After several rounds of voting, Mitt Romney won the California Republican Party straw poll:

“At the California Republican Convention late last month, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won a poll of preferred GOP candidates for president in 2012.

After eight rounds of voting, Romney came out on top, besting former House speaker Newt Gingrich (who garnered the second-highest amount of votes) and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. Big names like former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin were knocked out in early rounds of voting.”

California is a crucial state for anyone hoping to become the next President of the United States since it carries a whopping 55 electoral votes.

In the summer of 2008, Mitt Romney purchased a home in coastal LaJolla, CA to enjoy “the waves” and be nearer to one of his sons who lives in nearby San Diego. Romney is known among the locals as a paper-plates-plastic-utensils down-to-earth guy.

When his book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness” was first published, Romney made three stops in California during his book tour.

Along with endorsing a number of CA candidates during the 2010 Primaries, Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC contributed to their campaigns. His endorsements included: Meg Whitman, Tony Strickland, Van Thai Tran, Carly Fiorina, and other political candidates.

In March 2010, Mitt Romney won the Magellan early 2012 Presidential Preference poll. He was also found to be the top Republican contender in California in a Public Policy Poll taken in  November 2010. He also came out on top in the Public Policy Poll taken in February 2011:

“In the presidential race, Mitt Romney continues to show strength in the West and in blue states. He leads California’s primary contest nominally, but the top four are all statistically tied. Romney has 22% over rare second-place finisher Newt Gingrich’s 18%, Sarah Palin’s 16%, and Mike Huckabee’s 15%. 12% prefer an unnamed candidate or are undecided. Ron Paul has a somewhat unusually high 10%, with Tim Pawlenty (3%), Mitch Daniels (2%), and John Thune (1%) about where they usually are.”

If you are in California and would like to help Mitt Romney in California, join the Californians for Romney 2012 on Facebook and help Mitt Romney become the next President of the United States!

~ Jared A.

A couple of polls released today show that while Mitt Romney has largely been OFF the media radar screen, he has been ON the minds of hopeful Americans:

Romney Keeps it Close in NH but Obama Trounces Others

Raleigh, N.C. – New Hampshire is a nominal swing state, but it has gone blue in four of
the last five presidential elections. According to PPP’s latest poll of the Granite State,
Mitt Romney is the only potential GOP nominee with a shot at putting New Hampshire’s four electoral votes in play next year. Otherwise, President Obama leads by margins larger than his almost ten-point victory over John McCain in 2008.

Romney essentially ties the president, with 46% to Obama’s 47%. But the president tops Newt Gingrich 52-39, Mike Huckabee 52-38, Donald Trump 51-37, and Sarah Palin 56-34.
[...]
The only candidate who earns more Democratic support than Obama does GOP votes is Romney, who is also the only candidate to tie the president with independents (at 44%). Obama leads the others by 16-22 points with the large 36% plurality who identify with neither party. That essentially explains the varying overall leads.

“Unless Mitt Romney gets the nomination, President Obama should easily win New
Hampshire once again,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “This state really exemplifies the extent to which the GOP being competitive against Obama is going to depend on who they nominate.”
[...]

(my emphasis)

While other GOP presidential hopefuls have already worn ruts in the ‘woo and coo‘ path through Iowa and jockey to ‘out-devout’ each other, Gov Romney’s focus has been on behind-the-scenes fundamentals. Though he hasn’t yet begun work in Iowa, it’s heartening to see, at this pre-race point, that common-sense conservatives in the Hawkeye State think highly of Romney:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney enjoy an early advantage among likely Iowa caucus-goers, a poll of Iowa Republicans found Wednesday.

Huckabee would win the Iowa caucuses and Romney would place second, if caucuses including all the potential Republican presidential candidates in the contest were held today, according to a Neighborhood Research survey released Wednesday.

Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), meanwhile, would have an edge in a narrower field of candidates, the poll found.

Twenty-one percent of likely caucus-goers said they would prefer Huckabee, followed by 14 percent for Romney, 9 percent for real estate mogul Donald Trump, 8 percent for Gingrich and 7 percent for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the poll found.

Twelve other candidates registered at 5 percent or below, and 24 percent of respondents were undecided in the first ballot test, which included every possible candidate.

But not all those candidates might run. Huckabee has flirted with a bid, but a number of indicators and quite a bit of insider speculation has suggested he ultimately might not run. Trump’s and Palin’s intentions are also an enigma.

