Radio Wars Of Limbaugh And Huckabee - The Pro Vs. The Opportunist

1956 Zenith AM-FM radio, model Y724. The Y724 differs from the Y723 in that it has a handle, metal tuning graph and a tone control on the left. The radio has great sound on it's built in antennas for AM and FM reception. Image Credit: blogabillyboogie

Radio Wars Of Limbaugh And Huckabee - The Pro Vs. The Opportunist

Rush Limbaugh has been getting a lot of attention lately, but the attention he has been getting from his envious detractors and critics play this card over the top.

Rush is the first to point out that he was wrong to utilize the tactics normally used by the left when he decided to point the absurd proposition that taxpayers should basically pay for non-health supports when he used the absurd tactic of name calling toward a person who was hand-picked by the Democrat Political Party and placed in a press conference to complain about the policies of a College she had freely chosen to attend.

For 25 years, Rush's most entertaining moments happen when he takes absurdity to point out the absurd, for example, last week he said that "Democrats love to pour gas on a fire, which is absurd ... have you seen the price of gas lately?"

That, right there, that's funny!

Rush deftly points out the chaos the Democrat Political Party, led by President Barack Obama and the Senate's Harry Reid, has created with their waste of taxpayer money "Green Economy" fiasco which has led to a 100% increase in gas prices at the pump, costing Americans a decrease in their economic freedom and ability to get jobs.

The issue here with Rush Limbaugh and the left's effort to bring him down is more about silencing an effective voice to the opposition of political "control freaks" who own our media, educational systems, and (currently) the bureaucracy of Government through the Executive branch and the control of the Senate.

To this end, columnist David Frum posits that the entrance of former Arkansas Governor, 2008 Presidential candidate nominee contestant, and FOX News, once a week, weekend program host to the same national radio syndication timeslot just may topple and silence this hallmark of daily conservative thought.

Huckabee, who hasn't even launched his radio program yet, the man who gave us all John McCain as the Republican nominee for President in 2008 and thereby, President Barack Obama and a 60 vote majority in the Senate, is going to unseat and silence Rush Limbaugh? ... now THAT, right there, that's absurd!

This excerpted and edited from The Daily Beast -

Mike Huckabee Brings on Rush Limbaugh's Decline
Huckabee’s about to take the mike. Can he push Limbaugh off the talk-radio throne?
by David Frum Mar 12, 2012 1:00 AM EDT

Over 25 years in radio, Rush Limbaugh’s dominance of the AM dial has become a fact of American life.

Until, maybe, now.

Yes, Limbaugh’s tirade against law student Sandra Fluke has been a problem, inspiring more than 30 advertisers to flee his radio program in the past two weeks. But on April 2, Limbaugh will face a more-serious challenge. That’s when the new Mike Huckabee show launches on 100 stations in Limbaugh’s very own noon-to-3 time slot.

Huckabee’s competition threatens Limbaugh not only because Huckabee has already proven himself an attractive and popular TV broadcaster, but also because Huckabee is arriving on the scene at a time when Limbaugh’s business model is crashing around him.

To understand the power of Huckabee’s challenge to Limbaugh, you have to understand the strange economics of talk radio. Most talk-radio programs offer radio stations this deal: we’ll give you three hours of content for free. (Some programs—cough, Glenn, cough, Beck—actually pay radio stations to accept their content.) Those three hours will include 54 minutes of ad time. That ad time is split between the radio station and the show: each gets 27 minutes to sell.

In this world, Limbaugh is unique. He actually charges radio stations for his content: up to $1 million a year in a major market. Plus, he charges the highest ad rates in the business. Those two revenue streams—multiplied by more radio outlets than anybody else in the industry has—have made Limbaugh a very rich man. But those revenue streams always depended on Limbaugh upholding his end of the bargain: delivering the audiences. And on that count, Limbaugh has been notably failing.

As The Daily Beast’s John Avlon reported last week, the audience for right-wing talk has been shrinking since 2009. In some urban markets, Limbaugh’s audience has dropped by as much as half over the past three years. Limbaugh and other right-wing talkers have responded to this economic squeeze by a strategy familiar to Republican politicians: they have played to the base.

But even more than the total size of the audience, radio advertisers care about a measure called TSL: time spent listening. The people who listen longest are of course the most ideologically intense.
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The difference this time is that Limbaugh’s advertisers and his stations had already begun to feel ripped off. To quote my station-manager friend again: “I don’t mind paying for content. But I do mind paying for trouble.” So advertisers revolted against the TSL strategy, with Sears, JCPenney, and many other sponsors dropping the show. Many of the local advertisers who buy their ads from the local stations rather than from the syndicators have been ordering that their purchased minutes be placed on some less-controversial program.

Limbaugh, it’s true, remains a big talk-radio star. He’s seen trouble before and rarely apologized for it. He could assume that even if Sears had departed forever, core talk-radio advertisers—LegalZoom, Stamps.com, Sleep Number beds—must sooner or later return to the No. 1 show in talk radio.

However, Limbaugh’s calculation that his core advertisers must return always rested on the assumption that there was nowhere else to go. Suddenly, in the worst month of Limbaugh’s career, somewhere else has appeared: a lower-priced alternative, with big audience reach and a host an advertiser can trust never, ever to abuse a student as a “slut” and “prostitute.”

The new Huckabee show’s slogan is “more conversation; less confrontation.” “I don’t want it to be a show that every day, every hour, pushes everyone’s buttons to raise their blood pressure,” Huckabee says. “I figure the cost of high blood pressure is enough already.”

Huckabee’s politics are emphatically conservative of course, both on social and economic issues. Yet his politics differ in important ways from those of the Limbaugh-influenced Republican electorate. “I don’t see a pathway for a person of my point of view getting through the land mine of the Republican primary. If that were to change in four years, if the Republicans were to get more serious about governing, not just campaigning—if we focused on what we were for and not just what we were against—then I might be a viable candidate.”

The less-strident Huckabee approach arises both from his experience as a long-serving governor in a Democratic-leaning state and from Huckabee’s famously genial temperament. “I have to believe that there are people who are highly opinionated but who actually find it informative and engaging to find out what the other side is thinking,” he says. “And not through a shouting match, but through an adult-level, civil conversation.”
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Huckabee explains his appeal as driven by his choice of topic. “I want to do a show that has politics. But I don’t want a 100 percent political show.” It’s also a matter of tone and style. Limbaugh’s lascivious “joke” about wishing to see a Sandra Fluke sex tape was only the latest in a career of demeaning and prurient remarks. Only a few days beforehand, Huckabee was sitting down with Meryl Streep for a warm and easy talk before a studio audience.

