Ex-Navy SEAL Gomez wins GOP primary for US Senate

BOSTON — BOSTON Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey and Republican former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez won their party primaries on Tuesday, setting up a race between a 36-year veteran of Washington politics and a political newcomer for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by John Kerry.

Markey defeated fellow U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in the Democratic primary while Gomez, who's also a businessman, bested former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Daniel Winslow in the GOP primary, according to unofficial returns. The special election is scheduled for June 25.

The race to fill the seat Kerry left to become U.S. secretary of state has been overshadowed by the deadly Boston Marathon bombing, and the candidates had to temporarily suspend their campaigns.

Even before the April 15 bombing, the campaign had failed to capture the attention of voters compared with the 2010 special election following the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy. Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown won the seat, surprising Democrats, but was ousted last year in another high-profile race by Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

Markey, 66, led all the other candidates in fundraising and had won the backing early on of Kerry and a large segment of the Democratic establishment. Lynch, a South Boston conservative and self-described "pro-life" Democrat, was dogged in part by his decision to vote against President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law.

Gomez, 47, was virtually unknown in Massachusetts politics before announcing his plan to run for Kerry's seat earlier this year.

Gomez, the son of Colombian immigrants, celebrated his outsider status, wearing his lack of Washington experience as a badge of honor. Gomez also had a compelling life story, learning to speak English in kindergarten before going on to become a Navy pilot and SEAL, earn an MBA at Harvard Business School and launch a career in private equity.

Gomez, of Cohasset, cast himself as the new face of the Republican Party, which has struggled to reach out to minority populations following the defeat last year of GOP presidential candidate and former Gov. Mitt Romney.

Gomez has introduced himself in Spanish in campaign ads and on the stump in a state where Hispanic voters are a small but growing slice of the population.

Sullivan, an early favorite among conservative Republicans, touted his law enforcement and national security background, having helped investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the failed attempt to blow up an airliner using shoe bombs.

But Sullivan, of Abington, collected the smallest amount of campaign contributions of the three GOP candidates and was unable to run any statewide TV ads.

Winslow, a former judge from Norfolk who served as chief legal counsel in Romney's administration, finished third despite putting $150,000 of his own cash into the race.

While Gomez easily outraised his challengers he also loaned his campaign at least $600,000.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

Campaigns heating up as primary approaches

Arizona voters are getting an earful of claims, counterclaims, robocalls and mailers as legislative candidates brawl before the primary election next month.

It's a sign of how vital the Aug.28 primary is to legislative fortunes: In many districts, the winners are virtually guaranteed a seat at the Capitol.

That's a testament to the lopsided nature of many of Arizona's legislative districts. Although the districts have new boundaries this year due to the once-a-decade state redistricting, many of them still tilt heavily toward one major party or the other.

Voter registration closes Monday night; early voting begins Thursday.

In all, there are primary races for more than one-third of the 60 House seats, and one-fifth of the 30 Senate seats.

Campaign fireworks have included battles over signs, complaints of sloppy financial reporting and public allegations based on rumors.

Pollster Earl de Berge said such tactics are an easy way to avoid talking about the nitty-gritty of a candidate's positions.

"They're distractions and don't focus on the issues that voters are interested in," he said.

Some of the feistiest legislative races, and the most consequential, are for the state Senate.

Two GOP primaries highlight the ideological split in the Republican Party, pitting "tea party" conservatives against "common-sense" candidates.

On the Democratic side, ideological distinctions take a backseat to personal ambitions, as the dueling candidates in three races aren't offering starkly different agendas.

Republican races

The outcome of two Republican races in particular could determine whether the 2013 Senate tacks more toward a centrist approach or retains the tea-party tone set in 2011 when Russell Pearce was president.

In Mesa, Pearce is trying to make a comeback after voters recalled him in November. He is facing off against businessman Bob Worsley in Legislative District 25. The race has some of the overtones of Pearce's recall campaign, with disputes over endorsements and questions about the legitimacy of some of his backers.

After complaints that Pearce was recycling old endorsements to make them look like current support, Pearce's campaign website now clarifies them as "past endorsements."

Pearce is touting support from the Arizona Teacher's Association, but local educators say they've never heard of the group. Caroline Condit, the group's treasurer, said it consists of "educators of all levels, supervisors down to homeschoolers" but she said they are not involved with the public schools.

Worsley has support from many of the groups that backed Sen. Jerry Lewis in his successful recall race against Pearce. Worsley is attempting to paint Pearce as a "one-note" candidate fixated on illegal immigration, while Worsley says he wants to tackle a broader agenda that includes job creation, school choice and border security.

Pearce disputes the characterization; he doesn't even list immigration as one of his key issues and touts education as a priority. He said the public-school system needs to be shaken up and calls education reform the "civil-rights fight of the next decade."

Next door, in Legislative District 16, Sen. Rich Crandall is battling Rep. John Fillmore for the GOP nomination to the Senate.

Crandall, the Senate Education Committee chairman, put pragmatic concerns above party-line adherence on several key votes in recent years, most notably on bills trying to exert state muscle on immigration issues.

Fillmore has sided more with the tea-party wing of the GOP. An Apache Junction small-business man, he complains Crandall "carpetbagged" into the district, which stretches from east Mesa into Pinal County. Crandall initially decided to sit out the 2012 race after the redistricting process put him in the same district as Pearce. But he changed his mind and shifted his sights farther east to take on Fillmore, a one-term lawmaker.

Fillmore has gone on the offensive in the campaign. He challenged the adequacy of the signatures on Crandall's nominating petitions, but lost.

He filed a complaint with Mesa police over a campaign-sign dispute, and then supported a fellow lawmaker's ethics complaint against Crandall over the senator's reaction to the sign flap. The Senate Ethics Committee chairman dismissed the charge; the police complaint is pending.

Democratic battles

Among Democratic Senate races, two newcomers are trying to oust long-serving legislators and a former state senator is trying to return.

Community organizer Raquel Terán is challenging Sen. Robert Meza in the West Valley's Legislative District 30, an area with a large Latino population. The two have filed dueling campaign complaints against each other. They have yet to be resolved.

Terán is criticizing Meza's level of engagement at the Legislature, charging Meza is frequently absent and has missed votes, to the detriment of his constituents.

"I believe we need to be there for the whole process," Terán said of lawmakers being present for daily sessions. "When we're not there, who is representing the District 30 constituents?"

Meza acknowledged he doesn't spend a lot of time on the Senate floor during daily debate sessions, and said he believes his time is better spent dealing directly with constituent concerns. Senate records show Meza missed four votes out of 692 this year and three out of 671 last year.

For his part, Meza charges that Terán is a one-issue candidate, interested only in immigration. In contrast, Meza said, he is "multidimensional," working on a variety of issues including education and the economy.

In the southwest Valley, newcomer Victor Jett Contreras is trying to unseat Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor, who has served the area since 1999. The campaign took a turn into the mud when Contreras tried to paint Landrum Taylor as an insincere candidate, saying he'd heard a rumor she intended to resign from the Senate soon after re-election and run for the Phoenix City Council.

Landrum Taylor denied the charge, and Contreras has backtracked on his claim.

In central Phoenix, former Sen. Ken Cheuvront is trying to return to the Senate after sitting out for two years due to term limits.

He's in a heated battle with Rep. Katie Hobbs that has spilled over into the District 24 House race.

In that contest, Cheuvront's mother, Jean Cheuvront McDermott, is one of four Democrats running for two seats. Rep. Chad Campbell, House minority leader, sees her presence on the ballot as a rebuke to him, stemming from a dispute with Cheuvront.

Cheuvront McDermott denies her son put her up to running, and said she's long wanted to get into the Legislature.

Campbell, who was hoping not to have a testy primary, said the intraparty warfare is regrettable. Competition is good, he said, if it exposes contrasting ideas on how to work on public policy.

But that's not the case with Democrats this year, he said.

Copyright 2012 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

Senate Primary Over, New Battle Begins in Indiana

Democrats were casting the general election fight as a referendum on whether moderates should still have a place in Washington, while Tea Party organizers said it would be seen as a national test of the movement’s enduring strength.

Democratic leaders, who had doubted their odds against Mr. Lugar, a Republican so moderate that even the leaders admitted that plenty of Democrats liked him, sounded giddy about their November opponent: Richard E. Mourdock, a Tea Party-supported Republican who seized a remarkable 61 percent of the vote in part by denouncing bipartisanship and pledging to an unwavering conservative approach.