In a second ballot test, excluding all three of those candidates, Romney was the benefactor.

Read more here.

It’s not surprising that Mike Huckabee polls well in Iowa; he’s actively been working to keep his name at the top of the popularity list. It remains to be seen if the FOX News TV host will be a candidate for 2012; if he is, we’ll see how it goes.

Romney says if he runs for president, he’ll run a nationwide campaign, including Iowa. Iowans won’t overlook his economic expertise, his ‘Mr. Fix-it’ record, conservative credentials, and the fact that his leadership was a big help during the recent mid-term elections. His PAC contributed $70,000 last year to help elect Iowa GOP candidates.

*Additional links:

Visits by Potential Republican Candidates to Iowa

No Apology: Believe in America by Mitt Romney

► Jayde Wyatt

Forgive the bluntness in advance, I’m just so taken aback by the ignorance of some folks out there. First off, let me say that I like Sarah Palin. I appreciate her role in our party, and I’ve shown her my support in the past by voting for her — but the gal has some staunch followers that have gone off the deep end.

I’ve seen all sorts of random Romney jabs from her folks on twitter; people are asking things like, “Where is Mitt Romney?” and “Why on Earth hasn’t he rushed to Palin’s side to defend her in her darkest hour?”

Now, I normally don’t get too defensive over twitter comments, but when a supposed Sarah Palin information site allows their contributors to publish flat-out rubbish in Mitt’s name, I have to step in and back my boy up. At the mentioned site, they cite all the big events that have taken place over the past few months: November’s mid-term ‘shellaking’, the Tucson tragedy, and Obama’s recent State of the Union speech. Then the author goes on to say that Mitt has been “MIA”, even questioning if Romney had “joined the witness protection program” because he hasn’t chimed-in a bit on any of these issues:

Now it would be, surely, a reasonable expectation for Romney, considered by the left wing media to be the Republican’s candidate of choice for 2012, to have made substantial statements across most, if not all of these issues-surely that’s what candidates are expected to do.

All that we have heard, for all that we have read and seen from Romney, is silence.

What galls most is the total silence from him when Palin was being unfairly savaged over Tucson. It seems to me that if he had made any statement at all defending a colleague it would have only enhanced his reputation with the base. But there seems a lack of moral backbone and a self interest which has trumped the sort of action which could only have assisted his long term prospects.

I can’t believe it can happen, and will do all I can to prevent, that Romney can go sleepwalking to the nomination whilst being MIA and after Palin has taken all the blows that a spearhead does.

Again, it is Palin, (and Bachman) who have led the charge on the lightweight fluff of the SOTU, with any sort of powerful statement from Romney invisible, in the main media.

All that has surfaced is Governor Christie of New Jersey having a dinner meeting for Romney where tactics apparently were discussed.

If Romney believes that this behind the scenes politicking, this not taking any controversial positions, not defending his colleagues against vindictive attacks, will ensure his selection I think he is on the wrong path.

How ridiculous are these claims!? Okay, let’s start the debunkathon from the top:

Mitt Romney was very active in the mid-term elections. The man often hit several campaign stops, for different candidates, in different states on the same day. He raised more money and contributed to more endorsed candidates than any other PAC. It’s no wonder, then, that he would furnish a congratulatory response for the winning candidates the day after the election, and then again the day the new Republican majority was sworn in.

Not only did Romney produce a written statement the morning after the State of the Union, but he also discussed SOTU on the ‘Hannity‘ that same day. Silent? …I think not.

On the horrible day of the Tucson shooting, Mitt Romney happened to be on a Middle Eastern learning and listening tour. So from the other side of the globe, Romney made this statement condemning the senseless attack on Rep. Giffords — calling for a swift and harsh punishment for the perpetrator of the cowardly attack.

Frankly, I don’t see any reason why Romney would come to Palin’s defense on the whole ‘targeting’ issue. Surely, he recognizes that acknowledging the left-wing’s attempt to turn the tragedy into political gain would, in the end, only give them credibility. In my honest opinion, Palin herself should have just disregarded the smears, continued on with her normal life, and watched the left’s frustration peak as she refused to lend credence to their accusations. The ‘Mama Grizzly’, to my understanding, is a big girl who can fight her own battles. She doesn’t need help, she doesn’t ask for help, and honestly it is not Romney’s primary concern (especially being in the Middle East at the time) to come to her aid at every opportunity.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
There, wasn’t that easy? All I had to do was take a step out of the dark and abysmal ‘Grizzly bear cave’, google “Mitt Romney’s statement on ________”, and educate myself. Any camp does a disservice to their candidate by spreading misinformation. I beg of you, Palin Information Blog contributors (that goes for C4P, too), take off those blinders for one minute and catch a glimpse at the world around you — you’ll realize soon enough that Mitt is not such a bad guy, that he and Sarah actually have a great amount of respect for one another, and though our respective leaders have differing agendas, we all share a common goal: To take our country back.

