Quote, unquote
"Came in third place behind Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul. I think that's enough for any one person to endure.” — former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, telling Stephen Colbert why he dropped out after Ames, following a campaign that “went all the way from 1 percent to 1 percent."
Paul Fanlund Notes That "Moderate Republican" Is Something Of A Contradiction These Days
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
The Cap Times editor notes that there is little room for Republican moderates in the party of Palin and Perry, Ron Paul and Paul Ryan.
Agreed.
And the first casualty in
the 2011-12 US Senate election cycle will be Tommy Thompson, already blasted in a TV spot as a tax-and-spender by the Club for Growth even before an official announcement of a candidacy.
My take: Tommy will sacrifice what remains of his legacy should he veer rightward and away from his record in order to chase a retirement dream job
GOP Straw Poll Update...and What it Means
The final numbers for the 597 people who voted in the straw poll (per Playbook) are:
1. Mike Huckabee 28.48%
2. Mitt Romney 12.40%
3. Tim Pawlenty 12.23%
4. Sarah Palin 12.06%
5. Mike Pence 11.89%
6. Newt Gingrich 6.70%
7. Bobby Jindal 4.69%
8. Rick Santorum 2.51%
9. Ron Paul 2.18%
10. Undecided 5.19%
11. Other 1.68%
There are a few things to take from this. First, there's not a moderate in the bunch. Second, it's interesting that Tim Pawlenty and Mike Pence did as well as they did. That is, Mike H, Mittens, and Spunky all have national organizations, Tim and Mike P do not. If any of the people who voted in the straw poll were "regular voters" that would be even more interesting. But the voters in the straw poll are party activists. Therefore, it is likely that if this really WERE a straw poll of randomly selected Republicans from the whole party, and not just those attending the "values" summit, the numbers would be different - there are still a lot of "moderate" Republicans who wish Rudy had given it his all and actually RUN last year. Further, Ron Paul had a lot of support last year, just not from Republicans. However, on the "lessons learned" page, it seems possible that a lot of independents in closed-primary states might re-register in 2012 if he ran again.
Ron Paul
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