It’s a ‘ROMnewsy‘ Monday-before-Thanksgiving, so we’ll jump right in. Here’s a look at a poll, a tweet, the future primary in New Hampshire, and a Romney word-association .
The Poll
Quinnipiac University has released their latest on who is favored for the GOP 2012 presidential contest. Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee are the top three picks:
Palin, the party’s 2008 nominee for vice president, receives 19% of the vote in the national survey of Republican voters. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who finished second to John McCain in primaries and caucuses won in 2008, is backed by 18%.
Another 2008 candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, gets 17% of the vote, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finishes with 15%. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is a distant fifth at 6%…
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Given the high media exposure of Palin and Huckabee on FOX News, radio programs, and a reality TV show, Governor Romney’s position is impressive. More impressive, Romney polls best against Obama and beats him by one point. Palin falls significantly behind:
Electability often emerges as a lead consideration among primary voters, and two of the four Republicans that Quinnipiac tests in hypothetical matchups with President Obama are competitive. Romney actually leads Obama, 45% to 44%, while Obama leads Huckabee 46% to 44%. But Obama has an 8-point advantage over Palin, 48% to 40% overall and 44% to 37% among independent voters.
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Read more here.
The Tweet
Sarah Palin has written a new book which will be released tomorrow. Included is a section on religion and public life in which she criticizes JFK for distancing himself from his Catholic faith. She also praises Romney for embracing his faith during the 2008 presidential primaries. She specifically cites Mitt’s Faith in America speech. Governor Romney connected with her via Twitter today:
“Thanks @SarahPalinUSA for the kind words in your new book about the role of faith in public life,” he said. “Hope it’s a bestseller.”
The future New Hampshire primary
Yahoo! Network Contributor, Shauna Zamarripa, explains why – when it comes to 2012 – Mitt Romney has her vote:
Mitt Romney’s name is once again in the forefront of the eyes of the country as he reaches to secure the 2012 GOP nomination for the most powerful office in the free world: president of the United States.
Historically, New Hampshire has always been a high-profile state when it comes to voters, and taking hold of New Hampshire voters can be the first step in taking the pulse of voters throughout the country. In the 2012 primaries, Romney has already secured 40 percent of the votes, decimating Huckabee, Palin and Gingrich by over 27 points. It looks promising for Romney to make another run for president in 2012.
What do I think of all this? Well, voting as a whole for me has always been about selecting the lesser of two evils for a better candidate. In 2008, I felt that John McCain was the lesser of two evils, and he received my vote as a result. With President Obama’s approval ratings continuing to nose dive, I think I made the right choice.
Romney is conservative, and I like that about him. He holds many of the ideals that the Republican Party finds endearing, such as an opposing stance on same-sex marriages, abortion and prayer in school. While these particular policies don’t light my personal voting fire (as I oppose these stances rather vehemently), I look at Romney as a potential saving grace to our current economic chaos. Thus, for me, Romney is the lesser of two evils when comparing him to his front-running Democratic competition.
Romney exhibits proven success in business, and applies a levelheaded approach to fixing big government spending. He proved this with his rehabilitation of the Michigan welfare programs as governor, and I believe he proved it well. With Romney at the helm, I see less spending and more jobs. Frankly, these two things are the building blocks that the country needs in order to recover from the housing fallout and recession staring us plainly in the face.
Yes, it could be argued that Romney leans so far to the right that he is walking in circles. However, we have had nearly four years of left-leaning policy, and we have found no change, worsened economic conditions and broken promises. It is time to go back to basics, or to Reaganomics (which Romney is a proponent of).
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The Word Association
At the recent Republican Governors Association meeting, Mark Halperin asked a few Governors to play the word association game. He would mention a political name and the participants were to respond with two adjectives to describe the individual.
Gov Bobby Jindal responses (Should we forgive him?):
Governor Bob McDonnell responses:
“Mitt Romney: Adept and hard-working.”
adept – adj, Very skilled. noun, A highly skilled person; an expert.
Halperin’s summary:
Asked for reaction to Palin in the form of two adjectives, most Republican governors or governors-elect committed long pauses before coming up with politically safe (and/but telling) replies. However, Palin’s name was not heard very often in the hallways of the RGA meeting in San Diego, except out of the mouths of reporters.
H/t Crystal re Palin praise for Romney
► Jayde Wyatt
Romney: only hope in 2012!
.. what??!! Whtz wrong with Bobby??? He stalled 20 secs and all he can come up with GREAT HAIR????!!!! How about GREAT FUNDRAISER since he raised a ton of $$ for Mr Bobby. Nope .. I’m not forgiving him .. after he comes up with LEADER for Sarah?????
Come on Bobby, you can do better than that! Mitt Romney did more than any single person to help Republicans and Conservatives retake the House and gain ground in the Senate. As a minimum I would say “Brilliant” and “Patriotic.”
And “Leader” for Sarah? Come on! I’ll give her “Passionate” but what kind of “leader” quits when the job is only half-way done? As my Mom used to say, “If a job is once begun, never leave it ’til it’s done. If that job is great or small, do it well or not at all.” Sarah could learn something from my Mom.