Bachmann went after Perry so hard in the debates soon after it because he announced the same day and stole her thunder. She’s thinking of running again, along with Santorum, NO to both. Jeb Bush and Christie all think they might run too, if any of them run, I won’t vote for them at all.
I live in MA and my vote does not count. I might just sit 2016 out. I’m disgusted by the people in this country that reelected O.

If I was a GOP candidate, I’d get on the TV and tell Iowa to go straight to hell! Come see me when the state has a chance of electing a non democrat.

It would the equivalent if Democrats had their first primary in Harlem, and they were trying to appease the Jesse Jackson wing of the Party.

Look at the big names out of Iowa: Michelle Bachmann, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, etc. Iowa makes the public at large think we’re some sort of TheoCrat Party.

My advice is take both contests away from Iowa, it’s a reliably liberal state now anyway, let them go ahead and throw a tantrum.

Michele Bachmann’s candidacy fell apart because her supporters rushed to Rick Perry. As with the Dean Scream, the famous mistake came after the real defeat. She doesn’t deserve much blame for her campaign failing; if Perry had not self-destructed, everyone else’s supporters might have rushed to him too; Bachmann was simply the front-runner when Rick Perry was death on whoever the front-runner was.

In this primary season, conservative voters rushed from one leader to another, looking for an exciting champion to fall in love with.

The straw poll is only one small part of a primary system that might as well be designed to produce moderate winning candidates too timid to fire up the existing base and to conventional to build a new one.

Iowa and New Hampshire haven’t given us winnable conservatives, it’s time to change things up.

amazingmets on November 20, 2012 at 8:38 PM

How about this: Primary order is based on the previous presidential election. Take each state and calculate the percent of the vote that went to the GOP nominee. The top five go first, the next five a week later, and so on. Therefore, it becomes an incentive to state GOP organizations. If they can turn out more of the vote, they get a higher position in the selection process. That would necessarily put the reliably red states at the top but as Breitbart was known to say: So? If you want to mix it up, pick three from the top and two from the bottom on each round.

Also like the suggestion that order of precedence be determined by the previous election, albeit instead of EVs, do it by raw percentage. For example, Oklahoma would go second because they voted 68-29 for Romney – who cares if the Donks vote on the same or different date – the parties should be footing the total bill to determine their own candidates.

Also they should be closed.

But by now, I think the GOP is toast with a new constitutional party in its stead. And that’s what I think of that…

Well the best way to beat that is not split the vote in the primary. If there was one candidate that conservatives could rally around – you would beat the “chosen” candidate.

gophergirl on November 20, 2012 at 9:54 PM

Yep, that’s it exactly. The hard part is finding such a candidate that conservatives could rally around.

it may end up becoming the equivalent of a play-in game for dark horse candidates only to see who ends up as the lowest seed in the fall’s GOP primary tourney.

This is the absolute most influence the straw poll should have. Frankly, I’d prefer the state institute a primary – a far more democratic (small D)system of letting state party members choose their nominee. The caucuses are ripe for gaming by small, well-organized fringe groups (see B. Obama vs. H. Clinton and Ron Paul vs. everyone). Caucuses disenfranchise people who have to work that night, can’t get child-care, or just generally can’t go to someone’s house for 2 hours and have a verbal slugfest.

Tim Pawlenty was my first choice for 2012. Michelle Bachmann was always an unlikely candidate to score the nomination but she sure managed to saw her fellow Minnesotan off at the knees on the road to raising her name recognition. I’m sure the Obama campaign would have managed to savage Tim Pawlenty just as they did Mitt Romney, but it might not have stuck as well.

They’re going to keep on doing it ad nauseam (on our part, not theirs). They won’t learn because they know their real enemy, as well as the Dems, are Conservatives and conservative principles.

PatriotGal2257 on November 20, 2012 at 9:48 PM

Well the best way to beat that is not split the vote in the primary. If there was one candidate that conservatives could rally around – you would beat the “chosen” candidate.

If there was one thing that the primary season accomplished this year, it was to destroy any potential GOP candidates well before the convention began. It is time to fundamentally reform this moronic system by having it end much earlier and by having every Republican in every state vote in a closed primary on the same day.

cynccook on November 20, 2012 at 8:07 PM

Yep. And we need to take care of this. Somehow, some way. No wonder the Dems and the MSM act so freaking confident when they not so subtly “choose” a GOP candidate they’d like to run against. And of course the GOP establishment goes right along with them because they are secretly in on the game themselves.

We hate to say “I told you so” but I wonder how many more losses it will take the GOP to learn that moderates NEVER win elections.

Hmmm… I guess Rove et al are already planning how to foist Jeb Bush on us in 2016.

TheRightMan on November 20, 2012 at 8:59 PM

They’re going to keep on doing it ad nauseam (on our part, not theirs). They won’t learn because they know their real enemy, as well as the Dems, are Conservatives and conservative principles.

Good times

TheRightMan on November 20, 2012 at 8:59 PM

Hey stranger!

I think I’ll be permanently pissed off for the next 4 years. I’ll live to fight another day however. I just hope the country can survive. It’s going to be a long and scary four years.

O/T: Happy Birthday, Joe Biden!

cynccook on November 20, 2012 at 9:03 PM

Whatever

gophergirl on November 20, 2012 at 8:51 PM

Hey g-girl, it’s been a while. Miss you lots. Where are the other members of the “Perry Team”.

I sure hope you back in good spirits after the Romney thrashing.

We hate to say “I told you so” but I wonder how many more losses it will take the GOP to learn that moderates NEVER win elections.

Hmmm… I guess Rove et al are already planning how to foist Jeb Bush on us in 2016.