Backhanded Washington Post Article: Ron Paul is Mitt Romney's Best (Iowa) Friend

[1836]

Rate this one at about 70% spin, and 30% complement. But boy, what a backhanded compliment.

h xxp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/ron-paul-is-mitt-romneys-best-iowa-friend/2011/12/13/gIQA82f3rO_blog.html

While going through a few semi-positive things, the article concludes with a big stinking plop:


A Paul victory in Iowa would be a dream come true for Romney. Why? Because Paul, like former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in 2008, has far less obvious appeal in the states beyond Iowa and would likely struggle to build his caucus victory into a broader national campaign.

Simply put: The less Iowa matters, the better for Team Romney. And a Paul victory there, while intriguing and a case study for political scientists for years to come, would almost certainly mean that the real race for the nomination begins a week later in New Hampshire.

[1836]

WHOOPS. Totally did not mean to have that particular "smiley" attached to the THREAD TITLE on this one. Goodness gracious, can a moderator fix that? Must have misclicked or something.

[Sean]

Problem with that analysis is that Romney himself has very low appeal. That is why McCain and not Romney was the nominee.

[RonPaulCult]

Oh we'll be a case study for years to come alright. The case of taking back our country. Revolution!

[pauliticalfan]

Cilizza strikes again. Still, if someone like him is acknowledging that we have a chance in Iowa, that's pretty big.

[cdc482]

stop clicking on it! We make these articles popular

[cero]

lol nothing wrong with the smiley, but ya, they dont't know whats coming to them

[Fermli]

And a Paul victory there, while intriguing and a case study for political scientists for years to come, would almost certainly mean that the real race for the nomination begins a week later in New Hampshire.

lol

[Indiana4Paul]

All this is coming from the same blogger who declared Iowa was a battle between Bachmann and Perry after the Ames Straw Poll.

These policital pundits don't really understand the dynamics of this cycle's race.

[sailingaway]

Yeah, Salon had one too. Didn't want to play it up too much because a lot of Iowa voters don't understand that the reason Mitt wants Gingrich to lose is not because he is more powerful, but because as a consumate insider, he goes after the same backers as Mitt.

[mwkaufman]

By all means, I hope Romney supporters view Paul as their friend and build him up over the coming weeks. Because after Paul wins Iowa, they'll quickly realize he might be the only one that can beat Romney in New Hampshire. The anti-Romney vote represents about 25% of New Hampshire voters, and only Paul could harness that group and his own 15% to possibly defeat Romney there.

[KingNothing]

It'll be fun to see who in the punditry class moves the goalposts once after we win Iowa, then again after we show very well in NH.