LOUISIANA PRIMARY RESULTS HQ: Santorum Wins by Wide Margin

Posted on | March 24, 2012 | 111 Comments

HARAHAN, Louisiana
UPDATE 9:29 p.m. CT: While the exit polls had indicated a double-digit margin for Rick Santorum, few suspected that he could beat Mitt Romney here by more than 20 points but, with 65% of precincts reporting, it’s Santorum 49% to Romney’s 26%. Santorum staffers here say they don’t expect that margin to shrink much.

UPDATE 10:05 p.m. CT: The Harris sisters, who sing the Santorum campaign song “Game On,” just arrived at the victory party. And, via Talking Points Memo, here is video of Santorum’s victory speech in Green Bay, Wisconsin:

“We don’t believe, as the pundits have said, that this race is over. We didn’t get the memo . . . We’re still here. We’re still fighting. . . . I’m not running as a conservative candidate for president. I am the conservative candidate for president.”

UPDATE 8:10 p.m. CT: The suspense didn’t last long. The networks called it for Rick Santorum as soon as the polls closed. The key now will be the margin of victory.

UPDATE 8:48 p.m. CT: Fox News is currently showing Santorum winning by 16 points, 44% to 28% for Romney, with 19% for Gingrich and 6% for Paul with 15% of precincts reporting.

According to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, it’s 45%-28%, and also currently: 335 votes for Buddy Roemer, 157 votes for Rick Perry, 72 votes for Michele Bachmann and 29 votes for Jon Huntsman.

Welcome, Instapundit readers!

Here is Father Allen with Santorum super-blogger Lisa Graas at tonight’s Louisiana victory party. Lisa loves priests.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m. CT: The lead widens: With 57% of precincts reporting, Santorum leads by 23 points, 49%-26%, Gingrich trailing in third at 17%. Also: Buddy Roemer remains firmly in fifth place.

UPDATE 7:50 p.m. CT: We have exit polls via Fox News and it looks like an easy double-digit win for Santorum. He beats Romney 54%-22% among evangelicals, 46%-30% among Tea Party supporters, 47%-30% among conservatives.

PREVIOUSLY (7:30 p.m. CT): We are at the Fox & Hound pub here for the Rick Santorum campaign Louisiana victory party. Polls close at 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET), and it’s expected to be a big win for Rick. Fox News will immediately provide the Team Mitt spin, minimizing the significance of this Santorum victory.

People have asked me why so many people in the media — including many in the conservative media — have joined the “Roll Over for Romney” crowd when, despite all the spin about “inevitability,” Mitt’s still got less than 600 delegates and Santorum keeps winning primaries and caucuses. It’s mainly bandwagon psychology. Once the political press corps gets an idea into its collective hive-mind, the Conventional Wisdom congeals quickly.

Team Romney has been pushing the “inevitability” argument ever since the Florida primary Jan. 31, and on March 7 — the Wednesday after Super Tuesday — they rolled out their delegate-count calculus (which involved some dubious assumptions about apportionment of delegates) to assert that Mitt had already effectively clinched the nomination.

The media eagerly bought into that and, so far as Fox News and much of the conservative media are concerned, the attiude now seems to be, “Hurry up and get this silly nomination thing over with, so we can get on to the big Romney vs. Obama showdown.”

Team Romney has been trying to scare people with dire warnings about what a disaster it would be for Republicans if Romney comes into the GOP convention without the 1,144 delegates needed to win on the first ballot, and so Santorum has been getting dismissive coverage from Fox for the past couple of weeks.

When Santorum complained about this treatment last week, it seemed the bias at Fox actually got worse. For a few days, Santorum got almost zero coverage from Fox, and very few conservative bloggers have objected to what is clearly an unfair and unbalanced attitude at the network. Now let’s take this moment to count up Santorum’s victories:

That’s 10 Santorum victories so far over Mr. Inevitable. To this point, according to the Associated Press, Santorum has amassed 263 delegates, and now he’s poised to win the Louisiana primary.

Expect the talking heads on Fox News tonight to talk a lot about how only 20 of Louisiana’s 46 delegates were at stake in today’s vote. Louisiana has a two-step system, and the remaining delegates will be awarded at the state GOP convention in June. But like all the “non-binding” chatter we heard after Santorum’s Feb. 7 “trifecta” victories, this is just a bunch of ~~bullshit~~ Romney spin.

