Republican Primary Megathread (poll now updated)

[Kaeshar]

Newt just said that we can go to his website and we'll recieve a gallon of Newt Gas, lol. Not quite his exact words, but the part where he said Newt Gas is just funny somehow.

What is Newt Gas, besides something dirty?

He was talking about gasoline ($2 gas and all), but it is just funny in another context.

[Serrland]

But what a great three months it was! Shame he didn't live long enough to see his government service reform plans come to fruition with the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act get passed, though. Luckily for his ghost (which I like to believe haunts the White House sinks he never used to shave) he could see his buddy Chester Arthur pass it.

It was a shame. Arthur turned out alright, in the end. I just read Candace Millard's Destiny of the Republic, it was very good.

That's been recommended to me before, but I never bothered to read it. I should add it to my list.

It was indeed a shame about Garfield's death. If I recall correctly, the surgeons absolutely bungled the operations and subsequent procedures, and he would have survived had they not fiddled with him.

[Farnhamia]

What is Newt Gas, besides something dirty?

Gasoline refined from the oil that drips off his soul.

Or maybe it's like ambergris, he keeps it in his skull.

[New Conglomerate]

What is Newt Gas, besides something dirty?

Gasoline refined from the oil that drips off his soul.

This is assuming he has a soul. I hear Clinton got it off of him for a Twix back in '96.

[Kaeshar]

Gasoline refined from the oil that drips off his soul.

Or maybe it's like ambergris, he keeps it in his skull.

Isn't Ambergris actually whale barf? or the other end maybe....

[Wikkiwallana]

Gasoline refined from the oil that drips off his soul.

Or maybe it's like ambergris, he keeps it in his skull.

Ambergris doesn't come from the head, are you thinking of spermaceti?

[Kaeshar]

Or maybe it's like ambergris, he keeps it in his skull.

Ambergris doesn't come from the head, are you thinking of spermaceti?

Yea that must be it.

Edit: Checked the wiki and yes Spermaceti is from the skull cavity and ambergris* comes from either end of the digestive system.

*More specifically, ambergris origionates as an intestional secretion, but it can still come out either end.

[Revolutopia]

What is Newt Gas, besides something dirty?

He was talking about gasoline ($2 gas and all), but it is just funny in another context.

He does understand this is going to break him, as everybody is just going to visit his website and take the gallon of gas then just ignore him like usual.

[Tmutarakhan]

Ambergris doesn't come from the head, are you thinking of spermaceti?

Yea that must be it.

Edit: Checked the wiki and yes Spermaceti is from the skull cavity and ambergris* comes from either end of the digestive system.

*More specifically, ambergris origionates as an intestional secretion, but it can still come out either end.

The lower intestine is where Gingrich generally keeps his skull...

[Free Soviets]

so what the hell was up gingrich bragging about north dakota having an entire 6 months or so worth of oil for, exactly?

[Tmutarakhan]

Wow, a Santorum-Gingrich ticket... that's one way to ensure they fail hard in November. The Hindenburg would be nothing compared to that kind of wreck.

The Hindenburg is a perfect analogy, saying both situations contain a large bag full of hot air.

Actually, Rush Limbaugh is the best example of a giant flaming Nazi gasbag.

[New Embossia]

Wow. I can't believe Santorum actually got votes.


Some people...

[The United Soviet Socialist Republic]

The republicans have terrible canidates, espesially gingrich. The only decent canidate they have is rommney, obama is bad but some of the republican canidates would be worse. The obvious solution is to vote for a third party in my opinion.

[Free Soviets]

romney swept american samoa. all 9 delegates. dude is golden in the colonies. also, pending hawaii (16% in right now), that's put him in the lead for delegates tonight. again.

[Free Soviets]

so check out the votes from some precinct on oahu:



now that's how you pick up a third of your vote in one smooth motion. who says college kids don't get out to vote in the primaries?