Rush Limbaugh won’t vanish from the radio of course. But the overpriced Limbaugh program is highly vulnerable to economic shocks. “If just one station in a top-20 market replaces Limbaugh with Huckabee, it’ll be an earthquake,” remarks a veteran of the radio business.

And you can already hear the first tremors.
[Reference Here]

David Frum and his "establishment media" friends have it all wishfully wrong - Huckabee will end up a lot like a Geraldo Rivera (UN-listenable), in that, he will pose to be an alternative in the arena of Conservative talk radio, but to be frank, these folks care for opinion that has red meat on the bone, where Huckabee has already admitted to a path of failure through its slogan “more conversation; less confrontation.”

Prediction: Huckabee's milktoast Moderate political policy approach will, by default, increase Rush Limbaugh's (strong Conservative analysis approach) TSL: time spent listening.


** Article first published as Radio Wars Of Limbaugh And Huckabee - The Pro Vs. The Opportunist on Technorati **

Of Pink Slime & Buckyballs; The World Outside Your Door

McDonald's has issued a statement that they will no longer use "pink slime" as an ingredient in their hamburgers. Image Credit: McDonald's Corporation

Of Pink Slime & Buckyballs; The World Outside Your Door

The scariest things happen when one opens the lid of their laptop and logs on to Twitter ... one doesn't even have to venture out into the world to be confronted by attacks to ones understanding of safety and healthy standards.

Fundamentally the properties of materials can be changed by nanotechnology. We humans can arrange molecules in a way that they do not normally occur in nature. The material strength, electronic and optical properties of materials can all be altered using nanotechnology.

First off, the tale of the use of a bonding food agent and filler known as "Pink Slime" went viral this week all over the internet. This "Tweet" seen from cultural and political radio talk show host, Tammy Bruce.

Tammy Bruce @HeyTammyBruce
Gah! 70% of U.S. ground beef contains ‘pink slime’ goo.gl/IoY2o

Pink Slime - J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, defended the practice as a way to safely use what otherwise would be wasted. “BLBT (Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings) is a sustainable product because it recovers lean meat that would otherwise be wasted,” he said in a statement. Image Credit: BPI via ABC News

This excerpted and edited from The Raw Story -

Whistleblowers: 70 percent of U.S. ground beef contains ‘pink slime’
By Stephen C. Webster - Thursday, March 8, 2012 12:35 EST

Let’s hope you didn’t eat a hamburger before clicking on this story.

A former U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist has come forward with a startling tale of how a substance known as “pink slime” has been embedded in about 70 percent of ground beef sold in the U.S. — a topic ABC News investigated for a segment Wednesday night.

“Pink slime” is largely made up of connective tissue that used to be reserved only for dog foods. It was not classified as “meat” because it was largely seen as unfit for human consumption. It also contains ammonia, which is used to kill off bacteria so people who eat it do not get sick.

But in the early 90s, former undersecretary of agriculture Joann Smith decided that it was meat, allowing it to enter the human food chain. When she left her post in 1993, she immediately took a job with Beef Products, Inc. on their board of directors.

The meat industry now refers to it as “lean finely textured beef,” but in a government memo USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein coined the term “pink slime,” which now appears to have stuck. Zirnstein and fellow former USDA scientist Carl Custer told ABC News that it has become so prolific, “pink slime” can now be found in approximately 70 percent of U.S. ground beef.

“Pink slime” was in the news last month after several major fast food chains announced they would no longer use it as filler in their hamburgers. Despite those restaurants’ plans, the U.S. government has continued to purchase “pink slime” for use in school lunches, according to a report out this week by the News Corp.-run iPad newspaper The Daily.
[Reference Here]

Danielle @danzerotti, a self-described "happily married mother of 4, tweeted "Another reason my 4 kids should be glad that I take the time to prepare their lunches at home every day. As much as I complain."

"Pink slime" is bits of meat and muscle salvaged from slaughterhouse floors that are treated with a pink chemical to kill any dangerous pathogens. According to an earlier report by msnbc.com, the unappetizing pink goo is widely used in the food industry as an anti-microbial agent in meats and as a leavening agent in bread and cake products. It's regulated by the U.S. Agriculture Department (and has been allowed for human consumption since a favorable ruling by the USDA during the Clinton Administration), which classifies it as "generally recognized as safe." Nevertheless, McDonald's, have said they are pulling the infamous "pink slime" from their hamburgers.

We do not know how many large hamburger serving food restaurant chains (McDonald's being the largest) are still using the lesser expensive slime" filler infavor of profit motive but we do know this truth tweeted in response to Tammy Bruce @HeyTammyBruce referenced earlier in this posting.

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE
@HeyTammyBruce IN-N-OUT raises, processes, and grinds all of their own beef in a dedicated channel. This is a corporate hallmark.

Or as IN-N-OUT loves to say in its tagline ... "Freshness You Can Taste".

The other very disturbing item to flash across the twitter feed of communications on TweetDeck was this item having to do with radiation and "Buckyballs" used in medical procedures primarily to address the onslaught of Cancer.

Alexander Higgins‏ @kr3at
Highest Radiation Levels Since Fukushima Disaster Recorded in Los Angeles, CA bit.ly/zOySIW

This excerpted and edited from Alexander Higgins Blog -

Highest Radiation Levels Since Fukushima Disaster Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
Posted by Alexander Higgins - March 9, 2012 at 11:36 pm

A March 6th test of a HEPA filter recorded radiation levels 668% or 6.68 times the normal background radiation levels. This test took place 43 days after initial tests and shows a 130% increase since January 22nd.

“The California Highway Patrol considers anything over three times background, 300% of background above, a trigger level to a hazardous materials situation,” reported the EnviroReporter.

Considering that it is now documented FACT that the NRC and other US agencies worked to cover up the dangers posed to the United States from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, these independent radiation tests are absolutely paramount to get out to the American people.
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The March 6 test of the combined dust came in at a sizzling 668% of background or 6.68 times normal. Since the last testing period, the radiation detected has risen another 130% indicating a continued upward trend.

