Santorum Surge Hits Hollis, N.H. UPDATE: Photos, Videos Added

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HOLLIS, N.H.
Set up in the Dunkin’ Donuts here at the intersection of Ash and Main Street, having just left anevent for Rick Santorum at the historic Lawrence Barn that was filled beyond capacity.

The first question Santorum got in an informal press conference outside the barn was about his “electability,” which he defended staunchly. I must urge everyone trying to predict the outcome in New Hampshire to put no stock in polls. There are still many undecided voters here and much of Mitt Romney’s support is “soft.”

Depending on how things go in the two debates — tonight on ABC and Sunday morning on  “Meet the Press” — the Santorum surge could once against surprise everyone, as it did in Iowa, where he outperformed the final Des Moines Register final poll by 10 points.

I have photos and video and am now awaiting sufficient bandwidth for uploading. Bandwidth is a scarce commodity out here in the country.

In a few minutes, Santorum will appear at the Hollis Pharmacy and General Store, a traditional campaign stop for presidential candidates in New Hampshire. Mike Rogers of Granite Grok and I were the first members of the media to arrive there, and were greeted by owner Vahrij Manoukian, who promptly told us to park next door, as he wishes to leave space for the candidate’s entourage.

UPDATE: As I was sitting here, a woman walked in and said, “I know you! I’m ConservaGirl.”

UPDATE II: With his superior technological capacities, Mike has already got up an extensive photo post at Granite Grok about the Santorum barn event.

UPDATE III: Look at the crowd behind Santorum at the Hollis Pharmacy. Anyone who underestimates the surge does so at their peril:

At the Lawrence Barn event, Mara Liasson of NPR interviews a New Hampshirite in a purple hat:

UPDATE IV: Kaley, the barrista at Dunkin’ Donuts, is all about Ron Paul. Note the facial piercing. Just sayin’ …

A lot of reporters on the campaign trail spend their time interviewing “typical voter” types at every stop along the campaign trail:

Here we see a foreign news crew interviewing a Santorum supporter who, as it turned out, drove up from Massachusetts. So much for the “typical voter,” you see.

UPDATE V: Look at these videos of Santorum at the Hollis Pharmacy and tell me again why he can’t beat Mitt Romney:

Here is my interview with the owner of the Hollis Pharmacy, Vahrij Manoukian:

Just guessing by the name ending in “-ian,” he is Armenian. Some of the most patriotic Americans I know are Armenian, as are the Kardashian sisters.

Administration Shoots From The Bowels On ObamaCare Brief

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by Smitty

Via the WaPoo:

Lawmakers decided that requiring health insurance was the best solution “after years of careful consideration and after a vigorous national debate,” Verrilli told the court.
“That was a policy choice the Constitution entrusts the democratically accountable branches to make, and the court should respect it.”

Donald B. Verrilli Jr., you Orewllian crapflooder. Lawmakers decided this after ‘years of careful consideration’? Princess Pelosi and crew did the Judas Priest impression without even reading the Mike Foxtrot. Oh, you probably meant the consideration they gave their stock portfolios. And vigorous national debate? A plurality still think Obamacare should be repealed. No amount of Orwellian suppositories can substitute for liberty, Verrilli.

The ‘court should respect it’? Why is the will of the voters, expressed in 2010, not worthy of consideration?

I submit that this administration, and this particular piece of legislation, shall be viewed in hindsight as the high water mark of Progressivism. You’re on the wrong side of history, Verrilli.

 

Shorter Jay Cost: ‘Politics Is Not A Spectator Sport’

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by Smitty

Jay Cost in The Weekly Standard:

So, here’s the question of the day: why can’t the party of Reagan ever seem to nominate a Reaganite?
My answer: because conservative Republicans are not actually in control of their own party. Though they are its animating force – they give it policy ideas to implement, they turn out regularly to support the party in good times and bad, they advocate the party and its ideology to their friends, neighbors, and relatives – they are not in charge, and have not been since the 1970s (arguably the 1920s, but that’s another story altogether).

Concur with Bill:

It also leads me to the conclusion that we either change the party, or change parties.

