the potential sources of Ricky’s undoing (basically, money and Ricky’s own background as an extremist and a huge 2006 loser). But Mitt’s got a real challenge now, if only because if it persists even for a while, this is one surge that could be accompanied by actual delegate selection events.
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c u n d gulag on February 14, 2012 8:55 AM:
I'm not one to complain, Ed (because I do love ya! :-), but I remember a former lover who used to have breakfast ready EVERY DAY (not you, DAY) at 8am.
No matter whether I woke up at 3am, or 5am, or 7:57 - I knew that I'd have something to digest at 8am.
Oh well...
I love you anyway Ed. Punctuality is probably over-rated. ;-)
If the "Anybody But Mitt" wheel-of-fortune has finally finished spinning, and it's Santorum it's landed on (in?), then we Democrats are all winners!
Americans want a President with vision.
Not one who's looking at what we're doing with our naughty bits.
But if we were, Icky Sticky Ricky would be the one!
He looks like a p*ssy, and sounds like a d*ck.
Danp on February 14, 2012 9:02 AM:
I think it was the PPP poll that showed that 50% of respondants said they might change their minds in the next week. To me that suggests they aren't enthused; they are disengaged, if not a bit unhinged.
cund - Steve still posts at 8. With Ed ending at close to 6PM, think of it as double you pleasure, double your fun.
walt on February 14, 2012 9:06 AM:
Poor Ricky. He's about to find out what the GOP's real American values are all about: MONEY. And when Romney bombs Ricky to dust with negative ads, we'll be treated to a long pout about Jesus, coal mines, and home schooling.
Notice to religious conservatives: you're the idiots who vote against your own real-life interests so the Mitt Romneys of this world get to be filthy rich. That's all you're entitled to: basking in the warm glow of somebody else's obscene wealth.
T2 on February 14, 2012 9:07 AM:
in the end, Santorum has emerged as the new Sarah Palin. The TeaParty wing of the crazy 25% of America had little choice, really. It just took them a while to notice. Newt was pretty much everything the Evangelical anti-Washington TP's hate, Romney...they just hate. Bachmann and Perry were revealed to be too stupid even for the TP. So there's Santorum. But wait.....Sarah Palin endorsed Newt not Rick, so did Jim DeMinted.
Maybe these folks really are as crazed as we keep saying? My local rag features two daily
political columns...one labeled From the Left, and one From the Right (how's that for "both sides"). Today both columns were anti-Romney....hey, maybe there is HOPE!
Josef K on February 14, 2012 9:12 AM:
A lunatic or a fop, those are the choices Republicans are facing? I kinda feel sorry for them.
Kinda.
c u n d gulag on February 14, 2012 9:13 AM:
DanP,
Thanks for the info.
But I love to leave my word-turd comments lying around.
And last I looked, Steve, like the also great Charles Pierce, wants a Facebook sign-in.
And with my face, you'd understand why I don't "do" Facebook.
Our new great host, Ed and WaMo, like maha, BJ, Gin & Tacos, LG&M, and the also great Steve M., just let me drop my word-turds without having to show my face(book).
Abe on February 14, 2012 9:14 AM:
Don't hate me for saying this, but: Unless the man has asked to be called Ricky, please stop calling him that. It comes off to me as sophomoric and distracts from the otherwise good coverage of events.
(It's equally as obnoxious as when the President is referred to a Barry or Romney as Willard. People should be called whatever they go by; it strikes me as unprofessional to do otherwise.)
Perspecticus on February 14, 2012 9:17 AM:
But let's be clear- a Romney win in Michigan likely ripples into Arizona and the nomination is pretty well locked up, yes? This despite media coverage that will still surely portray a horserace, that is.
stormskies on February 14, 2012 9:21 AM:
Notice to religious conservatives: you're the idiots who vote against your own real-life interests so the Mitt Romneys of this world get to be filthy rich. That's all you're entitled to: basking in the warm glow of somebody else's obscene wealth.
this is exactly right Walt ...........
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and no for some real fun check this:
A satirical redefinition of the word “Romney” has leapt from obscurity and into the limelight this week by cracking a list of the top 10 Google search results for the Republican presidential candidate’s last name.
Similar to the “Spreading Santorum” website that has so plagued anti-gay Republican Rick Santorum by redefining his last name to mean “the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex,” “Spreading Romney” does the leading Republican candidate no favors.
Much to the campaign’s assured dismay, it defines the word “Romney” as a verb meaning, “To defecate in terror.”
The page was #4 overall in Google’s search results for the term “Romney” at time of this story’s publication.
On the website, the word “terror” links to The Huffington Post, which reminds readers that the Massachusetts Republican once strapped a dog to the roof of his vehicle ahead of a family road trip in 1983. According to a 2007 Boston Globe profile of the candidate, Romney’s oldest son, Tagg, yelled, “Gross!” as he noticed a brown liquid flowing down the back window from the Irish Setter Seamus.
“As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station,” the Globe noted. “There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.”
Asked by The Wall Street Journal about the bizarre behavior, Romney said simply: “Love my dog. That’s all I’ve got for ya.”
The story has haunted Romney for years, and looks to play at least a minor role in the 2012 campaign, should he become the nominee.
In a stroke of ironic luck, a protester with the group “Dogs Against Romney” was recently pulled over by police in Littleton, Colorado for suspected animal abuse after officers spotted a dog kennel with what appeared to be an animal inside, strapped to the top of a vehicle.
It turned out the man just had a stuffed animal inside and he was not cited.
Danp on February 14, 2012 9:32 AM:
I had trouble getting to post on Steve's blog, and unfortunately I can't remember how I finally got it to work, but I don't use facebook, twitter or whatever else they gave as options. BTW, I also had the same problem at SteveM's site.
T2 on February 14, 2012 9:44 AM:
geez Abe.....there are a lot of "names" much worse than Ricky that come to mind for that moron....google him and you'll get lots of cool ideas. But nicknames for national figures is hardly a new thing...remember Slick Willie, Tricky Dick, George War Criminal Bush, Ronny Raygun, Newt Gingrich, John McGrouch. As far as Santorum, I'll stick with Asshat.
c u n d gulag on February 14, 2012 9:46 AM:
DanP,
I had the same problem with SteveM's site, when he accidentally changed it over to the new format.
All it needed was a Google e-mail account.
berttheclock on February 14, 2012 9:46 AM:
I abhor Facebook.
However, in an article in the Seattle Times, this AM, about Santorum meeting with protestors of the new Gay Marriage Act in Washington State, one of the leading RepuG politicos said, while he supported Romney, he agreed with everything Santorum was saying at the Tacoma rally, so, he is keeping an open mind for voting in the coming caucus or primary.
stevio on February 14, 2012 9:52 AM:
Go Rick go! What this election for POTOS needs is a clear delineation between the two philosophies of the "Parties". It will be clearest if inSantorum wins the primary.
America needs a strong directive from the electorate to set the course. If it's Obama then sanity will prevail. If it's the GOPer, well, we'll need bomb shelters and foil hats but at least we'll know which direction folks want the ship to be driven.
That's when I'll plan my exit strategy...
TCinLA on February 14, 2012 12:05 PM:
Not to Gulag: you do not have to post to facebook to post at Maddow Blog. Just post and it will go up. It's what I do.
I wonder if Mr. Frothy-Mixture is running against the New Deal or the Second Vatican Council? Could it be both?
c u n d gulag on February 14, 2012 12:51 PM:
TC,
Thanks, I didn't know that! :-)