Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Congratulations Rick Santorum!

Condolences... my fellow Americans.

Of course... (*SMILE*)... don't believe a word you read until it's verified by me, folks.

(*WINK*)

What... "has Bill finally lost it," you ask?

Nope. I'm only pointing out that all isn't necessarily as it seems.

Take this Washington Times reporting from a mere five days ago:

Press reports have put Mr. Santorum in second place based on projections about how delegates will be allocated in some of the caucus states where voters have cast their ballots, but where the actual delegates won’t be decided until later, at county, district and state conventions.

Hmm... interesting! Had you heard this before? If not... you might want to wonder "why not?"

Indeed, five days ago this is what the Washington Times was reporting:

Rick Santorum may have won more primaries but the Republican National Committee’s current delegate count shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has more bound delegates than Mr. Santorum in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

Now is this still the case today... after last night's contests? Frankly... I don't know. Here's what I do know though:

2,282,245 vs. 2,101,951.

Do you know what those numbers are, folks? They're the vote tallies so far for Santorum vs. Gingrich. Yep... Santorum has a slight lead. No denying that! But the word is "slight."

Again... let me ask you... do the numbers I've just laid out represent the slaughter that you've been hearing about on TV or on the radio or reading about in the newspapers or online?

And votes for Romney so far? Over three million; 3,472,365 to be precise.

And for Ron Paul? For the libertarian candidate, so far... 949,207.

Hmm... what does the math say...??? It says Romney 3,472,365 vs.

(*DRUM ROLL*)

Non-Romney... 5,333,403.

Again, folks... if any of this comes as a "surprise" to you, let alone a "shock," ask yourself why that could possibly be. Could it possibly be because the media - both mainstream and "conservative" - is in the tank for Romney and has been all along?

(That was meant as a rhetorical question, by the way...) (*SMILE*)

And could the past several months' focus on Santorum have been a deliberate tactic to boost the Santorum candidacy in the short term in order to weaken the Gingrich candidacy over the long term...???

(Again... rhetorical question.) (*CHUCKLE*)

Let me lay it out for you once again, folks:

The mainstream media wants Obama to win.

They believe Obama can beat Romney, therefore, they'll happily "hold their fire" on Romney the candidate for the GOP nomination. (On the other hand... if Romney gets the nomination... they'll go after him with both barrels. All of a sudden you'll hear things about Romney you've never heard before... things from that biography I read last month... things that will depress Republican voter turnout.

As to Santorum... the instinctual hatred for the "Christian Right" candidate runs deep and it does indeed seep out. On the other hand... even while believing that Obama is the odds on favorite to beat Romney (with their help, of course), I doubt the confidence level is through the roof.

But... they surely believe that if Santorum is the GOP nominee that the election is Obama's for the taking.

(*SHRUG*)

And the "conservative" media...???

Folks... we've gone over this before.

(*SIGH*)

Giving the management at Fox News, NRO, and the Wall Street Journal the benefit of the doubt... analyzing their motivations in the best possible light... they truly believe that Romney stands the best chance of beating Obama and absent that, they believe his campaign would provide the best coattails to Republican Senate candidates in their effort to take control of the Senate.

(*SHRUG*)

Anyway... no need to reiterate Republican Establishment thinking... or, rather... lack thereof.

So where does this leave us? Where it always does... with me providing facts and analysis you can trust. You may not always agree with my conclusions... but you know I won't lie to you and I won't attempt to manipulate you.

I'll continue to do the work. You continue to decide how you react to it.