The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RESULTS HQ: Michigan and Arizona Vote Tonight

Posted on | February 28, 2012 | 46 Comments

by Smitty

2251 EST: A Memeorandum scan: HotAir has Allahpundit needing to get him some rest:

Romney’s doing so well [in Michigan] tonight, in fact, that he might end up with a bonus talking point tomorrow. In 2008, he won the state with 338,000 votes. Tonight, with a little more than 70 percent reporting, he’s north of 306,000. If he outdoes his total four years ago amid lower turnout, he’ll have some dynamite spin for the naysayers.

Yeah, barely breaking 2/5 of the vote is really cause for a victory lap, or something. Yay-awn.
Firedoglake:

Final thoughts – Romney scored a huge win in Arizona and managed a solid win in Michigan. While both states for different reasons favored Romney, a solid sweep tonight is a very important for the Romney campaign going forward.
In the past few days the national momentum started swing back towards Romney and the two wins tonight should help that trend continue. Romney should have solid momentum heading into Super Tuesday next week when ten states vote.
This has been a very good night for Romney.

Smitty’s take: Rick Santorum continues to demonstrate that the Not Mitt Romney constituency is important. I’ll be voting against Mitt in the VA primary next Tuesday, for all that may be purely symbolic. Yet, even should Cadillac Mitt win the GOP nomination, all of the blowback from the Tea Parties had better be a signal to the GOP nominee that the will of the people ain’t beanbag. That nominee had better understand that PROGRESSIVISM DELENDA EST, or he is politically dead in the water.

2236 EST: Fox has called Michigan for Mitt. Stacy reports Santorum gave a positive, issues-oriented speech. He closed by referencing George Washington.

With 75 percent of precincts reporting in Michigan, Romney was leading with 41 percent, followed by Santorum with 37 percent.

2224 EST: linked by Nice Deb and Monoblogue.

2219 EST: At 71%, Mitt has a comfortable 5% lead, and 42% of the vote. With 42% of AZ tallied, back over at the NYT, Mitt has 48.7% Could the presumptive, prohibitive, overwhelming favorite (of David Brooks) win his first plurality?

2157 EST: Stacy interviewed five students from South Christian High School, Haley Elenbahs, Jeff Helmholdt, Katie Van Zee, Alex Niemwsma, Grace Elenbahs, send a shout out to their Government teacher, Mr. Siskes. These kids remain staunchly for Santorum, and Stacy will upload a photo when bandwidth is found. Santorum campaign manager Mike Biundo said the reality is that Romney now a ‘wounded candidate’. Mitt has widened his margin to 4% over Santorum, but still only takes 40% in his home state. Herman Cain blew by 999 votes, and sits at 2,564.

2143 EST: Looking at the Fox map of counties vs the Michigan population density map, it is not abundantly clear where the votes are going to come from for Santorum to close the night in the lead. Still 41%/38%, at 42% reported.

2137 EST: LD Jackson in the comments points to Fox, which claims 40% complete with a 41%/38% Romney/Santorum split. And blog favorite Herman cain batting ~500 votes. This blogger hopes he reaches 999.

2133 EST: Up to 31%, with Mitt holding steady at 41.3% and Rick slipping to 37.7%. Rick does not appear to be closing with Mitt here.

2127 EST: Linked by Daily Pundit and Zilla of the Resistance. At 28% reporting, the NYT says 41.3% to 37.9%. The night will not be a short one. Arizona has been called for Romney, despite a dearth of reporting thus far.

2102 EST: Stacy ran into Steven Crowder and the hot fianceé are apparently friends of Elizabeth Santorum. Stacy’s effort to merge with the crowd and sneak into the private supporter party met with a wall of security. The NYT, with 12% reporting complete, has Romney leading Santorum 41%-38.5%. Will the prohibitive favorite break 50%? Arizona, perhaps, but Michigan is far from certain.

Caffeinated Thoughts linked the robo-call post earlier. Thanks!

Stacy reports from Grand Rapids (2002 EST): They have just opened the doors to the Ambassador Ballroom, scene of of tonight’s Rick Santorum victory celebration. Several hundred Santorum supporters are in attendance. The house WiFi is ‘craptastic’. So far McCain remains un-connected. Security has informed him that after 8:00 PM local, the press will be confined behind a barricade, away from the bar. This could result in one of the worst PR debacles in American political history.

