Tag Archives: 2012

News

New York Times: Santorum has support of Republican women

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From the fifth-column New York Times, of all places.

Excerpt:

There is no mistaking the bond that Mr. Santorum has with conservative women — particularly married women — a group that has formed a core of his support since the primaries began in January. He has handily carried the votes of women in primaries that he has won, including those in Mississippi and Alabama. And where he has lost, in Arizona, South Carolina and Illinois, he has enjoyed a higher level of support among women than men.

[…]“He doesn’t give up, so I’m not giving up,” said Kay Verdi, 75, a mother of six from Belle Chasse, La., who spends much her time trying to persuade others to vote for Mr. Santorum. “I’ve never felt as strong about a candidate as I do for Santorum. I’ve usually had to pick the lesser of two evils when I vote. Not this time.”

How did Ms. Verdi explain the attraction?

“I like that he’s been married only once, and that he has character and faith; that’s what touches me,” she said.

The Web site ricksantorum.com attracts more women than men, 60 percent of its visitors, a larger share than for the Web sites of other candidates, according to Nielsen ratings that were released last week. Among other things, there may be an empathy factor at work: A New York Times/CBS News poll taken this month found that 73 percent of Republican female voters said Mr. Santorum understood the needs and problems of people like them, compared with 52 percent who said the same about Mr. Romney.

My previous post also noted that Republican women support Santorum more than any other candidate.

News

Julia Gillard’s carbon tax leads to massive defeat in Queensland election

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Australia 2010 federal election results
Australia 2010 federal election results (Red = Labor Party)

I was disappointed with Queensland because of the last federal election in 2010. They elected several Labor Party MPs. And now the federal Labor Party is pushing for a carbon tax and gay marriage, too.

Look what happened in 2010:

Turnout 94.41% (CV) — Informal 3.56%
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
Australian Labor Party 1,020,665 42.91 +8.13 15 +9
Liberal Party of Australia 818,438 34.40 –5.01 10 –7
National Party of Australia 239,504 10.07 +0.32 3 –1
Australian Greens 133,938 5.63 +0.57 0 0

The Liberal Party and the National Party are the two conservative parties – they form a conservative coalition, and they continued to lose seats, just like they did in 2007.

Given that, I was heartened by the results from this past weekend, when Queensland held state-level elections. (H/T Bill M.)

Excerpt:

[Opposition leader] Tony Abbott has sought to capitalise on the Queensland election saying Labor MPs right across the country will be worried about the “fundamental lesson” from yesterday’s landslide defeat.

Speaking on Sky News’s Australian Agenda the Opposition Leader said Labor needed to have a “good, long, hard look at itself” and said the party’s brand was “toxic” around Australia.

“This is a triumph for Campbell (Newman) and the LNP,” Mr Abbott said this morning of the Queensland result.

“I think Labor members of parliament right around Australia would be very worried about the fundamental lesson from this which is that a government which isn’t competent, which isn’t frugal and which isn’t truthful loses and loses big time.

“The basic message is that the Labor brand is toxic right around Australia.”

“Certainly there were two candidates for Queensland one of them Anna Bligh, who was for the carbon tax, and the other Campbell Newman who was against it,” Mr Abbott said.

Mr Newman’s Liberal National Party ended Labor’s 14-year reign in Queensland last night with a crushing win.

The latest forecasts have the LNP winning as many as 78 seats in the 89-seat parliament, with Labor expected to hold just seven seats of its former 51.

Mr Abbott said while the Queensland election had buoyed the Coalition’s hopes of winning the next federal election he conceded things could be different if Julia Gillard improves.

“If the federal Labor government is able to lift its game and be truthful, yes things could be different,” the Opposition Leader said.

“But I think federal Labor has clearly established its character.”

Mr Abbott stood by his comments last week that the Queensland election would be a referendum on the carbon tax and dishonest politicians.

Those results are now final – Labor went from 51 seats to 7 seats! This is as bad as what happened to the leftist Liberal Party in Canada in 2011.

Let’s hope that Julia Gillard, the head of the Australian Labor party, doesn’t learn anything from this and continues to push for left-wing fiscal and social policies. Tony Abbott is quite awesome in general, so they do have a good candidate running against her whenever the next election is held.

News

Rick Santorum beats Mitt Romney 49 to 27 in Louisiana

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From the pro-Romney Fox News.

Excerpt:

Rick Santorum won the Louisiana primary Saturday, solidifying his support among conservatives in the Deep South as he faces a tough next couple of weeks in Northern states competitions that are predicted to favor frontrunner Mitt Romney.

The former Pennsylvania senator won 49 percent of the vote, with Romney coming in second with 27 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in third with 17 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul finishing last with 6 percent.

“People in Louisiana came through in a big way,” Santorum said from a brewery in Green Bay, Wisc. “You didn’t get the memo. We’re still fighting. … I’m not running as the conservative candidate for president. I am the conservative candidate.”

Santorum said Romney called to congratulate him.

“I told him I was in (Wisconsin.) He said he was out in California raising money,” Santorum said. “I said leave a little bit for me. … We’ve always had cordial conversations.”

[…]The candidates now head into April 3 contests in Maryland, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

The key contest is expected to be in Wisconsin, which has Swing State status, with Maryland and the District largely Democratic territories. In addition, Santorum is not on the District ballot.

Santorum has now won 11 states, while Romney has won 20 states or territories. Gingrich has won two states, while Paul has not won any.

How did Santorum do it?

Louisiana had a closed primary, meaning only registered Republicans could vote. Roughly eight in 10 in the exit poll said they consider themselves Republicans on most political matters, and three-quarters called themselves conservatives.

Seven in 10 said they support the Tea Party movement, roughly the same numbers recorded 11 days ago in the Mississippi primary won by Santorum.

Nearly a quarter of the Louisiana voters said choosing a candidate who is a true conservative was important, according to the exit polls.

Mitt Romney seems to be winning a lot of states, and I think there are two reasons why. First, in a lot of open primary states, he gets a lot of Democrat votes. Democrats overwhelming support Mitt Romney, because his record fits with Democrat policies. Second, Romney is outspending Santorum by a huge margin – 7 to 1 in Illinois, for example.