“Democratic donors across the country are going to see this as a prime pickup opportunity,” said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who added that the Indiana seat would fall among five top Republican-held seats being targeted in the fight for control of the Senate.

Labor leaders, too, said they saw an opportunity now in Indiana. “We’re all ramping up our plans as we speak,” said Nancy J. Guyott, president of the Indiana A.F.L.-C.I.O.

National conservative groups, some of which had poured more than $3 million to benefit Mr. Mourdock in the primary, were poised to send still more if needed. The number of such outside groups also appeared likely to grow if the contest here, against Representative Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, appears truly competitive — a notion some conservative leaders remained skeptical about, given Indiana’s Republican leanings.

“It’s a big race because a lot hinges on our success,” said Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns at FreedomWorks, which trains Tea Party members and which spent about $850,000 in Mr. Mourdock’s victory and plans to be similarly involved in the general election.

“If Mourdock were not to win,” Mr. Steinhauser said, the gloating would come not just from Democrats but establishment Republicans, pointing to the Tea Party. “They would want to blame that on us — ‘See, we told you so,’ ” he said.

By Wednesday, the outlines of a new political battle were emerging, with Democrats trying to paint Mr. Mourdock as a far-right candidate with little appeal for independents or moderate Republicans, and conservatives portraying Mr. Donnelly as a typical Democrat.

The Club for Growth, which had spent money on television and radio commercials against Mr. Lugar in the primary and said it would contribute more, if needed, in the general election, said Mr. Donnelly was “an economic liberal who votes in lock-step” with Democratic leaders.

Mr. Donnelly, who was elected in 2006 to represent a northern Indiana district, described himself as among the most conservative Democrats in the House in a moment when, he said, voters are looking for something different than they were in 2010. “Right now, it’s not about fire and brimstone,” he said. “It’s about jobs and the opportunity for your family to succeed.”

Although President Obama won Indiana in 2008, the state has long been a place where Republicans do well, and Mr. Obama is considered unlikely to win here again. None of it would seem to be fertile ground for a Democratic Senate bid, and some conservative leaders said they remained unconvinced that Mr. Mourdock would have any trouble in November.

But Dan Parker, the chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, described Mr. Mourdock as an “extreme Tea Party candidate,” who would not appeal to a general election audience. “Dick Lugar was the mainstream Republican,” he said. “Indiana is not crazy conservative.”

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a Democrat, who rose from nowhere to be elected in 2010 after Republicans there rejected a popular moderate and nominated Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell, said he reached out to Mr. Donnelly Tuesday night after Mr. Lugar’s defeat.

“I think there’s a very good chance he could be the Chris Coons of 2012,” the senator said.

State Republican leaders, calling on Wednesday for party unity following Mr. Lugar’s loss, stood beside Mr. Mourdock on a stage here and seemed eager to play down his Tea Party ties and emphasize his traditional Republican credentials. Complicating the efforts, Mr. Lugar, who was not in attendance at the gathering, issued a sharp statement condemning what he suggested was a rising trend of rejecting political independence and bipartisan conversation.  

“He comes right out of the heart, right out of mainstream of our party, and I think that was really, among many, his longest single suit in the huge win that he had yesterday,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels, the governor, who had endorsed Mr. Lugar and had previously said he viewed Mr. Mourdock as a friend.

Indeed, Mr. Mourdock is in his second term as state treasurer, and he has been known for appearing at local Republican events and county dinners for years; when he announced his bid for the senate, he had a surprising majority of endorsements from the party’s county chairmen and chairwomen around the state.

“The first label they’re going to try to put on me is that Mourdock is this wild-eyed Tea Party guy,” Mr. Mourdock said. “But as the governor said, I’ve been swimming in the pool of Republican politics a long time,” he said, growing choked up as he described his love for the party.

Jonathan Weisman contributed reporting from Washington, and Steven Greenhouse from New York.

View the original article here

Lugar Loses Primary Challenge in Indiana

Mr. Lugar, a six-term senator from Indiana who had won most of his recent elections with more than 60 percent of the vote, only received 39.4 percent of the vote on Tuesday, losing a hard-fought Republican primary to Richard E. Mourdock, the state treasurer. Mr. Mourdock’s campaign was fueled by Tea Party groups and national conservative organizations that deemed Mr. Lugar too willing to compromise and poured millions of dollars into the campaign to defeat him.

Mr. Lugar, 80, had not faced a challenge from within his own party since his first election to the Senate in 1976, and his defeat seemed to serve as a caution to moderates on both sides of the aisle.

In February, Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a moderate Republican, decided not to run for re-election, citing polarization in Washington. Senators Kent Conrad of North Dakota, a Democratic fiscal centrist, and Jim Webb of Virginia, a moderate Democrat, are retiring. Two other moderate Democrats, Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana, face tough re-election races.

Tea Party organizers and conservative leaders held the Indiana outcome as evidence of a broader national demand for Republicans with unshakable stances on fiscal reform and conservative values, as well as proof of the continuing power of the Tea Party movement.

“Richard Mourdock’s victory truly sends a message to the liberals in the Republican Party,“ said Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth. “Voters are rejecting the policies that led to record debt and diminished economic freedom.”

For a number of Mr. Lugar’s supporters, the results were a sorry arc — not just for a man who has served for 35 years in Washington and as mayor of Indianapolis before that, but for a larger notion of trying to work across party lines in Washington.

Prominent Democrats, including President Obama, issued statements of appreciation on Tuesday night for Mr. Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and for his work, particularly on the nation’s foreign affairs.

“While Dick and I didn’t always agree on everything,” Mr. Obama said, “I found during my time in the Senate that he was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done.”

Still, some Democrats, eager to hold onto the Senate, also seemed buoyed by the results here. With Mr. Lugar’s defeat, they see the glimmer of an opportunity to claim a Senate seat that the party had considered out of reach as long as he was in the running. The Democratic candidate, Representative Joe Donnelly, is thought to have a better chance with independents and moderate Republicans in November against Mr. Mourdock.

Almost immediately, Democrats began emphasizing Mr. Mourdock’s conservative views. “Hoosiers deserve real leadership that will reach across the aisle in Richard Lugar’s successor, not Richard Mourdock’s Tea Party extremism,” said Dan Parker, the chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party.

For months, the campaign here had been intense, expensive and, by Indiana standards, mean. National groups including the Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association and FreedomWorks, which helped build the Tea Party movement, had viewed Mr. Lugar as a ripe and overdue target, and they poured millions of dollars into the state.

Mr. Lugar — who may be best known for his 1990s effort, along with Sam Nunn, a Democratic senator from Georgia, for a disarmament program in the former Soviet Union — was criticized throughout the campaign for what critics described as his tendency to cooperate with Democrats. He shifted to the right in 2011, after the threat to his re-election became clear.

Mr. Mourdock, meanwhile, has said that bipartisanship has led the nation to the brink of bankruptcy, and that the nation’s current circumstances call for a time of confrontation, not collegiality.

After his victory, he acknowledged his opponent. “I know what it’s like to lose — it’s not fun,” Mr. Mourdock told The Associated Press. “And especially after he’s given that 36 years in the Senate. I know he has to feel terrible tonight, and I truly feel badly for him.”

Carl Hulse and Jennifer Steinhauer contributed reporting from Washington.

View the original article here

Primary Preview: Recall, Redistricting and Confident Republicans

Voters head to the polls Tuesday in Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin, and while two marquee races have grabbed the spotlight – the Republican Senate primary in Indiana and the Democratic primary in Wisconsin for the recall race for governor – several down-ticket contests may shape the House next year.

The big show remains in Indiana, where Senator Richard G. Lugar is fighting for his political life against the state treasurer, Richard E. Mourdock, who has surged to a strong lead in recent polls by vowing to ditch Mr. Lugar’s penchant for compromise and to stand on conservative principles. Democrats believe a Mourdock victory will put the seat in play for their candidate, Representative Joe Donnelly. Republicans scoff.

“It’s a Republican state. I feel confident about holding the seat,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas and chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Democratic voters in Wisconsin appeared ready to pick Tom Barrett, the former mayor of Milwaukee, for a rematch against the state’s embattled Republican governor, Scott Walker. Mr. Walker beat Mr. Barrett in 2010, 52 percent to 47 percent. The recall election is scheduled for June 5.

For Republicans, Indiana and North Carolina present a target-rich environment, thanks to party-led redistricting – and that has created crowded Republican primaries.

