
 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan 25, 2012/ 1 Shevat, 5772
No quick KO in GOP fight
By
Dick Morris
| 
|
|
|
| |
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
A seesaw campaign?
Everybody was expecting a quick knockout in the GOP nominating contest this year. After a year of debating, it appeared Mitt Romney would sweep the table after winning New Hampshire and seeming to win Iowa. Now people are looking to see if Newt Gingrich can KO Romney by winning Florida after his stunning upset in South Carolina.
But, as in a boxing bout where everyone is looking for a big punch and a quick end, this fight might frustrate everyone and go the distance. Not to a brokered convention. That won't happen. The winner-take-all rules the Republican National Committee imposed on primaries and caucuses held after April 1 militate against that outcome. But it will be a seesaw primary battle, with one candidate the seeming winner only to watch his rival come storming back.
If Gingrich wins in Florida, look for Romney to win Nevada (one-third Mormon) and Michigan (where his father was governor). Then look for Newt to make it competitive again. And don't count out Rick Santorum. With Gingrich and Romney throwing punches at each other, Santorum the odd man out will look better and better, as he did in the debate Monday night. One cannot even count out Ron Paul, much as I would like to do so, because he will show strong in caucus states, where the intensity of his support from young voters will be in evidence.
Why the seesaw quality to the process?
Almost all voters agree about almost everything about almost all the candidates. They just assess the facts differently:
-
Most agree that Romney offers the best chance to attract independent voters.
-
Most believe that Gingrich would do the better job of summoning passion and debating Obama.
-
Voters largely think that Santorum is the most conservative and worry that Romney might flip-flop back to centrism.
-
Everyone agrees that Newt is the brightest and most experienced, although many believe he is ethically challenged.
-
No one discounts the possibility of a Gingrich implosion where some creative idea would pop into his head and come out his mouth without proper consideration.
So, with a virtual consensus on the facts, voters just differ in their interpretation of them. So, with each primary night, a kind of buyer's remorse is likely to set in. After each Romney win, voters will worry that he will flip-flop and wonder if his looks and charm have not blinded them to the reality of his past centrism. And after Gingrich wins a state, voters will ask themselves if they have just handed the election to Obama by nominating a loose cannon.
Even the inveterate supporters of either candidate have to admit to their private worries.
And Santorum? Voters will wonder if he will be so far to the right that he can't win the election. Is he too young and inexperienced? And who is he, anyway?
In 1980, Democratic primary voters disliked both candidates: Teddy Kennedy and President Carter. When one won a primary, the other would suddenly look good. When Kennedy won, memories of Chappaquiddick would surface. After each Carter win, voters recalled his ineptitude and weakness.
Now, most voters like all three candidates, and they shuttle among them not out of antipathy, but out of fear that their horse might not be the one to beat Obama. Republicans and independents are so desperate to defeat the current administration that they are hesitant to take a chance, and worried about their nominee.
This hesitation will make for a maddening process and no quick knockouts. But at some point the music will stop and the candidate without a seat will lose this political game of musical chairs.
=<<
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
| BUY THE BOOK |
|
Click HERE to purchase it at a 46% discount. (Sales help fund JWR.). |
|
Comment by clicking here.
Dick Morris Archives
include "/home/jwreview/public_html/t-ssi/jwr_squaread_300x250.php"; ?>
© 2011, Dick Morris
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
| |