Early 2012 Election News

Some early 2012 election news from Iowa sent to me by a fellow blogger sitting on the ramparts. PACNW Righty’s added comments are in yellow.

The results of the Ames Auction:

Ron Paul, first place (no surprise, he has a big war chest and isn’t afraid to use it).

-I know Ron Paul is going to do well in these early political “actions”. But I am concerned how well a Libertarian can do against an established democrat opponent. The dems have the political know-how to run a nationwide election, but the Libertarians don’t have the apparatus in place to compete. Couple this with the mainstream media’s treatment of him (Matt Lauer called him a “fringe candidate” right to his face), and I really think it will be an uphill battle for Paul.  Will I vote for him? Of course!

Surprise second place winner:

“Undeclared” –Michigan Representative Thaddeus McCotter. 

-I try to follow politics very closely, but I have not actually heard of this guy. One thing is for sure, he has a very unique name. The left-leaning web site Politico has a little bit of information on him. What I did read seems interesting.

Gingrich is out of gas. (no surprise and should be a relief to real conservatives) 

-I have blogged some about Gingrich over the past month or so (here, here, and here) and I agree he is done. A very large group of his advisors have quite his campaign plus I never really got the feeling he wanted to run for President.

Romney and Huntsman elected to skip all together. (Somehow, I get the feeling this will backfire on them).

-Romney is the current front runner so I don’t think this will have any major impact on his campaign as long as he stays out in front. But if the other candidates start to reel him in, this could come back to bite him in the backside. I am not a fan of Romney’s. I think he has been too squishy on a couple of things that matter to me (illegal immigration, climate change, health care).

-As for Huntsman, I think his presidential aspiration declaration just this past week should give him the benefit of the doubt. Also not a fan of his either. The MSM is fawning over him and that should be a red flag to every true conservative.

Palin neither mentioned, not listed.

-Her I am a big fan of, but I sure wish she’d get off her butt and tell us one way or another.