I wouldn't be at all surprised if Mitt dropped out of the race. Hear me out...

[monmouth]

I truly doubt he will win South Carolina. He is really having problems coming to grips with showing his income tax returns, his numbers are dropping like rain and his demeanor is that of a tired and cranky middle-aged man. He is not used to being questioned about his money, his integrity or any of the other questions that pop up. How dare these people delve into my privacy. He is stiff/awkward and looks to be very uncomfortable the longer this parade goes on.

I know he's been readying for this for years, but now that he's in it I just don't think he's liking it very much. I truly doubt his numbers are going to improve. I do think the party will end up with Santorum or it will go to convention, and Romney will lose there also IMO. He's a guy who works with numbers and odds all of the time. This should be a no-brainer for him, get out at least with some shred of dignity. I could be wrong on this of course, but when he tires of something he gets rid of it. He should think in those terms about his campaign...

[blm]

1. Could be...I get the feeling the party establishment is preparing Mitch Daniels to step in, maybe

a brokered convention. They never expected to win, just keep focused on what will best get Jeb in the driver's seat for 2016. I think they like Huntsman or Daniels for VP, and would like to see them get national seasoning and exposure.

[provis99]

11. Daniels is an Arab. He would have no chance of being the nominee.

[grantcart]

13. Daniels family were Christian refugees from Syria

and he is a practiciing Presbyterian.

Evangelicals would love to embrace somebody whose family kept their faith under adverse circumstances and came to America to live in religious freedom.

[Myrina]

32. ... and he's also about to be subpoenaed to testify ...

... in the state's bamboozling of the attempt to privatize Social Services to IBM, and then weasel out on a $10B contract.

In addition to other things he may have to testify on, like campaign contributions from a scumbag indicted on federal ponzi charges (who's name escapes me at the moment).

Little Napoleon Combover's closet is full of stuff that's going to keep him far from the scrutiny of the GOP Nomination.

[grantcart]

14. I would guess Daniels/McDonnell

Indiana and Virginia, two states they have to have.

[Bake]

39. Daniels has inescapable ties to Bush -- his budget director

And Lord knows the Repigs don't want ANY mention of Bushie Boy.

Bake

[southernyankeebelle]

2. Funny I was thinking he may drop out. After all why should he stay in when he can live on his

millions. But lets say this much Sandy and Newty haven't got a chance next to Obama.

[morningfog]

3. I just don't see him leaving. He has the money and the ego.

Newt, Paul and Santorum have a had calender ahead. FL in 10 days, then Maine, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona, Michigan. It won't be back to southern states until Super Tuesday, March 6.

I think Newt and Paul will stay in it until at least then, and longer if they are splitting the ticket enough. But, I just don't see Romney dropping enough in other states to the point that he would even consider dropping out. Like I said in another thread, I would love to see a brokered convention, but will be happy with a long and bloody campaign, regardless of who the nominee turns out to be.

[FSogol]

5. Correct. He stays in: Money and ego. n/t

[monmouth]

6. I don't know how these candidates do it, honestly. This schedule is grueling..n/t

[FedUp_Queer]

31. Nail, meet hammer.

I was thinking that his ego is the reason. Remember...there is a "1% mentality" that they are entitled to things like the presidency (Romney, Bush) or the mayoralty (Bloomberg). They also believe they can alter reality like Romney (I've always been a "severe conservative&quot or Bush (I never said Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9/11). After all, if they believe their own BS, why shouldn't us little people believe it?

[aaaaaa5a]

4. What's he really hiding?

We already know about...


15% (or less/Taxes)

Cayman Island Bank Accounts

10% to the Mormon Church


He and his campaign have either turned a mole hill into a mountain or there is something more there. What could it be?

Oil futures?

Gambling/investing against the bailouts?

Overseas investments in Iran, China etc.

I don't get it.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. He still has the best organization ("ground game") of all of the candidates

None of the other candidates AFAIK have the organization and/or money to take it all the way. I also seem to recall that despite McCain's frontrunner status and the inevitability that surrounded his campaign in 2007-2008, he did go through a rough patch for awhile where he fired/replaced most of his campaign staff and he had to face down a strong challenge from Huckabee. Romney has no real incentive to drop out of the race yet. He can (and probably will) "retool" his campaign and come back strong. He just may not have as clear and easy path to the nomination as he (and most establishment Republicans) believed he would. With Cain, Bachmann, and now Perry gone, the socially conservative "not- Romneys" have fewer candidates to be divided among as well.