Whether you keep the GOP or illegally harvest its elephant tusks, the point is that people have to participate. The effort required to scale a political party is non-trivial, or efforts like the Constitution Party would have more headlines. Which is why the Tea Parties have sought to change the GOP.

After Mitt’s concession speech (words which I’ll either weep over, or eat) there may be enough political will to Do Something, given charismatic leadership, e.g. Palin.

via Daily Pundit

Rick Santorum Speech in Nashua:
‘New Hampshire, Send a Message’

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HOLLIS, N.H.
When Rick Santorum arrived at the Hillsborough County Republican Party’s dinner Friday, the swarm of reporters photographers and TV cameramen following him was so huge that his own daughter Elizabeth and son Daniel couldn’t get near their father. This video begins with me entering the door and working my way through the media mob until, by the 2-minute mark, I was front and center:

Da Tech Guy was also at the Hillsborough County GOP dinner and has a massive photo/video compendium: “Americans want someone who believes in them.” Here are some of my own photos of the event:

Skip Murphy of Granite Grok interviews Senator Santorum.

Amid a media swarm, Santorum greets a Republican.

The media were banned from the actual dinner — but I was a guest of Mike Rogers of Granite Grok, so I got this picture of Senator Santorum greeting Mike’s wife. By the way, the entre at the dinner was prime rib served so rare, it still had a pulse.


These New Hampshire Republican ladies are undecided voters who had been for Romney until they heard Rick Santorum.


Michael Graham makes a point to Michael Barone.

Today I’ll be a guest on “Da Tech Guy on Da Radio” on WCRN-AM 830 from 10 a.m. until noon, and you can click here to listen live.

UPDATE: Permit me to say that this headline is a lie:

Rick Santorum focuses on gay marriage

Rick Santorum is not “focusing on gay marriage.” He is being asked — asked repeatedly by reporters and by people at town-hall meetings — about his opposition to gay marriage, and he is explaining his opposition. He is not obsessed with the issue, but neither is he ever going to back down from what he believes.

Anonymous: You’re Doing It Wrong

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by Smitty

I suffered through this entire video:

How hard is it to run a manifesto through a speech synthesizer and upload it to YouTube? Even to obscure the account that delivered the video?

It’s bad enough to place yourself on a level with the Chief Executive, and order him about. What is worse will be when he gaffs you right off. Are you really going to try the Stratfor treatment? In a way, your feckless orders are as bad as campaign promises, Anonymous. The suspicion is that there won’t be any delivery.

How about applying your talent in a Tea Party mode? Let’s flog the GOP into something useful. Hiding behind opaque pointers is all fun and games on Slashdot; it’s not how adults set about driving improvement.

Two Excellent Arguments in Favor of a Jon Huntsman Presidency

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HOLLIS, N.H.
At tonight’s Hillsborough County GOP dinner I had the enormous pleasure of meeting Mary Anne and Abby Huntsman:

For all the grief I’ve given “Governor Asterisk” in the past several months, I must confess that his daughters were not only lovely, but also quite gracious. I gave them one piece of advice: “Whatever you do, don’t turn into Meghan McCain.”

They laughed: “Don’t worry about that!”

UPDATE (Smitty): Welcome, Instapundit readers! If I may pile on the advice, Chelsea Clinton might be worth a wide berth.

UPDATE II (RSM): Just want to point out that, despite the charm and pulchritude of Mary Anne and Abby, the Santorum surge is still the big story.

Dan Riehl Joins The Downfall Parody Club With A Nice Outing

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by Smitty

This has NSFW potty mouth, but builds to a fine conclusion:

Having the viewer substitute a contemporary figure for Adolf alters the game a little bit. The contrast between Mitt’s wax museum facade and Adolf’s apocalyptic meltdown is spectacular here. I prefer casting Hitler as a senior diabolical mastermind, packing plenty of evil, but still needing to watch his six and please his truly evil overlords, e.g. Soros.

Perhaps if the blogs crank out enough of these parodies, the GOP will have an epiphany and realize that Progressivism needs to rejoin its old boyfriend Naziism on the scrap heap of history, and set about restoring liberty in this country.