Top 10 Reasons Santorum Out of the GOP Race

10.  Quakers from the Quaker state reminded their native son that peace is patriotic, not war mongering.

9.  Stepped down before letting out the rebel yell that he knew would eventually come and doom his campaign.

8.  Rumor has it that he never used a can of Quaker State motor oil in his life.

7.  After a brief investigation, former Senator Santorum was found to be an educated snob.

6.  After encounter with fiery water while brushing his pearly whites, Santorum forced to reconsider energy policy which of course did not sit well with billionaire supporter Foster Friess or the frack for fossil fuels crowd.

5.  Incensed that the GOP leadership refused to adopt the slogan “It’s Not Ok”.

4.  Much to the chagrin of the Tea Party and the Country First movements, rumor has it that Rick Santorum drinks coffee, not tea and prefers the Canadian Tim Horton’s to a cup of Dunkin Donuts.

3.  Teaming up with Sarah Palin to co-host the Show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

2.  Foster “Grant” Friess spotted Santorum wearing Rayban’s and severed all ties to his campaign.

1.  Could not overcome top VP hopeful Wylie Coyote’s ultimate snub:  “you, sir, don’t need my help running the GOP off the cliff.”

Disclaimer: honest humor, not fact…as far as I know.

Romney the Losing Winner

Mitt Romney won the Iowa Caucus by 8 votes to a surging Rick Santorum.  While there was a larger turnout in 2012, Romney got fewer votes in Iowa than he did in 2008 as a second place finisher.  Looking at 2011 polling data compiled by Real Clear Politics, Romney polled over 25% only 3 times; the last time was 10/12-10/19 in a University of Iowa poll where he ranked second – 27% to the then front runner Herman Cain’s 37%.

Mitt Romney is in trouble.  He may win New Hampshire, but unless he wins convincingly, and I don’t think he will, it won’t be seen as a victory.  New Hampshire voters know Romney’s record as the former Governor of neighboring Massachusetts.  They know he is suspect as a real conservative candidate. They remember Romney Care.  They’ve heard negative ads against him.  They know of his changing positions and do not regard him as  principled. In 2008, he finished 2nd to John McCain in New Hampshire.  In 2012, the conservative Rick Santorum may be a stronger candidate than John McCain and more electable than Mitt Romney. I predict Santorum will finish a close second to Romney in New Hampshire.

If the Tea Party approved Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann bow out of the race, their supporters are most likely to side with Santorum or Gingrich.  Ron Paul is a wild card in the race.  He probably has no chance of winning a primary but will likely stay in the race until the end.  In 2008, he stayed in the race until June.  My guess is that his supporters will not enthusiastically back any other candidate and that some will vote for the Libertarian Gary Johnson in the general election.