In Indiana, Representative Larry Bucshon faces a Republican primary rematch against the opponent he squeaked by in 2010, Kristi Risk. Aside from the Lugar showdown, it is expected to be the only real chance that an incumbent could lose on Tuesday.

In North Carolina’s Eighth District, redistricting has made it even more difficult for the Democrat incumbent, Larry Kissell, and Republicans smell blood. The perceived front-runner for the party’s nomination, Richard Hudson, a former Congressional aide, briefly caused a stir when he proposed that the chief justice of the Supreme Court be required to certify the citizenship of presidential candidates, asserting “there’s no question President Obama’s hiding something on citizenship.” But Mr. Hudson is backed by Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader. One of his opponents, Scott Keadle, a dentist, has the backing of the conservative political action committee Club for Growth.

The crowded field of Republicans hoping to succeed Representative Heath Shuler, a Democrat who is retiring, could be narrowed to a runoff, but the businessman Mark Meadows is the party’s front-runner. Representative Brad Miller, a Democrat who is also retiring, is likely to be succeeded by George Holding, a former United States attorney and the favorite in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

Representative Mike McIntyre, a Democrat, will try to win re-election in a new district that no longer includes his home and gave 58 percent of its vote to Senator John McCain in 2008. Mr. McIntyre survived the Republican tidal wave of 2010, beating Ilario Pantano, an Iraq war veteran. Mr. Pantano is seeking a rematch in a better district, but Washington Republicans would prefer to give State Senator David Rouzer a chance.

View the original article here

Push is on for open primary in Arizona

Political moderates for years have bemoaned Arizona's partisan primary system.

Voter participation is typically light, they complain, giving outsize influence to diehard party activists who often are either more conservative or more liberal than most rank-and-file party members and independents. And Democratic or Republican voters in districts dominated by the other party frequently have little or no choice once the general election arrives.

Many centrists blame the status quo for the state's increasingly divisive political climate.

This year, Arizona voters may get the opportunity to overhaul the process. An initiative drive aims to place on the statewide ballot a proposition that would establish a new kind of open primary in which the top two vote-getters would face off in the general election.

All voters, including independents, could participate in the new "top two" primary, meaning the candidates would have to appeal to an array of voters beyond their ideological base in order to succeed. It would apply to all elections in the state except for nonpartisan municipal elections and the state's presidential-preference election.

"You're no longer voting for a nominee of the Democratic Party or a nominee of the Republican Party, you're winnowing down the number of candidates down to two," said David Berman, a senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy who has studied the issue.

"So, it's not a partisan primary anymore. It's a system by which you screen candidates down to the top two."

The pros and cons of the "top two" primary idea, which is in use in Louisiana and Washington and will go into effect in California this year, will be debated today during a panel discussion organized by the O'Connor House. The organization, named after retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's former home, advocates for centrist and nonpartisan policy solutions and civil discourse.

The event is scheduled for 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Burton Barr Public Library, 1221 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. The event is free, but seats must be reserved through oconnorhouse.org.

Panelists set to appear at the O'Connor House forum include:

Grady Gammage Jr., a longtime Valley land-use attorney who helped write the Arizona primary initiative.

Alan Maguire, an Arizona political consultant who opposes the proposal.

Steve Peace, who led California's similar initiative campaign to passage.

Richard Winger, San Francisco-based publisher of Ballot Access News and a fierce critic of "top two" primaries.

Berman, of the Morrison Institute, said his research on "top two" primaries was somewhat constrained by the fact the system has been in operation for only two election cycles in Washington, although he said initial evidence is somewhat promising in terms of encouraging moderation.

His 2011 paper on the subject notes that Louisiana's process, which, unlike Arizona's proposal, allows top vote-getters to win outright in the primary if they garner more than 50 percent of the vote, "has not been regarded as having had much of an impact on party competition or voter participation," and its influence on moderation is unclear.

"There isn't a lot of history to find out exactly what's going to happen, but my impression is that there is a slight effect toward moderation just in the general tone because you have people who have to appeal to a broader electorate rather than just the party faithful," Berman said.

If Arizona voters pass this year's initiative, they will be trading traditional party primaries for a system similar to, but not exactly like, city elections. Candidates could still identify themselves on the ballot by their party or as an independent.

It's possible, and in some Arizona congressional and legislative districts even probable, that the top two vote-getters in the primary would belong to the same party.

Unlike in city elections, the top vote-getter would not be able to avoid the runoff by clearing more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary. A general-election match-up is guaranteed.

In the case of Arizona House of Representatives elections, where two seats are up for grabs in each legislative district, the top four contenders would head to the general election.

More than just shaking up the election process, the 2012 initiative "is about trying to change the outcomes so that we end up with a more reasoned debate and more people are included in the process," said former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, who is helping spearhead the proposed ballot measure.

Today's partisan primaries require "ideological purity" and stoke hostility toward the other side, making bipartisan cooperation on major issues less likely, he said.

"Twenty years ago, it was normal for people to cross the aisle and work with other people and look for common ground. People felt like they had a responsibility to people in both parties," said Johnson, who was the 1998 Democratic gubernatorial nominee but is now registered as an independent. "Today, politics is a team sport. It's not about the state. It's not about the country. It's about: What team are you on, the blue team or the red team?"

However, Winger doubts the new system would have a substantial impact on the partisan rancor in the Arizona Legislature. The Democrats and the Republicans will concentrate on making sure their preferred candidates move forward, he said.

Winger also predicted it will be all but impossible for a third-party or independent candidate to break through and advance in a three-way primary race that includes two major-party candidates.

"We've seen how this system works in Louisiana for 38 years and in Washington state for four years," Winger told The Arizona Republic. "It just ends up with Democrats and Republicans being the only people who can run in the general election."

Berman didn't dispute that but noted Libertarians and other third-party candidates don't have much of a track record of attracting votes anyway.

"I don't think it'll hurt the major parties," Berman said. "It'll hurt the minor parties."

Jaime Molera, a Republican consultant and a former Arizona superintendent of public instruction, said the "top two" primary initiative is another bad idea from the same sort of government reformers who brought the state publicly funded campaigns, an Independent Redistricting Commission and the existing semi-open primary system in which independents can choose either the Democratic or Republican ballot. So far, none of those "fixes" has done much to make Arizona politics more moderate, he said.

The real problem, Molera said, is low voter turnout, and "I'm not sure there's any kind of a magic bullet that would fix that."

"Ultimately, people have to decide for themselves if they want to participate in a democracy," he said.

The Open Government Committee championing the "top-two" primary system has until July 5 to submit 259,213 valid petition signatures to secure a spot on the ballot for the initiative. If voters pass the measure, the "top two" primary would go into effect during the 2014 election cycle.

Copyright 2012 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch forced into primary fight

SANDY, Utah (AP) – Utah Republicans denied a veteran Republican senator a clear path to a seventh and final term Saturday, forcing the 78-year-old lawmaker into a June primary with 37-year-old former state senator.

By J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been working feverishly to avoid being ousted by a tea party candidate.

By J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been working feverishly to avoid being ousted by a tea party candidate.

Sen. Orrin Hatch fell short of the outright nomination by fewer than three dozen votes from the nearly 4,000 delegates at the party convention.

In a matter of weeks, Hatch turned the question of whether he would survive the convention into a question of whether he would reach the 60% threshold to earn the nomination outright.

Despite the setback, Hatch holds a significant fundraising edge in what has become the stiffest challenge since his election to the Senate in 1976. The eventual Republican nominee will be the heavy favorite in November because of the Republican dominance in Utah.

"A few months ago, a lot of people weren't giving me a chance. So I feel good. I consider it a victory with everything that happened in the past," Hatch said.

Hatch urged that delegates endorse him so he can help repeal President Obama's health care law and potentially lead the powerful Senate Finance Committee if Republicans regain control of the chamber in the November general election. Hatch argued that he was only one candidate who had the ability to enact the Republican Party's priorities from day one of the next congressional session.

"I'm a tough old bird, and I've never felt more eager," he said.

But former state senator Dan Liljenquist said that Hatch's seniority was overrated and said that he was ready to work with freshmen Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky in changing how the Senate works.

"It is time for a new generation of leaders. We know it to our bones," Liljenquist said shortly after the results were announced.

While most states rely on primaries to secure a party's nomination, Utah elects delegates to get first crack at determining whether a candidate should earn the nomination outright. In all, 10 candidates ran for the Senate seat and took turns Saturday attempting to convince the delegates to support them. Hatch and Liljenquist advanced from the first round of voting after Hatch got 57% of the vote and his challenger took 28%.

