Willard Likes Grits And Outhouses, But Outtakes... Not So Much

The latest polling in Alabama and Mississippi-- the heart and soul of the modern, unreconstructed Republican Party-- shows that the presidential nomination is too close to call. Their hearts are with Newt or Santorum or Palin or Rick Perry but they are so blinded by hatred and rage by the black guy in the White House that they seem willing to hold their noses and support the Mormon... from Massachusetts. Watching tomorrow night's returns should be fun.

Gingrich and Santorum are both more popular than Romney in each of these states. In Mississippi Gingrich's net favorability is +33 (62/29) to +32 for Santorum (60/28) and +10 for Romney (51/41). It's a similar story in Alabama where Santorum's at +32 (63/31), Gingrich is at +26 (58/32), and Romney's at only +13 (53/40).

The reason Romney has a chance to win despite being less popular in both states is the split in the conservative vote. In Mississippi 44% of voters describe themselves as 'very conservative' and Romney's getting only 26% with them. But he's still in the mix because Gingrich leads Santorum only 35-32 with them. In Alabama where 45% of voters identify as 'very conservative,' Romney's at just 24%. But again he remains competitive overall because his opponents are so tightly packed with those voters, with Santorum at 37% and Gingrich at 31%.

It's not really clear who, if anyone, has the momentum in these states. In Mississippi folks who've decided in the last few days go for Gingrich over Santorum 37-29 with Romney at only 15%. But in Alabama the late deciders go 38-29 for Romney over Santorum with Gingrich at 23%.
About all we know is that Ron Paul won't win any of these states on Tuesday...the other three candidates all have a shot in both of them.

Among the non-horserace questions in the PPP survey that most intrigued me among the Alabamians (aside from the one that shows that 21% of likely Republican primary voters think interracial marriage should be illegal):


Ryan Lizza's column in The New Yorker this week focuses on Romney's conundrum of what to do about the nice endorsements he's gotten from conservative newspaper editorial boards that happen to mention "those things" that the campaign is trying to play down-- like health care reform and great personal wealth and awkwardness in relating to real people. And the Mormon thing. This afternoon Noah dealt with the awkwardness thing and these other unfortunate attributes that burden Romney but there's no reason for the Willard For President campaign machine to send concern itself about that. But the endorsements... what a problem! They want to persuade someone that someone somewhere, even famous and important someones like the editors of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Arizona Republic looked at Romney and actually liked what they saw. But then they have to leave out this kind of stuff, some of which sounds almost as though Noah might have written it (albeit then discarded it as too milquetoast):

1. “Mr. Romney may not be the debater that Mr. Gingrich is (although he’s getting better). And he doesn’t have the same social conservative credentials as Mr. Santorum.”
—Savannah Morning News, March 1, 2012

2. “He is the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, attending the prestigious Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills before receiving his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in 1971. He also is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, both in 1975. Following his graduations he worked for Bain & Co. before starting the highly successful Bain Capital, a venture capital and investment firm, in 1984.”
—Midland Daily News, Michigan, February 26, 2012

3. “Perhaps that is why he sometimes appears so awkward in public, especially when talking about himself and, in particular, his personal wealth.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 3, 2012

4. “Yes, out-of-context declarations like ‘I enjoy firing people’ and ‘I don’t care about the poor’ contribute to the caricature of a rich swell, akin to that of Donald Trump. Really? Where are the trophy wives? The ostentatious lifestyle? The garish displays of life among the rich and famous? You will have to look hard.”
—Arizona Republic, February 24, 2012

5. “We have our issues with Romney, to be sure. His opposition to the Dream Act for illegal-immigrant children raised in the U.S. is not one we support. And his effort to position himself as the ‘toughest’ GOP candidate on immigration issues is a concern.”
—Arizona Republic, February 24, 2012

6. “In fact, this newspaper does not embrace many of his ideas on taxation, which give too great a reward to the wealthy and not enough help for the poor and middle class.”
—Times Daily of Florence, Alabama, March 9, 2012

7. “His stance against government interaction to revive the domestic automobile industry is disappointing. Also disappointing are inconsistencies in his message…”
—Grand Rapids Press, February 22, 2012

8. “Consistency is certainly a problem for Romney. The one-time moderate has adjusted his positions on so many issues-- including abortion and gay rights-- that his core beliefs are a mystery. In this campaign, he has tried so hard to prove his conservative bona fides that he has undercut one of his greatest selling points: the pragmatism that enabled him to get things done as a Republican governor in one of the nation’s most Democratic and liberal states.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 3, 2012

9. “That has been just one example of some of the shape-shifting Romney has done to appeal to conservative primary voters who believe he is too moderate. So, it’s not unfair to wonder who the real Romney is.”
—Birmingham News, March 7, 2012

Now The New Yorker is not New York Magazine and Ryan Lizza is not Frank Rich. And Rich was also recounting the woes the Republican Party has run up against in its quest to reclaim presidential power and get the ole toxic agenda moving again. The national circus, even apart from the death of one right-wing operative and the near-death of another, has rebounded poorly on Willard last week:

After Super Tuesday, the Romney campaign said it’s over and he’s won. It’s mathematically impossible for any of his rivals to pile up the delegate count needed to win. So when will it truly be over?

At the height of the Vietnam quagmire, the comic Milton Berle joked that the best way to end the war was to put it on ABC-- then the lowest-rated network-- because it would be canceled within thirteen weeks. We may finally be reaching that stage with the GOP race. Of the broadcast networks, only the lowest-rated, NBC, even bothered to air any returns on Tuesday night. Overall, viewership for Super Tuesday coverage was down almost 40 percent from 2008. The contest may keep going-- bouncing around like a chicken head recently severed from its body-- but if no one is watching, the last act may have no more consequence than the final episode of NBC’s The Playboy Club.

Wasn’t it thrilling to stay up for those final precincts to be counted in Ohio?

To get to that ambiguous resolution you had to slog through speeches by Santorum, Romney and Gingrich that in length and tedium would rival anything in the Politburo prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

And a reminder for Wednesday-- yes, this Wednesday (I had wrong information before)-- a "pop-up occupation" will confront Willard as he arrives in New York for a fundraising lunch with the Wall Street banksters and hedge fund criminals at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at 11am.

This event targeting the presidential hopeful and his fundraising base of special interest lobbyists is one of the first in a series of actions some occupiers are calling "The American Spring."

...With growing concern over the blurred line between corporate lobbying and campaign finance many activists have honed their focus onto landmark corporate personhood rulings like Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, underscoring that these rulings further erode the mainstream democratic process activists use to influence policy and social change. Mitt Romney has made himself a champion of this corporate personhood argument and this has drawn fire from activists and occupiers alike.

"Creative visuals like a hula hoop flash mob will highlight Romney's all-too-creative use of tax loopholes while large placards reading 'Mr. 1%' will draw attention to the governor's cartoonish wealth and incestuous relationship with his corporate sponsorship," says Brendan Burke of Occupy Wall Street "New Yorkers will converge at the Waldorf with a simple message that democracy is not for sale, that money is not speech, and that corporations also need to pay their fair share."

Among the multimillionaires and billionaires who will be at the Waldorf trying to buy the White House for Willard are criminals like Jamie Dimon, John Paulson and this list of freaks and dangerous sociopaths.