Absolutely but Bush ran on a campaign that was very well structured to cater to latinos. He was from a state with a large latino population, he was in favor initially of immigration reform (and not the lets deport all illegals variety), his social conservatism actually resonated pretty well among latinos, and bottom line he actively chased their vote. This is not the GOP of 2000 anymore. They're openly campaigning on issues that will cost them Latinos. It wasn't that long ago that Republicans were seriously talking about guest worker programs and restructuring visas to make them easier to get for qualified workers. Now they're the party of building a fence and deporting all illegals. They've blown the latino vote. I can tell you first hand, the dems were awful in 2010 but they did very well among latinos. On the statewide campaign I worked on, we absolutely dominated the Valley in Texas by record numbers both in terms of turnout and voting percentages.
I'm beginning to think the Mayans were right. It's just that they confused World with Republican Party.
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In 2008, Romney got 25% of the vote, which pretty much crushed his campaign. Today, he got about 25% of the vote - and 300 voters FEWER than last time - and it's going to propel him forward. Bachmann and Perry dropping out would be a huge boost for Newt's chances in SC and FL. However, he has to find a way to survive 3 weeks of Romney coverage in the interim. And, of course, he has no money or infrastructure. Not sure what to make of Santorum - he'll fail in NH, but if he's close to Newt there, that will make Newt's job harder in South Carolina, because Santorum will take some of the vote there. Huntsman needed a Romney flop, so his remote possibility of a comeback is done. Paul is going to continue to be a nuisance to the rest of the GOP, but his army of supporters disappointed tonight. He underperformed the polls pretty badly. My favorite candidate is now Buddy Roemer, simply on account of his twitter fun tonight: http://twitter.com/#!/BuddyRoemer Some gems: Gov. Buddy Roemer @BuddyRoemer I almost have enough votes in Iowa to start a bowling league. #Roementum SPOILER ALERT: I'm not going to win Iowa. Don't tell the 49 people who caucused for me. #the49coolestIowans Okay. That's it. I'm buying a sweater vest. #itworkedforsantorum
Great news for dems if Santorum can pull off Iowa. Maybe he'll get some momentum and get south Carolina too...
Still laughing at those mouth breathers in Iowa who threw their support behind Rick f'n Santorum. Par for the course for the state that chose juggernauts like Mike Huckabee and Tom Harkin in years past.
I disagree, What Huntsman needed to see was that people changed their minds the last few weeks due to Santorum's strong campaigning at Iowa. I mean, Huntsman has had something like 150+ events the past few months in NH alone, and Santorum had like 300+? This gives Huntsman hope even though Romney won just because it shows that campaigning truly does work.
If Huntsman is thinking that it is truly just optimism driving it... the results from last night really only show that there is only a certain size base of GOP voters willing to vote for Romney and a significant block that will vote for any other right-wing candidate (first Perry, then Cain, then Gingrich, now Santorum). Huntsman will be less likely to gain any of those votes than Romney. So unless Huntsman gets into a surprise position in any of the more moderate GOP states, he really has no chance. Too bad, since he (along with Johnson) have the most palatable positions amongst the GOP candidates. Unfortunately, he won't even draw enough support to help moderate their platform positions.
They've already become a national embarassment with that wide assortment of clowns trotted out for the debates: Perry, Bachman, Cain, etc.
I think that's true if Huntsman had appeal to the Perry/Santorum/Bachmann/Cain/Newt crowd. But I really think his primary appeal is more to the Romney crowd - so for Huntsman to get a 2nd look, it would have been from Romney fans. But his win, even though he actually did worse than 2008, should be enough to keep his strength in NH. And unless Huntsman way overperforms there, I don't see what his campaign strategy is. Who knows though - stranger things have happened this season! Maybe the media narrative is that Romney's win shows weakness, and that causes people to drift to Huntsman. Romney voters aren't going to shift anywhere else.
So Romney's main comp is now Santorum (instead of Herman Cain or Newt the Nut)? This could be bad news. Instead of having a zero percent chance like the other two bozos, Santorum probably has a 1 in 50 shot at winning. "Game On!" Seriously, Santorum might do well in South Carolina. He's a natural fit there.
