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Will Nevada ‘confirm the status of Mitt’ or shake things up?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney waves to supporters during his victory celebration after winning the Florida primary election Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, in Tampa, Fla.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 | 2 a.m.
With Mitt Romney’s commanding win in Florida on Tuesday, he will face lofty expectations in Nevada as he tries to maintain momentum and cement his status as the Republican presidential front-runner.
The former Massachusetts governor will enter Saturday’s GOP caucuses as the heavy favorite, hoping a win here will be the first in a series of February victories.
The other Republican candidates look to Nevada’s caucuses as an opportunity to slow Romney’s roll.
“I think Romney’s team wants to plant a flag in the West,” said Greg Ferraro, a Republican political consultant who is neutral in the race. “They will want to sustain momentum, show they can” put together back-to-back wins.
There’s little doubt who President Barack Obama’s supporters believe they’ll face in November: National and state Democrats issued statements attacking Romney on Tuesday night.
Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, left, and Newt Gingrich gesture during a Republican presidential debate Jan. 23, 2012, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
Before Florida — where Romney won with 46 percent of the vote to Newt Gingrich’s 32 percent — former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (Iowa), Romney (New Hampshire) and Gingrich (South Carolina) had each won an early state.
Gingrich won resoundingly in South Carolina before Romney turned more aggressive in debates, television ads and on the stump.
Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who have less money, were campaigning in Nevada on Tuesday night, having given up on the larger, more expensive Florida primary. Santorum made his case to Tea Party conservatives at a rally in Las Vegas, while Paul held a large rally in Henderson.
Paul has high hopes for Nevada. He finished second here to Romney in 2008, beating eventual nominee Sen. John McCain by one point. Since then, he has built an organization and is counting on a shared libertarianism with a share of the state’s electorate to propel him to a strong showing compared to 2008’s 14 percent.
Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Herman Cain and Mitt Romney are seen during the GOP presidential debate sponsored by CNN on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, at the Venetian.
Paul’s strategy is to gain delegates in states like Nevada, which distribute them in proportion to the candidates’ share of the vote rather than awarding them all to the winner as Florida does. He is also focusing on states, again like Nevada, that hold caucuses, a process that gives hard-core supporters outsize influence.
Gingrich will campaign here Wednesday. He comes backed by Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam. They have sustained Gingrich’s efforts in recent weeks with $10 million in contributions to a super-PAC supporting his candidacy.
Ferraro said the race for second in Nevada will be key.
Paul’s campaign expects the candidate’s libertarian message to resonate with Silver State voters.
Gingrich, meanwhile, wants to continue through “Super Tuesday” — March 6, when 10 states hold caucuses or primaries — and finishing second in a state where he’s not had much of an organization would be a boost in that direction.
Nevada’s Gingrich backers echoed their candidate’s promise to stay in the race for the long haul.
“It’s quite possible that we’re headed to the first brokered convention in our adult lifetime,” said Bob Beers, a former state senator and Gingrich supporter.
Bob Beers
He said as long as Ron Paul is promising to stay in the race until the convention, other candidates will, too, trying to trade delegates until one candidate gets the majority.
“It’s a long road to the nomination,” Beers said. “As is often the case in politics, the guy with the most money is in the lead, but it’s not done yet.”
Robert O’Brien, a Romney senior adviser on foreign policy, said Tuesday afternoon that talk of a brokered convention — not seen by a major party in over 50 years — “is a sign of total desperation.”
“A delegate fight is about as likely as (Gingrich’s) space colony on the moon being the 51st state,” he said.
O’Brien followed with the Romney line of attack on Gingrich, that the former speaker “gets erratic. He gets grandiose.”
The candidate who wins Florida will be the presumptive Republican nominee, O’Brien argued.
“Nevada will confirm the status of Mitt,” he said. “He might not have the delegates after Nevada, but he’ll be the presumptive nominee if he wins back to back.”
Discussion: 7 comments so far…
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After Florida what are the candidates' relative chances of success .... http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Republ...
"I'm not concerned about the very poor..." -Mitt Romney.
This signals clearly he will never get out and around here in Las Vegas. All of his campaigning will be done ONLY on the Strip.
Maybe he can run into casino owners and the Khardasians. They're the only ones that have anything in common with him.
I liked Newt, but I was disappointed he quit talking about policy and engaged Mitt with negativity. Mitt fired first, in Iowa, but what won South Carolina for Newt was that he interspersed his attacks with policy declarations. That being said, he may be fatally injured politically. There is one other possibility other than Mitt. I've been waging an internet only, write in campaign. We're approaching 300,000 hits, so word is spreading. I don't ask for donations, and I am seeing if it's possible to win on ideas. I have business experience as well as military experience. I also have been a teacher for years. You can visit my site and find links to my writings on my "issue stances" page. The site address is www.gradyforpresident.com.
