GOP Debate

[MoValley John]

Different world in JFK's time. Religion won't make a huge difference.

I don't know, I don't see a whole lot of it here in Omaha, nor anywhere else I've lived. It is rare when I run into it, but it is still out there.

[MoValley John]

Also pretty sure the country will elect a LDS president right around the time we elect a female muslim. Not stating that as a good thing on either front.

I have read that democrats have plan to use his LDS background against him. I don't think he is electable either. I think that the republican leadership knows it and that is why Gov. Perry is coming into the race.

The democrats won't have to. Primaries in the south and heavily Catholic areas in the northeast will break that ground.

Catholics in the Northeast elected Romney.... As a Catholic, I know of few, actually no Catholics that vote along religious denomination lines. I know many that vote pro life, and several socially liberals that will vote for any Democrat. Many Catholics are funny, very fiscally conservative, yet extremely social justice libs. Regardless of that, none of the Catholics I know would refuse to vote for a qualified candidate that happens to be Morman.
We just hate the Dutch.

On the other hand, I know several protestants, mostly fundamentalists, that would never vote for a Catholic or a Morman, regardless of qualifications. I have never understood this and have questioned many of them on this. The answer never gets much further than the Whore of Babylon... They don't even begin with idol worship, just grab the dagger and go straight to the Whore of Babylon card.

As for the South in general, selling a Morman might be very difficult. This saddens me, especially when other than having a different religious denomination, that candidate just might mostly reflect their political views. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

John, apples and oranges from statewide office to nationwide office, but fair point. Probably no greater concentration of Irish Catholics than in Boston. Living in the midwest you aren't as likely to come across large concentrations of Mormons. Here in the Nevada there are large concentrations as well as Idaho, Arizona and of course, Utah. My experience has been that the Catholics really have some difficulties with them. Not Iraq secular violence difficulties, just no likey.

Me being more or less agnostic, one man's version doesn't seem any more or less credible than the next. So voting for a person of any religion makes no difference to me.

I'm not a historian, but I'm guessing Kennedy didn't win too many southern states?

Oh, Omaha is a Catholic town, but it is also a large LDS community. While you can't swing a stick without hitting a Catholic in Omaha, you can also hit a few Mormons if the stick is just a little longer. In fact, Omaha is home to a Mormon Temple, one of less than 150 in the world.

I deal with Mormons often.

[ABC]

If Romeny is the GOP nominee, he will defeat Obama, based on today's situation and trying to project what it might be next year.

I have my biases re LDS, as do many people.

The biases against Obama's vision for the government are far greater than those other biases.

Obama continues to eliminate many of the political walls that previously existed.

[wsushox1]

Michele Bachmann wins this year's Ames Straw Poll.

Before you get too excited, it should be noted that Romney won 2007's and John McCain had a measly .7% .

[RoyalShock]

1st: Bachmann - 4823
2nd: Paul - 4671
3rd: Pawlenty - 2293

Now with Perry entering the race, support for Bachmann, Romney and Pawlenty is likely to get split.

[Maggie]

A couple thoughts on the Iowa straw poll results: It long run it won’t mean a whole heck of a lot except that it looks like it may have put Tim Pawlenty’s bid for the White House on life support. Given the time, energy, and money he put into Iowa he needed a better result than a weak, very weak, third place (it is going to be much harder for him to raise money for the foreseeable future). Things could change but as this moment Pawlenty is in trouble. As an aside, I find all of this somewhat perplexing; as a successful conservative governor of a blue state – he should be doing better.

As for Bachmann, it is a big win for her at least as far as optics go and she has a strong chance of winning the Iowa caucuses. Iowa is tailor made for Bachmann – she is a relatively well-spoken down-the-line conservative and, most importantly, she excels at so-called “retail politics”. If she loses the Iowa caucuses, it is over for her. She is not winning NH, not Nevada, and South Carolina (with entrance of Perry) now looks unlikely. Also, in Florida she is a long shot. Moreover, I think Perry marginalizes her – he can offer everything she does plus executive experience. And just wait – Perry will get the endorsement of one Sarah Palin as well as a slew of governors – starting with Rudy Guiliani and moving on to people like Daniels and Barbour. Bachmann is a relentless campaigner and should never be counted out; however, she is going to be rolling a big rock up a very steep incline.

