What if this happens who will you vote for?

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/paul-abrams/prediction-romney-will-no_b_1684234.html


So if that happens...the person 2nd in line will be Rick Santorum lol.

how would the election look? discuss with maps.

[Politico]

Why do so many Democrats implicitly believe the IRS is a laughingstock? Is it because none of them have ever filed a tax return before? We know their financial literacy is appalling, and their ignorance of economics even scarier, but even they can surely understand the concept of a blind trust?

[morgieb]

Won't happen, but if it does Obama wins in a rout. The only states the Pubbies win are where Osama could run against Obama and still possibly win.

[opebo]

Why do so many Democrats implicitly believe the IRS is a laughingstock?

Presumably because of its microscopic size and eviscerated budget compared to its duties.

[opebo]

...Santorum lol.

how would the election look? discuss with maps.

Added thoughts - Michigan would be close, much closer than with Romney.. Florida I'm also not sure about..

[morgieb]

In those very unlikely circumstances....

[Donerail]

Gary Johnson (who'd probably do better than he will, with Santorum being Santorum).

[Maxwell]

In this situation, Obama. Anything to stave off Rick Santorum, one of the craziest social conservatives as well as one of the most corrupt politicians ever.

[Wisconsin+17]

Same as Opebo, but with PA, VA and FL to Santorum. 

[Maxwell]

Same as Opebo, but with PA, VA and FL to Santorum. 

There is no way Pennsylvania is voting for him over Obama when they might not have even voted for him over MITT ROMNEY, who will surely lose the state in November.

[Yelnoc]

Same as Opebo, but with PA, VA and FL to Santorum. 

lol, ok

[Donerail]

This would happen.

[stegosaurus]

I wouldn't be so sure. If Santorum could keep the focus on the economy and not on social issues, it would be much harder to paint him with the same brush they used to paint Romney (that of the out of touch, mega-rich guy who is only looking out for others like him). Arguably, Santorum had the most centrist fiscal policy of the batch (short of Huntsman, obviously).

[Supersonic]

Santorum, depending what tack his campaign takes.

I wouldn't be so sure. If Santorum could keep the focus on the economy and not on social issues, it would be much harder to paint him with the same brush they used to paint Romney (that of the out of touch, mega-rich guy who is only looking out for others like him). Arguably, Santorum had the most centrist fiscal policy of the batch (short of Huntsman, obviously).

Yeah, I'd agree with this.

[mondale84]

I wouldn't be so sure. If Santorum could keep the focus on the economy and not on social issues, it would be much harder to paint him with the same brush they used to paint Romney (that of the out of touch, mega-rich guy who is only looking out for others like him). Arguably, Santorum had the most centrist fiscal policy of the batch (short of Huntsman, obviously).

Therein lies the problem. Santorum has shown himself incapable of sticking with the economic message, instead he lets himself be distracted by social issues. Just look at the primary season where he would have won Michigan had he not gotten obsessed with talking about how much JFK wanted to make him throw up.

[Maxwell]

Now i took every state and added Obama's total by 5% and subtracted 5% from McCain, and here's what i think would happen if Santorum were the nominee:

Of course that is a huge improvement on how I think Gingrich would preform, where i subtracted 10 from McCain and added 10 to Obama. I know it's simplistic and he's already done, why kick a man while he's done, but this map is humorous.

[Rhodie]

I like Santorum, decent chap.

[RI]

I'd vote for Santorum, but he wouldn't win.

[stegosaurus]

I wouldn't be so sure. If Santorum could keep the focus on the economy and not on social issues, it would be much harder to paint him with the same brush they used to paint Romney (that of the out of touch, mega-rich guy who is only looking out for others like him). Arguably, Santorum had the most centrist fiscal policy of the batch (short of Huntsman, obviously).

Therein lies the problem. Santorum has shown himself incapable of sticking with the economic message, instead he lets himself be distracted by social issues. Just look at the primary season where he would have won Michigan had he not gotten obsessed with talking about how much JFK wanted to make him throw up.

This is true, but also remember that Santorum was running in a GOP primary that lacked a strong social conservative until his candidacy took off. He was the strongest candidate for social conservatism and thought he could fill that void and ride the wave to the nomination (his biggest mistake). Had he made it to the general, I wouldn't be concerned about his priorities.

[mondale84]

I think you all underestimate the amount of grassroots religious support Santorum would get from the social conservative base of the country. He would outperform Bush with those voters because that's basically all he would talk about from dawn 'til dusk. Yes, he would lose many moderates and suburban independents, but he would probably do extremely well in rural areas. Sure, he would still get killed (maybe lose by 10 points) but he would not do nearly as badly as some people think IMO.

Obama: 346
Santorum: 192

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Now i took every state and added Obama's total by 5% and subtracted 5% from McCain, and here's what i think would happen if Santorum were the nominee:

Of course that is a huge improvement on how I think Gingrich would preform, where i subtracted 10 from McCain and added 10 to Obama. I know it's simplistic and he's already done, why kick a man while he's done, but this map is humorous.

To apply that sort of uniform swing is idiotic.  There's every reason to believe that Santorum would actually improve on McCain's numbers in most of the states that McCain won in 2008.

Most of the GOP collapse would be in the Obama states. Furthermore, Santorum would be free to do certain things to appeal to the middle that Romney can't.  A Romney/Rice ticket is impossible because the base would never stand for it, but while they would grumble, a Santorum/Rice ticket would be acceptable to the base.

That said, the article didn't say Santorum would get the nod, but whoever Romney picks as his running mate, and that definitely will not be Santorum.

[Wisconsin+17]

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Why would you assume that Romney would be stronger in PA than Santorum vs Obama?

Romney is losing all the swing states. Santorum would do better in all the swing states than Romney simply because he brings out the base. Romney, really doesn't appeal to anyone vs Obama. Everyone I've spoken to supporting him is doing so because they perceive him to be 'less bad'. That's going to depress Republican turnout.

[Cobbler]

I'd go for Obama. I'm not a big fan of Santorum.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I'd write in Rudy Giuliani. Can't stand either of them, and I'm not a fan of any of the 3rd party candidates either.

That being said, Santorum would not be the nominee. Romney's delegates control the nomination process, whether they nominate him or not. They would likely go to a strong supporter of him - Christie, perhaps.

[morgieb]

What about Paul? Now that would be interesting.