That radiation is rising in Los Angeles comes as no surprise considering the enormous amount of radioactive ‘buckeyball’ filled with 60 uranium uranyls apiece that has been being produced at the stricken complex for almost a year. A just-released U.C. Davis report describing the phenomena is also examined in Beta Watch.

We now posits that this radiation ahead of the main swell through repeated aeration resultant of choppy Pacific water in storms, is picked up and moved on the winds as sea spray and mist moving ahead of the current. No other explanation is so compelling than this mechanism of increased mobility of this radiation most likely in the form of buckyballs that may, as the U.C. Davis report suggests, the same nanoparticle model that could cage in mobile spheres plutonium-239, strontium-90, cesium-137 and the deadly host of other radionuclides from Fukushima that have poisoned the Pacific for nearly a year.
[Reference Here]

Buckyballs - Visitors' shadows manipulate and reshape projected images of "Buckyballs." "Buckyball," or a buckminsterfullerene molecule, is a closed cage-structure molecule with a carbon network. "Buckyball" was named for R. Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller (1895-1983), a scientist, philosopher and inventor, best known for creating the geodesic dome. Image Credit: © 2003 Museum Associates/Los Angeles County Museum

Unless one has had the medical procedure used to combat Cancer, one may not be familiar with the definition of Buckyball as excerpted and edited from PopSci.com:

Chemotherapy is notorious for the toll it takes on the entire body. It kills cancer cells, sure, but it kills a lot of healthy cells, too. But soon a new advance in carbon chemistry may replace the shotgun blast of chemo with a radiation sniper shot.

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University have devised a technique for placing radioactive molecules inside the soccer-ball-shaped molecules known as buckyballs. Thanks to new advances in cancer targeting, the buckyballs might be able to deliver the radioactive particles to specific cancer cells. This method would provide a targeted chemotherapy that would avoid the painful and prolonged side effects caused by today's full-body radiation treatments.

To make the buckyballs, the scientists zapped carbon rods with plasma until the the rods were reduced to ash. The scientists then took the ash and passed it through a radioactive solution. After purification, the resultant mixture contains radioactive buckyballs, and will dissolve in a biofluid.
[Reference Here]

For we, at MAXINE, all of this leads to lessons learned early in life through experiences learned in building block organizations like the Boy Scouts of America - ie: Leave a campsite cleaner than as one found it ... or as the requirements for a Backpacking Merit Badge list - Describe the importance of using Leave No Trace principles while backpacking, and at least five ways you can lessen the crew's impact on the environment.



** Article first published as Of Pink Slime & Buckyballs; The World Outside Your Door on Technorati **

Sunday Morning Tweet | ReTweets Review - Rush, Breitbart, & Etc.

Andrew Breitbart (1969 - 2012) - who has described himself in the past as “Matt Drudge’s bitch”- is the proprietor of the websites Breitbart.com, BigHollywood.com, BigGovernment.com, BigJournalism.com, and BigPeace.com ... sports a Snuggie for Derek Hunter. Image Credit: Derek Hunter, TownHall (2011)

Sunday Morning Tweet | ReTweets Review - Rush, Breitbart, & Etc.

It is funny what one can get into during a Sunday morning when they are involved in New Media and are interested in Culture, Politics, and what other folks are thinking about the current trend topics of the day.

Take, for example, the copy of these Tweets and ReTweets taken from a column in a "TweetDeck" array, over the course of an hour or so, found at The EDJE's Twitter account (yes, that is "MAXINE's account).

The subjects range from Rush Limbaugh's recent flap that originated when he tried to make an outrageous point from an outrageous press conference put on by Nancy Pelosi that featured a 30 year-old co-ed, Sandra Fluke, who read from a statement she (Fluke) wrote about how the taxpayers should pay for her birth control and contraception drugs because her sexual activity was such that it costs her over $3,000. To the reaction to the death of Conservative politics warrior, Andrew Breitbart and how we all might have to fill this void with our collective voice. To the actions of the, as Sarah Palin loves to coin it, Permanent Political Class (RINO's to others).

Read and enjoy ... follow the links provided and, of course, follow those you feel a connection with:

START

Opinionated @ColorMeRed

No matter how brief a man's life, he can impact and alter the future leaving his imprint on the face of the earth forever.#Breitbart

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Proud Conservative @ConservativeGal

So we're suppose to pay for birth control 4 students going to schools we can't afford to send r own kids to? #tcot#teaparty #conservatives

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

The_Q @The_Q_is3m

Carbonite pulls ads from Rush to “contribute to a more civilized public discourse.” But keep Ed Schulz (called Laura Ingraham slut!) #tcot

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

John Difool @MCHblazer5m

@jtLOL @AndrewBreitbart. The left hated Andrew Breitbart because he used their absolute moral authority as his favorite toilet paper.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE6m

“@free_US_Citizen: Gov. Jindal Gives Amazing Republican Energy Policy Speech island-adv.com/?p=74124” #tcot#tlot #p2 #nrcc #mitt #newt #santo

Ric @prismsinc10m

WOW MT @soylentbeige Mitt Romney consulted Population Control Eugenics Czar John Holdren wp.me/ptUz8-32y#tcot #RickSantorum #teaparty

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

iWithNewtG @cantwaittillnov10m

This Election experience has changed my life. Media Types that I once trusted ... Now I Do Not ! #withNewt #GA #MI #AK#OH #MA #WA #TX

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE25m

From Gut Punch by Derek Huntertownhall.com/columnists/der… - Who will replace Andrew Breitbart? No one, and everyone #tcot #tlot #p2 #nrcc #drudge

'Jim' 'Treacher' @jtLOL38m

A Gut Punch-The Loss of Andrew Breitbart - Derek Huntertownhall.com/columnists/der…

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE39m

“@WhineNot: Newt slapdown of David Gregory's question on trying to get him to diss Rush Limbaugh! Beauuuuuutiful!!!#MTP #SuperTuesday”

Mary Katharine Ham @mkhammer53m

Someone should do a Kickstarter to buy things for Sandra Fluke she doesn't feel like buying herself.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

This is a result of dance rehearsal ... or really just not knowing what your doing. :-) | Caption & Image Credit: Katharine McPhee via twitpic (2012)

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@katharinemcphee - Looks like you were mugged in an alley by midgets or being kneecapped by a blindman! Good work.#smash #tv #dancing

in reply to @katharinemcphee - Reaction to photo re-posted HERE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@Politisite They are part of the fourth and third estate!

in reply to @Politisite

Politisite @Politisite1h

@EricBoehlert oh look for the last few weeks obama approval has been down to 43%... Forgot to mention that?