The Camp of the Saints has a summary.

PREVIOUSLY. . .

Polls close at 8 P.M. ET in Michigan, and at 9 P.M. ET in Arizona. We will have complete results and updated news throughout the night. Stacy will be reporting live from the Rick Santorum Primary Night Celebration in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Polls indicate the Arizona primary should be an easy win for Mitt Romney, while Michigan is too close to call.

Stacy relates that, according to news radio in Michigan, turnout appears light to moderate in most locales. In at least one area near Grand Rapids believed friendly toward Santorum, there was a report of heavy turnout. However, Stacy was quick to walk back that tidbit as unsubstantiated. Via Drudge, the AP reports that exit poles indicate:

  • disinterest in debates,
  • a greater percentage of voters reporting negative economic impacts,
  • and mixed results on social issues.


Category: Arizona, Election 2012, Michigan

Comments

46 Responses to “REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RESULTS HQ: Michigan and Arizona Vote Tonight”

  1. Tax1234
    February 28th, 2012 @ 7:46 pm

    If Romney wins in Michigan, I will return to my former home state and b*tch-slap the dolts who voted for him.

  2. richard mcenroe
    February 28th, 2012 @ 7:57 pm

    Just remember, no people ever got a government they didn’t deserve.

  3. Fear And Loathing 2012: Hey Momma, Look At Me, I’m On My Way To The Promised Land [Updated] « The Camp Of The Saints
    February 28th, 2012 @ 8:05 pm

    […] STACY and SMITTY are LIVE-BLOGGING the PRIMARY RESULTS HERE. […]

  4. Zilla of the Resistance
    February 28th, 2012 @ 8:07 pm

    Linked! 
    http://marezilla.com/2012/02/stacy-mccain-goes-to-hell-and-back-for-the-gop-primaries-rick-santorum-america-and-vanuatu/ 

  5. Zilla of the Resistance
    February 28th, 2012 @ 8:17 pm

    PS Smitty, you have typos, it’s “polls” not “poles”, unless you are referring to strippers & firemen.

  6. Bob Belvedere
    February 28th, 2012 @ 8:27 pm

    Bluto: They took the bar! The whole f–king bar!

  7. LD Jackson
    February 28th, 2012 @ 9:00 pm

    It sounds like it could be an interesting night. Fox News is still showing Santorum and Romney neck and neck.

  8. Shut Up and Have A Diet Coke | Daily Pundit
    February 28th, 2012 @ 9:22 pm

    […] Up and Have A Diet Coke Posted on February 28, 2012 6:22 pm by Bill Quick REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RESULTS HQ: Michigan and Arizona Vote Tonight : The Other McCain Security has informed him that after 8:00 PM local, the press will be confined behind a barricade, […]

  9. MI and AZ Election Returns « Nice Deb
    February 28th, 2012 @ 10:09 pm

    […] also: RS McCain live reporting on the ground in MI: Stacy reports from Grand Rapids (2002 EST): They have just […]

  10. JackieO
    February 28th, 2012 @ 10:58 pm

    Daily Kos is crying because their preferred candidate lost.  They were even able to get Michael Moore in the act. Pathetic.

  11. PaulLemmen
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:00 pm

     Or residents of Hamtramck

  12. The Hell You Say! | An Ex-Con's View
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:02 pm

    […] place to be (disclaimer: I spent part of one summer in a rental cabin in Hell as a small child). Go here to read all about it. And hit his tip jar hard, Michigan isn’t cheap! Share […]

  13. ThePaganTemple
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:13 pm

    Romney beat Santorum by three percent in Michigan, yet they both as of now have the same number of projected delegates, five each, due to the way they are apportioned, according to district. So its not a slam dunk. Still, no doubt this was a good night for Romney, not as good as hoped for Santorum. And that does mean something.

  14. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:32 pm

    Time to get slappin

  15. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:32 pm

    I was already with a post of Mitt has a Kitten who lost his Mittens.  

  16. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:33 pm

    You know what to do.  

