Palm Sunday was three days ago, Good Friday is two days from now, and the coming Sunday will be Easter. Meanwhile millions of students are enjoying a well-earned Spring Break. Well, regardless of whether they earned it, no doubt they are enjoying it. As such, in keeping with my practice, I will lighten up a bit in this week’s post, in recognition of the holiday.
As you probably know, last night Governor Romney took the next “next step” in securing the nomination of the Grand Old Party (GOP) for the 2012 Presidential Race. His victory speech was notable, as much for words he did not utter as for those he did. In his continuing effort to tout his advantage in business acumen, relative to President Obama, Romney characterized POTUS’s policies as those of a “Government-Centered Society.” But terminology aside, that is not new. He defaulted quickly to now familiar talking points, recalling the trite “community organizer” nomenclature.
However, in attempting to define his focus anew, he was careful to omit three key words that he now apparently considers passé. Those words were:
None of that, however, is the focus of this post. No, quiet as it has been kept Democrats are executing a parallel nomination process. Well, parallel in a manner of speaking.
The fact is the President, even though he has no opposition in most states, is still on the ballot, and is candidate for his Party’s nomination. Or he was! Like Governor Romney, President Obama, also swept primaries in
The Democratic process is structured so that 2,778 delegates are required to seal the nomination. At the end of last night’s tallying, President Obama had amassed 2,854 delegates, including 2,160 Pledged Delegates, and 694 Superdelegates,according to the CNNElection Center Tally. The President announced his re-election bid April 4, 2011. So in almost symmetrical fashion, Mr. Obama clenched the nomination just one day shy of the one year anniversary of having announced his bid to seek another term. He will formally accept the nomination during the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which will convene in
By the way, even though the Republican Party has clearly signaled that Governor Romney will be its nominee, eventually, it appears likely if current rhetoric holds, that the nomination process will continue for a while, at least. Rick Santorum has his home state primary,
While some theorize Mr. Santorum’s campaign would lose any semblance of gravitas were he to be beaten in his home state’s primary (April 24th), based on the former Senator’s rhetoric, he has no such concerns or ambivalence. In fact, he continues to insist he is determined go at least to
By that calculation, it is unlikely the race will terminate before June. Of course, considering the most recent successful Presidential candidate clinched his Party’s nomination June 3rd (2008), such a possibility may not be so foreboding. Certainly a solid counterpoint to all the concern expressed about the lingering nature of the GOP Primary process is that the battle between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama actually served to hone Mr. Obama into a more battle-tested candidate, and a tougher opponent for SenatorJohn McCain.
The structure of the GOP Primary Process requires that the successful candidate attain 1,144 delegates. After last night’s primaries, Mr. Romney has earned 655 delegates according to a New York Times Delegate Tally. At this point, none of Mr. Romney’s opponents has any chance to reach the magic number before the 2012 Republican National Conventionin Tampa, which starts August 27th. Rick Santorum appears to be hoping for a brokered Convention; the only scenario in which he could walk away with the nod.
Despite frequently trying to channel Ronald Reagan, and referring to himself as the Party’s only “true Conservative” candidate, most observers outside Santorum’s brain trust, publicly give the Senator virtually not chance to pull that rabbit out of his…hat.
For now, “Three Primaries, Three Victories: A Clean Sweep” merely describes the latest accomplishment for Governor Romney; but it flatly symbolizes the next level for President Obama. I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/primaries/candidates/1918?hpt=hp_t1
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1 comment:
I learned a from this week's column.
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