Nevertheless, that’s what you’ll hear on Fox News tonight. Rick Santorum will be watching the results tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin. We’ll have news from here in Louisiana, where the volunteers know how to party.

RECENTLY:

Category: Election 2012, Louisiana, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

Comments

111 Responses to “LOUISIANA PRIMARY RESULTS HQ: Santorum Wins by Wide Margin”

CPAguy
March 25th, 2012 @ 4:51 am

Yes. Weak turnout = Obama win

Mittens would put several southern states in play for Obama…or at least make them competitive….and Mittens won’t be able to compete with Obama $ wise in the general election.

For every squish vote that candidate Mittens is able to pick up, he looses at least 2 conservatives who will stay home.
K-Bob
March 25th, 2012 @ 4:53 am

If the party has a “dingbat” wing, it would be populated by anti-Christian bigots like you.
K-Bob
March 25th, 2012 @ 4:58 am

Their credibility is just fine. You get actual shoe-leather reporting here. The advocacy is not hidden like they do in whatever organs float your boat. Plus, you get to disagree. It’s all included in the price.

Do you need a brochure?
K-Bob
March 25th, 2012 @ 5:02 am

Yes.
1)Romneycare. Obvious.
2)Refuses to go toe to toe, just like McCain refused.
3)Hasn’t sold the independents on why he is any different from Obama.

Even Ron Paul would have a better chance against Obama than Romney. (And I’d never vote for Ron Paul.)
K-Bob
March 25th, 2012 @ 5:05 am

If Obamacare isn’t repealed within two years, then it won’t matter who’s in the White House. I don’t care if they get to appoint four Scalias. It won’t stave off the deadly effects of entrenched Obamacare socialism.
K-Bob
March 25th, 2012 @ 5:06 am

More expensive lawyers.
K-Bob
March 25th, 2012 @ 5:14 am

If Newt drops out, the freepers will look like a conga line that had the rug pulled out from under them. They’ve been really bashing Santorum over there (Jim endorsed Newt).

Where do they go? Ron Paul?

Newt has no reason to drop out, just as Paul doesn’t. So we’ll see more mud for a while.

A lot of folks are ballyhooing the “ONLY 20 delegates” thing. They seem happy to ignore the whole “blowout” aspect. Romney got his butt kicked in LA, and that’s the story.
Quartermaster
March 25th, 2012 @ 8:21 am

Free Republic is a fever swamp every bit as bad as most libtard blogs. You get the same sort of trash over at Hot Gas and and the comment sections on AmSpec.
Quartermaster
March 25th, 2012 @ 8:22 am

What he is calling the dingbat wing is the base. If Romney gets the nod, but can’t win the south, he’s toast. But, he’s toast anyway because the Obamabots are going to take him apart piece by liberal piece.
Quartermaster
March 25th, 2012 @ 8:25 am

Perhaps has a web developer you have little attachment to the realities of human nature. That is what seems to be indicated by your post and weak retort.
Quartermaster
March 25th, 2012 @ 8:27 am

Ain’t that the sad and sorry truth.
Quartermaster
March 25th, 2012 @ 8:39 am

I’m not willing to ascribe much intelligence to the electorate. We’re talking about much teh same population that elected Obama, but you have to condition that on teh fact the other “choice” was Juan “nice guy” McAmnesty.

With the choice between Mittens and Obama, it’s another choiceless choice. I firmly believe we will be enduring another 4 years (less if the country starts breaking up, and I think it will) of the Obamabot and his retarded minions.
Mike
March 25th, 2012 @ 9:50 am

In the way George Bush was different from Hugo Chavez, or Herbert Hoover was different from Vladimir Lenin.

My preferred candidate was Palin. She had everything I wanted in a Candidate. Of the three remaining, if I had my druthers, it would have been Gingrich or Santorum, Romney a close third.

But to compare him to Obama, as Santorum did (whereby he lost my respect and any support) and as others do is both laughably ridiculous and irresponsibly dangerous.

Our nation hangs in the balance. It was a fair fight and Romney won. Now we have to win the Presidency.

If people continue to throw this Santorum pointless temper tantrum it only hurts everyone.
Mike
March 25th, 2012 @ 9:52 am

Yes. As a commenter. Your point being…?
Mike
March 25th, 2012 @ 9:54 am

Apparently, HE can stand it! He is standing it quite well, since he has basically won but for the counting and a far-fetched brokered convention.