[pa28]

8. If he woke up one morning and the calculations came out wrong he'd drop out.

He was a successful investor for many years and you just can't do that if your ego interferes with your decision making process.

Romney might be a sociopath or an overly calculating automaton but he's not a fool. He's just got too much to lose and he's not going to risk it.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Actually, "expert" investors often perform below chance

exactly because they base their decisions of emotional and ego-driven grounds.

[A Simple Game]

18. But would he be losing his money or other peoples?

I doubt that he cares if it is other peoples money.

[nevergiveup]

9. Mittens is obsessed with being president

and this is his last shot. I believe the chances of him withdrawing, even if he loses S.C., are near zero.

[grantcart]

15. Mitt is also obsessed with being president because he wants

to be popular and to have his family and religion confirmed by 'America'. If it ends up embarassing him and turns into a gruelling month after month slug out I can see him giving up in a fit of impatience.

Last time he gave up rathe easily.

Moreover this year he isn't putting his own money into it like he did last time.

[amandabeech]

27. Mitt may also be obsessed by fulfilling his father's dream.

George Romney, governor of Michigan, was a serious presidential candidate in 1968. He left the campaign after he was beat up by the media for changing his position on Vietnam, saying that he had been brainwashed by the conservatives and military types.

Mitt and his dad got along, so we don't have a case of Mitt trying to outdo Daddy by getting Saddam, like we had with the Shrub. Rather, Mitt may be running to fulfill his father's dream. I would suspect that Mitt thinks the media treated his dad unfairly, and maybe they did. I have some memories of the elder Romney's run--I was a young, politically aware teen living with my family in Michigan at the time.

The elder Romney was a reasonable moderate Republican, and I think that if he had secured the Republican nomination instead of Nixon, and won, we would have had a better situation in the US then, which in my opinion means that we would have a better situation now. RFK or Humphrey would of course been superior, but compared to Nixon, Romney was a peach of a guy. Things that happened in the Nixon years still haunt our nation and our politics. The elder Romney's wife was a real old fashioned liberal Republican who favored choice, if you can believe that. Mitt really isn't up to his parents' standards.

[grantcart]

28. His father was actually a great guy, both a good politician and a public figure who had a relaxed

manner.

I would say agree that Mitt may be trying to live up to the expectations of his Father that he carries inside of him but that George probably never inflicted on MItt.

If so that would be the third Republican nominee, IMO, in a row to run for President because of 'Daddy' issues. It was obviously true with GB and also true, IMO with McCain who struggled at trying to out peforme his father's outstanding military career with a rather checkered military career before he redeemed himself with his courageous POW period which doesn't really compare in kind with being one of the highest ranking admirals in US history.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. Ahh, just what we need: another "Bush" candidate trying to live up to his Daddy.

These people scare me precisely due to their Daddy Issues. Dumbya took us to Iraq because he wanted to prove something to Daddy.

It's ridiculous!

[amandabeech]

34. Pres. Obama and fmr. Pres. Clinton had a different, but problematic, situation with their Dads.

Obama's Dad was around for two years, and I believe Clinton's Dad died before he was born.

Both spent time with stepfathers, although Obama's seems to be more benign than Clinton's.

Obviously, his father's absence has been on Pres. Obama's mind very much. I've never read about whether Clinton mused about his father, but he ended up using a baseball bat to protect his Mom from his alcoholic stepfather.

I agree with you on Dumya, but I would like more Presidents to have reasonably ok childhoods. It might help all of us.

[TlalocW]

12. This is pretty much the last chance for 3 of them to be president

For Mitt, it's ego-driven. For Newt, it's ego as well, but it's because he wants power so badly as he sees that as the best way to get people to admire him. For Ron, I actually give him the benefit of the doubt in that he honestly thinks his ideas are best, but he's too much of a kook.

Santorum might drop out depending on what states are up next, and for him it's about imposing his view of Christianity on America so he has the strength of that brand of insanity on his side.

It's going to be down to Mitt and Newt at least until Super Tuesday.

TlalocW

[XemaSab]

16. He was stuttering a LOT in the debate last night

I think he's lost the "appearing presidential" edge.

[quaker bill]

17. at some point he will perhaps realize

that the republicans are just picking the best loser. They would like a loser who will cost them the least number of house seats. Mitt would be about the best for that. However, if he figures it out, he might decline.

[Thrill]

19. Not a chance. He'll spend 60 million of his own money

before dropping out.

You'll have to drag him out kicking and screaming.