In the second round, the incumbent earned 59.2% of the vote, just short of the 60% needed for the outright nomination. As a result, they will face each other in the June 26 primary.

Hatch began laying the groundwork for the convention even before he watched U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett go down to defeat two years ago. With a game plan designed to answer his critics' every claim and with a boost from likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, it's became ever more clear that he wouldn't experience a similar fate.

Hatch has emphasized Romney's endorsement during speeches and debates. Romney introduced Hatch via a recorded video message. Romney said Republicans needed Hatch back in the Senate "if we're going to turn this country around."

Romney is extremely popular in Utah because of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his leadership during the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Hatch's top challengers were Liljenquist and state Rep. Chris Herrod, who didn't make the second round after getting just more than 10% of the first-round voting.

Whoever wins the Republican primary will face former state senator Scott Howell, who received the Democratic nomination on Saturday. Howell lost to Hatch in 2000 and no Democrat from Utah has been elected to the Senate since 1970.

This year's race essentially began in 2010, when Bennett was ousted by delegates fueled by ultraconservative tea party politics.

Hatch shifted to the right rhetorically and with his voting record over the past two years to address the claims that he was not conservative enough.

Bennett's loss frustrated many Republicans, who believed that a vocal minority hijacked the nomination process. This year, turnout at the neighborhood caucus meetings more than doubled and many attendees said they wanted to make sure Hatch wasn't treated in the same way.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

View the original article here

Romney Looks to Wisconsin Primary for Closure

A victory over Rick Santorum in Wisconsin on Tuesday would effectively close the first phase of the primary season, senior Republicans say. It would leave Mr. Romney with not only a commanding lead in the race for delegates, but also a claim to have fended off energetic challenges across a range of battleground states with a disciplined and well-financed campaign effort.

Mr. Romney and his aides continue to work behind the scenes to win support from respected voices in the party and prepare in earnest to take on Mr. Obama. The campaign will soon start raising money for the general election, donors said, as well as drastically expand its Boston headquarters and build state operations across the country.

The Romney campaign is also taking steps to infuse the organization with seasoned advisers, Republicans said, and intensifying its research of prospective running mates.

“There’s been plenty of opportunity for debates and discussion,” said Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa, who is among the Republican leaders eager to unite the party and concentrate on trying to win the White House. “We need to acknowledge and recognize that nobody is perfect, but there is going to be a very clear choice with the present administration.”

Mr. Branstad, who has remained neutral in the race, is one of several governors and party officials who say a victory in Wisconsin — where Mr. Romney leads in the polls — would be the time for Republicans to rally behind Mr. Romney.

Reflecting the growing impatience, Steven J. Law, president of the largest outside group planning to support Republicans this fall, Crossroads, said on Saturday, “Clearly there is a sentiment out there that the time is coming soon to really turn our full attention to Obama.”

Predicting an “incredibly tough election,” he added that “every day that Republicans are focused on anything other than Obama’s record is a day wasted.”

Party elders are discussing ways to help characterize Mr. Romney as the presumptive nominee — perhaps by the end of April — well before he reaches the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination.

That effort was helped along by the billionaire casino executive Sheldon Adelson, who, after sending $15 million of his family’s fortune to the “super PAC” supporting Newt Gingrich, was quoted by The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles last week as saying Mr. Gingrich seemed to have reached “the end of his line.”

Mr. Adelson did so after telling a number of Romney financial supporters who were at his Las Vegas mansion for the opening dinner of the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition that he was ready to do whatever he could to help Mr. Romney become president and to deliver the Senate to the Republicans. (The dinner was previously reported by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization.)

An attendee of the private dinner said in an interview that the general sense there was “that the page had clearly been turned” and that it was time to focus on the general election.

Yet while Mr. Romney and his aides are said to be growing increasingly comfortable — allowing their fund-raising team to begin taking the legal steps necessary to raise money for a general election fund — they remain mindful that his rivals retain some chance, however small, of preventing him from gathering enough delegates for the nomination.

With Mr. Gingrich stepping aside from the daily combat of the race, Mr. Santorum remains the last real roadblock to Mr. Romney’s becoming the nominee. Mr. Santorum is waging a tenacious battle in Wisconsin, bluntly reminding Republicans to send a message that the party needs a stronger conservative candidate than Mr. Romney.

Speaking at a gathering of hundreds of evangelical Christians outside Milwaukee on Saturday, Mr. Santorum defiantly referred to a recent comment from a Romney adviser that he could win the delegate fight only through an “act of God,” saying, “I don’t know about you, but I believe in acts of God.”

But as he, Mr. Romney, Representative Ron Paul of Texas and even Mr. Gingrich were campaigning in Wisconsin, aides to Mr. Santorum said they were just as focused on the action behind closed doors in North Dakota and Washington, where state and county gatherings were being held to select delegates for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., in August.

Michael Biundo, Mr. Santorum’s campaign manager, said their team had always been anticipating a much better climate in May, when several states similar to those Mr. Santorum has won this year will vote. While the campaign remains confident about must-win Pennsylvania, which Mr. Santorum represented in Congress and which will vote on April 24, it is also quietly picking up support from as-yet-uncommitted delegates who do not believe that Mr. Romney is sufficiently conservative, Mr. Biundo said.

“The Romney campaign would love to close this out and take the ball home with them, because they know May is going to be a great month for us,” he said in an interview. “What happens on the ground and what happens in the national media are sometimes two different things.”

But since Mr. Romney’s victory in Illinois on March 20, numerous prominent figures have endorsed him and called for an end to the primary process.

The latest, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Budget Committee, had not planned to pick sides in the race before the primary. But on Friday he endorsed Mr. Romney and warned Republicans that they did not have the luxury of waiting until the party’s convention to unify. He said he was not troubled by a series of missteps that critics have used to suggest Mr. Romney is out of touch with voters. In the latest example, Mr. Romney joked last week about the time his father, as the head of American Motors, “closed the factory” in Michigan and moved jobs to Wisconsin.

“Whether a candidate has a gaffe on Tuesday or Thursday is not going to decide the campaign,” Mr. Ryan said in an interview. “Voters are looking for someone who will show them a contrasting vision to the one that Obama has given us.”

Even though 29 states have held their primaries and caucuses, only this week is Mr. Romney expected to pass the halfway mark to 1,144 delegates. According to an estimate by The Associated Press, Mr. Romney has 568.

A series of wins in the April primaries in states including Wisconsin and New York could greatly add to his tally.

“I don’t think he’s presumptive just yet, but I do think we’re near a tipping point,” said Ed Gillespie, a former Republican Party chairman and White House counselor to President George W. Bush who supports Mr. Romney. “April is pretty happy hunting ground for him, and he’s got some potentially significant delegate accumulation ahead.”

All the same, the protracted Republican primary season has paid dividends for Mr. Romney. At fund-raisers last week in California and Texas, donors said, he raised more money than he had initially expected. A swing through Dallas, Houston and San Antonio netted more than $2 million.

“It’s made people very willing to give — just to get on with the next stage of the race,” said Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and top fund-raiser who had dinner last week with Mr. Romney. “A lot of people who had been holding back are like, ‘We’re ready to go.’ ”

Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting from Waukesha, Wis.

View the original article here

GOP Primary Enters A Holding Pattern

By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone ) and AMY WALTER ( @amyewalter )

After a sprint to Super Tuesday, the race for the Republican nomination seems to be shifting into neutral - at least for the moment.

With more delegates in the bank than anyone else, Mitt Romney's campaign this week offered up a mathematical argument about why no other candidate is capable of overtaking him before the Republican National Convention.

Although Romney spent yesterday (and will spend today) campaigning in the south - Mississippi and Alabama hold primaries next Tuesday - even his campaign aides acknowledge this is not necessarily fertile territory for the former Massachusetts governor.

That said, Romney has picked up the endorsements of the governors of both states, a potential boost to his challenge to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in both places.

All four candidates are on the campaign trail today and we'll be listening closely to how they spin this morning's jobs number. Employers created 227,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3 percent.

The number of new jobs was in line with expectations, but it's likely that we'll hear the candidates make the case that while a recovery is happening, it's not happening fast enough. However, if steady jobs growth continues, it's hard to see how that angle will resonate heading into the summer and fall.

In the short term, the four candidates have a more immediate problem on their hands. Namely, trying to sort out what has become a long and messy primary.

