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[Jason's Ultimatum]

Man, $7.1 trillion. Think of what we could do with that money: universal healthcare, a bigger workers project, and high speed rails.

 

[madp]

Hey PoliGAF. A friend offered me the opportunity to go with him to a local GOP dinner/event featuring Rick Santorum for free later this week even though I'm just about as un-Republican as it gets. Would it be worth it for the spectacle or am I just going to feel really uncomfortable around dozens or hundreds of tea partiers spouting things that are going to make me want to flip tables? I'd have no intention of doing any protest stuff that's going to get me arrested/shouted down/otherwise on the news, I'd pretty much just be sitting there the whole time. Bad use of an evening or no?

 

[Brinbe]

If this is the best Romney can come up with, he's fucked.

Mitt Romney's campaign — and its slashing Super PAC — are locking their sights on Rick Santorum for a campaign that may make previous attacks on Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich look like mere love taps.

In an interview with BuzzFeed, a Romney advisor offered details of the campaign's coming two-front attack, which the campaign expects will be echoed by the Super PAC, which cannot legally coordinate its message, but which has already bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of airtime in key states.

"Santorum’s a blank slate, so everyone’s projecting on to him what they want because he’s the last anti-Romney," said the advisor. "Santorum is going to get introduced to people that don’t know him."

The Pennsylvania Republican will "be defined by two things," the advisor said.
The first is a comparison to Barack Obama: "He's never run anything," said the advisor. The Pennyslvanian's experience is limited to roles as a legislator and legislative staffer. "The biggest thing he ever ran is his Senate office," he siad.

The second is a challenge to Santorum's Washington experience.
"They’re going to hit him very hard on earmarks, lobbying, voting to raise the federal debt limit five times," said the advisor. "The story of Santorum is going to be told over the next few weeks in a big way."

Romney, who allowed Restore our Future to do his negative work in Iowa, has long since given up any apparent worry that voters will react badly to negativity, and complains of unfair attacks don't seem likely to deter him here.

"The expectation is that Santorum, just given his personality, is going to whine like crazy about this," the advisor laughed.

And Mittens still doesn't get it. He's still trying to tear down his opponent instead of SHOWING voters why he wants to run for President, what his vision for that role is, and why he should be the head of the GOP.

Also, all of those same reasons for why the GOP will also fail against Obama. Just constantly tearing down your opponent won't work and won't get anyone outside your passionate, but shrinking base to vote for you.

 

[Hobbestetrician]

Santorum winning out over Obama is the literal definition of impossible. The economy would literally have to melt down to "great depression" era levels for it to even be feasible.

You say that, and I believe you, but a small part of me has been shitting itself constantly that there is even a chance.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

''The Cost of Obama''. What a title.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/painful-cost-obama_629745.html

This is my favorite part:

Because the gross domestic product (GDP) nearly always grows from year to year, the most favorable way to view Obama’s deficit spending is as a percentage of GDP. Surely he can’t look as bad in that light, right?

 

[daedalius]

Hey PoliGAF. A friend offered me the opportunity to go with him to a local GOP dinner/event featuring Rick Santorum for free later this week even though I'm just about as un-Republican as it gets. Would it be worth it for the spectacle or am I just going to feel really uncomfortable around dozens or hundreds of tea partiers spouting things that are going to make me want to flip tables? I'd have no intention of doing any protest stuff that's going to get me arrested/shouted down/otherwise on the news, I'd pretty much just be sitting there the whole time. Bad use of an evening or no?

Definitely would NOT go to something like that. It might be funny for a few minutes, but then you are just going to have all that rage burning inside of you; or at least the desire to tell some of the people likely to be there that they are absolutely crazy.

 

[speculawyer]

Hey PoliGAF. A friend offered me the opportunity to go with him to a local GOP dinner/event featuring Rick Santorum for free later this week even though I'm just about as un-Republican as it gets. Would it be worth it for the spectacle or am I just going to feel really uncomfortable around dozens or hundreds of tea partiers spouting things that are going to make me want to flip tables? I'd have no intention of doing any protest stuff that's going to get me arrested/shouted down/otherwise on the news, I'd pretty much just be sitting there the whole time. Bad use of an evening or no?

Yes it will be a spectacle. And yes you will be uncomfortable. Do it. And record it if it is a public event.