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

in reply to @EricBoehlert

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@iowahawkblog - Also, isn't actually having sex a choice as opposed to an ailment? Isn't having babies the same through consequence? #rush

David Burge @iowahawkblog1h

Birth control is a foreseeable, regular expense. What idiot wants it covered by insurance? It's like having corn flakes insurance.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@prismsinc @EricCantor - DITTO!

in reply to @prismsinc

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

“@ShannonBream: BREAKING: Rep Eric Cantor has just endorsed Mitt Romney”#politicalclass #newt #tcot #tlot #p2 #vp#hhrs #tkrs

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

@MMFlint @jtLOL - No bigger prostitute than you working from exaggerated circumstances to make the distorted opinion films you make #rush

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE1h

“@kirstenpowers10: Hey @edshow you forgot to mention slutwalk. Also why don't u talk about the time you called me a "bimbo"?” #rush

David Limbaugh @DavidLimbaugh1h

i have to say it: Those of you who are saying Rush sold out don't have the courage in your entire universe that he has in his little finger.

Retweeted by @TheEDJE

ENDS

So, it is on to "Super Tuesday" and whoever ends up being the Republican Political Party's nominee for the potential 45th President of the United States ... do not loose sight, VOTE for them! Then when they assume office, ride them HARD as we all did when Bush 43 tried to place on the Supreme Court, Harriet Ellan Miers or soften on the issue of Immigration!

Santorum's Super Tuesday 3 State Caucus Surge - Now What?

Santorum is going for the higher ground than Romney, avoiding the "jobs, jobs, jobs" mantra and talking about rights and big government. Here's a thought: how much of Santorum's good showing, and Romney's dismal performance, is related to the improving economic picture? Image Credit: Jeff Roberson | AP

Santorum's Super Tuesday 3 State Caucus Surge - Now What?

Going into the evening, most informed pundits and political communications resources believed that Rick Santorum, the only other candidate outside of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to win a state Republican Political Party nominee primary for President, had a strong chance to win in Missouri, a weak chance in Minnesota but was still way down by about 10% to Mitt Romney in Colorado.

This morning finds Rick Santorum with three momentum building caucus victories. The strong showing in Missouri had Santorum with nearly a 30% points spread at 55.2% to Romney’s 25.3% — The weak prediction in progressive Minnesota had Santorum at a 18% point advantage with 45% against Ron Paul’s 27.1% … leaving Romney and Gingrich to battle it out for third best — and the predicted loss by 10% points ended up with a 15% points swing to have Santorum win at 40.3% of the vote to Romney’s 34.9% showing … pretty weak for a “front-runner”!

What this leaves is a situation where Santorum and Gingrich possibly asking Romney to leave the race just as others have asked in previous victories in other state GOP primaries by Romney and Gingrich of Rick Santorum. The Republican ruling class elite are really in a pickle now, they have to ask themselves if they really wish to kick Conservative values aside just to maintain power, or will they step aside for the good of the party?

Honestly, the Haley Barbour’s, Karl Rove’s, any one of the Bush family (yes, this includes Jeb), the Boehner’s, the McConnell’s, and even the Anne Coulter’s of the Republican world must be having the feeling of their heads exploding!

Geez, even Donald Trump crawled out from under his desk at Trump Tower to lambast Rick Santorum after he, Santorum, and Gingrich were the only Republican candidates to commit to, the eventually cancelled, showcase TRUMP debate. The last thing Republican Party voters need to calculate on is … what if Donald Trump enters into the race as a third party candidate. If he does enter, everyone knows that he will hand Barack Obama a four year lame-duck rule of this country, killing off everyone’s freedoms through increased bureaucracy once and for all!

The Republican Political Party is a reflection of America, in that, it holds to the majority of what Americans believe in. Time after time, polls show that America is a Center-Right politically oriented and directed country and if the Republican ruling class elite wish to keep the power they currently have, they will have the eventual Republican nominee speak and teach to the values that allow everyone to keep their God-given rights recognized through the U.S. Constitution, the Bill-Of-Rights, and the re-establishment of the Rule-Of-Law.

Barack Obama campaigned on transparency, a reduction in spending over what was experienced during the 43ird Presidency of George W. Bush, of being a unite-er and negotiator of common ground between both political parties, and many other tenants found by being politically center to center-right even though he had no record of accomplishment to back these claims up.

So, now what?

It is time, unlike what the Republican ruling class elite believes and placed in play against Barack Obama in 2008 with John McCain … to campaign to the center to center-left, to have a Republican nominee for President campaign against the most progressively-left Presidency in the nation’s over 235 year history on solid Conservative political principles so that the cherished Independent registered voters (about 20%) become clearly educated on what is, and is not Conservative, and to emphasize self-reliance and a much smaller spending and services Government are chief among them.

… that’s the Now What?!

- Article first published as Santorum's Super Tuesday 3 State Caucus Surge - Now What? on Technorati -

Romney And The Uphill Slog Of Transaction With Tea Party Trust

The pressure is on the rest of the Republican presidential field to knock Mitt Romney down a peg after the former Massachusetts governor sailed to victory in the Nevada caucuses following his big Florida win earlier in the week. Romney won Nevada by a decisive double-digit margin. The field charges next into a quartet of contests that will either fuel or check Romney’s momentum. Caption & Image Credit: FOXNews.com

Romney And The Uphill Slog Of Transaction With Tea Party Trust

Mitt Romney wins big in Neveda - Romney 48% | Gingrich 23%. It says a lot about a man that due to his embrace of Mormon religious beliefs doesn't gamble, smoke, or drink to win by such a large double-digit margin in a state that made its name for a lax attitude for vices ... he deserves a serious look.

Mitt Romney claims he is a (big c) Conservative but has trouble proving it. When ever he opens his mouth shows he has a disconnect when it comes to firing people or the poor. We know what he meant to say but the method of articulation leaves a lot to be desired.