The sheeple will get in line for the the guy who wants to send all the Hispanic children off to die in his war against Iran .
...the only reason mitt is able to run for prez is because of bush,s 12.8 tril $ infusion into wallstreet that prevented his stocks/bonds/and gain capital from crashing and burning..we got the tax bill((tarp 2008)) and we also got the 7 tril $ loss in our 401,s another 7 tril in our homes and both are still falling((because we never received any of that tarp )) and then we have to listen to just how suckcessful he is ...how he,s proud of his achievements...and what a great business man he is ,,,and how its all our fault if we r poor...yea right mitt !!keep spewing your class warfare stuff !!...facts/prof....""bloomberg verses federal reserve 12.8 tril $$""...and ...pbs.org frontline ""inside the meltdown ""
Every state is different and the times are different as well.I think that romney will not do at well as he believes This is not Florida where cubans get a free ride with republicans and have a voting block with them. Nevada is smaller state with a lot more conservatives that comes out to the caucus rain or shine and they are not fun of romney.So Nevada can deliver another surprise and the crown that romney wants so badly might be to small for his coif hair,big head and botoxed skin.
Contrary to what the Republican establishment would have you believe, Newt Gingrich is the only candidate who can defeat Barrack Obama. Mitt Romney attacked Newt from day 1 in Iowa. Nothing was said, but when Newt returned fire in defense, everyone piled on him for being "negative" and have been dogging him trying to run him out of the race ever since. Romney has run so many dishonest attack ads with his millions it's just, well dishonest. And he's done so with no reprimand, as a matter of fact with blessings. This just shows the Republican establishment's and both conservative and liberal media's bias against Gingrich. And just like in 08 the Republican operatives and supposedly conservative media, believing they know better than us common folk, have already selected Romney as their golden-child and are determined to shove him down our throats, the same modus operandi they scream about Obama using. And, just like in 08 with McCain, if they get their way Obama will win again and America will be subjected to 4 more years of a dishonest
administration shoving legislation, or illegally circumventing it, down our throats furthering us down the path of socialism, bankruptcy, and national INsecurity! One would think they were intelligent enough to do a little research
whereupon they would see Romney is truly only slightly right of Obama on most issues, unless of course they have ulterior motives. There are many videos where he himself speaks to his beliefs and stances on the issues, showing him to be a moderate at the very best, liberal on most. I can understand someone learning and therefore changing their stance on 1 or 2 issues, but to do it on almost every single one reeks of political expediency, period! We need to make these people understand we have only been to 4 states, that the American people's voices do count, and that if
another "08" occurs we the people will hold them accountable.
In the general election, Obama would clean Romney's clock just as he did to McCain in 08.Obama will prove him to be the politically expediate candidate he is through the above mentioned videos, showing him espousing his moderate liberal stances on most issues previous to 07, then his sudden conversion to "conservatism" on the very same issues as
he ramped up his campaign for the Republican Presidential primary in 08. Obama will definately portray Romney as a representative of the 1% with his untold wealth and secretive accounts in the Cayman Islands and Swiss banks. This class-warfare will play well with the Democrats and a large percentage of Independants, as well as the mainstream media.Romney will not fair well in the debates against Obama either. He has had few really good debate performances, only actually winning the last 2, held in Florida. That's 2 out of approximately 19, enough said!
Conversely, Newt has had a very strong showing in most of the debates, winning the majority of them. As a matter of fact, in 2 of the debates he received a standing ovation, which is a rare occurrence.Newt will take Obama to the proverbial woodshed in any debate, on any issue, at any time. As far as Newt's "baggage", it has been out in the open for many years, thoroughly scrutinized and discussed with most of the allegations proven to be false. There are no surprises to be found here. His conservatism has been proven time and again by his record,receiving an American Conservative Union lifetime rating of 90%, 100% in 1998. He was part of the Reagan team, Nancy Reagan having said at the 1995 Goldwater Institute Dinner honoring President Ronald Reagan, "Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive.". He has endorsements from proven conservatives ranging from Michael Reagan to J.C. Watts. At the same time, as Speaker of the House under Bill Clinton, he has proven he can work in a bipartisan manner to acheive much needed results while standing firm on his principles. In some cases he had to take on members of his own party to do what he knew was right for the American people. He is a great thinker with bold ideas, and has proven he can convert these ideas into real working solutions, contrary to the inaccurate charges stating otherwise from his past disgruntled colleagues whom he had to take on in some issues.