There are caucuses in Kansas and several other U.S. territories over the weekend. Kansas looks like a good pick-up opportunity for Santorum, but the main event of the next week will be on Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi.

As calls increase for Gingrich to drop out of the race, his performance in those states - after his win in Georgia on Super Tuesday - could be crucial. But there's been no real indication from the Gingrich campaign that he intends to exit under any circumstances.

"I think we can win a victory of extraordinary proportions. I do want to ask your help the next few days," Gingrich said yesterday. "This is a very, very important primary. This is without any question the most important primary that Mississippi's had for the presidency. Mississippi matters in this particular cycle."

Without a big shake up, there appears to be no other option for Romney than to plow through the next primary states and hope that the math remains on his side.

AN AMERICAN AUTO BAILOUT - FOR FRANCE? Attention U.S. taxpayers, ABC's Jonathan Karl reports,   you now own a piece of a French car company that is drowning in red ink. That's right.  In a move little noticed outside of the business pages, General Motors last week bought more than $400 million in shares of PSA Peugeot Citroen - a 7 percent stake in the company. Because U.S. taxpayers still own roughly one-quarter of GM, they now own a piece of Peugeot. Peugeot can undoubtedly use the cash.  Last year, Peugeot's auto making division lost $123 million.  And on March 1 - just a day after the deal with GM was announced - Moody's downgraded Peugeot's credit rating to junk status with a negative outlook, citing "severe deterioration" of its finances. In other words, General Motors essentially just dumped more than $400 million of taxpayer assets on junk bonds. GM has said the deal is designed to give GM access to Peugeot's expertise in small car and hybrid vehicle technology and ultimately allow both GM and Peugeot to save money by pooling their resources. But auto industry analysts find the deal mystifying. http://abcn.ws/xpsA5G

Presidential Pivot in New Glossy Campaign Doc: Jake Tapper's "World News" report on President Obama's new campaign film "The Road We've Traveled." WATCH: http://abcn.ws/Ah9grW

THE BUZZ

OBAMA HEADS SOUTH FOR FUNDRAISING. Obama heads to the Lone Star state this afternoon for a duo of fundraisers that will net at least $2.8 million for the 2012 campaign, notes ABC's Devin Dwyer. Obama will headline an event at Union Station at Minute Maid Park in Houston, where tickets start at $500, according to an invitation for the event. Six hundred supporters are expected, according to a campaign official.  Later the president attends a private reception in Houston with 70 of his wealthiest donors. Tickets cost $35,800. These are Obama's 35th and 36th fundraisers of the year for the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising account for Obama and the Democratic National Committee. He has attended 103 fundraisers so far this election cycle - more than any of his predecessors.

BOB DOLE'S TOUGH WORDS FOR ROMNEY. ABC's Matt Negrin reports: Mitt Romney's campaign sent out a short statement of support this morning from 1996 Republican nominee Bob Dole,  boosting Romney in Saturday's Kansas caucuses. We thought we'd email Dole for some elaboration. He called back. Dole thinks Romney is in a tough spot over his role in crafting the Massachusetts health plan that the White House says was a blueprint for ObamaCare. He called it a liability for Romney but said it wasn't "fatal." "In the first place, you're dealing with the state level rather than the national level," Dole said. "And I haven't gone over the Massachusetts plan, but there are mandates in it. That's the one thing that Romney has to answer to, about mandates." Dole added: "But I think he's, you know, when he stands up and says, 'One of the first things I'm going to do is repeal ObamaCare' - of course the president can't repeal it. He's going to start the ball rolling." http://abcn.ws/wCTRJK

PRO-ROMNEY SUPER PAC EXPANDS AD BUYS. On Wednesday, the Romney-backing super PAC Restore Our Future reported big purchases of TV time in Tuesday's primary states of Mississippi and Alabama, as well as Illinois and Louisiana, which hold primaries on March 20 and March 24, respectively, ABC's Chris Good reports. It was once unthinkable, according to conventional wisdom, that the Republican primary would stay competitive long enough for a heated battle over the heavily Democratic Illinois. However, Restore Our Future is spending more money there than in any other upcoming state - likely because ads in the Chicago media market are expensive. Restore Our Future reported new spending of $901,438 in Illinois, $425,165 in Louisiana $680, 385 in Alabama, and $581,183 in Mississippi. http://abcn.ws/ABdGeJ

SENATE REJECTS KEYSTONE PIPELINE AMENDMENT. President Obama's pipeline lobbying paid off…for now. A controversial Republican amendment to a transportation bill, to mandate construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, has failed in the Senate. The numbers may be a little too close for comfort for the White House: the amendment fell just short of the 60 votes needed for the amendment to be included in the final bill at 56-42. President Obama had personally lobbied Democrats, telephoning members of Congress directly to encourage them to reject the measure. The amendment would have taken the pipeline's approval process out of President Obama's hands and mandated an expedited building of the pipeline project in light of the nation's rising gas prices. "The president obviously has communications with members of Congress with some regularity," White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Thursday confirming the lobbying effort. "We have made our position clear about purely ideological and political efforts to attach legislation regarding the Keystone pipeline to whatever some members of Congress fancy at the time." http://abcn.ws/AB1Mmk

PRIMARY STATE SPEED READ.

-Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant Endorses Romney. Having been one himself, Mitt Romney has done well in collecting the endorsements of governors-two of his most prominent backers are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell-and on Thursday he received the support of yet another, as first-term Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant told the Associated Press he thinks Romney has the best chance to beat President Obama in the fall.   http://on.thec-l.com/xVUCSM

- Romney's Uphill Southern Battle. Campaigning ahead of Tuesday's primaries in Mississippi and Alabama, the Associated Press reports that Romney is fighting the impression that he's too slick and not a real conservative. "I'm learning to say 'y'all' and I like grits. Strange things are happening to me," the AP quotes Romney saying during a campaign stop in Pascagoula, Miss. http://bit.ly/xADPE0

-Romney: D.C. Could Learn From Mississippi. Mitt Romney campaigned in Misssissippi Wednesday, telling a crowd there that while Washington, D.C. hasn't adequately confronted its problematic spending and debt issues, he thinks Mississippi has. "If the federal government were run more like the government here in Mississippi, the whole country would be a lot better off," Romney said, according to the Biloxi Sun Herald. http://bit.ly/AD7Mn1

-Herman Cain Stumps for Dale Peterson's Wife. Herman Cain's "Solutions Revolution" bus tour is rolling through Alabama. After he campaigned for Newt Gingrich ahead of Super Tuesday, one might assume the purpose of his current swing is the same. But the Birmingham News reports on Cain "rallying support for Alabama Public Service Commission candidate Kathy Peterson during a series of campaign stops." Kathy Peterson is the wife of Dale Peterson, who ran for agriculture commissioner in 2010 and rose to brief fame for a TV ad in which he called one of his opponents a "dummy" and held a rifle. http://bit.ly/xcFhCE -Santorum Focuses on Obama in Alabama. At a forum hosted by the Alamaba Policy Institute on Thursday, Rick Santorum set his sights on the president. The former senator "barely mentioned his rivals for the Republican nomination," the Birmingham News reports. Santorum also campaigned in Huntsville and Pelham yesterday. http://bit.ly/ABjJU1

-Ron Paul Picks Up Pro-Life Endorsement in Kansas. Keeping with his strategy to pick up delegates in caucus states, Ron Paul is focusing on Kansas's upcoming Saturday caucuses. The Texas congressman will campaign in Topeka, Wichita, and Lawrence today, and on Thursday he received an endorsement from the presidenti of OperationR Rescue, a Kansas-based anti-abortion group. http://bit.ly/wP73hS

WHO'S TWEETING?

@DLeonhardt : The economy just had its best 12 months of job growth in more than five years.

@FixAaron : RNC chair Reince Priebus on jobs report: "…the situation is clearly not improving."

@JBennet : Do yourself a favor and see Game Change - just about as funny, scary and humanizing as the  @jheil,  @markhalperin book itself.

@realDonaldTrump : The only candidate who can get 1145 delegates is  @MittRomney. The primary is over.

@aterkel : There will be SIX copies of the Limbaugh bust created in Missouri. wapo.st/zZ1VsQ

POLITICAL RADAR

-Mitt Romney is on the trail in Jackson Mississippi with a town hall meeting at the Mississippi Farmer's Market. Then, Romney heads to Birmingham, Alabama for an event at Thompson Tractor. Mitt Romney's son Matt Romney will be on the island of Saipan near Guam to meet with GOP Leaders on the Northern Mariana Island.