Oh, and here’s just a few other statements, stances, and upcoming events that further prove that, in fact, Romney is not in hiding:

Mitt Romney Says Congrats To New RNC Chairman Reince Priebus

Governor Romney Launches Earmark Ban Petition

Governor Romney on the March for Life

Ann Romney’s (she’s not in hiding, either) Statement on the Passing of Elizabeth Edwards

Mitt Romney to Guest Same Day on ‘The View’ and ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’

Gov Mitt Romney Praises President Reagan: A Legacy of Optimism, Strength

Mitt Romney Remarks on Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King

Romney Weighs-in on the New Tax Cut Deal

Mitt Romney Opposes New START Treaty

End Rant.


-Aaron Gundy- Follow @AaronGundy on Twitter

There has been a lot of poll results coming out this week showing Mitt Romney as not only the GOP front runner, but also the only candidate who stands in the way of Obama’s chances at a second term in the White House.

A new poll came out today from Public Policy Polling showing Mitt Romney as the only person who would be a real challenge to President Obama in Nevada. No other tentative Republican candidate for the 2012 election would be a competitive against Obama in the fight to secure Nevada’s 6 electoral votes (1 extra thanks to the 2010 census):

Barack Obama would easily take Nevada if he had to stand for reelection today…unless the Republicans nominated Mitt Romney. Obama has early double digit advantages against Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin in the state but has just a single point edge over Romney.

Nevada is one of the few swing states we’ve polled in the last couple months where more voters approve (50%) than disapprove (46%) of Obama. Like everywhere else in the country Democrats are largely happy with him and Republicans are most unhappy- what sets apart his numbers in Nevada is his popularity with independents, 55% of whom approve of him with 41% disapproving.

Independents in the state may like Obama but they like Romney even more, giving him a 58/28 favorability rating. That’s quite a contrast to how they feel about other the leading Republican contenders in the state. Huckabee’s favorability with them is 38/50, Palin’s is 28/61, and Gingrich actually occupies the basement in this state at 26/65.

emphasis mine

Nevada isn’t the only state where Mitt Romney is the only real threat to Obama’s chances of winning that state. Obama has the same problem in Michigan where the former Massachusetts governor is the only person who poses a significant hurdle in capturing that state. That point is made clear in PPP’s reporting:

Of the battleground states where we’ve polled 2012 so far, Nevada has the biggest disparity in the GOP’s chances of winning depending on who their nominee is. The only other state where there was greater than a 5 point difference between how one Republican did and the rest of them was Michigan, where Romney came to within 4 points of Obama with Huckabee the next closest at 12 points.

Even though Obama and Mitt Romney are closely tied in Nevada, the advantage goes to Mitt Romney. He won Nevada during the 2008 Presidential primaries (some have attributed his victory to the high volume of Mormon [LDS] voters). He made a whopping five stops to the Vegas area on his No Apology book tour back in March. He also gave a speech to the 2,500 members of the International Franchise Association in Las Vegas. Furthermore, Mitt endorsed a handful of Republican candidates in Nevada and came out to stump for them during the 2010 midterm elections. As a result, Mitt Romney has some serious name recognition in Nevada –enough to help him secure the vital swing state.

Given that Governor Romney can put states like Nevada and Michigan into play for 2012 while other potential Republican candidates would lose by double digit margins, he really becomes an attractive candidate for Americans looking to put Obama in the unemployment line in 2012 — perhaps in Nevada, where the state has an unemployment rate of 14.3%, the highest unemployment rate in the United States.

The economy will be the most important issue of 2012, Americans will want a candiate who can stimulate the economy (not the government) and get Americans back to work again. The best man to do that is Mitt Romney; Mitt means business!

~ Jared A.