If one looks at the way Government has honorable business people follow the law, they actually believe the Government has adequate "safety net" program solutions to help the poor and if they need fixing, fix them. Afterall, businessmen provide jobs at every level of the scale and if someone wants a job ... they are available, even at a minimum wage.

This is one area a career businessman can be blind to the fact that minimum wage, which is legislated and has to be followed, may cloud the thinking on a Conservative level. It is hard to see the equation that a minimum wage creates dependency on a very deep level that can not be broken.

Mandated minimum wage, it could be argued, eliminated basic apprenticeship and building block skills through which young businesses learn how to treat entry level workers, and young entry level workers learn how to treat a businesses they work for.

Another issue that has voters uncomfortable with Romney is his ability to become a Chameleon in the face of what he feels is the path of least resistance to win. It is this quality, that if recognized to be the core political survival instinct of Mitt Romney, might be the path that Tea Party principled voters could embrace a Romney Republican party nomination for President of the United States.

This excerpted and edited from Townhall -

The Case For Romney
By: Jonah Goldberg - Townhall - Feb. 3, 2012

Years ago a friend told me a story from her days living in South America. The movie "Wayne's World" had come out, and she went to see it. She spoke English, but it was interesting to read the Spanish subtitles.

For instance, early in the film, Wayne says: "Shyeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!"

The Spanish subtitles read: "Yes, when judgment day comes."

Needless to say, something was lost in translation.

This, in a nutshell, is Mitt Romney's biggest problem.
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Romney doesn't speak the language naturally.
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He speaks conservatism as a second language, and his mastery of the basic grammar of politics is often spotty as well.
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Many conservatives argue that Romney's stiffness is a superficial objection, and that he's a solid conservative who can appeal to moderates and independents. Other conservatives think Romney's lack of fluency is a real problem, not because it proves he's faking his conservatism but because it would put him at a severe disadvantage in the general election in the same way authentic but stiff liberals like Gore and John Kerry suffered from their inability to comfortably interface with carbon-based life.

And others simply think Romney's a big faker.

It's this last group of anti-Romney holdouts I'd like to address.
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The Tea Party arose in no small part out of a delayed allergic reaction to the rhetorical and, to a lesser extent, policy problems of George W. Bush's presidency and the deep resentment that came with having to vote for John McCain in 2008. These disappointments were visited upon the conservative base by something the naysayers (often problematically) call "the Republican establishment."
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With the raised expectations from the Tea Party's earlier successes, conservatives are extremely reluctant to settle or compromise simply on the say-so of the establishment. For good reasons and bad, Romney seems like a compromise. And no matter how begrudgingly a conservative comes to accept the reality of Romney's nomination, the diehards immediately proclaim any support for Romney to be proof of membership in the establishment. In fact, it seems like the best definition of a Republican establishment member these days is simply someone who has made peace with his disappointment prematurely.
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It is better to have a president who owes you than to have one who claims to own you.

A President Romney would be on a very short leash. A President Gingrich would probably chew through his leash in the first 10 minutes of his presidency and wander off into trouble. If elected, Romney must follow through for conservatives and honor his vows to repeal ObamaCare, implement Rep. Paul Ryan's agenda, and stay true to his pro-life commitments.

Moreover, Romney is not a man of vision. He is a man of duty and purpose. He was told to "fix" health care in ways Massachusetts would like. He was told to fix the 2002 Olympics. He was told to create Bain Capital. He did it all. The man does his assignments.

In this light, voting for Romney isn't a betrayal, it's a transaction. No, that's not very exciting or reassuring for those who'd sooner see monkeys fly out their nethers than compromise again. But such a bargain may just be necessary before judgment day comes.
[Reference Here]

Before the Tea Party became the Tea Party, it was Tea Party principles that had George W. Bush withdraw Harriet Meyers name from being considered for the supreme court ... and GWB was never accused of having Chameleon political instincts.

Duty and purpose combined with Chameleon political instincts of Mitt Romney means that Mitt Romney could be turned through a dedicated focus put up from a Center-Right country. One might say that trust will not be earned or given, but ... applied.

After his decisive win in the GOP Nevada caucuses, if one were to count themselves as being convinced demand the best from Mitt Romney in his support of the Bill-Of-Rights, Rule-Of-Law, and an adherence to the Constitution of the United States.


- Article first seen as Romney And The Uphill Slog Of Transaction With Tea Party Trust at Technorati -

Susan B. Komen Flap: Corporate Responsibility In The Face Of Fanaticism

Ford created its Warriors in Pink campaign to, according to the company, “recognize the strength and courage it takes to deal with the everyday challenges of fighting breast cancer 365 days a year.” Caption & Image Credit: Ford Motor Company via lotpro.com

Susan G. Komen Flap: Corporate Responsibility In The Face Of Fanaticism

Tuesday of this week, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the country’s largest breast cancer fund raising organization announced the withdrawal of donation financial support for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion services organization.

Planned Parenthood affiliates received about $680,000 per year from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Of the four million women who got breast exams through those clinics in the last five years, 70,000 were provided through the Foundation. Please note that Planned Parenthood performed 332,278 abortions over the last 365 days at a charge of about $500.00 per procedure … and operates from a $1,000,000,000.00 budget.

Immediately after the announcement Tuesday, the abortion rights group launched a program to make up for that lost funding. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had received $650,000 in donations, $250,000 of which came from oil tycoon Lee Fikes and his wife. Eric Ferrero, vice president for communications, said there’s been an “outpouring of support” from across the country.

Meanwhile, the Susan G. Komen Foundation — the Web site of which was hacked briefly late Wednesday — is under fire despite attempts to deflate the situation.

Multiple board members of the country’s largest breast cancer organization have resigned in the wake of the controversy. Dr. Kathy Plesser, a radiologist who sits on the New York chapter’s board, told the Huffington Post she was “disturbed” by the foundation’s decision. The executive director of the Los Angeles chapter also announced her resignation today, saying that her talents and skills no longer “fit their model.” And the foundation’s chief public health official, Mollie Williams, also reportedly resigned over the decision, though she has yet to confirm it.

Leaders of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation argue that their move was not political, but was spurred by a new criterion that bars them from giving money to organizations that are under investigation.