-Rick Santorum starts his day in Mobile, AL for a rally at the Battleship USS Alabama Pavilion. Santorum then travels to Kansas for two rallies in Topeka and Wichita.

-Newt Gingrich spends the day in Mississippi visiting Meridian, Ellisville, and Gulfport.

-Ron Paul is going after Kansas voters with their caucus on Saturday. He will address Kansans in Topeka, Wichita, and Lawrence.

Check out The Note's Futures Calendar:  http://abcn.ws/ZI9gV

* Get  The Note delivered  to your inbox every day.

* For breaking political news and analysis check out The Note blog:  http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/ and ABCNews.com/Politics:  http://abcnews.com/politics

Also Read

View the original article here

Mississippi Presidential Primary Voter Guide

The Mississippi presidential primary will be held Tuesday, March 13. The New York Times states there are 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention at stake in the Mississippi primary this year. Here's a guide for voters in Mississippi who want to participate in the GOP nomination process.

Ballot

There are eight candidates on the official Mississippi ballot. Choices are listed in alphabetical order beginning with Rep. Michele Bachmann and ending with Rick Santorum. There is also a slot for a write-in candidate. All four of the mainstream choices still in the race are on the ballot in addition to four people who have dropped out of the Republican race.

Polling Times and Places

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day for those who wish to cast ballots in the ordinary manner. Absentee ballots may be cast anytime at your local circuit clerk's office up to noon on Saturday, March 10. Mailed absentee ballots must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, March 12, in order to be counted.

Polling places may be found on your voter ID card. You may also call your local election authority to find out your polling location.

What to Bring

The easiest way to identify yourself at the polls is to bring your voter identification card that you received in the mail. The registration deadline was 30 days before the March 13 primary. If you don't have your voter ID card and are registered, there are valid forms of ID you can bring with you.

Among those accepted forms of ID are a valid photo identification such as driver's license or state-issued ID card. A utility bill with your current address is also a valid form of ID that can match your name to a registered address. A current bank statement and paycheck may also be used, as long as it has your name and address listed together.

How to Vote

Mississippi has two ways to vote depending upon where you live. Optical scan ballots are one common way to vote in which voters fill out an oval using a number two pencil or a dark pen. Red pens are not allowed.

The other way to vote is with touch screen computers. The "Touch and Vote" system allows you to vote by touching a square next to a candidate choice on a computer screen. After all of the ballots have been filled in, you can print your ballot in the summary screen that shows you what choices you made.

You can go back and make changes at any time until your ballot is cast. Your ballot will be printed so you can review your choices. After it is printed, you can "reject" or "cast" your ballot. The touch screens will need to be activated by the election official at the polling place before you vote.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

View the original article here

Gingrich Wins the South Carolina Primary (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The results were overwhelming for Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary, according to the New York Times. The people of South Carolina rallied around the American flag, showing they wanted to take America back to a direction of patriotism that our forefathers once dreamed it could be, not toward a socialized nation like the Europeans have, that just is not America. Gingrich won 40 percent of the votes and Mitt Romney received 27 percent, while Rick Santorum came in third with 17 percent and Ron Paul with 10 percent.

Some in the media said, with an ex-wife coming out against the former speaker, he never stood a chance with women voters. He received a whopping 58 percent in favor when a poll where women were asked if they let a past infidelity change their decision about the former Speaker of the House. Gingrich showed America that he stands for America, and it shows on every face of every American who voted for the man.

Many in the media are also saying Romney stumbled when he was flip-flopping on his tax issues. When asked when he will release his tax statement for 2010, he said he did not know or he will or he won't. People are suspect when they think someone has something to hide. All politicians should be an open book or else, they will fall by the wayside fast.

The people of South Carolina have spoken. Many said they did not care about problems that happened with candidates years ago, they are concerned with now. The voters polled at various precincts were not concerned with domestic rhetoric with politicians personal lives or financial concerns, but were concerned with the direction of this country.

The voter turnout was higher than 2008 by at least 100,000 votes, which is a wonderful thing. It shows Americans are doing their civic duty and using their rights as Americans. The feeling this time was a patriotic one by most of the voters.

The amount of cheering and flag waving I have seen is addictive as patriotism is alive and well in the South. It is off to the Sunshine State in 10 days to see who comes out ahead. We have a long way to go in this, but the infectious pride of being American is spreading thanks to the final four.

View the original article here

Does the South Carolina Primary Change Anything? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The political atmosphere in my house is always interesting. I am a far-right person who feels the Republican Party does me a disservice every year, while my wife leans left and is slowly dipping her toes into voting Republican. As a social studies teacher, I love this time of year and find the discussion of elections, primaries and caucuses to be highly entertaining. And though I dislike much of our national political situation, I love living in South Carolina during primary season because it is the rare time that all eyes are here, at the home of the "first in the South" primary.

This year has been especially exciting leading to Saturday. Mitt Romney's and Rick Santorum's to the wire finish in Iowa will be discussed in political science classes for a while, I am sure. Meanwhile, Romney pulled a strong lead in New Hampshire, which was to be expected. Everyone began discussing South Carolina and our great claim to fame: the person who wins South Carolina wins the Republican nomination, election cycle after election cycle. All Romney had to do was win here and many pundits said it would be all over.

So what happened? Somehow, Newt Gingrich pulled out a victory in South Carolina. Now, instead of Romney being the assured victor of the Republican nomination, it is a contest considered wide open. Three states have chosen three winners. This completely blows my mind. I can't recall this happening in my life time in the Republican elections.

I must confess, I found this year's crop of candidates extremely disappointing. With voter dissatisfaction at an all-time high for all of Washington, the Republicans needed a decent candidate who could gain broad support across a spectrum of voters. Instead, we got niche candidates.

Santorum appeals to the social conservatives, which I certainly am, but has little excitement in his candidacy outside of his sweater vest collection, which I hear has a Web page devoted to it. Romney is a typical politician whose opinions change with the wind. He sounds good but when you pay any attention to his record, it is nearly impossible to tell where he would stand on issues.

My wife continues to remind me it is normal in politics, and I can't disagree, but I wish for more. Gingrich shot to national prominence 17 years ago as he led the Republicans to congressional victory but was cast out in a humiliating coup, when he was revealed to have all the moral fortitude of the president he led the charge to impeach.

Finally, there is Ron Paul. Paul is fun and has a great concept in returning to the Constitution, as a supreme guide for America. Meanwhile, he continues promoting an isolationist approach to world affairs, which would have been welcome 100 years ago but hardly seems possible in a world with satellite TV, cellphones and the Internet.

So where is the Republican Party headed now? Though many pundits have claimed recently the Republican Party is on the verge of collapse, due to the fractured primary, the majority of Republican-leaning voters will rally behind the eventual nominee, for fear of four more years of record unemployment, Obamacare and the constant downgrading of our allies to woo our enemies.

I don't believe the nominee will be chosen soon. This may be one of those once in a lifetime seasons where most of the states get a say, before a definite leader is seen. Before anyone says this is proof the Republican Party is in jeopardy, I remind you of the 2008 Democratic primary season, in which I was sure the hateful rhetoric between Hillary Clinton's and Obama's camps would tear the party apart. Instead, they now own the White House. This could be an interesting election year.

View the original article here

South Carolina Primary Election Quotes (ContributorNetwork)

Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina presidential preference primary in dramatic fashion. In the week leading to the election, the supposed front-runner was Mitt Romney. Then Gingrich surged ahead and won more than 40 percent of the vote in the Palmetto State. The New York Times reports Gingrich had 40 percent of the vote and 23 delegates.

Here's are quotes from the four major candidates on the night of the South Carolina primary.

* "We want to run not a Republican campaign, we want to run an American campaign because we are optimistic about the future because America has always been optimistic about the future. If we unleash the American people, we can rebuild the America that we love." -- Newt Gingrich, giving his victory speech in South Carolina. Politico reports his tone was much different than after the Iowa caucus. Gingrich graciously accepted the speeches of the other three candidates.

* "In recent weeks, the choice within our party has also come into stark focus. President Obama has no experience running a business and running a state. Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has ever led a business and never run a state. Our campaign will be about the businesses I helped start, not the bills I tried to pass. Our president has divided the nation, engaged in class warfare, and attacked the free enterprise system that has made America the envy of the world. We cannot defeat that president with a candidate that has joined in that very assault on free enterprise." -- Mitt Romney in his concession speech, according to CBS News . He was attacking Gingrich's credentials for being president as well as Obama's work at the White House. Romney came in second in South Carolina after finishing first in New Hampshire.