How is it free? Aren't such dinners usually expensive fund-raisers?

 

[thezerofire]

Hey PoliGAF. A friend offered me the opportunity to go with him to a local GOP dinner/event featuring Rick Santorum for free later this week even though I'm just about as un-Republican as it gets. Would it be worth it for the spectacle or am I just going to feel really uncomfortable around dozens or hundreds of tea partiers spouting things that are going to make me want to flip tables? I'd have no intention of doing any protest stuff that's going to get me arrested/shouted down/otherwise on the news, I'd pretty much just be sitting there the whole time. Bad use of an evening or no?

go, flip tables, and get it on film

 

[Invisible_Insane]

Citation needed.

The effects of piracy are and have always been wildy overblown by the entertainment industry and it's lobbyists.

The fact that they exaggerate means that it's not a problem?

Hey PoliGAF. A friend offered me the opportunity to go with him to a local GOP dinner/event featuring Rick Santorum for free later this week even though I'm just about as un-Republican as it gets. Would it be worth it for the spectacle or am I just going to feel really uncomfortable around dozens or hundreds of tea partiers spouting things that are going to make me want to flip tables? I'd have no intention of doing any protest stuff that's going to get me arrested/shouted down/otherwise on the news, I'd pretty much just be sitting there the whole time. Bad use of an evening or no?

Don't do it.

 

[Mike M]

So is there a reason everyone is so optimistic about economic numbers improving this year? Even if the Eurozone doesn't run into significant problems, haven't we had relatively good first quarters followed by summer slumps multiple years now?

Seems like banking so much on the most recent economic reports being good could backfire if there's any slippage.

 

[Frank the Great]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

 

[thezerofire]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

because Santorum continuously spouts solid waste and hate?

 

[Brinbe]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

He's a solid candidate for the crazy GOP base, and that's why he's doing so well. They are craaaaaaaaazy. Did the 2010 mid-terms not already bear that out when those fanatical tea-party candidates did so well? That base is so far outside the mainstream that even a center-right candidate like Romney is unacceptable.

To the vast majority of voters who aren't to the far-right? He'll rightfully get destroyed. And Poli-GAF will laugh and be merry.

 

[Puddles]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

Obama can hammer Santorum on his health-care gaffe and a huge number of social issues where Santorum is on the wrong side of history.

 

[speculawyer]

If this is the best Romney can come up with, he's fucked.

That is some pretty weak sauce stuff. If I were them, I'd hammer on electability . . . . but you have to do it in a careful manner. I'd point out that Rick Santorum lost as an incumbent in his home state by 18 points and thus has no chance against Obama. Of course, you'd have to be careful not to point out that the reason he lost was because the hardcore conservative schtick does not play well outside of the south and parts of the mid-west.

 

[speculawyer]

Definitely would NOT go to something like that. It might be funny for a few minutes, but then you are just going to have all that rage burning inside of you; or at least the desire to tell some of the people likely to be there that they are absolutely crazy.

Don't do it.

Why do you guys say that? It is a rare and minor-historical event that he has an opportunity to witness. He is not gonna catch Santorum cooties. I'd go to it and do a write up about it. What Santorum says and what the other people are like.

 

[Zzoram]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/10/the_ticking_clock?page=0,1

So what happens to the US elections if Israel attacks Iran, and tries to drag the US into it? Does Obama win or lose points if he aids Israel?

 

[Invisible_Insane]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN7WfIZh690#t=17m55s

Why do you guys say that? It is a rare and minor-historical event that he has an opportunity to witness. He is not gonna catch Santorum cooties. I'd go to it and do a write up about it. What Santorum says and what the other people are like.

Call me intolerant, I guess. He's not going to say anything I haven't heard before, and I find all of it intellectually dishonest or offensive. I can think of better things to do with my time.

 

[speculawyer]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

No. Just no. He's great for 30% of the country. But he is too far on the social issue craziness:
-He is too anti-gay
-He is on record as being anti-birth control
-He recently said silly anti-women in combat stuff
-The whole bringing the fetus home bit.


Being anti-abortion is one thing . . . that is a vaguely near 50/50 issue. But the anti-gay, anti-birth control, and other stuff is just too far. People don't want to elect the church-lady.