To be consistent, the Foundation should have stated that it was withdrawing support for Planned Parenthood because the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation is an organization that works for curing cancer to extend one's life.

The very beginning of life is even more important unless one wishes to make the assumption that if a female baby is not born, there is one less potential case of breast cancer to actually cure.

Ford Motor Company posted a statement of support to the fact the company would continue to donate charitable contributions to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and its outreach funding efforts.

This excerpted and edited from Facebook -

Ford Motor Company
Thank you for your sharing your thoughts. While we can’t speculate or comment on the motives behind Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision, we do understand the emotional reaction it has caused. Rather than focus on the politics, we prefer to keep the focus on the need for women to get screened for and educated about breast cancer.
· · Share · 10 hours ago ·

Edmund Jenks
American corporate courage in the face of fanaticism ... twice.

Going it alone when the Government tried to seduce the business enterprise into a Government and Union take-over in decision-making through the offer of the public's money, and now standing behind a partner's courageous decision to withdraw financial support where the agendas of the two efforts seemed conflicted in the support of living a life.

Bravo!

When the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure announced on Tuesday that it was revoking its grant to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings, officials cited a new internal policy that makes any organization under official investigation ineligible for grant money. Image Credit: SGK Foundation

UPDATE:Komen Kaves!

This excerpted and edited from The Atlantic -

Susan G. Komen Reverses Course, Will Allow Planned Parenthood Funding
By Jeffrey Goldberg - Feb 3 2012, 11:41 AM ET 2

Facing a revolt among donors and supporters, Susan G. Komen For the Cure has just announced it has reversed its decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

One day, public relations scholars -- if such a species exists -- will make this week's events at the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation a case study in what not to do in a controversy.

Here is the Komen statement:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and its outreach funding efforts will now continue to donate money to an organization that has as its primary function is to stop life before it starts ... no female life, no breast cancer - DONE!those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics - anyone's politics.

[Reference Here]

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and its outreach funding efforts will now continue to donate money to an organization that has as its primary money making function - is to stop life before it starts ... no female life, no breast cancer - DONE!

As for Ford Motor Company, their corporate image remains intact because the company never did cave in on fanatic pressure from any quarter - Federal Government or those who have little regard for the precious gift of life.

NBC ‘Rock Center’ GOP Debate From Tampa Bay Tweet-By-Tweet

Mitt Romney with former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Charlie Crist’s top political advisers — the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized by Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led Crist, once the most popular Republican governor in the nation, to defeat. Caption & Image Credit: NewsMax

NBC ‘Rock Center’ GOP Debate From Tampa Bay Tweet-By-Tweet

With barely enough time to soak in the resounding and unexpected win in the South Carolina primary by former insider turned outsider, Newt Gingrich, NBC News Rock Center with Brian Williams is conducting the first of two televised GOP field debates before the Florida primary.

The primary result in South Carolina (Newt – 40% vs Mitt – 28% … a 12% spread) put egg on the faces of many recognizable Republican leadership faces, the most recognizable of which was the 2008 presidential election’s Republican nominee, John McCain, New Jersey Governor Chris Cristie, and past Republican Political Party leader, Hailey Barbour. This potential Republican ‘ruling class’ drubbing may continue in Florida if the most recent polls from Rasmussen are to be believed:

This excerpted and edited from Rasmussen Reports -

2012 Florida Republican Primary
Florida GOP Primary: Gingrich 41%, Romney 32%
Monday, January 23, 2012

Less than two weeks ago, Mitt Romney had a 22-point lead in Florida, but that’s ancient history in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Following his big win in South Carolina on Saturday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich now is on top in Florida by nine.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Florida Republican Primary Voters, taken Sunday evening, finds Gingrich earning 41% of the vote with Romney in second at 32%. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum runs third with 11%, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul attracts support from eight percent (8%). Nine percent (9%) remain undecided.(To see survey question wording, click here).
[Reference Here]

Further, the liberal press is having a field day trying to raster and vector their definition of Gingrich to the point that they are dredging up ghosts of the past … by over 40 years – EXAMPLE:

JON MEACHAM in TIME, “Meet Newt Nixon: Forget Reagan. Gingrich’s real political analogue is another angry striver: Richard Nixon”:

“Like Nixon, Gingrich is smart, with a wide-ranging and entrepreneurial mind. Like Nixon, Gingrich is a striver who seems insecure around traditional establishment figures even though he has achieved much more than nearly all of the politicians, editors, and reporters he seems to at once loathe and fear. Like Nixon, Gingrich is fluent in the vernacular of cultural populism, brilliantly casting contemporary American life in terms of an overarching conflict between ‘real’ people and distant ‘elites’ …
—-
“There is another element of the 2012 story with antecedents in 1968 that is yet to play out. ‘Watching George Romney [the father of Mitt Romney] run for the Presidency,’ said the then Governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, ‘was like watching a duck try to make love to a football.’ I’m not entirely sure what that means, except that it was an undertaking that did not quite work.”
(ht: Mike Allen – Politico Playbook)

With three winners in three primaries, pretzel logic from elites of all stripe pervades the first round of primaries and continues on to Florida. The Republican elite love to claim that Mitt Romney is the most electable candidate for presidential nominee, but this flies in the face of the fact that now, after South Carolina, Mitt has only won 9 of 25 electoral races he has been entered and campaigned in … as per Rush Limbaugh. Further, NewsMax reports that Romney’s advisers in Florida were former Governor Charlie Crist’s GOP defecting political advisers … gotta’ love them ‘moderates’.

Lastly, the vote in South Carolina reflects the fact that Conservative Republicans are tired that no Republican candidate ever takes the Democrat Political Party and it’s supporting power arms in the Mainstream Press, the Courts, and Labor Unions to task … does Romney? – NO … does Santorum? – NO … does Paul – NO … does Gingrich – YES!

Participating in the NBC Rock Center debate event from Tampa Bay, Florida: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The following audit trail of real-time postings are 140 character (or less) responses and reactions found on Twitter in this and this is a process of reporting termed “Tweet-By-Tweet”!