As Americans pause to review the past year and look ahead to 2011, I’d like to look back on what I feel were the top 10 articles here on MRC for 2010. The following articles demonstrate why this site has become a go-to source for Conservatives, TEA Partiers and Independents:

10. Nate Gunderson wrote a great article reviewing the first year of Mitt Romney Central and how successful our site has become. I think all of the team members here are grateful for the growth of MRC from a small site to becoming the ultimate destination for all Mitt Romney related news and articles.

9. MRC opened our Mitt Romney 2012 store this year which makes us a convenient source to purchase American-made products to proudly show support for Governor Romney!

8. Governor Romney released his highly anticipated new book in the March of this year. Luke Gunderson gave us sneak peak of No Apology: The Case for American Greatness – a tremendous must-have reference for anyone interested in getting America back on track.

7. Lots of work has been done behind the scenes here at MRC — and we have to give credit where credit is due. Our man Dave P. has researched and compiled tons of relevant info on all the major issues of our time. Dave has put in many hours of tedious work to create a library of recourses, where all Mitt Romney fans can go to get actual Mitt Romney quotes, videos, and links regarding his stance on issues such as Abortion, Immigration, and Health Care Reform.

6. A misconception about Mitt Romney s that he is a RINO. Aaron Gunderson wrote an great article addressing that very issue. It deserves to be read by every conservative as they ponder which 2012 candidate to support for the next presidential election. (I also recommend reading his follow up article explaining how a true conservative like Mitt Romney was a Tea Partier long before the Tea Party exploded onto national politics.)

5. We’ve seen many favorable polls here over the past year. Aaron Gundy’s post about the Marist 2012 GOP poll is a good reminder of why Mitt Romney will be a tough challenger for the 2012 as Mitt Romney as he receives support from diverse groups such as the Tea Party, Independents, college graduates, and women.

4. Bosman has written a series of excellent articles on RomneyCare but I like this article the most in which he clearly explains that we already have a health care mandate in the United States. He explains how Romney’s plan is different and emphasizes a crucial question: Should individuals pay for their own health care or pay for other people’s health care?

3. Rebel Ross’ article, So This is How Liberty Dies…With Thunderous Applause, is a powerful post lamenting loss of freedom that came with the passage of ObamaCare and strongly condemns political leaders in Congress who so foolishly patted themselves on the back for passing a law which undermines the freedoms that Americans enjoy. As one of my top three personal favorite posts on MRC, it is worth reading again.

2.  Vox Patriota’s article The Year of Our Obama is one the most compelling and impressive articles I’ve read on any site for why Barack Obama needs to be a one term president. Nate Gunderson listed this article as one of his favorite articles and its certainly another one of my top three favorite articles on MRC. It perfectly captures the collective frustration and anger that many conservatives, Independents, TEA Partiers, libertarians and growing wave of liberals feel towards him. As the 2012 elections comes closer, its worth reading again to remind ourselves why we need a man like Mitt Romney in office.

1. Jayde Wyatt’s post showing Mitt Romney’s Christmas card generated huge buzz on the internet as websites such as POLITICO, National Review, TIME, Hot Air, a prominent Canadian news site, Wonkette and Comedy Central’s Indecision Forever posted links to her article. It generated approximately 15,000 visitors to our site that day. Way to go, Jayde!!

All of us here look forward to 2011 — it will be an exciting year as the 2012 election starts to heat up and we continue to attract more fans of Mitt Romney. Thank you all for a fabulous 2010; here’s to another great year!

As we say goodbye to 2010 and welcome 2011, we wish everyone a happy and safe New Year’s eve and day!

-Jared A.

If you’ve been following Bret Baier’s 12 for ’12 series on his FOX News television program Special Report, good news! Governor Romney will be featured today. The program, which highlights those who may be eyeing a run for the White House in 2012, includes profiles and personal interviews.

As I noted here, Governor Romney will be sticking to his selective media strategy by not giving a personal interview, but Baier had a plethora of footage to use from Romney’s extraordinary non-stop campaigning in recent months to help elect conservatives before midterms.

Real Clear Politics:

So which one of the 12 candidates was the one who opted not to sit down with Baier for an interview? Romney.
[...]
“Gov. Romney is a different story,” Baier said. “We’ve talked to them a number of times. They’ve told me they are hesitant to do anything that has a 2012 connotation to it.”

He added, however, that most of his interview subjects still say they aren’t running or couched their answers in some way.

Nevertheless, Baier said, “I don’t think many people in politics would bet against Mitt Romney running.”