The ones who can’t seem to stand it are Santorum and newt and many of their supporters at this point. They seem unconcerned about hurting the nation at this point, and more concerned with their own egos.
Larimerica
March 25th, 2012 @ 10:18 am

the right wing blogosphere…is the mirror image of the left now

Hyperbole much? Sounds like you need a break from the Internet.
Larimerica
March 25th, 2012 @ 10:30 am

Sorry, K-Bob, but when the 20 delegates get divided between Santorum and Romney, Santorum will still be about 300 delegates behind Romney. And that’s the story that matters. It’s pretty silly to be crowing “blowout” when Santorum remains so far behind; when he’s not even on the upcoming DC ballot; and when there’s no evangelical plurality for him to ride in any of the remaining states — including the biggies like New York and California. The Bible belt was good to Santorum, but those primaries are over now and so is the Santorum surge.
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 10:38 am

One could look at it that way.

On the other hand: how is excercising one’s free will and choice hurting the nation? Isn’t part of our problem that we seem so willing to put aside our qualms and jump on board bandwagons without complaint or reservation?
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 10:40 am

Well that is the thousand dollar question, and to be honest I don’t know.
We’ll probably find out.
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 10:48 am

How is what I said hyperbole? Have you read what some of the blogs have written this primary season?

It isn’t so much the lack of objectivity that has been concerning, it’s been the tendency towards blind fervor for particular canidates (at least here they manage to avoid that by being very up front with their subjectivity and allowing dissent in their comments — and by also being a bit tongue in cheek, which gives me the hint that while boosterism may be going on, blind fervor is not, thank goodness).
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 10:59 am

I would love to have “the dingbat wing” of the party defined for me. I would also love to have detailed just who exactly this “new GOP base” is that I keep hearing so much about from Romney supporters.

I will come right out and say that I thought it was a foolish thing to write off the libertarians on the part of Rick Santorum. Granted, there are “libertarians” and they should perhaps be slapped down for the good of the libertarian movement as well as the GOP, but lumping them all into that category was wrong and ill considered. Now RS has made some libertarian-esque comments, which would have done well to make a bridge to those in the libertarian set who are indeed a benefit to us all and necessary — why he didn’t take that ball and run with it I will never know, oh well.

However, Romney and his supporters are now doing the very same thing to the evangelicals and the socons, and while some of them do need to be slapped down for the good of us all, just like the libertarians it is foolish to consider them all that way or to give the impression you think that none of their stances, ideas, opinions are worth anything. They are just as integral and valuable a part of the conservative movement, on both pragmatic and ideological/philosophical reasons. You find commonality and a place to make a bridge — you don’t “kick them to the curb”…unless you want to fundamentally change the nature of the GOP and the conservative movement (and we all know who else likes to fundamentally change things).
And here is exactly where that etch-a-sketch comment really stabs at the heart of the matter — and why it could likely do Romney in.
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 11:20 am

…and might I add: the more people keep excusing any lack of support for Romney on “pure anti-Mormon bigotry” the more people are going to wonder just what it is about Mormons that makes these people so bigoted (which at this point I believe it is a false flag and an excuse)…and then they will be well primed for the Democrat machine’s propaganda and smear campaign in the general

My advice: quit labelling people with “they are just bigots” and address what the issues may really be (could it be that he isn’t getting the evangelical vote because they tend to be socons, and let’s face it, they have a better canidate to pick to represent them right now — that’s Romney’s fault for being so dismissive of them, and his supporters’ faults for being so obnoxious in their treatment of the same).
ThomasD
March 25th, 2012 @ 11:20 am

Just like the Bishop won in Arizona?
ThomasD
March 25th, 2012 @ 11:21 am

Only, you use Pastor as a slur, whereas Romney truly is a Bishop in his faith.
ThomasD
March 25th, 2012 @ 11:26 am

If you think getting rif of Obama is the be all end all to the problems in the country then it is you who are thinking and behaving like a child.

Romney offers nothing of substance that is different from Obama. We’ll just continue our march towards the progressive nanny state and fiscal doom at a slightly slower pace.