BEGIN
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TheEDJEEdmund Jenks – IT’S OVER FOR MITT – Romney Campaign Run by Charlie Crist’s Political Aides tinyurl.com/7n97zh3 #tcot #tlot #loser #fldebate #politisite

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – I’m watching the debate tonight (in 15 minutes) over here on.msnbc.com/xZ5IMp

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theblazeTheBlaze.com – VID – Watch and Chat LIVE: Republicans Take the Stage at University of South Florida Debate theblaze.com/stories/join-t… via @theblaze TG

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START OF DEBATE – Rules: 60 seconds/30 seconds

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jdhenchmanJoe Henchman – TiVo tells me that tonight’s Republican debate is actually “Fear Factor: Leeches & Shaved Heads & Tear Gas Part 1″

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Jamie_WeinsteinJamie Weinstein – Gingrich looks tired, no?

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AlexPappasDCAlex Pappas – First question of the night goes to Gingrich on electability

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CommentaryCommentary Magazine – RT @tobincommentary: Is Brian Williams ready to get attacked by Gingrich? #FLDebate

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LibertyLynxR – Another debate? What time? Why? How? And then the State of the Union tomorrow? It’s too much. No one can possibly survive this.

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secuppS.E. Cupp – Brian Williams opens the debate by pointing out that Ron Paul is only candidate not to have won a primary.

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – RT @fivethirtyeight: Gingrich played the Reagan Card a world record 3.26 seconds into the debate.

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TPMTalking Points Memo – Newt saying he “took responsibility” and left Speakership on his own, wasn’t dragged out at all

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – How does Romney connect? With a high-speed LAN! Get it?!?

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EdMorrisseyEdMorrissey – so the debates are now a forum on ads and campaign attacks. Yeah, that’s valuable.

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DLoeschDana Loesch – Romney likely won’t mention Gingrich was cleared. #FLdebate

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hughhewittHugh Hewitt – #hhrs #tcot “The members of his own Congressional team moved to replace him and 88% of Republicans voted to rebuke him” #hhrs

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ToadonaWireL – How long do we spend on electability? Can we talk about REAL issues? #nbcdebate #FLdebate

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secuppS.E. Cupp – Counting down seconds before Ron Paul or Rick Santorum interject to ask if they can play too.

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – RT @philipaklein: Sounds like Romney has read his @tpcarney bit.ly/zL4VZ3

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Finally … Santorum, Paul must be in the on-deck circle

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rightstaceStacey – Mitt -stop Newt-bashing! — how does that help America?

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TPMTalking Points Memo – Romney on Gingrich: An “influence peddler” in Washington

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mattklewisMatt K. Lewis – I kind of miss the applause.

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – Santorum: “Any kind of prediction is going to be wrong” Except for that one.

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CommentaryCommentary Magazine – RT @tobincommentary: Santorum brags about his Pennsylvania victories again. 2006 landslide defeat goes, as always, unmentioned. #FLDebate

—-

hughhewittHugh Hewitt – RT @fatherz: Ss answer about loss in PA was pretty good. #gop #fldebate #dickmorriss #hhrs #catholic #hhrs

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And finally … Ron Paul

—-

politicalmathPoliticalMath – Ron Paul: “If you’re looking at the kids these days, I’m a huge winner.” Yeah, the AAYP beats the AARP every day of the week.

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FlapGregory Flap Cole – Ron Paul hammers Gingrich on not being re-elected to Speakership = Newt did not have the votes and he didn’t! Ron Paul for historian

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craig_crawfordCraig Crawford – Brian Williams told debate crowd they can’t react, should have handed out gags with NBC logo

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IngrahamAngleLaura Ingraham – Tepid Qs from Rock Left.

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GaltsGirlMichelle Ray -@PWKennedy Everyone should snort beer during GOP debates. It’s the only thing that makes them tolerable.

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mattklewisMatt K. Lewis – Romney pivots from talking about his taxes to talking about the American people’s taxes. Nice segue.

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brooksbaynebrooks bayne – romney is proud of paying lotsa taxes. weirdo.

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – Romney: “I don’t a dollar more taxes than I owe” Good line.

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DonIrvineDonIrvine – What kind of a question was that? He’s wealthy and pays taxes.

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hughhewittHugh Hewitt – Second tax return question. #hhrs

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ToadonaWireL – So far, we have had 23 minutes of fail #FLdebate NBC Brian Williams sucks

—-

politicalmathPoliticalMath – RT @daveweigel: Romney tax returns to reveal that he constantly makes, loses $10,000 bets to people. #FLdebate

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secuppS.E. Cupp – Mitt on attacks on his wealth: Yes, I was surprised to see Republicans pick up the weapons of the left.

—-

GPollowitzGreg Pollowitz – Romney should say, “my tax return will show I paid what I owed, unlike Geithner, Sharpton, Daschle, Rangel…”

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politicalmathPoliticalMath – RT @JonahNRO: Brian! Not so loud! You’ll wake the audience.

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SooperMexicanel SOOPer – this debate is so dull without an audience it won’t matter who wins it. #FLDebate #hhrs

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michaelemlongmichaelemlong – bit.ly/yvkMq7 Gingrich Super PAC Head: Romney Is a Medicare Fraudster but Will It Matter? #tcot #tcot_talk #teaparty #sgp #right #gop

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CommentaryCommentary Magazine – RT @tobincommentary: Romney talks about creating jobs in his career and not apologizing for free enterprise. His best argument. #FLDebate

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DonIrvineDonIrvine – I don’t think this debate is going to change anyone’s mind, but it should stop the bleeding for Romney. #FLdebate

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brooksbaynebrooks bayne – no newt axes! #fldebate

—-

CommentaryCommentary Magazine – RT @alanagoodman: Romney backs Gingrich into a corner on his claim to work as an historian for Freddie Mac #FLdebate

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jdhenchmanJoe Henchman – Gingrich on his Freddie deal: “I offered strategic advice, largely based on my knowledge of history, including the history of Washington”

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CommentaryCommentary Magazine – RT @tobincommentary: Romney reminds Gingrich he said he was paid as a historian. Says historian don’t get paid that kind of money. #FLDebate

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craig_crawfordCraig Crawford – One-Percenter Smackdown: Bain vs. Freddie Mac

—

Crawford is an idiot … Freddie MAC is a one-percent that was funded by the taxpayer and ended up killing our economy, and it is still there screwing the American people

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EdMorrisseyEdMorrisse – “Ill say this in Florida” I don’t think Medicare Part D is terribly unpopular there. #FLDebate

—-

mattklewisMatt K. Lewis – Gingrich says he is proud to have advocated Medicare Part D.