 

[daedalius]

Why do you guys say that? It is a rare and minor-historical event that he has an opportunity to witness. He is not gonna catch Santorum cooties. I'd go to it and do a write up about it. What Santorum says and what the other people are like.

Well personally, I'd probably feel the need to argue with all of the old white men that would undoubtedly be there and their views on female reproduction.

Oh, and the people that just tell him to defund Obamacare without actually having any idea what it means or what is involved (both of these happened on a 'town hall call' recently that I happened to listen to for a few minutes)

 

[Brinbe]

That is some pretty weak sauce stuff. If I were them, I'd hammer on electability . . . . but you have to do it in a careful manner. I'd point out that Rick Santorum lost as an incumbent in his home state by 18 points and thus has no chance against Obama. Of course, you'd have to be careful not to point out that the reason he lost was because the hardcore conservative schtick does not play well outside of the south and parts of the mid-west.

And even that's potentially a losing argument when you look at recent polling, where Santorum's not significantly behind what Romney's pulling against Obama, at least nationally, as well as Mitt's dreadful likability numbers that have been discussed in recent pages. He really doesn't have much room to attack right-ward against an actual conservative like Santorum.

It's also not like Santorum can't capably counter-attack when he needs to, like when he eviscerated Romney on that "Obamney-Care" in a past debate.

And a decent article on that very issue...

As happens every time a non-Romney Republican surges into the national lead, liberals are giddy over the possibility that the opposing party is once again contemplating electoral suicide. But is it really? Unlike previous Romney opponents of the past, Santorum is not a pure clown, and it’s far from clear that he’d have a harder time beating Obama.

Santorum has attracted a terrible reputation among the overclass. He is defined by his crude, bigoted social conservatism, which colors the broader perception of him as an extremist. This in turn leeches out into a sense, often reflected in news coverage, which likewise reflects the social biases of the overclass, that Santorum is a fringe candidate who would repel swing voters.

In fact, there are, very roughly speaking, two kinds of swing voters. One kind is economically conservative, socially liberal swing voters. This is the kind of voter you usually read about, because it’s the kind most familiar to political reporters – affluent and college educated. But there’s a second kind of voter at least as numerous – economically populist and socially conservative. Think of disaffected blue-collar workers, downscale white men who love guns, hate welfare, oppose free trade, and want higher taxes on the rich and corporations. Romney appeals to the former, but Santorum more to the latter.

As hard a time as Santorum would have closing the sale among certain moderate quarters, I don’t think it’s sunk in quite how poisoned Romney’s image has become among downscale voters. Coverage of Romney’s wealth, corporate history, and partially released tax situation coincided with, and almost certainly caused, a collapse in his support with white voters with income under $50,000. Republicans have enjoyed great success attracting downscale whites in recent years, but that success has hinged in part on things like not nominating standard-bearers who epitomize everything blue-collar whites distrust about their party.

Indeed, at the moment Romney and Santorum both fare about equally well against Obama. (Not very well at all, I’m afraid.) Now, we have to take the comparison with a grain of salt, as Obama has spent months tearing down Romney while leaving Santorum relatively untouched.

Some conservatives are pushing the notion that Santorum is more electable than Romney because he advocates a purer and more naturally articulated form of right-wing ideology. That seems like obvious hokum – can there be any doubt that conservative Republicans will crawl to the polls to defeat President Obama if their nominee is Romney or anybody else? They attract different kinds of swing voters, and the question is who can attract more of them. If I were a Republican, I’d still bet on Romney.

But unlike previous matchups — Romney versus Rick Perry, the dumber, crazier George W. Bush, Romney versus Newt Gingrich, the loathsome wildly adulterous bore — the relative electability of Romney versus Santorum is hardly obvious.

 

[Allard]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

He lost in Pennsylvania by 18 points for his senate seat, that right there alone should tell you why he doesn't stand a chance. He comes off a genuine person but he is like Christine O'Donnell, very stringent social conservative that has views so thoroughly outside of mainstream that some would actually get scared of him becoming president/elected. He looks good now within the base, but come general election when he has to face Obama, his social views (and even a lot of his economic views) would unpalatable for a majority of the public. Honestly you couldn't have a worse candidate to use in the face of renewed culture war from the GOP, his views are so far out there even for a good deal of the GOP electorate worries about what image might project.