He said he’s going to try one more time to get an interview and is still holding out hope. “If not, we’re still going to be very fair with the piece,” Baier said. “He’s one of the leading contenders. He’ll get a lot of attention.”

An official for Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC told RealClearPolitics that Romney did participate because FOX News was able to gather footage of Romney stumping for candidates on the campaign trail in the midterms in recent weeks.

Romney appeared on Sean Hannity’s program on the network on Monday night and was asked about the presidential race as well as the health care law he pushed through as governor. Baier said that for now, they will use the sound from that interview.

Dan Balz wrote in the Washington Post over the weekend that as Romney prepares for a likely 2012 bid, he’s been keeping his head down – with the exception of headlining dozens of events all over the country for high-profile Republican candidates.

“The Romney team thinks there is only limited value in time spent on cable television, particularly when the focus is on the outrage of the moment and politicians are forced to react to events rather than make a case for themselves,” the story reads.

Indeed, in conversations with RealClearPolitics, Romney strategists say they don’t like to talk about the presidential race and often offer the familiar refrain that for now, “We’re just a PAC.”

(Hannity appearance link & emphasis mine)

After all Romney did to help paint America RED a couple of weeks ago, I hope he’s enjoying a little time off. I’m also looking forward to Bret Baier’s report this afternoon – especially since FOX News has deals with every major potential Republican presidential candidate not currently in elected office – except Romney. Check your local listings for times.



H/t Paulee

► Jayde Wyatt

Ethan of TechRepublican.com noticed some interesting ads on Facebook to congratulate some GOP winners from last weeks election. I’ve gathered screen-shots of a few of them here:

Ethan also observes the following:

The gears of 2012 are rolling. I started seeing these ads the day after the election on Tuesday and I have to say that whoever came up with the campaign is a genius. Here is what I’m seeing here in PA. My guess it others are seeing similar ads around the country right now.
…
Judging by the ads it looks like they are targeting people who are fans of a high profile candidates supported by Romney’s Free Strong America PAC.
…
Whoever is running this behind the scenes is doing a great job and I would love to take a peak at the before and after stats on this campaign.

An effective social media campaign is of increasing importance these days. I’m glad to see Team Mitt is all over it!

~Luke

As Obama and the First Lady take a conveniently timed get-out-of-the-country junket to India to dance off their shellacking and Nancy Pelosi cracks her knuckles to become House Minority Leader, and with less than a week since midterms were held, it’s a good time to reflect on the indefatigable, eyeball-to-eyeball election work of Governor Mitt Romney.

In the past few months he stuffed his suitcase to travel to 30 states – yes, 30 – and campaigned for 60 candidates – most of the time doing multiple events for them in the same day. Putting money where one’s mouth is really counts at election time and Romney didn’t disappoint on that front, either. Impressively, Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC donated over $1.1 million to assist over 500 candidates across the USA – the most money raised and distributed by any potential 2012 candidates’ PAC.

Gov Romney summarized his perspective of the past several months in a post-election blog entry:

Reflections on Yesterday’s Results
Posted on November 03, 2010 by Mitt Romney

As I wrote in a new Washington Post op-ed this morning, Americans across the country have sent a very strong message to President Obama and his fellow travelers in Congress that they have had enough of their anti-growth, anti-investment, anti-jobs agenda.

Over the past two years, their policies scared employers, so jobs are scarce. The uncertainty and lack of predictability they created has caused businesses to shrink from spending and from hiring. Instead of helping to end the crisis, they made it deeper, longer and more painful.

But last night, we took a big first step toward getting our economy — and our country — back on the right track.

At last report, Republicans had regained control of the House with a net gain of over 60 seats, as well as seeing net gains of at least six seats in the Senate and at least six Governorships.

With your help, we’ve been working hard at my Free and Strong America PAC to spread the core principles that are at the heart of making America a stronger nation and which fortify our party — that a competitive America is one where taxes are low and government is small, that our military superiority must never be compromised, that our cultural values need to be cherished and that unleashing the power of the free market is key to our economic future.

All told, your support gave me the resources to campaign for over 60 candidates in over 30 states and my PAC contributed over $1.1 million in direct support to over 500 candidates and conservative causes across the nation.

Your support was critical to us giving candidates like South Carolina Governor-elect Nikki Haley the help she needed to win by providing the resources for me to travel to South Carolina on her behalf and send $63,000 in direct contributions to her campaign through my PAC. You also helped us campaign for and send nearly $17,000 in direct support to New Mexico’s Governor-elect Susana Martinez, who is our nation’s first Hispanic female to be elected governor.