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BREAK

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Read The Rest @ Politisite>>

The SCGOP Palmetto Pick Begins ... And Ends

The polling trends of the last week, both nationally and in South Carolina, indicate that the race for the Republican presidential nomination has taken another dramatic shift. At face value, these trends suggest that Newt Gingrich has moved into the lead in South Carolina and now stands a good chance of winning the state's primary on Saturday. Image Credit: Joe Raedle - Getty Images via Examiner

The SCGOP Palmetto Pick Begins ... And Ends

After a ton of debates over about an eight month period, and two spirited debates in South Carolina, Republicans get their first real pure test as to who they would like to see replace Barack Obama as the leader of the free world, oh, and the president of the United States.

The two warm-up acts, the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary had an element to them which have both voting processes tainted by being loose as it relates to who could sign up to vote (in Iowa, one may not even live in the state) or which political party affiliation one happened to be representing in order to vote.

South Carolina wants registered Republicans to vote in the Republican primary for president, or any other office for that matter. Good, clean, and clear democratic politics.

It turns out that the candidate that has the most money, and the backing of the Republican professional politician elite (the string pullers) has the most to lose here in the Palmetto Pick because, as it turns out, Gov. Mitt Romney did not win the Iowa Caucuses by eight votes over Sen, Rick Santorum, but lost to Rick Santorum by about 30 votes with a total of around 120,000 votes being cast. That is one win for Senator Rick Santorum.

In New Hampshire, where registered Democrat Political Party voters can openly go to the polls and vote for a Republican in a republican Political Party primary, Governor Mitt Romney won by 39% of the vote over Congressman Ron Paul who got about 23% of the vote (this will be the best that this Libertarian purist Republican will post - normally is stuck at around 16% - the rest of the primaries due to a Democrat crossover vote). Mitt Romney expected to win in the low 40 percentile range because he is very moderate and he was the elected Governor of a neighboring liberal state, Massachusetts.

So now we come to South Carolina, the Palmetto State, where the politics are big "C" Conservative, a little big "C" Christian, and always big "C" Contentious!

This vote was presumed to be able to be won by the candidate supported by the Republican Party elite as it was four years ago with John McCain ... the man who lost to Barack Obama and now currently endorses ... Mitt Romney. If Mitt Romney were to win, and win decisively, the rest of the primaries would probably end up going for Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee.

The two debates in South Carolina, however, have pointed out a weakness in Mitt Romney's ability to respond to pointed and tough questions ... not by the press who have run the debates, but by the other candidates on politically conservative positions. This has exposed Mitt and may have moved him out from the presumptive front-runner position.

The latest polling shows just this trend:

This excerpted and edited from Public Policy Polling -

Newt expands South Carolina lead
January 20, 2012

Newt Gingrich heads into South Carolina election day as the clear front runner in the state: he's now polling at 37% to 28% for Mitt Romney, 16% for Rick Santorum, and 14% for Ron Paul.

Gingrich's lead has actually increased in the wake of his ex-wife's controversial interview with ABC. Although one night poll results should always be interpreted with caution, he led the final night of the field period by a 40-26 margin. One thing that continues to work to his advantage are the debates. 60% of primary voters report having watched the one last night, and Gingrich has a 46-23 lead with those folks.

The other reason his ex-wife's interview isn't causing him much trouble is that there's a lot of skepticism about it. Only 31% of voters say they think her accusations are true while 35% think they are false and 34% are unsure. 51% of voters say that they have 'no concerns' about what came out in the interview.

The skepticism of Republican voters toward the media is helping Gingrich as well. Just 14% of likely voters have a generally favorable opinion of the media, while 77% view it negatively. Gingrich's attacks on the media have clearly played well with the party base.

Gingrich is leading with pretty much every key segment of the Republican electorate. He's up 41-21 on Romney and Santorum with Evangelicals, he has a 52-18 advantage on Romney with Tea Partiers, he leads Santorum 44-21 with 'very conservative' voters with Romney at 20%, and he's up 39-26 with men.

In the final week of the campaign Gingrich rose from 24% to 37% in PPP's polling while Romney basically stayed in place, going from 29% to 28%. Romney saw a 15 point decline in his net favorability in the closing stretch from +24 (57/33) to just +9 (51/42). Gingrich saw a modest increase in his numbers over the final week from +14 (51/37) to +17 (54/37).
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Mark Blumenthal's piece today for Huffington Post about 'expecting the unexpected' tomorrow is well worth a read. Gingrich will probably win tomorrow- but there's a higher than normal chance for a surprise given everything that's gone down in the last 48 hours.

Full results here
[Reference Here]

Other interesting developments that are of note come in the area of endorsements. Michael Reagan, the nationally syndicated radio talk show host (5 million listeners) and adopted son of Ronald Reagan, came out with an unqualified endorsement of Newt.

Michael Reagan said in a statement released Friday afternoon that Gingrich “exemplifies the conservative principles my father championed.”

Reagan urged “fellow Republicans and conservatives” to vote for Gingrich, citing the contrast between Gingrich’s Reagan conservatism and President Obama’s “European style” socialism.

“We cannot afford a candidate backed by the same Washington insiders who repeatedly tried to undermine my father and the Reagan revolution,” he added.
Official Statement

This is pretty serious ... much more serious than Sarah Palin's "If I were a person voting in South Carolina ..." endorsement of Newt.

The Palmetto Pick Is ...

POLLS Close In South Carolina - FOXNews projects Newt Gingrich with strong support from all voting demographics including independents, evangelicals, and ... married women!

This is a slam to the established "ruling class" Republican elites and moderates who think that a Republican needs to be measured in his or her support of core Conservative values of self-reliance, right-to-work, and smaller Government.

Full Vote Results HERE -- Exit Poll Analysis HERE>>

Most Telling Takeaway:

How do you feel about the Tea Party movement?

Total - Paul | Gingrich | Romney | Santorum
Support
64% 12% 45% 25% 17%
Neutral
27% 15% 35% 30% 18%
Oppose
8% 21% 19% 32% 13%



- Article first seen as The SCGOP Palmetto Pick Begins … And Ends at Technorati -