 

[Frank the Great]

i didn't realize the extent of santorum's social views . . . i guess no one is criticizing him on this stuff now because it's the primary?

still, he could easily do a 180 on many issues such as birth control and whatnot in the general.

 

[Brinbe]

i didn't realize the extent of santorum's social views . . . i guess no one is criticizing him on this stuff now because it's the primary?

still, he could easily do a 180 on many issues such as birth control and whatnot in the general.

Nooo, that's who Santorum is and that's why he's so popular among that contingent. He might be crazy, but he's authentic. That's his entire appeal. If anything, he'll double-down on that in order to draw a clearer contrast against Obama/energize the GOP base.

 

[RustyNails]

still, he could easily do a 180 on many issues such as birth control and whatnot in the general.

It's not that easy. He's on the record saying everything.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

santorum is a good candidate and would do well in the general election with some decent advisors and some money. he is a much better candidate than romney. he is like-able and relates to working class people.

i don't know why you guys are so confident. i feel like a broken record here.

SANTORUM: They are taking faith and crushing it. Why? Why? When you marginalize faith in America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what’s left is the French Revolution. What’s left is the government that gives you right, what’s left are no unalienable rights, what’s left is a government that will tell you who you are, what you’ll do and when you’ll do it. What’s left in France became the guillotine. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re a long way from that, but if we do and follow the path of President Obama and his overt hostility to faith in America, then we are headed down that road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWqls5KE5d8&feature=player_embedded

Yeah nothing seems wrong here....

 

[daedalius]

SANTORUM: They are taking faith and crushing it. Why? Why? When you marginalize faith in America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what’s left is the French Revolution. What’s left is the government that gives you right, what’s left are no unalienable rights, what’s left is a government that will tell you who you are, what you’ll do and when you’ll do it. What’s left in France became the guillotine. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re a long way from that, but if we do and follow the path of President Obama and his overt hostility to faith in America, then we are headed down that road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWqls5KE5d8&feature=player_embedded

Yeah nothing seems wrong here....

Its like he is just trolling everyone who isn't overly religious.

 

[DasRaven]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/10/the_ticking_clock?page=0,1

So what happens to the US elections if Israel attacks Iran, and tries to drag the US into it? Does Obama win or lose points if he aids Israel?

Considering that there's no one in the GOP race that beats Obama on foreign policy/terrorism, it would probably be a complete winner for him. His only "weak" spot is in his non-fealty to Israel, so going to their aide would make him unbeatable. War, in general, is also usually good for incumbents.

i didn't realize the extent of santorum's social views . . . i guess no one is criticizing him on this stuff now because it's the primary?

still, he could easily do a 180 on many issues such as birth control and whatnot in the general.

Santorum is the real deal, he believes what he says and is fully vested in his faith.
He wouldn't flip-flop or moderate on any view he's expressed so far because that would be to reject his beliefs.

 

[speculawyer]

i didn't realize the extent of santorum's social views . . . i guess no one is criticizing him on this stuff now because it's the primary?

still, he could easily do a 180 on many issues such as birth control and whatnot in the general.

Exactly. Santorum is a serious kook. He is hardcore religious fundamentalist . . . Creationist, anti-birth-control, home-schools his kids, anti-gay, etc.

However, the other GOP candidates can't bash him on that stuff because that is the GOP base. And that is why there is this whole discussion about "How will Mitt go negative against Santorum?" You can pound Newt on his marriages, flip-flops, Moon base, etc. But how do you attack Ned Flanders within the GOP context?

 

[Invisible_Insane]

i didn't realize the extent of santorum's social views . . . i guess no one is criticizing him on this stuff now because it's the primary?

still, he could easily do a 180 on many issues such as birth control and whatnot in the general.

Ironically, Romney has actually unintentionally taken him on on this issue.

But he won't do a 180 on that, that's been his thing forever. It's the core of his brand.

 

[AstroNut325]

''The Cost of Obama''. What a title.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/painful-cost-obama_629745.html

This is my favorite part:

DAT mental gymnastics!

 

[speculawyer]

Ironically, Romney has actually unintentionally taken him on on this issue.

But he won't do a 180 on that, that's been his thing forever. It's the core of his brand.