As for Ron Paul, I am sure he is over the moon right now. Frankly, I thought he was going to win the straw poll. Paul always does well when there is a small sample size and votes can basically be bought. I don’t mean that in a bad way – it just how the system works and Paul knows what he is doing in these types of events. Plus, his support base is downright fanatical – they will show, from far and wide, to vote for Paul. In many ways he is a political party unto himself. Someone mentioned on FOX last night that she was told by a couple of Paul supporters that they switched their votes (something that seems very unlikely) to Santorum because of Paul’s comments about Iran (apparently they didn’t know anything about his foreign policy views). Maybe so – might have hurt him; given his narrow loss might have cost him. Anyway, Paul will probably stay in this race until the bitter end, or close to it – but he is not getting the nomination. He has a strong concentrated base of support but outside of that he doesn’t have much appeal to the GOP mainstream.

Speaking of Santorum – he got about the best result he could hope for. I think his debate performance helped him (especially his little “spat” with Paul). I am sure he is encouraged and he should be; however, he is facing long, long, odds.

[Shirley Schmidt]

I see a Perry / Bachmann ticket coming.

[Maggie]

I see a Perry / Bachmann ticket coming.

I suppose that ticket is possible but I doubt it will happen. Should Perry win the nomination, and we have a long way to go before that happens - Perry still has to prove himself, I don't think he would consider Bachmann as a running mate. Romney might but Perry won't - and if he does it would be a poor political move. I don't think she would help Perry.

[BAShocker]

Perhaps if someone, say...Josh Turner, ran with Bachmann...it would be a Bachmann/Turner ticket. Then they could put their campaign in overdrive...just sayin'...

[Shirley Schmidt]

I suppose that ticket is possible but I doubt it will happen

I agree, Perry / Bachmann will not happen, Perry would need someone more to the middle or left than he is to balance out the ticket

[Kung Wu]

I suppose that ticket is possible but I doubt it will happen

I agree, Perry / Bachmann will not happen, Perry would need someone more to the middle or left than he is to balance out the ticket

Perry is a former (and recent) Democrat -- but I don't know squat about him. Is he really that far right? Based on his past, I would think he would be concerned about being perceived as too far left.

[Maggie]

I suppose that ticket is possible but I doubt it will happen

I agree, Perry / Bachmann will not happen, Perry would need someone more to the middle or left than he is to balance out the ticket

Perry is a former (and recent) Democrat -- but I don't know squat about him. Is he really that far right? Based on his past, I would think he would be concerned about being perceived as too far left.

I don’t know too much about Perry but he is a former Democrat, he did assist in Al Gore’s presidential bid and doesn’t get along with the Bush contingent in Texas. But being a former Democrat should not be a disqualifying factor (Reagan was an FDR supporter – and often those that “convert”, so to speak, end up being the best advocates). Nonetheless, these days I believe he is pretty conservative – pretty hard right.

[SubGod22]

I'll have to look into Perry more, but from what little I do know, I like the guy. Texas has done pretty well for itself while the rest of the country, for the most part, has struggled. I'm no fan of Romney so this may be the best bet to keep him from the nomination. Unless Ryan enters. Or Christie. :D

[Maggie]

Unless Ryan enters. Or Christie. :D

The Weekly Standard reports Ryan is considering a run during this break from Washington (but I will believe it when I see it). Christie will not enter the race.

[SubGod22]

Unless Ryan enters. Or Christie. :D

The Weekly Standard reports Ryan is considering a run during this break from Washington (but I will believe it when I see it). Christie will not enter the race.

I read that, which is why I put it in. There have been some reports that Christie is considering it, but I don't think it'll happen. I'm not sure if we'll see Ryan or not, but I would LOVE for him to say yes and jump in. I'm pretty confident that he's been looking into it and weighing his options.