This is but a sampling of the proven reasons why Newt Gingrich is the only candidate who can defeat Barrack Obama and begin turning our great country around to recovery, prosperity, security, and back to our roots as intended by our founding fathers. But don't take my word for it. Go to www.Newt.org, see for yourself, do more research, then make
your decision.
GOPReallySUX says: "SO to recap..."
(NOTE: Can't quote his whole comment because of word placement restraints, but highly encouraged reading regarding the Mr. Romney's accomplishments thus far.)
Yep. You nailed it. That's it pretty much in a nutshell.
But I'd like to add one more thing.
It's not political though.
I noticed the Mr. Romney suddenly got a sudden case of singer envy. It started after President Obama sang the beginning portion of a very popular Reverend Al Green song from back in the day.
Mr. Romney, I guess, probably against the advice of his campaign staff, because I'm sure they told him he can't sing his way out of a paper bag, had to take a stab at a patriotic song. All while cameras were rolling and microphones were turned on.
Taking nothing away from the patriotic song "America the Beautiful" and Mr. Romney's visible show of patriotism, it was admirable he took a stab at trying to sing, but it was an unmitigated failure. Don't even try for an "American Idol" audition. They'll laugh you out of there.
The guy ain't got no soul.
He sang it pretty much like he had a broomstick up his.... Brass should be signed regularly so it don't get that green tarnished look.
Also, the first time I heard it here in Eastern Las Vegas, I had the TV up loud and my windows open. The moment he got just about one verse into it, all the dogs in my neighborhood howled along with it.
So, I guess we have President Obama to blame. He sang and it caused singer's envy, thereby encouraging Mr. Romney, egging him on to take a stab at it, causing the mistaken belief that he can carry a tune and not be in possession of a tin ear.
Damn you, President Obama.
Don't encourage him like that again.
The dogs in my neighborhood can't handle the noise. Hurts their ears or something...
Comment removed by moderator. Same (or similar) comment posted on multiple stories.
Hmmm, let's run a caucus where most members of the Republicans are Mormon and see who will win this farce.
....''bloomberg verses federal reserve 12.8 tril $$""....and....pbs.org frontline ""inside the meltdown""
Ahhhh.....The "Obama Haters" here and in Vegas must be in their Glory now that their "Messiah Mitt" is in Town!!
As someone mentioned, I'd like to see Romney actually go into regular neighborhoods, good neighborhoods with good people that have high foreclosure rates, and speak in front of normal residents instead of kowtowing to the Strip crowd. Also, speak in front of a crowd of unemployed who have gotten screwed by those corporations that Mitt embraces "as people". My guess he would not be received very warmly
Also - other than traffic control, not ONE Metro officer should be doing any "security detail" around Romney; after all, he is sucking up our tax dollars because he has Secret Service protection, security protection he could damn well afford to pay for himself. After all - he is NOT the nominee yet (if ever). I want to know when the government started SS protection for candidates who just win primaries?
For all their talk about "Big Government" and how Obama wastes money, Romney sure likes the services that "Big Government" provides him.
Det: So on any of his trips here,including his last, how much time did Oblamer spend campaigning around 'D'and 'F' streets ? NONE !!
summerof69
Don't be such a dufus. NO ONE goes to D and F streets. You're lucky Metro goes to those streets! If you think D and F Streets represent Las Vegas, you got a HUGE problem. You should get out more. I'm talking about a regular middle class neighborhood where foreclosures are everywhere, or perhaps he should have a "town hall" meeting with those who are unemployed and and for those who have lost their homes to foreclosure thru no fault of their own and tell those people, really tell these people in a sincere and honest way, what he would do to help them get jobs and what he would do about the foreclosure situation. That's IF he becomes President. Of course, none of that will happen because he doesn't know WHAT he would do to get people back to work nor to help the foreclosure crisis. Right now all it is is slamming Obama and Newt. People are getting wise to that SOS that corporations/big business create jobs. They DO NOT!! And everyone knows now how filthy rich he really is. Until he listens to regular middle class Americans, he does not have a clue how America live and frankly, doesn't want a clue
For now, just go worship your Messiah. My guess he won't be coming back to NV for a long time, not until he gets the nomination and then he will have to force himself to do so.
PS How do you know for sure Obama never stepped into that neighborhood around the "Alphabet streets"?
Munchkin: As I recall, the only time Obama went into a working class neighborhood in 08 his clock was cleaned by Joe the Plumber. Be careful about what you wish for. In most neighborhoods, his teleprompter will get stolen and then he will be speechless as well as brainless.
Oblamer go to the alphabet streets ? lol. Thats welfare city. Them folks don't have any money for his campaign. Get a grip Det !!