Good Luck Tonight. Really.
As Republicans in ten states take their turn at reluctantly accepting the creator of Obamacare as the GOP standard-bearer against President Obama, the actual President took the stage in the White House briefing room.
He announced new help for veterans and millions of homeowners then took some questions from the press corp.
Deftly, he explained to Fox News why their talking point about the President wanting gas prices to rise makes no sense. He explained why he thinks there is a window for peace in Iran. And he explained how the Sandra Fluke/Rush Limbaugh incident made him think about how he wants his daughters to feel safe to speak out.
And when asked to respond to Mitt Romney’s latest attack, he just said, “Good luck tonight.”
“Really?” asked the reporter.
“No, really. Really.”
It reminded me of when John F. Kennedy was told to not pose in a picture with Barry Goldwater as it might raise the Arizona’s stature for the upcoming election. JFK said, “Leave him alone. He’s mine.”
It’s hard to believe that the President is anything less than delighted by the drubbing Romney has taken in this primary. Mitt has gone from inevitable to insufferable.
On economic policy, Mitt is doubling down on the worst of Bushonomics with inconceivably large tax breaks for the richest. And on Iran, he’s offering the same policy the President is offering, but in an angrier tone while wearing mom jeans.
As I said in my predictions, the end is nigh for Rick Santorum. Here’s what Nate Silver says you can expect. Newt’s heart will probably go on. Because of Mitt’s idiotic tactic of savaging Newt before the race even began, you may even see Newt go all the way to the convention.
As for Mitt, his lies are finally catching up to him right when it’s too late for the GOP to turn back. This is a Super Tuesday lacking in intrigue. Mitt is going to win. Still, it’s hard to see how things could have worked out better for the President so far. Really.
[CC image by Identity Photogr@phy]
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Update 6:01 PM
Santorum CAN’T win Ohio, as he’s not on the ballot in a few congressional districts. Knowing that is like watching a Project Runway out of order. All the tension is gone.
BTW: I’ll be livetweeting most of the night.
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Update 6:14 PM
Guess who is not confident about his chances tonight and wants you to focus on the delegate counts? Mitt Romney.
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Update 7:05 PM
The secrecy that surrounds Mitt Romney is intense. Now word comes that his camp has told the people who knew him in France to not comment on anything Mitt related. Usually Republicans wait till they get to the White House to act like Nixon.
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Update 7:30
I just read that Newt Gingrich is getting Secret Service protection. This is the worst news Mitt Romney can get in a year of terrible news for Mitt Romney. Newt’s whole life he’s been dreaming of rolling like the Commander-in-Chief. Think he’s going to give it up to make life easier for Mitt Romney? Don’t count on it.
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Update 9:41 PM
Wow. Mitt Romney cannot close this thing. And Rick Santorum does not know that he’s supposed to drop out. Rick just gave the speech the Obama campaign has been waiting for. He called Romney “not truthful” about Obamacare, destroying any ground Mitt had to stand on in November.
The fact that Mitt Romney has been lying non-stop is pretty apparent to anyone who has been paying attention. But for a Republican to say that prime time on Super Tuesday is about as ugly as a primary can get.
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Update 10:07 PM
Atlas: You’d shrug too if you’d had to vote for Mitt Romney.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) March 6, 2012
Mitt Romney looks as if he’s in shock but his words are still perfectly crafted. He knows he’s running a campaign based on lies. So he accuses the President of being untruthful. He says he’ll balance the budget by them promises to cut taxes for the richest by trillions. He knows he’s asking the GOP to settle. So he says America won’t settle for this President.
It’s perfectly crafted deception and spin designed to trigger braingasms in Republicans. But it’s not working.
I honestly thought the story coming out of tonight would be Santorum dropping out. Now it seems the story is: Who else can the GOP establishment drag out to get Republicans to accept Mitt Romney?
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Update 8:04 AM
So Rick Santorum held his own, which I think is against his religion.
Everyone, except Drudge, seems to get that Mitt hasn’t locked up anything. Mitt’s continuing problem is that he cannot lock up the evangelical vote, which is basically the GOP base. This means he’s going to need an evangelical darling the way McCain did to excite his party. And you saw how that worked out.