[Dvardis]

Paul might actually wind up with more delegates from Hawaii than Santorum, despite having fewer votes.

On the one hand it's my natural instinct to cheer for the underdog, on the other hand the last thing we need is to validate the Paulbots :<

[Free Soviets]

Paul might actually wind up with more delegates from Hawaii than Santorum, despite having fewer votes.

On the one hand it's my natural instinct to cheer for the underdog, on the other hand the last thing we need is to validate the Paulbots :<

nah, most of 'em are awarded based on the statewide vote, and he's distinctly in third. romney will take 5 or 6, santorum will take 3ish, 2 for paul, and 1 for gingrich.

as for the congressional districts, i'm not entirely sure how the vote breakdown on oahu will go. the big mittens vote i posted about above is definitely in the 2nd, along with all the other islands. which means that romney is definitely coming in first and probably getting two of the three there. but the 1st district is just honolulu and some stuff right around it. and i suspect it will be romney then santorum,but i have no idea.

[The Archregimancy]

While our lazy American cousins sleep away a night of tension (it's only 5:14 am on the East Coast? What sort of a pathetic excuse is that?), allow me to be the first to report on the results in Al'bama and Mizipi.

Santorum won both.

Romney appears set to finish third in both, behind Gingrich.

With 94% of the precincts reporting in Alabama, we have:

SANTORUM: 35%

GINGRICH: 29%

ROMNEY: 28%

PAUL: 5%


With 98% of the precincts reporting in Mississippi, we have:

SANTORUM: 33%

GINGRICH: 31%

ROMNEY: 30%

PAUL: 4%

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17348420


This strikes me as the worst possible result for the Republican Party.

Firstly, the supposed frontrunner - and still the likely candidate - has finished third in both states, giving further encouragement to those who claim he's incapable of representing the 'true' conservatives, and guaranteeing that the increasingly damaging race will limp on for weeks. Secondly, while Gingrich didn't win, by pushing Romney into third in both states he's probably done enough to stay in the race, guaranteeing another wave of the type of negative attack ads that seem to be undermining all of the candidates.

[Forsher]

While our lazy American cousins sleep away a night of tension (it's only 5:14 am on the East Coast? What sort of a pathetic excuse is that?), allow me to be the first to report on the results in Al'bama and Mizipi.

Santorum won both.

Romney appears set to finish third in both, behind Gingrich.

With 94% of the precincts reporting in Alabama, we have:

SANTORUM: 35%

GINGRICH: 29%

ROMNEY: 28%

PAUL: 5%


With 98% of the precints reporting in Mississippi, we have:

SANTORUM: 33%

GINGRICH: 31%

ROMNEY: 30%

PAUL: 4%

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17348420


This strikes me as the worst possible result for the Republican Party.

Firstly, the supposed frontrunner - and still the likely candidate - has finished third in both states, giving further encouragement to those who claim he's incapable of representing the 'true' conservatives, and guaranteeing that the increasingly damaging race will limp on for weeks. Secondly, while Gingrich didn't win, by pushing Romney into third in both states he's probably done enough to stay in the race, guaranteeing another wave of the type of negative attack ads that seem to be undermining all of the candidates.

If you ask me the entire US system is self-harming for the parties*, as typified here. From the perspective of the Democrats this is good news but for Republicans I say that this is bad news as a whole. I think that reflects a trend towards extremism; this can only prove to be damaging for the party. Despite these results, and my somewhat erratic following of this whole affair, I still think that Romney will win. I may be underestimating the more extreme supporters but I don't think so.

Divided We Stand United We Fall... anyone? Hang on, that's not right...

*That is to say this first part that leads up to the main thing later on.

[Sane Outcasts]

While our lazy American cousins sleep away a night of tension (it's only 5:14 am on the East Coast? What sort of a pathetic excuse is that?), allow me to be the first to report on the results in Al'bama and Mizipi.

Santorum won both.

Romney appears set to finish third in both, behind Gingrich.