Everything in Romney’s record being that of a big government loving, crony capitalist, who reflexively bows to the left at every possible convenience.
ThePaganTemple
March 25th, 2012 @ 11:30 am

Santorum’s victory path is pretty pathetic. He has to win not just Pennsylvania, but also Wisconsin and Texas. He also needs to win Maryland and New York. California, I think we all understand he can kiss that the fuck goodbye. He should do well in what remaining southern and border states there are, but as soon as he loses any of those others I listed, that’s just one more nail in his campaign’s coffin. And actually, it’s grave was dug in Ohio. It’s just a matter of when the Santorum campaign is lowered down therein.
Tennwriter
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:12 pm

Better hair.
Jaxson
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:12 pm

No, the dingbat wing is the one that’s obsessed with religion and sexual morality.

As soon as Republicans start winning the day with REAL issues like spending, taxes, debt, economic growth, and energy independence, the dingbats swarm and start talking about uteruses , gay people and nudie magazines.

I have the same contempt for SoCons that Santorum does for my fellow libertarians, which he is on the record saying he wants to expel from the GOP.

Part of me actually wanted Santorum to win the nomination just to get rid of this crowd once and for all. A nice 15 point loss because we nominated a guy that wants to have a national dialogue about the evils of contraception among married people and that would be the end of the Religious Right. Morality and values would once again be up to individuals and not bureaucrats.

Please start your own Pat Robertson Party.
Lisa Graas
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:14 pm

Translation. Romney is toast with Catholics.
Lisa Graas
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:15 pm

Follow Father Allen on Twitter at @PadreAllen
robertstacymccain
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:24 pm

Events happen. It is impossible to predict the future course of events. For all we know, Mitt Romney could have an “open mike” gaffe tomorrow and his whole campaign would be thrown into turmoil.

By the normal political calculus, yes, the odds against Santorum are somewhere between “daunting” and “impossible.” But this has been a bad year for the normal political calculus, and Santorum’s underdog strategy — keep plugging away and don’t get discouraged by the odds — has been surprisingly successful to date.
Offline to Care for Disabled Blogger
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:34 pm

[…] I have been offline and will be offline for a while longer because I am caring for disabled blogger Stacy McCain, who is….blogging. […]
richard mcenroe
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:50 pm

It’s time to call a spade a spade. Mitt Romney is not a moderate. He is not a Republican. He is a carpetbagger, going wherever he has to and saying whatever he has to say for his own advantage while meaning none of it. His own wife has admitted they didn’t even know any Republicans before Mitt decided he could use them in 2002, and he has been happy to stab them and conservatives in the back since.

The campaign he is running now is poison to the GOP. As with Meg Whitman in CA, the constant barrage of attack ads will alienate and disgust the electorate at large, driving them away from both the candidate and his party. This is not a theory; this is documented history.
Gorgo
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:56 pm

The GOP primary needs to go on as long as possible.

Seven months of Team Obama & the media trying to destroy Mr. Inevitable will pretty much do the trick.
Paul Zummo
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:57 pm

You must be a pretty awful web developer if you have this little clue as to how blogs, you know, actually work.
Paul Zummo
March 25th, 2012 @ 1:00 pm

You are the epitome of what is wrong with the modern Republican party. Hateful, completely ignorant as to what conservatism as a political philosophy is all about, and willing to cast aside a majority of the base. Good luck winning in November without conservatives, idiot.
ThePaganTemple
March 25th, 2012 @ 1:03 pm

Stacy, come on. How would you describe Newt’s standing in the race based on how he has fared in the southern primaries? He’s won two so far, his home state and South Carolina. Yes, I understand Santorum has won most of the others, but consider-Rick has done almost as bad in the Midwest states as Newt has done in the South. And Rick absolutely has to win the Midwest. In fact, he has to run the table in the Midwest from here on out, and pick up other states besides. No, nothing is impossible. But you have to concede, its looking pretty bad.
Mike
March 25th, 2012 @ 1:28 pm

I was not saying people shouldn’t exercise their free will and choice. They should. I said above that my choice was Palin. She never got in. Anyone can and should vote for whoever they want. This is America. At least for a few more months it is. After that, you can take free will, choice and everything you ever thought America was and throw it in the trash bin if Obama wins term 2.

This is why I think conservative es who throw these stupid criticisms of our almost certain candidate are wrong, petulant, and down-right dangerous if they keep enthusiasms for Romney and therefore election voters down.