[Rowdyboy]

20. I think your underestimate his investment in the "business" of running for president....

In terms of time and money, Willard is "all-in", he's invested way too much of his life, money and credibility to back away now. He has the financial means and an enormous Mormon-based organization that assures him of being able to compete as long as he likes. I think he'll fight it out, if need be, until the convention and I think in the end he'll win the Republican nomination. Historically Republicans tend to be very predictable and he is the next in line. Its "Mitt's turn" and that is really good news for our side.

[davidpdx]

24. I tend to agree with you

The Mormon Church has been putting out a pretty strong PR campaign and though there's no way to prove it, I'm convinced there has to be a connection.

[bklyncowgirl]

21. Maybe--there has to be something more in those tax returns than just a low tax rate.

The low tax rate was no surprise but I was a bit surprised that he'd still have his money in a notorious tax haven like the Caymans. You'd think his political advisors would have told him that no matter how intelligent an investment it was putting his cash in a place which Joe Six Pack and Soccer Mom associate with drug kingpins, tax cheats and con artists is bad news politically. Then there's the refusal to release his tax returns. Once again, SOP, for presidential candidate. He would have to know that if he got the nomination, Obama'd be waving his around like a boy scout. Why not? Because as Fitzgerald famously said (more or less) The rich are different than you and I.

Romney's an arrogant piece of work. I could see him fold up his tent and deprive the nation of his great mangerial and fincial skills rather than submit his finances for review by the great unwashed simply because he truly believes that it is none of our business.

Of course there could be other reasons. Along with members of the media hordes, Democratic operatives and Gingrich gnomes there could be other people scrutinizing these returns--people like agents of the Internal Revenue Service and maybe the FBI. Who knows. This is all very strange.

[Tx4obama]

22. Nothing the GOPers do surprise me anymore now,I thought Cain would've dropped out sooner than he did

but that didn't happen for quite some time.

I remember when I was surprised back when Michele Bachmann won her re-election in 2010. I thought that her interview on MSNBC where she said that Congress should be investigated to see which Congress members were UNamerican would have been the end of her political career but it wasn't.

I don't have a clue anymore what will happen or when anything will happen.

[onenote]

23. It would not only be surprising if Romney dropped out, it would be shocking

Its not going to happen so long as he's the front runner nationally. It certainly isn't happening until after Super Tuesday and I'm having trouble seeing how Super Tuesday derails him.

He's been coasting and now its getting bumpy. But if the repub nominating process has proven anything, bumps along the way don't translate into the end of the road. Just ask Newt, who seemingly had been bumped from contention twice before his latest comeback.

[davidpdx]

25. I think things will have to get much worse for Romney to drop out

I agree with what someone else said that it will be down to Romney and either Santorum or Gingrich.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

29. The problem is that he owes the Republican Establishment and his corporate benefactors.

He's not going to stop out of this race. He's so arrogant that he thinks he'll untouchable. He also has enough money to influence the outcomes of at least the caucuses.

And finally, he won the CPAC straw poll which should give him some confidence going in.

[Myrina]

33. I just don't see Mitt as the type of guy who really WANTS a job.

He likes having things 'in the works' and acting like he's got plans and shit like that, but he's become so used to being a ... uber-wealthy slacker that I can't see him actually committing to anything that's going to require him to show up every day.

He reminds me of those rich frat bastards from the 80's who never really had a job but always looked like they did ... it was all daddy's money & the appearance of 'doing something'.

Seriously.

[Moondog]

35. Not a chance.

He's in it for the distance.

[grantcart]

36. PPP National Poll: Romney collapsing, Santorum surging with + 15 point lead.

If he gets humililated in his birth state his contributors will dry up and he will quit.

Just like he did last time.

BTW last time he put in millions of his own money, not so this time.

[Moondog]

37. I hope you're right.

I just don't think so. He appears to be the choice of the Bushes and the Party Hacks. And they are buying him the candidacy. Because they want to be rid of the Tea Baggers as badly as we do. Can't be having unwashed assholes screwing up the sinecures that they view as theirs as a matter of birthright, now can we? Even if the Pukes lose, and they will, the Bushes and the Party Hacks will get theirs. It's their little empire, after all.

But it doesn't matter whether Rmoney gets the nomination, or doesn't get the nomination, because either way President Obama will eat his, and their, lunch.

[Marsala]

38. No way. Mitt is in it until the bitter end.

He won't drop out until someone else clinches the nomination.

[Cosmocat]

40. He is still the odds on favorite

He leads in some of the key REALLY big winner takes all states and already has a lead.

These campaigns are two years long now, EVERYONE gets wore down and rough around the edges along the way.

Best case scenario is dragging it out and increasing the circus with the primary, one way or another.