With 94% of the precincts reporting in Alabama, we have:

SANTORUM: 35%

GINGRICH: 29%

ROMNEY: 28%

PAUL: 5%


With 98% of the precints reporting in Mississippi, we have:

SANTORUM: 33%

GINGRICH: 31%

ROMNEY: 30%

PAUL: 4%

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17348420


This strikes me as the worst possible result for the Republican Party.

Firstly, the supposed frontrunner - and still the likely candidate - has finished third in both states, giving further encouragement to those who claim he's incapable of representing the 'true' conservatives, and guaranteeing that the increasingly damaging race will limp on for weeks. Secondly, while Gingrich didn't win, by pushing Romney into third in both states he's probably done enough to stay in the race, guaranteeing another wave of the type of negative attack ads that seem to be undermining all of the candidates.

If you ask me the entire US system is self-harming for the parties*, as typified here. From the perspective of the Democrats this is good news but for Republicans I say that this is bad news as a whole. I think that reflects a trend towards extremism; this can only prove to be damaging for the party. Despite these results, and my somewhat erratic following of this whole affair, I still think that Romney will win. I may be underestimating the more extreme supporters but I don't think so.

Divided We Stand United We Fall... anyone? Hang on, that's not right...

*That is to say this first part that leads up to the main thing later on.

The Republicans designed their primary season to be this long and drawn out, using Obama's 2008 run as a model. He and Hillary Clinton had a strong contest that ended up mobilizing the Democratic base and setting the stage for Obama's win in the general election. The GOP wants the same enthusiasm for their candidate once he goes against the incumbent Obama later this year, but I doubt they expected their primaries to play out this way. Turnout among conservative voters is lower across most states than in 2008 and the candidates are very thoroughly trashing each other instead of engaging in substantive issue debate.

While the popular vote signals major defeats for Romney, the delegates are awarded in Alabama and Mississippi proportionally, while Romney is projected to win in Hawaii (yes, another state also had a primary yesterday). So he remains the frontrunner and probably extends his lead in delegates while Santorum and Gingrich split the not-Romney vote again. If one were to drop out and support the other, Romney would be in much more trouble. As it is, this will simply drag out the negative attacks and waning enthusiasm for his campaign, maybe even to the convention now that the media narrative is "Romney isn't enough for the South or strong conservatives".

[Andaluciae]

Only conclusion: The Conservative movement in the South is suicidal. Like, full on, catastrophic meltdown insane.

Is this part of the Southern psyche, or something? To tilt crazily at anything that mildly amuses, and guarantees defeat?

Regardless.

Increasingly, we must suspect that President Obama will easily retain the office in November, especially if Santorum is able to force a brokered convention.

[Free Soviets]

While the popular vote signals major defeats for Romney, the delegates are awarded in Alabama and Mississippi proportionally, while Romney is projected to win in Hawaii (yes, another state also had a primary yesterday). So he remains the frontrunner and probably extends his lead in delegates while Santorum and Gingrich split the not-Romney vote again.

yeah, romney came out +6 or so on the delegate haul for the night. also, thanks to some endorsements by supers he actually won mississippi too.

basically, this is playing out like some sort of awesome bizarro-version of the obama/clinton battle, where the guy that can't energize anybody is racking up the delegate count (super and otherwise), while the other guys seem to have hired mark penn as a strategist.

[Hittanryan]

Obama's reaction to the Republican primary fuckfest:

Life is good.

[Gauthier]

Obama's reaction to the Republican primary fuckfest:

(Image)

Life is good.

I can't believe anyone, even Obama, would grin at a fuckfest involving Santorum.

[Hittanryan]

Obama's reaction to the Republican primary fuckfest:

(Image)

Life is good.

I can't believe anyone, even Obama, would grin at a fuckfest involving Santorum.

Oh, that joke hasn't died yet, has it? Interesting choice of words on my part then...IT BURNS, IT BURNS US!