  17. Pathfinder's wife
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:35 pm

    Romney needed to win MI by a big margin in order to seal the deal; he didn’t.  Nevertheless he still won there, which Santorum needed to do.
    Gingrich still has the south, but he’s got to do really well there (this could have opened things up for him, but if he doesn’t do stellar in the first two southern primaries then it’s time for him to bow out).  Same with Santorum in the heartland; he has to win now.Ron Paul is starting to lose his luster (this whole Romney wingman stuff is starting to land with people — Baier asked him if the plot was afoot to get his son the Romney VP slot…ouch).  I said I thought Santorum’s not extending a hand to at least some of the libertarians was a bad idea; well, this could cause the libertarians a fair bit of mischief (and the high outrage against social cons is also not going to help either).
    There’s only so much the average voter is going to forgive Ron Paul for, but if he’s making deals with Romney, or even if it’s just perception that sticks, then the libertarians are in for some grief (because your flag bearer will look like a dishonest hack; hey, just calling it the way the unaffiliated are going to view this).

    Brokered convention is starting to look a bit more viable.

  18. K-Bob
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:39 pm

     Or the focal ends of a magnetic field

  19. K-Bob
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:42 pm

     “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.“

  20. Adjoran
    February 28th, 2012 @ 11:54 pm

    Romney increased his % and vote total from 2008, hard to spin that away – or that Santorum had a double-digit lead a couple weeks ago which went away fast.  It is one thing to win contests with no delegates at all at stake, quite another to win when it counts. 

    IMO, Santorum must win Ohio and Oklahoma next week to keep going.  If he could add Idaho and one of either Georgia or Tennessee, he might even regain some strong momentum with four wins.

    Gingrich will stay in unless he loses Georgia (to Santorum, Romney isn’t fighting for it), but he won’t get any more of Adelson’s cash unless he can add at least Tennessee and/or Oklahoma, too.

    Gee, too bad some people didn’t take Virginia’s ballot laws seriously, isn’t it?  Might have been a different situation.

  21. Jeanlee33@Mac.com
    February 29th, 2012 @ 12:48 am

    No. I don’t believe rampant violence, rapes, slaughter is deserved. Bad karma yes, but for many not a choice. It still know USA is my best choice. And I’m blessed to have the education and income to make that choice.

  22. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 29th, 2012 @ 1:36 am

    Einstein defined insanity as…

  23. Pathfinder's wife
    February 29th, 2012 @ 1:42 am

    Be careful with the sangfroid too soon; it’s better to lose a battle and win the war.
    The Democrats are within a hair of getting on the GOP six right now, and that’s no bueno.

  24. Adjoran
    February 29th, 2012 @ 5:34 am

    Huh? 

  25. PaulLemmen
    February 29th, 2012 @ 6:38 am

     Me too! http://anexconsview.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/the-hell-you-say/

  26. ThePaganTemple
    February 29th, 2012 @ 6:44 am

    Well, I’m done anyway. Obama-Biden ’12. Cheer up guys, there’s always 2016. It will be Rick’s turn then. Then he’ll be the Establishment guy, and I’ll be voting for Biden-Whoever ’16.

    Sarah Palin 2016 or the world can go to hell. 

  27. SDN
    February 29th, 2012 @ 7:45 am

    Which is why a Mitt nomination means I actually cast a vote for O! Picking Clorox dipped Obama means this country hasn’t gotten it nearly “good and hard” enough yet.

  28. ThePaganTemple
    February 29th, 2012 @ 8:21 am

     That’s what its going to take. This country is going to have to fall fast and hard on its ass before people even start to get the message. And even then, I would have to lay at least three-to-one odds against them doing the right thing. This is what happens when the ignorant and uneducated have more power than the intelligent. There are always plenty of people who herd them like cattle for the purposes of their own power and control. Maybe some day in the far distant future, somebody will get it right. Just like many of us today point to the example of the Fall of Rome, they’ll have the good old USA as an example of what to avoid. And just like us, they’ll probably ignore it.

  29. Pathfinder's wife
    February 29th, 2012 @ 9:00 am

    hehehehehehe…y’all are welcome to hang out in my family’s little co-prosperity sphere; just remember though: break a deal, face the wheel

    eh, might as well face this sort of stuff with good humor

  30. Pathfinder's wife
    February 29th, 2012 @ 9:01 am

    I’m saying that your boy Romney in the process of winning this primary appears to be shooting himself in the foot for the general — and so has the GOP.

  31. Bob Belvedere
    February 29th, 2012 @ 9:04 am

    Americans do seem to require the application of a 2×4 upside the head often before they wake up [see: Harbor, Pearl].

  32. Bob Belvedere
    February 29th, 2012 @ 9:05 am

    ROAD TRIP.

