The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

One Thousand Miles to Drive

Posted on | March 18, 2012 | 11 Comments

Rick Santorum will be in Mandeville, Louisiana, at 12:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday, and that’s more than a thousand miles from here.

Google Maps says it’s an 17-hour drive, so if I left Tuesday evening and drove straight through, I’d arrive in time: Exhausted beyond words, yes, but in time.

This would be completely crazy, but I’ve done crazier things.

Romney won Puerto Rico, and Illinois votes Tuesday. Certainly Santorum made news with this prediction Saturday:

Rick Santorum told crowds in Illinois’s conservative downstate that a victory Tuesday would be the key to his nomination.
“This is a pledge,” he said Saturday afternoon. “If we’re able to come out of Illinois with a huge or surprise win, I guarantee you — I guarantee that we will win this nomination. We will nominate a conservative, and we will beat Barack Obama.”

Pat Austin blogged about Santorum’s Sunday in Shreveport. I figure Louisiana’s primary on Saturday will be decisive one way or another. If Santorum wins, he’s definitely the last man standing against Romney and Gingrich is done. If Gingrich wins, he has an excuse to keep going. If Romney wins . . .

Perish the thought. But I plan to be there when the deal goes down.

 




Category: Election 2012, Illinois, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Rick Santorum

Comments

11 Responses to “One Thousand Miles to Drive”

  1. richard mcenroe
    March 19th, 2012 @ 12:35 am

    (Insert unsupported assertion that Rick Santorum staying in the race is so much worse than the two guys who can’t even beat HIM staying in the race here.)

    Just getting that out of the way.  Will check the cookie jar.

  2. ThePaganTemple
    March 19th, 2012 @ 12:37 am

    Why do you want to make a drive like that and take a chance on having an accident, endangering yourself and others on the road, for s0mething that is so slim a chance of panning out? Either fly or stay home. Look at the wear and tear on your car and ask yourself how much money you’re really saving. Say you can’t afford the flight? Okay then, there’s your answer staring you right in the face. Stay home.

    And Santorum didn’t didn’t just lose Puerto Rico. He got his ass handed to him in Puerto Rico.

    Mitt Romney is going to be the nominee. Newt had a legitimate shot at being the Not Romney, but that’s over now. It’s going to be Romney. Stay home.

  3. Testor
    March 19th, 2012 @ 1:03 am

    I love how Romney has all of these “must win” states, but the other clowns can just keep losing and losing.

    Please tell me the “must win” states for Santorum and Newt?  Have they ever had a single one?

    Even if Santorum won EVERY remaining contest from here on out it still wouldn’t be enough to get a majority, he would have to get something on the order of 70% of the remaining delegates, which means Rick would have to win all the WTA states and get 60% plus in the remaining proportional states. 

    When Santorum does get a win in a real primary, his vote total is something like 34%. 

    It’s over, let’s focus on Obama.  It’s selfish and destructive of Santorum and Newt to stretch this out any further for their own personal vendetta.

  4. richard mcenroe
    March 19th, 2012 @ 1:08 am

    I do not believe in Mitt Romney or in the cynical philosophy of the RNA that foisted him on us.  I will support Rick Santorum as long as he chooses to stay in.  I will not support Newt because I remember what happened the last time he had real power and I will not support that hypocritical little grifter Ron Paul.

  5. Adjoran
    March 19th, 2012 @ 1:13 am

    Well, if Santorum pulls the upset in Illinois, he certainly regains the momentum he had and lost.  Of course, it would only be possible because no one challenged his delegate slates, which failed in several districts to submit the proper signatures.  In four downstate districts where he should expect to do well, he submitted no slates at all. 

    But to drive that way to make an event  in Mandeville, LA, where a featured local spot is the Dew Drop Inn (no kidding), and the third update on the city’s website is advertising mental health screening (not that I don’t recommend it) makes little sense.  Leave earlier and take a Motel 6 break, fly, or forget it.  It ain’t worth killing yourself over.

    Although if you did wrap yourself around a tree, a lot deer would breath easier . . .

    There will be other other events – the primary isn’t until next week.  But LA is a better destination than IL if for no other reason than the food.  If you stop at a McDonald’s in the state for more than coffee and free Wi-fi, please don’t post about it – unless you really want to make me cry.

  6. Adjoran
    March 19th, 2012 @ 1:16 am

     Technically, he got his ass chewed off, digested, defecated, and handed back to him.

    Turns out the best campaign strategy was NOT to say, “You brown people sure talk funny – why don’t you speak English like regular people?”

    But he may have just gone there for some topless sunbathing . . .

  7. Bob Belvedere
    March 19th, 2012 @ 7:43 am

    Not worth the risk, Stacy.

    I’ve missed your reports from the road, but I don’t want you injuring or killing yourself for a bloody story.

    Besides, man, you’ve got a young family and you’re an aging Gonzo.

  8. richard mcenroe
    March 19th, 2012 @ 10:44 am

     Yes, our McDonald’s are hip and ironic.

  9. Dave
    March 19th, 2012 @ 4:34 pm

     also, plane tickets from DC to Nawlins tomorrow with a return on Thursday are surprisingly non-crazy expensive. If Stacy has a friend on the ground in the Bayou State, he’d probably really save money by flying.

  10. Confutus
    March 19th, 2012 @ 5:45 pm

     Horrible thought to contemplate, but what if the polling is right about Romney leading in Illinois, and what if the Catholics in Louisiana break for Romney over Santorum they way they have been doing elsewhere? As I read the Santorum strategy memo, Santorum is counting on momentum from Illinois and Louisiana, but if things don’t go the way he hopes, you just might be headed for a wake instead of a victory party.

  11. Illinois Primary Today; Rick Santorum Schedules Rally in Gettysburg, Pa. : The Other McCain
    March 20th, 2012 @ 9:06 am

    […] and because Gettyburg is barely an hour’s drive from my house, I plan to be there, and then I’ll drive a thousand miles to Lousiana, which holds its primary Saturday. You may be wondering, “Why is Santorum in […]