So the “Super” results of yesterday on were on the low side of what the polls were predicting for Romney. I’m surpised, because I thought the polls were showing a Santorum collapse.
Romney barely averted what would have been an energizing win for Santorum in Ohio. But even the narrowness of Rick’s defeat was a bit surprising to the experts and is being spun as evidence of Santorum’s toughness and Romney’s inability “to close the deal.” No momentum for Romney (or maybe for anyone else) is the message.
Romney still picked up a majority of the delegates and still seems about impossible to stop.
But the Santorum swoon is probably over.
Romney did very poorly in the South. It takes a moment to figure that out only because Santorum and Gingrich almost exactly split the anti-Romney vote.
Not only did Gingrich win a huge victory in Georgia, but he did well in OK and TN. So he has every reason to stay in and probably win Mississippi and Alabama next week. The Newt is “Freddie” thesis of Jim Ceaser has to be taken seriously.
Overall: Pete is right. There’s no really viable alternative to Romney. But that doesn’t mean Santorum and Gingrich will necessarily stop having plenty of moments. And who knows when or if Romney will start getting 40+% of the vote in competitive states. The longing for a non-Romney remains the strongest Republican passion.
Santorum gave a good, maybe excessively personal, speech, and Romney managed to say nothing at all. Newt was all about the epic that is Newt.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
