Rick Santorum Sweep Confirms Pundits Just Making Stuff Up

Add the zero delegates Rick Santorum earned during last night's victory in the nonbinding Colorado precinct caucuses with the zero delegates he earned by winning Minnesota's nonbinding precinct caucuses and Rick Santorum is still just Rick Santorum.

But add the zero delegates awarded in Missouri's "beauty contest" primary, which unlike Minnesota's and Colorado's caucuses will have no effect on eventual delegate allocation, and Rick Santorum is one sweater-vested beauty queen…

With his triumphs, Mr. Santorum was also suddenly presenting new competition to Newt Gingrich as the chief alternative to Mr. Romney, the front-runner. Where Mr. Gingrich has won one state, South Carolina, Mr. Santorum has now won four, including Iowa…

The results on Tuesday shook the political world, which appeared to once again make the mistake of believing the Republican race for the presidency was finally set on a stable trajectory. But it was an open question whether the defeats were a momentary embarrassment or a prolonged setback for Mr. Romney.

It's a sad day in America when Donald Trump's endorsement doesn't even guarantee a win in a beauty pageant.  In fact, Romney failed to win a single county in Missouri or Minnesota, further evidence of the reverse Trump bump elucidated by my colleague Dennis.

Of course the real import of last night's results is in the "momentum." First, Mitt Romney is declared the presumptive winner after garnering less than 100 of the  1,114 pledged delegates needed to win the Republican nomination. Then, Santorum's triumph in nonbinding caucuses is described as shaking the political consensus created by the same analysts who had proclaimed Romney's inevitability. And so it goes — you say potato, I say potahto. You say "narrative," I say "media circle jerk."

Photo by Richard Ellis/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Colorado, Donald Trump, Minnesota, Missouri, Mitt Romney, Primaries, Republicans, Rick Santorum

Tonight Could Prove Big for Rick Santorum's Doomed Campaign

Mitt Romney's campaign people have been busying themselves today by downplaying the importance of tonight's caucuses and pedantically reminding journalists that "Colorado and Minnesota hold caucuses with non-binding preference polls, and the Missouri primary is purely a beauty contest," the sentiment of which, I'm certain, is much-appreciated in all three states. ("Oh, those people's opinions? They don't matter." "Thanks!")

But this really brings up a puzzling question: Why would Ol' Steamroller Romney want to knock the air out of a bunch of non-binding beauty contests? I don't recall him doing anything of the sort prior to the non-binding Mr. Iowa pageant? Or, for that matter, immediately after the non-binding Mr. Iowa pageant, when everybody still thought he got to keep the tiara.

Come to think of it, it may have something to do with this…

Rick Santorum could be headed for a big day in today's contests in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri. Missouri looks like a probable win for Santorum. He's at 45% there to 32% for Mitt Romney and 19% for Paul. Minnesota provides an opportunity for a win as well. Currently he has a small advantage with 33% to 24% for Romney, 22% for Newt Gingrich, and 20% for Ron Paul. And Santorum should get a second place finish in Colorado, where Romney appears to be the likely winner. The standings there are Romney at 37%, Santorum at 27%, Gingrich at 21%, and Paul at 13%…

Read More »

Tags: Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Polls, Primaries, Republicans, Rick Santorum

U.S. Congress Still More Popular Than Fidel Castro

According to a new poll from Gallup, the United States Congress is currently hovering at a record low 13 percent approval rating. But, less than a month ago, a CBS/NYT poll clocked congressional approval at a staggering 9 percent, which you've got to admit is kind of impressive.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to reach depths that low in the United States where we are not exactly famous for our discerning taste? (Double down anyone?) As such, I suspect there was at least a modicum of pride at work when Sen. Michael Bennet took to the Senate floor to unveil this chart putting his legislative body's accomplishment into its proper context…

Suck it, Hugo Chavez!

You too, Paris Hilton and Watergate-era Richard Nixon!

Tags: Colorado, Fidel Castro, House of Representatives, Michael Bennet, Paris Hilton, Polls, Richard Nixon, Senate

From the Pork Barrel: Cleaving Pennsylvania

* Pennsylvania Republicans might split up Pennsylvania's electoral votes. Outrage! Scandal and outrage! Especially since Democrats thought of it first.

* Democrats allow Republicans to steal "American Jobs Act" name. "This Is How We Lose Act" still available, however.

* Barack Obama to America: "If you love me you've got to help me pass this bill."

* America to Obama: "We think it's best if we see other presidents."

Tags: Barack Obama, Colorado, Democrats, Electoral College, Pennsylvania, Polls, Pork Barrel, Republicans, Unemployment

The United States of Unflattering Stereotypes

How long does it take to travel to every state in the nation and mock it right to its face? About two minutes…

I think it's really cool that Paul Jury traveled 19,000 miles in the service of writing his book States of Confusion, but you've got to wonder if it was really necessary. If he was really interested in seeing how everybody in the country really lives, couldn't he have just gone to a Wal-Mart in a Hoveround?

Tags: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Books, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming