Adam Graham
An appeal to Ohio Gingrich supporters
By Adam Graham
It's tough to change candidates in order to do the right thing for the country. Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield was (until Saturday) Tennessee Co-Chairman of the Newt Gingrich campaign and a Gingrich delegate did just than when he switched his allegiance to Rick Santorum, and along him went three top Congressional delegates in Tennessee for Santorum.
Campfield hopes his move encourages conservatives across the country to unite their votes behind one candidate, rather than dividing their votes forever. Campfield heeded the words of Santorum who warned that we would never get a conservative President if the conservative field remains forever divided.
Campfield isn't the only one. Ohio voter Ellen Holden voted for Santorum despite the fact, her first choice was Newt Gingrich because she thought her vote would go unnoticed and only end up helping Mitt Romney.
Gingrich supporters in Ohio have a great opportunity to "help Mitt Romney" as most polls show Gingrich at 15%-17% of the vote. This is about half of what Santorum has and well below the 20% threshold required for Gingrich to actually win delegates, but certainly creates enough division in the conservative vote to allow for the possibility of a Mitt Romney victory in Ohio.
Mitt Romney winning Ohio would have a huge psychological effect. It would establish him as being perfectly capable of winning in the mid-west and anywhere else in the country. Ohio is a key state. No Republican has won the GOP nomination without carrying Ohio. If Romney wins Ohio, chances are very strong that he will be the nominee and will be incredibly hard for anyone to stop.
Many Santorum supporters switched to Newt Gingrich before South Carolina to prevent a coronation of Romney. Savvy Gingrich supporters will do the same in Ohio.
As conservatives, our elections should not be primarily about personality but about principles. Santorum is far closer to conservatives than Romney. He also meets the definition of the Buckley Rule with numbers consistently showing Santorum as strong as Romney in a match up against President Obama.
These are factors that Ohio Gingrich supporters would do well to take into consideration on Tuesday as they face the difficult choice of whether to support a conservative candidate who is not their top choice, or whether they'll back their favorite even if it means assisting in the coronation of Mitt Romney as GOP nominee.
© Adam Graham
March 6, 2012
It's tough to change candidates in order to do the right thing for the country. Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield was (until Saturday) Tennessee Co-Chairman of the Newt Gingrich campaign and a Gingrich delegate did just than when he switched his allegiance to Rick Santorum, and along him went three top Congressional delegates in Tennessee for Santorum.
Campfield hopes his move encourages conservatives across the country to unite their votes behind one candidate, rather than dividing their votes forever. Campfield heeded the words of Santorum who warned that we would never get a conservative President if the conservative field remains forever divided.
Campfield isn't the only one. Ohio voter Ellen Holden voted for Santorum despite the fact, her first choice was Newt Gingrich because she thought her vote would go unnoticed and only end up helping Mitt Romney.
Gingrich supporters in Ohio have a great opportunity to "help Mitt Romney" as most polls show Gingrich at 15%-17% of the vote. This is about half of what Santorum has and well below the 20% threshold required for Gingrich to actually win delegates, but certainly creates enough division in the conservative vote to allow for the possibility of a Mitt Romney victory in Ohio.
Mitt Romney winning Ohio would have a huge psychological effect. It would establish him as being perfectly capable of winning in the mid-west and anywhere else in the country. Ohio is a key state. No Republican has won the GOP nomination without carrying Ohio. If Romney wins Ohio, chances are very strong that he will be the nominee and will be incredibly hard for anyone to stop.
Many Santorum supporters switched to Newt Gingrich before South Carolina to prevent a coronation of Romney. Savvy Gingrich supporters will do the same in Ohio.
As conservatives, our elections should not be primarily about personality but about principles. Santorum is far closer to conservatives than Romney. He also meets the definition of the Buckley Rule with numbers consistently showing Santorum as strong as Romney in a match up against President Obama.
These are factors that Ohio Gingrich supporters would do well to take into consideration on Tuesday as they face the difficult choice of whether to support a conservative candidate who is not their top choice, or whether they'll back their favorite even if it means assisting in the coronation of Mitt Romney as GOP nominee.
© Adam Graham
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