New Hampshire has spoken. Mitt Romney received just over a third of the votes cast in the Republican primary. Normally that would not seem like much of a victory, but when votes were split among six candidates, seven if you count Michelle Bachman, who has previously stepped aside, then thirty seven percent of the vote is not bad. Not great, but not bad. In his victory speech Mitt acted like he had won the nomination. Most of his attention was turned to attacking President Obama with the usual hyperbole, throwing in the term "European socialism" a couple of times. He was certainly trying to look like the Republican nominee. It was a good speech, by Romney standards. No gaffes. He used a teleprompter.
You would think that Mitt is it. Finally.
And I am pretty sure he is. But none of the other candidates left seem to believe that Mitt is it.
Ron Paul came in second in New Hampshire with a respectable 24 percent of the vote. For Paul 24 percent is a mandate. In his speech he claimed a moral victory, promised to drastically reduce the size of the American military, keep the government out of our personal lives, and keep us out of war. He is headed to South Carolina.
John Huntsman came in third in New Hampshire with 17 percent, an increase of about ten percent in the past few weeks. Huntsman called for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, and for restoration of the people's trust in federal government. He is headed to South Carolina. Probably with a couple of million of his father's money.
Newt Gingrich received 10 percent of the vote in New Hampshire. He hates Mitt Romney for what Romney's super pac did to him in Iowa. In his speech he told us of something he had learned from the way New Hampshire handled their budget process. He didn't call anyone a liar. He is headed to South Carolina where he has already placed a 1.5 million dollar ad buy, which most assuredly will be dedicated to disemboweling Mitt Romney.
Rick Santorum also received 10 percent of the vote in New Hampshire. He did not expect to do very well in the moderate state of New Hampshire. But South Carolina is Santorum's kind of place. Socially conservative. So, Santorum cannot wait to get to South Carolina.
I'm not sure about Rick Perry, but he says he will be in South Carolina as well.
And the weird thing is, none of them seem to be able to admit that by not stepping out of the race, they are insuring that Mitt Romney will be nominated.
Mitt Romney has a big problem. He is not the choice of a huge majority of Republican voters. The support of all the "non-Romneys" is somwhere upwards of sixty percent. Not just in New Hampshire. Pretty much everywhere. Romney cannot seem to attract more than 35 to 40 percent of the Republican voters.
I have often thought that President Obama is one of the luckiest politicians. But Romney may be luckier. All of these men who so passionately want to defeat him in the Republican race are assuring his victory by splitting the huge anti-Romney vote into insignificant morsels.
I am a Democrat. But I enjoy politics of all stripes. This Republican race has been and continues to be entertaining. For bigger military, for less military, pro-life, pro choice. Trust government, fear government. For pure entertainment, I would like for it to go on for awhile. And I suppose, as a Democrat, the argument can be made that as long as the Republicans try to rip Mitt apart, President Obama's chances in the general election increase.
But I am getting tired of the silliness. This general election will offer an opportunity for valuable public discourse about national policies and directions that will set the course for our future. The opposing platforms and ideologies will be distinct. That serious conversation will not begin until the Republicans decide who they are this year. And it seems like they are still a long way from figuring that out.
But, the show goes on. Next stop South Carolina.
This may call for a road trip. It's gonna be quite a show.
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