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The Iranian President decides to take a little trip to Cuba. [Haaretz] Mitt Romney moves ahead in the polls and starts to take on the welfare state. [CNBC] A humorous analysis of Ron Paul’s New Hampshire Republican primary victory speech. [The New York Times] OK, folks, round two of the 2012 GOP presidential primary, which means round two of the fearless predictions of our recovering politicians. Last week, our RPs boldly made their Iowa caucus prognostications, and with the exception of RP staffer Zack Adams (who predicted the correct finish of the top 6 candidates) and Artur Davis (the only contributing RP to predict the correct order of the top 3), well…let’s say they are lucky to get a second chance. But this web site is all about second acts, right? And we ask you to join them in the comments section as well. No fun prizes, but instant fame and glory to the reader who is the closest. So, here goes the New Hampshire experiment: The RP: Romney 39; Paul 19; Huntsman 17; Santorum 12; Gingrich 11; Roemer 1; Perry less than 1%. Ron Paul let me down — big time — last week, but I still have confidence that the independents will keep him in a solid second place. And I predict that the media darling, John Huntsman, will underperform. And my big surprise: Buddy Roemer ekes out 6th place from under Rick Perry’s nose. Oh, yeah, and Mitt Romney wins big. Yawn. Paul Hodes (contributing RP and former New Hampshire Congressman): Here goes from the Granite State…Romney 34; Huntsman 19; Paul 18; Gingrich 14; Santorum 12; Perry 3 Zac Byer (RP Staff): 1st – Mitt Romney (32%); 2nd – Ron Paul (19%); 3rd – Jon Huntsman (15%). [Click here to read his Zac’s full report from Manchester, New Hampshire.] Jason Grill: 1. Romney (Needs at least 35% or a 10 point win); 2. Huntsman (The candidate with the best chance to beat President Obama in the general); 3. Paul (Another third place finish, but still relevant); 4. Gingrich (Edges out Rick, but Tick…Tick…Tick…SC is next. Boom); 5. Santorum (No Iowa magic tonight); 6. Perry (Already hunkered down in SC for his last stand) Greg Harris: Romney – 35; Huntsman – 21; Santorum – 16; Paul – 13; Gingrich – 11; Perry – 4 Steve Schulman: With apologies to Frank Sinatra…Mitt Romney – If he can’t win it here, he can’t win it anywhere…Ron Paul – He’ll do it his way…Jon Huntsman – Strangers in the night…Rick Santorum – Please don’t talk about him when he’s gone…Newt Gingrich – Fly him to the moon, let him play among the stars…Rick Perry – Ain’t that a kick in the head…And too bad Michele Bachmann dropped out … that lady is a tramp! Read the rest of… OK, folks, round two of the 2012 GOP presidential primary, which means round two of the fearless predictions of our recovering politicians. Last week, our RPs boldly made their Iowa caucus prognostications, and with the exception of RP staffer Zack Adams (who predicted the correct finish of the top 6 candidates) and Artur Davis (the only contributing RP to predict the correct order of the top 3), well…let’s say they are lucky to get a second chance. But this web site is all about second acts. So stay tuned to this channel. At 4:00 PM EST, the contributing RPs, Friends of RP and RP Staff make their predictions. And we ask you to join them in the comments section as well. No fun prizes, but instant fame and glory to the reader who is the closest.
It’s my first time in New Hampshire, for the “First in the Nation” primary of 2012. I’m only days into a year-long hiatus from Penn Law to work for esteemed message guru and owner of Luntz Global, Dr. Frank Luntz. While snow and rain have been noticeably (and welcomingly) absent from New Hampshire, political and journalism might have not. Here are some highlights so far… Smoothest Operator Award #1: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – Gov. Christie, on stage in Exeter next to Mitt Romney, was rallying Mitt’s Militia when a few Occupiers started disrupting. Or so they tried. Christie bellows, “Oh really?” into the microphone and reminds the rabble-rousers he has created 60,000 new jobs in NJ. But he does so without upstaging the candidate, bringing the focus back to Romney by proclaiming him the only one capable of creating millions of jobs in America and kicking Obama out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Best “Wow” Moment: Sitting in the lobby of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester late one night, watching Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Joe Scarborough, Brett Baier, and Chris Matthews pow-wow. Think about how many times we’ve let those giants of journalism into our living rooms to break down the most transformational world events of the last 50 years . . . Read the rest of…
Michelle Bachmann drops out of the presidential race. [ABC News] The Press questions the DNC Chair: Will Obama drop Biden for Clinton? [The Weekly Standard] Senator John McCain endorses Mitt Romney for president. [New York Times] As the pundits and Wednesday morning quarterbacks assess the winners and losers of last night’s Iowa caucuses, one verdict is clear: Our savvy gang of RPs couldn’t shoot straight.
Reviewing their predictions from yesterday, click here for the infamous post, only RP staffer Zack Adams predicted the correct finish of the top 6 candidates, and former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis was the only recovering politician to predict the correct order of the top 3.
