i get the feeling once Romney gets in he will do whatever he thinks it will take for him to be viewed as having a great legacy and less about being a loyal conservative repulican

I really don't think which presidency they would rather live through enters the Obama camps thought process at this point.

Exactly, which is why conservatives hate him. The aids-y right-wing politics forum on the Chiefs site I hang out on hates Romney with a passion because they are sure he'll cave on raising taxes.

butnahhhh

<3

all the repubs candidates constantly rag on stimulus bill...but wasn't like 1/3 of it just purely tax cuts/incentives?

Also:

Um, those A&M girls are nice and all. But if that's the best you can do, it kind of proves his point.

This.

RP (the electable one ldo) actually believes legacy and loyalty are related.

Well, Suzzer, my reply was meant to elicit posts very much like yours. So, in a way, I've won.

That brunette makes my heart hurt.

Any candidate with the ability to win the nom, then the presidency, won't do anything to lessen the power of the presidency. Its a nice bit of TP rhetoric to pander to their want for less power from DC.

Rick Perry schools Michele Bachmann in Waterloo

Rick Perry is going to waffle crush Bachmann. She's going to put up a fight and some of her supporters will never quit but Perry is smarter and a better campaigner. There's only one smart politician against Perry in Iowa right now and his name is Ron Paul. People need to stop shifting the goal post for Ron Paul though. He was going for a win and still LOST to a ****ing idiot, Michele Bachmann in the Ames Straw Poll. He got a close second. Okay, he's proved he's actually in this election now. The problem is he's a Texas Congressman who has to beat a Texas Governor.

Ron Paul can get 2nd in Iowa and if the candidates **** up big, he could even win. Paul is a seasoned politician and campaigner. This Presidential run is basically his last hoorah to set the foundation for his son Rand. A 2nd in Iowa helps towards that goal in huge ways.

Not gay

Meh, just being smarter and better debater than Bachmann isn't enough to wafflecrush her. I mean everyone in the field is both smarter and a better debater than her.

Ahem

Is that the new Newsweek cover?

Edit: I now see I was beaten to this comment by a mile!

As someone said before, he's just playing on a smarter level. He timed his announcement at the best possible time. He campaigns at the retail level better, he doesn't need to be micro managed, read off a teleprompter, etc, etc. That will take some time to start showing but the voters will see it soon enough.

Pawlenty's supporters aren't likely to go to Bachmann as much as Romney or Perry. That's a nice boost to Perry who is already polling in double digits. He's polling well, and can raise as much as Romney.

Waffle Crush.

Oh....

Perry wafflecrushing Bachmann in Iowa..........maybe. Where he will wafflecrush that matters more is Romney in NH. Smaller geographically, a true primary, and more relevant to winning the R nom, NH will let us know if Perry can play nationally to white people at least. No one doubts he has a natural stranglehold on SC. I'm not sure how hard he can eat into Romney's sectarian advantage in Nevada, but 3 out of the first four would go a long way towards shortening the GOP nomination battle from months to a few weeks or less. If NH cooperates, but they seem to like being contrarian.

Perry is clearly not going to wafflecrush in NH.
The demographics are against him (fewer fundies, more moderates) and Romney seems quite popular there. A decent 2nd place while managing expectations ("Anything other than a crushing victory might as well be a loss for a hometown boy like Romney") will do him fine.