* "Three states, three winners, what a great country. Let me assure you, we will go to Florida, and then to Arizona, and Colorado, and.... It's a wide open race!" -- Rick Santorum on his future plans, according to ABC News . Florida is the next primary election on Jan. 31. Santorum came in third in South Carolina after winning the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3.

* "This is the beginning of a long, hard job. We will continue to do this. There's no doubt about it. In the beginning, I thought it would just be promotion of a cause. Then it dawned on me, when you win elections and you win delegates, that's the way you promote a cause." -- Rep. Ron Paul of Texas on his future plans for the GOP nominating process. Politico reports he finished fourth in South Carolina, the only one of the mainstream candidates who hasn't won a primary contest yet.

View the original article here

Factors Shaping Gingrich’s South Carolina Primary Win (ContributorNetwork)

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich pulled off a convincing win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Gingrich received 40.4 percent of the votes, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got 27.8 percent, as reported by the New York Times. The primary leaves some interesting takeaways to ponder, including factors that influenced Gingrich's victory.

* South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Romney early, but it apparently didn't have an impact, for she's losing popularity, too, according to Politico.

* Even though the southern state suffered through heavy precipitation Saturday, The State reported around 600,000 voters turned out, which bested the turnouts for 2008 and 2000. In total, South Carolina has about 3 million registered voters.

* CNSNews.com reported a Public Policy Polling survey and it showed Gingrich had a 54 percent favorable rating among likely GOP primary voters compared to a 37 percent unfavorable rating. Gingrich's attacks on the media seem to jell with the voters there, too, for only 14 percent of these people favor the media, compared to 77 percent who don't.

* The Detroit Free Press cited McClatchy-Tribune's reporting that super PAC and GOP presidential hopefuls' ad spending in "The Palmetto State" totaled some $12 million.

* According to CBS News exit polling, 64 percent of voters said the debates (with Gingrich getting standing ovations the previous two spectacles), influenced their vote, as opposed to 34 percent who didn't, according to CBS News' Political Hotsheet.

* According to the New York Times, Romney only won three counties, including the counties where the cities of Charleston and Columbia are. Gingrich won all the other counties.

* FoxNews.com reported one notable state endorsement Gingrich got came from the Rev. Bill Monroe, a highly esteemed religious leader, which helped the former House speaker win the evangelical vote easily per Fox News exit polls.

* The Associated Press reported early Sunday that Gingrich will take at least 23 of the state's 25 delegates, while Romney is the only candidate who has any chance of getting the other two delegates. Final results are expected to take at least a week to be completed.

View the original article here

In a Surprising Twist, Gingrich Wins South Carolina Primary (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Leading up to the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney seemed to be the front-runner. That is until the debate on Thursday. There was a mixed reaction of South Carolina voters about Romney's personal wealth and his taxes. Romney plans to release some of his tax returns but has yet to disclose what years and how far back he will be disclosing. Two-thirds of South Carolina voters said Mitt Romney's personal background will have no dealings on how they voted, according to ABC News.

Newt Gingrich seemed to be a long shot going into Saturday's primary; however, he came out ahead. Early exit polls had put Gingrich in the range of 30 percent to 35 percent, with Romney second. The Washington Post says Gingrich finished with 40.4 percent to Romney's 27.9 percent.

South Carolina has picked the Republican nominee with its primary every presidential election since 1980. This was a crucial race for all contenders in the race. This made the South Carolina primary important to all potential nominees. There will be many more primaries and caucuses over the next several months. The winner of the nomination will go on to compete against sitting President Barack Obama.

This election the biggest issue on the table with the candidates for the Republican nomination is the economy. This issue will be a large issue in November when voters cast their final vote for the next president.

Gingrich's win in South Carolina means voters have chosen a different candidate in every primary so far. Romney won the New Hampshire primary and it appeared he had won the Iowa caucus, but after a recount shows former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum took Iowa.

The nomination still could be anyone's. Because South Carolina has chosen the winner of the nomination at each of its primary's since 1980 does not necessarily mean Gingrich will win the nomination. This could be history in the making that South Carolina will break its trend and not have chosen the winner of the nomination at its primary.

View the original article here

South Carolina Primary Results by the Numbers (ContributorNetwork)

Newt Gingrich has been declared the winner of the South Carolina presidential primary. With three presidential races finished to this point, there have been three winners. Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucus. Mitt Romney was victorious in New Hampshire. Gingrich has won South Carolina. For the first time, three candidates have won the first three races.

Here's a look at the results of the South Carolina primary, by the numbers.

23: Delegates to the Republican National Convention that Gingrich earned. The delegates are based on the population of the state. Gingrich won just more than 40 percent of the vote, according to the New York Times. There are 25 delegates available from the Palmetto State.

4: Mainstream candidates on the ballot in South Carolina. For the Iowa caucus, there were eight major candidates.

46: Counties in South Carolina. Polls were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

1.1: Percentage of votes earned by Herman Cain. Even though he dropped out of the race in early December, Cain got over 6,300 votes in South Carolina. That number would not have made a difference in the final tally.

34: Percentage of voters in South Carolina who identify themselves as having an affiliation with the tea party. A CBS News poll claimed nearly half of them supported Gingrich.

18: Percentage of voters who came to the polls. Some precincts had heavier turnouts than others, especially in large cities where Republicans do well.

243,398: Votes Gingrich won in the primary, with 99 percent of the precincts reporting. The front-runner had 75,000 votes more than second place finisher Romney.

143,224: Votes Sen. John McCain won in the 2008 primary. He won by only 15,000 votes over Mike Huckabee.

3: Counties Romney won in South Carolina. Gingrich won the rest. Romney won Charleston County, Richland County and Beaufort County. Those places include Columbia and Charleston.

167,957: Votes Romney won. He improved upon his 2008 total by more than 100,000 votes. He won nearly 28 percent in 2012 vs. 15 percent four years ago.

4: Place Rep. Ron Paul finished in South Carolina. He came in last out of the mainstream candidates. Paul is the only major candidate who hasn't won a primary election in 2012.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

View the original article here

Huntsman hopes to build steam in NH primary (AP)

CONCORD, N.H. – Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says if he can chug out of the New Hampshire primary "with a head of steam" he can prove he's the Republican candidate who can defeat Barack Obama.

With Mitt Romney favored in Tuesday's voting and most of the rest of the field vying to become the conservative alternative, Huntsman is taking a different path. He says the GOP needs a nominee who can reach beyond Republicans to win over people who voted for Obama in 2008. Huntsman says his supporters include independents and even a few Democrats.

Asked on NBC's "Today" show whether he would leave the race if he doesn't place at least third in New Hampshire, Huntsman declined to say.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman likes to express his excitement about running for president by exclaiming: "Gimme a break! It's the New Hampshire primary!"

It's part of the awestruck, aw-shucks shtick Huntsman uses in when he marvels at the small state's outsized influence on presidential politics. But it also sums up his whole campaign: He needs a break in New Hampshire to keep going.

Huntsman, who skipped the Iowa caucuses to stake his candidacy on a strong showing in Tuesday's primary, has struggled to win over New Hampshire's conservative Republicans. He's been making an aggressive play for independent voters, who can vote in the GOP primary, and has shown signs of gaining ground in the last few days.

Huntsman, 51, also has been making the most of his weekend debate response to front-runner Mitt Romney, who criticized Huntsman for serving as the Obama administration's ambassador to China.

Huntsman quickly adopted Sen. John McCain's old campaign slogan "Country First" and had large signs displaying that message at his final campaign event Monday night, a rally in Exeter. He told the crowd to remember the word "trust" when they vote Tuesday, saying it encompasses his entire campaign.

"It's going to take us all the way to the finish line tomorrow," he said, "and we're going to surprise the heck out of `em!"

That confidence was reminiscent of the Huntsman who proclaimed months ago that he would win the New Hampshire primary. But he switched to predictions about "beating market expectations," and two weeks ago suggested that anything below a third-place finish in New Hampshire would mean an end to his campaign.

In the past week, Huntsman cast himself as the underdog fighting against Romney, whom he called the "status quo candidate." After he campaigned in seven communities Monday, Huntsman's only public appearance scheduled Tuesday is a noontime visit to a Manchester polling place.

View the original article here

Santorum opens Primary Day in NH with media blitz (AP)

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he'll be pleased if he finishes in the middle of the pack in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, but adds that he "might sneak up on some people."

