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Let’s get rid of this “Romney only won Utah cuz he’s a Mormon–the only people biased here are the Mormons, those filthy bigots” meme you guys are starting.
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Vanceone on February 6, 2008 at 1:05 PM

You make some good points here, that might well account for Romney getting 60-70% of the vote in Utah. But he got 90%. 90% votes are the sort of things you see in totalitarian countries with rigged elections. When Romney won Nevada, exit polls showed the Mormons voted for him to the tune of 94%.

To argue that this wasn’t identity politics is absurd. Like it or not, the correlation for Mormons voting for Mitt is at least twice as strong as the correlation for evangelicals voting for Huckabee.

So yes, it’s way past time the rhetoric about supposed anti-Mormon “bigotry” on the part of evangelicals be dropped. With at least a little embarrassment, if you have any decency.

Instead, I expect you to lash out at any and all such criticism as proof of aforesaid bigotry.

Voting for someone because of his religion is just as bigoted as not voting for someone because of his religion.

Romney won Utah with 90% of the vote. I can’t find a clearer expression of bigotry on the Republican side in this election.

Vote Sauron 08 on February 6, 2008 at 10:24 AM

So are you saying that when Huck describes himself as a “Christian Leader” he’s encouraging positive biogry?

Romney spent a lot of time in Utah. He saved our biggest event ever from disaster–the olympics. The Romney family has a history in Utah as well, and Mitt went to BYU (indeed, currently the school of public management at BYU has the name Romney, though not named after Mitt). He spent almost two years being front and center every day.

And he was the last conservative standing in Utah…. he won Mass. with over 50 percent of the vote; why do you think McCain would have done well here? Or Huck? Especially Huckabee–who ran as the anti-Mormon candidate? You expect the people of Utah to just vote for a guy who disses them and their faith? Maybe Huck would have done better if he’d not done that.

Utah’s not 100% Mormon, either. Only about 50% of the state is active, going to church, LDS. Clearly Romney did something to win over the other half of the state too.

McCain’s mother is a virulent anti-mormon as well. And how well was he expected to play in the most conservative state in the union–remember, Utah was the only state where Clinton came in third.

All of that sets up a perfect storm for why Romney got 90 % or so of the vote. If Fred had stayed in, I’m sure he would have gotten a pretty decent chunk of the vote too.

And finally–if Mormons were the bigots you are making them out to be, why didn’t Orrin Hatch do better?

Mitt Romney’s last rally before votes began to be cast Tuesday was in California, and that’s no accident.

The engine of Romney’s Super Tuesday machine is California, and for good reason. The hotly contested state packs the biggest electoral punch of any primary: a powerhouse of 173 delegates awarded by congressional district.

How Romney does in California will have a serious impact on whether he invests the necessary funds to continue his candidacy into the spring. Over the past few days, Romney has pumped money into the state, buying about $2 million worth of television ads.

Can Calif. deliver gold for Romney? NOPE!

Mitt can’t buy a vote!

I count 3…

21, 49 and 52

I’m not dissing Romney. But you can’t whine about anti-Mormon bigotry and give Utah a free pass on pro-Mormon bigotry.

Hear, hear!

As I have long maintained, people have an absolute right to vote the way they wish for whatever stupid reasons they want.

HuckaBigot exposed himself and the people he was targeting when he ran as the Jesus candidate. he is a disgusting vile bigot and so is every single evangelical that supported him for those reasons.

csdeven on February 6, 2008 at 10:39 AM

Nice little setup we have here. So Mormons can vote 90% for a Mormon as a expression of principle. But when evangelicals vote for an evangelical it’s anti-Mormon bigotry. Heads you win, tails I lose, right?

Sorry but Utah went for Mitt because Romney’s a Mormon. 90%? No one, Romney or otherwise, has approached those numbers anywhere else. Is it a remarkable coincidence that this just happened to be in the most Mormon state?

I’m not dissing Romney. But you can’t whine about anti-Mormon bigotry and give Utah a free pass on pro-Mormon bigotry.

Aw-Shucks-Abee who does nothing but strengthen the stereotypes northerners and the coasts hold about southerners

Stereotypes are engendered, fostered, and perpetuated by the creator of the sterotypes. In my opinion, if you don’t like southerners, that’s your problem, not theirs.

While McCain’s rich wife doesn’t toss a cent into the hat for Mac’s run, preferring to let the average, non-millionare voters fund his effort.

Damn that rich Mormon!

I have contributed twice since then. My wife and her friends have made calls on his behalf. I continue to trumpet his positions and candidacy. I don’t change my principles because of exit polls, election wins and losses, or MSM popularity contests. I don’t need outside validation for my views on governance or politics.

The repetition given to certain positions and certain ideas, especially when a candidate cans the sound bytes and repeats them ad nauseum, has a tremendous effect on an ill-informed electorate. Ann Coulter made a good point when she stated “Dear Republicans: Please do one-tenth as much research before casting a vote in a presidential election as you do before buying a new car.” The MSM capitalizes on our laziness. That’s the appeal of the USA Today (the McPaper, it even has colored pictures). That’s the “credit” I give to the MSM.

Cold Steel on February 6, 2008 at 10:59 AM

Me too, I was more than psyched when they had open registration in Jan.
As a registered Independant I’m changing to an R as soon as possible. I figured that out a week or so ago.

Mitt Romney] has spent $1.16 million per delegate, a rate that would cost him $1.33 billion to win the nomination.

Multiply that by a factor of twenty or so to win a general election. Romny can gold-plate his own turds with his own money if he wants to. But how many people saw what he did in Iowa and decided to contribute their own money to this black hole?

I’m with you on that. It does drain, but I find many good points here while engaging in good debate. With all the adrenaline and hype of the “super races,” we all do engage in some over the top behavior, but by and large I do learn more on these and other sites than I do from watching Leno/Letterman/Couric/Brokaw et. al. I find myself listening and reading a variety of sources, and it has helped me truly flesh out positions.

I do give McCain credit for playing on this, but I don’t consider it virtuous.

Cold Steel on February 6, 2008 at 10:43 AM

It’s not virtuous. But it is smart. And I think you give way too much credit to the MSM….their bias is organic and most of them don’t even realize it.

I’m not entirely certain that they will completely turn on McCain when he is the nominee, especially if he runs against Hillary. Most of them are crushing on Obama right now, but that could change too.

Cold Steel on February 6, 2008 at 10:51 AM

Good points. I’m learning so much about all this as I go along. There are so many dimensions to it all, I feel mentally exhausted.

despite a furious groundswell of support from right-wing media over the past few weeks.

And that’s bonus hilarity too. All these high-and-mighty self-proclaimed ‘voice of the conservative’ media types sitting on their hands for months lazily whinging about how their candidates were ‘not conservative enough’ and then at the last minute bothering to get in the race and expecting it to have an impact

Yes, might sound snarky, but really I just find the whole thing hilarious. In a dark humour sort of way. Does make one wonder if the average blogger continues to think the big radio pundits are not part of the ‘msm’ and if they treat them far easier than said ‘msm’.. And why they do that, too..