Romney? I’d take Bristol Palin if she could win. I’d take a conservative chosen at random off the street if they could win.

We’d better win!

If Santorum’s temper tantrums prevent that, he is the one who is the same as Obama since Obama is what we will get.

Freedom? Liberty? America?

You Romney bashers had better get ready for life in the Gulag. The stakes are too high.
Jaxson
March 25th, 2012 @ 1:28 pm

Right, I’m what’s wrong with the Republican Party.

Not the guy that wants to make contraception among married people a campaign issue. Not the guy that calls mainline Protestants non-Christians. Not the guy who says we’re better off with Obama than Romney (despite endorsing Romney 4 years ago)

Again, I would love to just take my chances without you people.
Mike
March 25th, 2012 @ 2:04 pm

Incredible.

First, I never said Romney would solve all our problems. I suggested nothing even remotely close. The very idea is ridiculous.

That’s a total straw man. A different argument altogether.

When the House is on fire anyone who helps put out the fire against the people who are throwing more things into it will do.

We can argue later about whether they put the fire out as good as someone else might have!!!

Geesh.

There are days I wonder…
Mike
March 25th, 2012 @ 2:10 pm

So, his father was a prominent Republican Governor of Michigan. He’s been Republican Governor of Massachusetts. He ran for the Republican nomination in 2008. He is running now for the Republican Nomination and he has the most delegates. Close to 5m Republican voters have voted for him.

But he’s not a Republican!

Right.

Don’t you mean to say that you don’t like him?

Why don’t you just say that and dispense with the lunatic ravings about “documented history”. Puhlease. Simple arguments about who you like or don’t like are normally fine. Try that.
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 2:36 pm

You had me until the “people shouldn’t criticize Romney” — uh, wrong. He is running to be representative of the people; he would be serving us — therefore he is due any and all criticism. He won’t be crowned king or messiah, and we are not serfs. And which criticisms are the “stupid” ones? Surely not all of the are, correct?

I made and still make the same arguement to Democrats regarding Obama — it is our right and duty to criticize our leaders and make them realize that they represent us, we don’t serve them.

As for the gulag…for some reason you’re not scaring me enough to shut up (because if I or anyone else shuts up, then gulag will happen from either the right or the left…there will be no difference between either party, only stale and faded facades to fool and control the sheep with).
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 2:45 pm

I have to ask: how is he toast with them? (so far he’s done well according to what I’ve heard)
Something new come up?
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 2:49 pm

Romney himself has a bit of a record for distancing himself from at least the conservative wing of the GOP; he has as much as stated it when he was in MA.

He is quickly approaching a point where the attack ads are going to turn into a zero sum strategy for him — he should have been working on some positive, vision type messages.
Pathfinder's wife
March 25th, 2012 @ 2:53 pm

I could reply back that the “dingbat” wing is also made up of people who insist that freedom equals the right to do anything one damn well pleases even if it is to the detriment of everyone else (and thus taking liberty and freedoms away from them) while at the same time insisting that one does not have to pay for any of it (and thus taking away liberty and freedoms from somebody who invariably will).

That to me seems just as foolish and unworkable a proposition as peeking into people’s bedrooms as you give as an example.
And just as corrosive and fatal to a free society if you think about it.
ThePaganTemple
March 25th, 2012 @ 4:42 pm

I might be wrong, but I think Romney actually won the Catholic vote in Ohio. He at least has won a respectable percentage of them.
Bob Belvedere
March 25th, 2012 @ 6:29 pm

Hear, hear!
Bob Belvedere
March 25th, 2012 @ 6:37 pm

Spot-on. I gave up predicting this race back in the early Fall.

I’ve been an election junkie since the early 1970’s [it’s always been my favorite sport] and I have never seen such an unpredictable campaign [on any level] as this one has been.
Bob Belvedere
March 25th, 2012 @ 6:42 pm

When he ran for Governor, Willard courted conservatives because (1) they represent a solid chuck of what GOP there is in Massachusetts and (2) because almost half the Democrats in the state were Reagan Democrats. As soon as he got elected, he abandoned both.
Wombat_socho
March 25th, 2012 @ 7:28 pm

My point is that you don’t get the context, and are popping off based on an incomplete understanding of what Stacy is saying about Mitt, much like somebody who comes in halfway through a baseball game and immediately starts bitching about the manager of the losing team.