  33. Bob Belvedere
    February 29th, 2012 @ 9:06 am

    RS may have peaked too early, but often that is beyond one’s control.

  34. Jami
    February 29th, 2012 @ 9:26 am

    Mitt’s  got it.  The question is who he’ll pick as veep and if he’ll try to woo the conservative right or go after the swing votes that are more crucial in beating Obama.  I think that McCain’s mistake was to give the nod to the right, alienating those who could have given him the edge to make it.  The far right are not going to vote democrat, no matter what ,so forget them when it comes to the national election. Those that have a brain will know that they should be voting Republican even if it’s not their guy, or they’ll lose it all.  You at least have a shot at getting some say with a moderate or even liberal Republican in the seat.  You lose it all with 4 more years of Obama.  I wish more people look at the big picture.

    No way Sarah Palin will ever make it on another ticket.  She’ making enough money off her stint with McCain that she isn’t going to go thorugh that business again anyways. 

  35. ThePaganTemple
    February 29th, 2012 @ 10:28 am

     That’s cool with me. Maybe after four more years of Obama the country will finally be ready for a real conservative Republican nominee. If not, fuck them. I’m not playing on this merry-go-round any more. I want real change, not a Band-Aid

  36. Pathfinder's wife
    February 29th, 2012 @ 10:48 am

    If I was still a gambling woman here’s my bet: Romney wins the nomination, goes for the grand coalition with the Tea Party and the libertarians.

    And then we get to hear an awful lot about Ron Paul (and his friendship with Romney), the Birchers, Glenn Beck, and Cleon Skousen (hope I spelled that guy’s name right) — and the names of Reagan and Buckley get bandied about in a suddenly very favorable light by the Dems.
    I’d be willing to place a bet on that.

  37. SteveM
    February 29th, 2012 @ 11:09 am

    I’m old enough to remember 2008, when Romney was the Great Conservative Hope against  squishy RINO John McCain.

    So I’m getting whiplash from seeing him, four years later, described as a “progressive”. I’ve even seen him referred to in some circles as a “Communist”!

    This party has lost its collective mind.

  38. Tennwriter
    February 29th, 2012 @ 11:35 am

    What I hear is Santorum as 2 to 1 in Tennessee.  Not surprising really, except for the extent of the proposed slaughter.

    Tennessee is a conservative state.

  39. Pathfinder's wife
    February 29th, 2012 @ 12:54 pm

    Well unfortunately Mitt has given the appearance of being everything to all people — which means he can be branded a progressive without much of a stretch (and people can point to his term as MA gov to back this up, along with some of the things he has said), and he can also be branded as one step right of Pat Buchanan (thanks again to some of the things in his past).

    Thing of it is: Mitt’s been way to accomodating in regards to saying anything that he thinks will score him some points, and that has set up a multitude of attack angles against him.
    Now, maybe this is the case of a truly genial and easygoing fellow who likes compromise, but it can also look like a cynical huckster who could wind up hoisted on his own petard…and take the GOP with him in the process, either by guilt through association or losing voters due to alienation.

    It is what it is — and this is just the opinion of a simpleton independent/moderate from hickville — so take it for what it’s worth.

  40. Tax1234
    February 29th, 2012 @ 1:46 pm

    ARGH!

  41. Dave
    February 29th, 2012 @ 1:55 pm

     Because Mitt is a lifetime Senator, over 70, and running in a good year for Democrats like Dole and Stacy’s crazy cousin were? Oh wait, none of those is true…

  42. Dave
    February 29th, 2012 @ 1:58 pm

     Please don’t embrace Communist-style ‘the worse the better’ fallacies on a conservative website, thanks.

  43. ThePaganTemple
    February 29th, 2012 @ 2:41 pm

    No by all means, let’s keep pretending things are going to get better and maybe dreams will come true, you fucking idiot.

  44. ThePaganTemple
    February 29th, 2012 @ 5:17 pm

     Americans are too far gone for that. 9/11 didn’t happen 400 years ago. Democrats joined us just long enough to send troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, and they only did that so they could turn them into political issues against the Bush Administration. Yet people keep voting for the worthless cocksuckers, don’t they?

  45. ThePaganTemple
    February 29th, 2012 @ 5:21 pm

     Great conservative hope? More like “well, he’s the best we can hope for now.”

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