Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Santorum wins in Louisiana, but it means nothing; spending nothing in Wisconsin

Santorum won big in Louisiana, but it didn't profit him at all.  He picked up only 5 delegates over Romney.
How is that possible?

First, only 20 delegates were at stake, less than half Louisiana's total allotment. The rest will be chosen by the party after a caucus April 28.  This procedure seems designed to thwart  the popular will of the primary.

Another thwarting was that in the primary, only candidates receiving 25% or more could win delegates, meaning Santorum and Romney were the only ones who qualified - and Romney barely did, making one wonder what electronic legerdemain managed the few extra votes Romney needed.   Santorum won 10 delegates; Romney 5, and the 5 that would have gone to Gingrich and Paul had their totals been counted, will go Uncommitted, which means that Romney has a chance at them, thus wiping out the effect of a huge double digit loss to Santorum.

It is not clear how the rest of the delegates will be chosen. Louisiana might choose them proportionally to the primary vote - but if the Uncommitteds are Romney voters, it will thwart the will of the voters of Louisiana.

http://lagop.com/2012/03/chairman-villere-congratulates-rick-santorum-on-his-louisiana-primary-victory/


Meanwhile, Romney is outspending Santorum by more than 50 to 1 in Wisconsin.  Santorum's campaign increasingly looks like a bit of theater.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/03/romney-has-virtual-monopoly-on-wisconsin-tv-outspending-118480.html

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