I think Santorum has backed off the anti-birth control issue a bit. He knows it is a loser. He'll fight against it being paid for by the government or insurance . . . but I don't he would try to ban it.

BTW, looking to Ron Paul for support on the constitutionality of birth control was quite ironic since Ron Paul submitted legislation that would allow states to ban birth control. But no one there was informed enough to know that.

 

[empty vessel]

''The Cost of Obama''. What a title.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/painful-cost-obama_629745.html

Notwithstanding the intent to mislead, it's a good thing money grows on trees!

 

[Frank the Great]

got damn, santorum really is a nut. i take back what i said. wow. i still think he's way more like-able than mitt but some of those positions are way out there . . . and if he really sticks to them he is screwed.

i hope he wins the nomination now. it just amazes me that NO ONE in the mainstream media talks about his crazy positions. i guess that's par for the course though, really. the media doesn't do its job any more, they would only report on these things if another politician started attacking him on it.

 

[madp]

Definitely would NOT go to something like that. It might be funny for a few minutes, but then you are just going to have all that rage burning inside of you; or at least the desire to tell some of the people likely to be there that they are absolutely crazy.

I live in an extremely conservative community so I'm used to having to keep my thoughts to myself virtually all the time. I just don't know if experiencing that in a rally environment will be quite as easy to tolerate. Santorum's not going to say anything that I haven't already heard him say; it's his supporters that are probably going to try my patience, and several powerful Republicans in the community know me by face so I don't know how I'm going to explain my presence there other than to say "I'm with that guy over there."

Yes it will be a spectacle. And yes you will be uncomfortable. Do it. And record it if it is a public event.

How is it free? Aren't such dinners usually expensive fund-raisers?

I'll have to contact the organizers of the event and see if cameras will be allowed. I suppose I wouldn't mind going just to document it, at least I'd have something interesting to share out of it that way.

It's free because my friend offered to pay my way in just to have someone there with him. He doesn't have a strong political affiliation, but he likes to go to rallies regardless of candidate when they're in his area. It's in a rural locale so the entry fees are more reasonable than a big city luncheon or anything of the sort.

 

[thezerofire]

got damn, santorum really is a nut. i take back what i said. wow. i still think he's way more like-able than mitt but some of those positions are way out there . . . and if he really sticks to them he is screwed.

i hope he wins the nomination now. it just amazes me that NO ONE in the mainstream media talks about his crazy positions. i guess that's par for the course though, really. the media doesn't do its job any more, they would only report on these things if another politician started attacking him on it.

Yep. My favorite, I think, is him saying rape is a gift from God.

 

[Plinko]

Anybody have the latest Santorum likability numbers from independents?

I just can't see him being able to reach out to the independents he'd need to to win the presidency.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Santorum would struggle to get 40% of the female vote, he'd be a disaster. But I do think blue collar voters would respond to him better than Romney.

If Santorum wins Michigan he'll be legit. If he loses I think it's game over

 

[Allard]

got damn, santorum really is a nut. i take back what i said. wow. i still think he's way more like-able than mitt but some of those positions are way out there . . . and if he really sticks to them he is screwed.

i hope he wins the nomination now. it just amazes me that NO ONE in the mainstream media talks about his crazy positions. i guess that's par for the course though, really. the media doesn't do its job any more, they would only report on these things if another politician started attacking him on it.

Actually a part of it has to do with the fact most up to this point think Santorum is a joke candidate, the idea that he can win just doesn't register. Like I said he is a damaged Huckabee, likeable from the distance but someone you don't want close to making decisions in your daily life. Even at the tail end of the 2008 Primary season Huckabee was still getting delegates even after McCain essentially won the nomination. If he really is the front runner heading into a week or so before Super Tuesday expect establishment Republicans to start eviscerating him like they did Newt. He might bring out the base but he might damage more then just his own chances for winning, he might damage the congressional races just by being on the GE ticket.

 

[platypotamus]

was his father a flip flopper or something? it that were to run in the family lol wow

His father wasn't, but his grandfather was. His great grandfather wasn't, but his great great grandfather was...

