Well, in an admittedly informal poll of my 12 neighbors only one was aware there was a Repub debate and he didn’t watch it. For grins I asked if the knew who Romney was. 2 did, a husband and wife who moved from Boston 2 years ago. They were neutral about him.

In furthering my polling I called my parents who live in the South. They tend to be Conservative. They knew of McCain and Rudy. They had no clue who Romney was and as my father put it “the last thing I want to hear is yet another North Eastern know-it-all trying to tell the rest of the country how much they suck because they aren’t from the North East. I’d more likely vote for a Hollywood mouthpiece.”

He feels about the same for Rudy. He’s not crazy about Bush but hates the Clintons.

I think a lot of people are underestimating just how much people from the South and Mid-West really, really despise politicians from the North East. Rudy has a shot because of his actions on 9/11 and the rep of cleaning up NYC, but he is still viewed with a careful eye.

For those folks, Mitt’s biggest handicap isn’t being Mormon. It’s being from Boston. Despite coming from the other party he is going to be viewed by many as a slightly less annoying Kennedy.

There is a reason 4 out of the last 5 Presidents have been from the South–and that includes 2 from each party.

I wonder if most of the poll respondents really watched the debate…

gekkobear on May 6, 2007 at 12:38 AM

Well we know the fred groupies didn’t pay attention even if they did watch.

Hopefully that light is not a train.

This debate isn’t going to affect the actual votes, because nobody (statistically) is paying attention. What, you get to sway a portion of 2% of the voters who are paying attenetion this early?

Honestly, color me shocked that you had 2000+ poll respondents at HotAir for this. I didn’t poll, because I didn’t watch. I wonder if most of the poll respondents really watched the debate…

If he is going to run, I want him to quit playing the game, and actually RUN. Cowards aren’t my cup of hot chocolate.

Limerick on May 5, 2007 at 5:02 PM

LOL these young pups!

Reminds me of Alice Cooper promising to kill himself before he turned thirty or the Who singing about “My (our for you and me I suppose Limerick) Generation”

Well personally, this evangelical Christian doesn’t see himself as holier-than-thou, and wants the best man for the job to win against the dems. Mormon, Jew, truck driver, whatever.

infidel4life on May 5, 2007 at 2:03 PM

Well, forgive me for generalizing you in with them. I have been dealing with the vitriolic half turths from supposed “christians” my whole life. There are no leading Pastors that condemn the behavior. (Much like the moderate muslim is silent) All you have to do is google the term “mormon cult” and you see why Mitt! will never get accepted by evangelical christians who engage in mormon bashing.

Look at what they did with harry potter. They were absolutely bat$hit crazy about those books and movies.

I’ll admit this though, we will see how they will respond. Mitt! will be a serious contender and those that hate mormons WILL raise their ugly accusations the minute he looks to be able to win the nomination.

25 years his junior!!???

he just lost my vote…and you may think that sounds crazy, but itsnot.

*sniffle*

Tru2my2 on May 5, 2007 at 1:40 PM

she is like 40 something and that is a problem?

csdeven on May 5, 2007 at 1:35 AM

Well personally, this evangelical Christian doesn’t see himself as holier-than-thou, and wants the best man for the job to win against the dems. Mormon, Jew, truck driver, whatever.

he just lost my vote…and you may think that sounds crazy, but itsnot.

*sniffle*

It’s all goin’ down just like Ezekial said it would! Read “Epicenter” by Joel Rosenberg.

Tony737 on May 5, 2007 at 10:16 AM
Do I detect a sence of hopelessness and despair?

I like Mitt well enough and if he’s the canidate, I’ll vote for him, but Fred! won the debate.

That circus was horrible and with so many horses, who could keep a watch on the leader board? The whole thing sounded like an exercise in a grade-school Me-Too fest. And the nutcase they had for a moderator? I have watched some of the SNL skits about Matthews and didn’t realize they were really just re-inactments. WOW.

Fed! won by not subjegating himself to that “debate”.

It’s all goin’ down just like Ezekial said it would! Read “Epicenter” by Joel Rosenberg.

….I imagine he has to finagle a way and figure out how to handle his current acting contract that he is under and running for the Republican ticket. I actually respect him for that. Mccain-feingold bs also may figure in…
Highrise on May 5, 2007 at 4:40 AM

Excellent point. I wish he would declare officially NOW, but I’m more than willing to accept that he has a very good reason(s) for not doing so, and is not merely being coy or fearful of commitment.

Personally I think it is silly because he doesn’t appear under his own name. I would say “Fine, I will give you all equal time but just to make it fair, none of you can use your real name, just like Mr. Thompson on these shows”.

Time will tell I guess.

Funny how we define conservatives in terms of who and what they “hate” isn’t it? It seems that the more extreme someone is to either the right or the left they are defined more by what they hate than what they like.

Extremists of all stripe tend to be “hate driven”. Just an observation.

first, he’s way behind in fundraising and cannnot accept donations until he is “official”. Until then, he’s a distraction for donors determining where their campaign donations will go. Get in or get out Fred. This isn’t a game anymore.

Second, he’s getting a pass right now. He has the perfect situation from a press perspective. He’s sitting in for Paul Harvey so he has the perfect outlet for his daily postulations on his views. Also, he’s not under the gun from the MSM as he has not declared.

The money being raised is for campaigning against other Republicans. If he is not campaigning against other Republicans, he doesn’t need that money so he isn’t “behind”. He is possibly forcing the other candidates to campaign against him a little without having to campaign against them at all. Funds raised at this stage aren’t generally used for the general election, that fundraising comes later.

This election cycle has started WAY early. George W. Bush announced his candidacy in June of 1999. Fred still has plenty of time. Right now he is allowing the other candidates to beat each other up and chew through cash. He also didn’t have to suffer the “have you stopped beating your wife” questions from the silly MSNBC “debate”. Any why put himself in a field with longshot candidates like Tancredo and Paul? Why not wait until they are gone or so far down in the grass that they don’t matter and the field is a little tighter?

By staying out of the race he has minimized his chances of screwing up. If I were him I would be watching how he is polling. As long as he continues to rise without campaigning, what is the sense in campaigning at all? Once his polling starts to level off, then its time to get in there and get active.

And they will deserve it. And I won’t feel a bit sorry, either.