Most humiliated was The RP himself. Not only did he forecast a last-minute Ron Paul surge (30 points — come on?!?), but then, after the entrance polls “confirmed” his predictions, he bragged on Twitter and Facebook about how he was whipping fellow RPs Jeff Smith and John Y. Brown, III. We imagine that the RP has crawled back into his spider hole awaiting redemption in New Hampshire.
At least recovering politicians can laugh at themselves. Here’s John Y.’s thoughts from last night when it looked like the RP and Jeff Smith had bested him:
After two years of campaign, hundreds of pundit prognostications, and thousands of cable news sound bites, at long last, what you’ve been waiting for… Our fearless contributors — Contributing RPs, Friends of RP and RP Staff — offer their predictions for tonight’s Iowa caucuses. And you can too — please give us your predictions in the Comments section below. Without further ado…(Click on their name to find out their background)… The RP: Paul 30%; Romney 25%; Santorum 21%; Gingrich 7%; Perry 6%; Bachmann 4%, Huntsman 1%. I don’t think Rick “Man On Dog” Santorum’s organization is strong enough to take advantage of his surge. I also think Paul’s support is underestimated in the polls because his grassroots support is so fervant, and the tin foil hat crowd among his followers are fearful of pollsters. Remember Pat Robertson? Michael Steele: Click here for his exclusive-to-The-RP report from Iowa. Jeff Smith: Santorum 27; Romney 23; Paul 23; Perry 11; Gingrich 9; Bachmann 6. I think some Bachmann/Gingrich/Perry folks walk in to their caucus, see how outnumbered they are by Sant-mentum, and get on the bandwagon. Jason Grill: Romney, Paul, and Santorum will finish first, second, and third. The order though is more “up in the air” than George Clooney was in his recent Oscar nominated movie. Organization and friends twisting other friends arms at the caucuses will decide the order of the top three. If Romney finishes third that WILL be news and change the race somewhat moving forward. He will be seen as an even weaker front runner if this happens. Also, it will be interesting to see where Perry and Gingrich finish tonight. Keep a lookout for their percentages at the end of the night. A fourth place finish for Perry over Gingrich will signal a potential showdown with Romney in South Carolina. Lastly, I am anxious to see how Huntsman finishes in next week’s New Hampshire primary after skipping Iowa. Mark Nickolas: Paul (25%); Romney (23%); Santorum (22%); Gingrich (11%); Perry (10%); Bachmann (6%). Iowa requires a level of commitment from supporters unlike anywhere else. Those with the best state organization and strongest levels of commitment do especially well (Paul and Paul). Also, since Independents and Dems can participate if they want to cross over — as Indies did for Obama in ’08 — that’s likely to help Paul the most. Nefarious (aka loyal) Dems are going to support anyone but Romney to ensure a protracted GOP race, with Paul and Santorum benefitting most. Rod Jetton: I think Ron Paul will just nip Romney and Rick Santorum will get third. Newt probably finishes in 4th. The Ron Paul forces are dedicated and with his numbers going up they and their friends have started believing he can win. They will turn out and surprise all the experts. Greg Harris: Santorum – 26%; Romney – 25%; Paul – 21%; Gingrich – 12%; Bachman – 8%; Perry – 7%; Huntsman – 1%. Santorum’s diligent grassroots work throughout the State this past year will pay off, resulting in more ardent caucus warriors advocating his case, and moving some on-the-fence Bachman and Perry supporters. Ron Paul’s fanatical base will still assure him over an over 20% showing. The minority moderate voters will hold their noses and back Romney. Read the rest of…
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says: Get ready for an Obama-Clinton ticket. [Business Insider] Rick Santorum who? The former U.S. Senator is getting a timely surge in Iowa. [New York Times] No matter what happens in Iowa, Mitt Romney has a safety-net in New Hampshire. [Washington Times]
This is a fair enough description. Romney rose as a Republican fending for votes in the most liberal state, Massachusetts, and neither his run against Ted Kennedy nor his governorship sounded very much like the standard form conservative trolling for early state Republicans today.
Obama has gotten no real grief for directions in the past several years that don’t match the things he said in the heat of campaigns to win liberal hearts in Illinois, and then the country. In contrast, it is George Bush who draws considerable ire for staying fixed in stone on Iraq, even when the results were a quagmire that nearly undermined the success of dethroning Saddam. If memory serves, Bush also won not much praise for sticking to his moderate stances on immigration: the Texas governor who aggressively courted Latinos was the same president who infuriated his base for favoring a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Read the rest of…  Outrageous! Lindsay Lohan outdoes herself again!!
I just had an apple bran muffin and coffee for breakfast. OK…I admit it.
I used a fake Lindsay Lohan lead to get attention because my Facebook status update this morning is my dullest ever, and I was trying to spice it up and pull people in.
Of course, I don’t know Lindsay Lohan and have no idea what she did last night…For all I know, she didn’t …do anything and just had an apple bran muffin and coffee.
 Lindsay Lohan NUDE!!! Which gives me an idea. Here is my new status update: “Lindsay Lohan and I had apple bran muffins and coffee.”
Again, depending on how you read that sentence it, too, can be misleading. I wasn’t eating an apple bran muffin and coffee at the same time in the presence of Lindsay Lohan, and some could read it that way. And that wouldn’t be accurate.
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