Pawlenty drops out of race

That was quick.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/14/pawlenty/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Remarkable that he was considered a co-front runner very recently.

I'm surprised more isn't being made of Ron Paul's second-place finish. Or maybe I haven't read the coverage enough yet. I know that he was really, really focusing on finishing in the top three in the Iowa straw poll, according to a recent NYT or WSJ article, to legitimize his candidacy.

 

The fact Paul did well proves the Iowa straw poll is an outlier.

Pawlenty and his people have "a thing" about Bachmann. They let that get the better of them in Iowa. Poor judgment.

 

Probably. But it was his only hope, and I'll give credit where credit is due. He stuck the landing.

 

Pawlenty could have been a very formidable candidate. But he's not a red meat personality in a party that demands red meat personalities. And he couldn't get the business community in his corner the way Mitt Romney could. Pawlenty's refusal/inability to aggressively attack Mitt Romney in the debates sealed his fate.

 

He was supposed to leave the second Bachmann joined. He ripped her once a few nights ago, and that's not what the string-pullers want, so he's out.

Gingrich was was supposed to leave months ago. That's why someone engineered that "voter" to confront him about the Paul Ryan comments. But Gingrich is Gingrich, stubborn to the last, so he'll walk a few more miles down the road.

It's Romney. They all already know it's Romney. Only Ron Paul, out of the bunch, doesn't care. If Paul gains any traction whatsoever in Iowa, don't worry - conservatives will make sure he's derailed on the East Coast.

And, IMO, Romney will not win, either. I don't even think the most powerful conservatives want him to win. They'll take four more years of beating up Obama, maybe force an impeachment hearing if they can cull it up, then throw every ounce of energy behind Paul Ryan.

 

I want to personally congratulate the three Iowa Republicans who wrote in the Butter Cow in the straw poll. A perfect comment on the event's validity.

 

How do you figure they really want Paul Ryan as President?

If he runs for President, his Medicare proposal is front and center, and the entire GOP leadership is out on a limb. If Ryan were then to lose, be it in 2012 or 2016, not only is Ryan toast politically, but so is the agenda.

In politics, it's all about covering your ass.

 

It's not going to be Romney, IMHO. "Obamneycare" will stick, and it's going to be a major albatross around his neck.

I think Perry's going to be more viable than people think. Same for Bachmann.

 

Paul always does well in these self-stroking, meaningless bits of business in the sticks. His severe foreign-policy naivete makes him a non-starter when the real racing begins, never mind 200-proof libertarianism, when you have to be the president of ALL the people. Bachmann's what Iowa
thinks represents their policy dreams. Be careful what you wish for

 

If Bachmann wins, I quit at life.

And I'm a Republican. Which really has nothing to do with her and her ilk.

 

They're both entertaining and, really, isn't that the point.

 

Can Romney get nominated without the support from cultural conservatives?