The former Pennsylvania senator tells Fox News Channel a third-, fourth- or fifth-place finish would be proof that he's "climbed up and reached the pack." And he says he's proud he did it "without spending a dime on broadcast TV" ads in New Hampshire.

Instead of buying airtime, Santorum was spending the morning of primary day giving interviews to cable TV and radio programs. After the media blitz, he was planning to visit polling places for some last-minute, face-to-face campaigning.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is hoping to emerge as the leading conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney after the wrap-up of voting in New Hampshire.

The former Pennsylvania senator is preparing for a busy day of visits to polling places and non-stop media interviews Tuesday. He hasn't bought advertising in the state and is instead relying on a constant stream of TV appearances to put himself before voters. He was slated for appearances on cable programs and radio shows before visiting polling places to do some last-minute, face-to-face campaigning.

"We're not asking much. Our founders gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor," Santorum said at a primary eve rally. "I'm asking you for 24 hours of effort to pull off a huge surprise here in New Hampshire to give us the boost to show that the momentum is continuing so we can go down to South Carolina, kick a little butt down in South Carolina, go down to Florida and keep kicking until we have a strong, principled conservative in the model of Ronald Reagan."

Santorum said Republicans don't have to settle for someone who doesn't share their values.

"We're going to vote for the real conservative because we know the real conservative can win this race and change this country," he said.

Santorum's fundraising didn't pick up until after his strong second-place finish in Iowa, and his advisers decided against spending money here on the air. In Iowa, he spent just $30,000 on ads to finish just eight votes behind the former Massachusetts governor.

"Given the fact that we're not running any media up here and that we've really only spent five days in the last month here, second place would be a dream come true," Santorum said Monday, looking to manage expectations.

The key, he said, was emerging as "the strong alternative to Gov. Romney and continuing to build off that momentum."

Late Monday, Santorum sharpened his criticism of Romney and urged voters not to settle on the former Massachusetts governor simply because "it is his time." He cited other candidates who captured the GOP's nomination only to lose: Gerald Ford, Bob Dole and John McCain. They have been described as moderates by many in the more conservative wing of the party.

"We win elections when our people are excited about who to vote for," Santorum said.

View the original article here

History of Winners of the Republican New Hampshire Primary (ContributorNetwork)

The New Hampshire Primary first became the famous first in the nation contest with the 1952 contest. The Republican contest has selected eight nominees and four presidents since that year through the 2008 contest.

The results were, according to the Primary New Hampshire Site:

1952 - General Dwight Eisenhower

General Eisenhower won this contest with 50.4 percent of the vote against Robert Taft who took 38.7 percent. Eisenhower, who did no campaigning in the state, thanks to his being commanding general of NATO at the time, went on to win the nomination and the election.

1960 - Vice President Richard Nixon

Nixon took the contest with an overwhelming 89.3 percent of the vote. Nelson Rockefeller, then governor of New York, took 3.8 percent of the vote. Nixon went on to win the nomination but was defeated by then Senator John F. Kennedy narrowly in the general election.

1964 - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge

Ambassador Lodge, then representing the United States in South Vietnam, was a surprise write in victor with 35.5 percent of the vote. Senator Barry Goldwater, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and former Vice President Richard Nixon followed with 22.3 percent, 21 percent, and 16.8 percent of the vote respectively. Goldwater went on to win the nomination but was handily defeated by President Lyndon Johnson in the general election.

1968 - Nixon

Nixon won the primary decisively with 77.6 percent of the vote with Rockefeller winning 10.8 percent. Nixon went on to be the nominee and won the general election narrowly against then Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

1976 - President Gerald Ford

President Ford fought off a stiff challenge against then former Gov. Ronald Reagan, taking 49.4 percent of the vote against Reagan's 48 percent. Ford went on to be the nominee, but lost narrowly against Jimmy Carter.

1980 - Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan

Reagan won this time around with 49.6 percent of the vote. George W. Bush, Senator Howard Baker, and Rep. John Anderson followed with 22.7 percent, 12.1 percent, and 9.8 percent respectively. Reagan went on to win the nomination and the general election.

1988 - Vice President George H. W. Bush

Bush won the primary this time around with 37.8 percent. Senator Bob Dole, Rep, Jack Kemp, and Pete DuPont followed with 38.6 percent, 12.7 percent, and 10.7 percent respectively. Bush went on to win the nomination and the general election against Mass Gov. Michael Dukakis.

1992 - Bush

Bush fought off a stiff challenge from Pat Buchanan, taking 53.2 percent of the vote against Buchanan's 36.5 percent of the vote. Bush won the nomination but was defeated for reelection at the hands of then Gov. Bill Clinton.

1996 - Patrick Buchanan

Buchanan won the primary this time around with 27.3 percent of the vote. He was followed by Dole, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes with 26.2 percent, 22.6 percent, and 12.2 percent of the vote respectively. Dole went on to win the nomination but was beaten by President Clinton in the general election.

2000 - Senator John McCain

McCain shocked then Gov. George W. Bush by winning with 49 percent of the vote. Bush took 30.2 percent. Bush went on to win the nomination and the general election against then Vice President Al Gore.

2008 - McCain

McCain won the contest the second time around with 37.1 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee followed with 31.6 percent and 11.2 percent. McCain won the nomination but lost against then Senator Barack Obama.

View the original article here

Romney makes a show of force ahead of SC primary (AP)

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and JIM DAVENPORT, Associated Press Thomas Beaumont And Jim Davenport, Associated Press – Thu Jan 5, 8:46 pm ET

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made a strong play for votes in conservative South Carolina's primary on Thursday, campaigning there with two popular politicians who are backing his bid instead of remaining in New Hampshire ahead of its first-in-the-nation primary next week.

"He's got to do some work," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told reporters after appearing with Romney and Sen. John McCain, the party's 2008 presidential nominee. "He's got to get on the ground, and with his message, he can win."

While the rest of the GOP field was in New Hampshire, Romney continued to show confidence by bolting for a state that doesn't cast primary votes until Jan. 21.

McCain touted Romney's family and support for military strength, key issues in South Carolina, where Christian conservatives and military veterans are influential in the GOP.

"As President Reagan said, `Peace through strength.' That's what Mitt Romney is committed to," McCain, a decorated Navy veteran and former prisoner of war, told more than 400 people.

McCain drew chuckles from the audience with a slip of the tongue near the close of his speech. "And so I am confident with the leadership and backing of the American people, President Obama will turn this country around," he said, inadvertently referring to the Democratic incumbent before repeatedly correcting himself with a grimace.

McCain has contacted supporters of his 2008 campaign who have endorsed other candidates, including former state Attorney Gen. Henry McMaster, who is backing Romney rival Jon Huntsman.

McMaster declined to say whether McCain asked him to switch his support, but he said McCain's backing will help Romney in the state where he placed a disappointing fourth in the 2008 primary.

In 2008, after campaigning hard and advertising aggressively in South Carolina, Romney saw little movement in his sluggish poll numbers and abandoned his bid in the state two weeks before the primary to focus on later primaries.

Romney has begun running advertisements and has locked up the endorsements of key figures, such as Haley and state Treasurer Curtis Loftus, a leader among the state's tea party supporters.

His visits have targeted the state's larger urban areas, which include more politically moderate transplants from other states, like Tom Kelly, a retired Air Force officer from Charleston who lived in Massachusetts when Romney was governor.

"He's standing on his record this time, not running so hard as a conservative. It's more authentic, and how we knew him in Massachusetts," said Kelly, who attended Romney's campaign event near Charleston.

It's a strategy similar to his plan in Iowa last year: Build on existing relationships, project a national image and ramp up late with the look of a top contender.

As in Iowa, some evangelical conservatives in South Carolina distrust Romney because of his changed positions on key social issues and voice discomfort with his Mormon faith. Some believe that Mormons falsely claim to be Christians.

Haley said she believes Romney's religion will not keep people from supporting him.

"This is a state that elected a 38-year-old Indian female. No, I'm not worried about that at all," Haley told reporters.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who finished nearly even with Romney in Iowa, has strong backing from evangelical conservatives. He also has campaigned aggressively in South Carolina, compared with Romney, having visited 26 times. Romney was making his eighth and planned to campaign with McCain in the state Friday.

Santorum was set to pour money into South Carolina advertising beginning next week. Fresh off his strong showing in the Iowa caucuses, he raised $2 million in the two days since the leadoff caucuses, aides said.

View the original article here