This year I’ve also worked hard to promote our shared conservative ideals by giving speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Values Voter Summit, and the AEI World Forum, and delivering the Annual Reagan Lecture at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

In addition, I also had the opportunity to travel the country discussing my book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.” It was great reconnecting with old friends and making new ones as I traveled across the country talking about what we need to do to ensure we remain the world’s economic and military superpower.

We should all be proud of what we’ve accomplished together this year, and I look forward to working with you in the months ahead to build upon these victories and ensure that America remains, as it always has been, the beacon of freedom and hope for the world.

In all the coverage read and seen of Romney’s midterm work, one could plainly sense the gravitas he brought to bear to each candidate’s campaigns. Also plain to see was the real appreciation and enthusiasm he felt for each candidate.

A look back at 2008 – Romney’s message is just as timely now, if not more so, than it was then:

In his quest to elect conservatives, who can count the number of speeches Gov Romney gave, the number of hours of missed of sleep, and the number of hands he shook? Impressive, indeed. By the way, there’s some talk floating around about whether the Tea Party will ‘invite‘ Romney to the 2012 table… Of all the 2012 potential candidates, he did the most to put tea in their pot!

America needs a talker…
who knows what he is talking about…
who is a doer.

► Jayde Wyatt

No doubt everyone is curious to find out how successful potential 2012 candidate’s endorsements were. A British online news site has declared who is the most influential person in the 2010 election. Who was it?

“And the winner is… Mitt Romney!”

It’s true that the slick-coiffed former governor of Massachusetts was not on a single ballot on Tuesday. But, in politics, you win when your enemies lose. Romney, who is already firmly positioned as the favorite of the Republican establishment for the 2012 presidential nomination saw both his major foes – President Barack Obama and Sarah Palin – suffer considerable damage yesterday.”

Obama certainly was the biggest loser of the 2010 election. Although the 2012 election is far away, Romney is already ahead against Obama if Mitt decides to run.

How much damage did Mitt Romney give to Obama in the first round of the 2012 election? The former Massachusetts Governor drew first blood against Obama when the 2010 election began and kept delivering hard blows until the final bell rang at the end of this election.

Obama is in desperate need of an ice pack right now.

Despite the fact that many pundits and pollsters were overestimating how big the Republican wave would be, it was historic. The Republicans won a net gain of at least 6 senate seats, 7 governorships, and 61 house seats! The last time a political party swept the other party out of Congress was in 1932. This is the greatest political victory in modern history. And Mitt Romney helped to make it happen. As far as a Romney v. Obama match is concerned, round one of the 2012 election goes to Mitt Romney.

Sarah Palin is no doubt a rising star within the Republican party. However, the 2010 election reveals that she does not shine as brightly as people thought she did. Although her name was not on any ballot this Tuesday either, the election was also about what Americans thought of her:

“Using her favorite medium to take aim at her favorite target, Palin tweeted on Tuesday about the media, and specifically the Today Show: ‘Silly fellas! Chucky, remember, I’m not on ballot.’ But in a sense she was. The election may have been a vote on Obama and the Democrats. But for many watching, the most widely anticipated other referendum was how well Palin would do.”

Thus, if this election was not only about the rejection of Obama’s agenda but the acceptance of who might the 2012 Republican nominee be, Mitt Romney comes out ahead over Sarah Palin. Mitt was more successful in getting voters to elect his endorsed candidate in the 2010 election than Sarah Palin. The difference can clearly be seen in the charts below:

Sarah Palin
	Endorsements	Wins	Losses	Not Known	%
Senate	11	6	5	0	55%
House	57	35	15	7	61%
Governors	8	7	0	1	88%
Total	76	48	20	8	61%

Mitt Romney
	Endorsements	Wins	Losses	Not Known	%
Senate	25	18	7	0	72%
House	204	159	45	0	71%
Governors	30	22	8	0	78%
Total	259	199	60	0	76%

According to the British newspaper that declared Mitt Romney the most influential man of the 2010 election, the lesson was clear about what made Romney so successful:

“Whatever the pundits might say, last night’s results underline that – at least, before a broad electorate – professionalism, competence and some semblance of moderation pay dividends.”

In other words, Mitt Romney has what it takes to successfully defeat Obama in the 2012 election and become the next President of the United States.

~ Jared. A