 

[Manmademan]

got damn, santorum really is a nut. i take back what i said. wow. i still think he's way more like-able than mitt but some of those positions are way out there . . . and if he really sticks to them he is screwed.

i hope he wins the nomination now. it just amazes me that NO ONE in the mainstream media talks about his crazy positions. i guess that's par for the course though, really. the media doesn't do its job any more, they would only report on these things if another politician started attacking him on it.

Santorum hasn't really been on anyone's radar until VERY recently. Give it time.

But as another poster here said- Santorum is a serious, SERIOUS hardcore religious nutjob, on record saying some extremely questionable things. I was in PA, and voting, when he got obliterated by 20 points, and in this state that REALLY takes some work.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Santorum hasn't really been on anyone's radar until VERY recently. Give it time.

But as another poster here said- Santorum is a serious, SERIOUS hardcore religious nutjob, on record saying some extremely questionable things. I was in PA, and voting, when he got obliterated by 20 points, and in this state that REALLY takes some work.

It's worth noting that 2006 was quite a wave year, and his dem opponent was also pro-life

 

[speculawyer]

I'll have to contact the organizers of the event and see if cameras will be allowed. I suppose I wouldn't mind going just to document it, at least I'd have something interesting to share out of it that way.

Forget cameras, we all know what he looks like. Just bring a cheap little MP3 player with recording ability and record the speech. If he says something really crazy, you can be the guy with the evidence of him actually saying it. (Sorta like when Obama got caught saying "those people clinging to their guns and their Bibles".) He'll probably just do the standard stump speech though.

 

[Manmademan]

It's worth noting that 2006 was quite a wave year, and his dem opponent was also pro-life

His opponent was bob casey jr. not a bad guy, but no real record to speak of, and a terrible, TERRIBLE speaker. youtube him sometime.

What really was unprecedented about Santorum is that during that election deep red counties in the middle of the state turned on him and voted for the democrat.

from wiki:

In the November 7, 2006 election, Santorum lost by over 700,000 votes, receiving 41% of the vote to Casey's 59%, the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent senator since 1980[98] and the largest losing margin for an incumbent Republican senator ever.[99]

nobody- NOBODY had anything good to say about santorum when he was running in 2006, wave election or not.

 

[speculawyer]

from wiki:

the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent senator since 1980[98] and the largest losing margin for an incumbent Republican senator ever.[99]

.

That would be my ad if I were the Romney SuperPAC.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Anybody have the latest Santorum likability numbers from independents?

I just can't see him being able to reach out to the independents he'd need to to win the presidency.

CNN just showed thier polls numbers on tv, and Santorum's unfavorability is 38, almost the same his favorability. No doubt because he hasn't had enough time to bake in the sun yet as demonstrated by those with no answers/don't knows which were almost a quarter of those surveyed.

Obama is at 53/45.

 

[mckmas8808]

No. Everything I've read about George Romney makes him seem like the opposite of Mitt; a decent man with credibility. One of the more impressive things about him, to me, is he was genuinely affected by seeing the poor suffer on his missionary trips to poor parts of Scotland, so much so that it made him question his faith.

I heard that George Romney was a mega flip-flopper. His biggest being the flip on the Vietnam War.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Pay Roll tax package could be close

Nothing is final, but aides and insiders say that a deal for year-long extensions of the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance and Medicare physician payment rates could be near. The payroll tax cut is set to be extended without offsets, while UI and the "doc fix" are poised to be paid for.

The situation remains fluid, but as of now, the roughly $35 billion "doc fix" is expected to be offset with health spending cuts elsewhere in the budget, health care insiders tell TPM. They include cuts to the Affordable Care Act's prevention fund as well as reductions in Medicare payments to hospitals (including bad debt and pay bumps for hospitals with lots of low-income patients) and nursing homes.

At a cost of $20-25 billion, extension of unemployment compensation is likely to be paid for in part with cuts to federal employee retirement benefits and spectrum auction, an aide said.

That's what's being discussed now. We'll be following as the story develops.

 

[speculawyer]

Santorum hasn't really been on anyone's radar until VERY recently. Give it time.

Yeah, he is literally the last not-Romney standing after Newt got pummeled in Florida and Nevada. (No, Ron Paul doesn't count.)

 

[Invisible_Insane]

Yeah, he is literally the last not-Romney standing after Newt got pummeled in Florida and Nevada. (No, Ron Paul doesn't count.)

b-b-but faithless electors!