Comments on: The Real Reason Romney Surged In Florida http://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/2012/01/29/the-real-reason-romney-surged-in-florida/ A NonPartisan Analysis of Presidential Politics Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:45:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Matthew Dickinson http://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/2012/01/29/the-real-reason-romney-surged-in-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-24478 Matthew Dickinson Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:21:05 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/?p=11652#comment-24478 According to the online political website TheHill, Romney has endorsements from 73 members of Congress, while Gingrich has but 9. These numbers do not include other endorsers who are not in Congress, but my sense, like yours, is that Romney has many more than Gingrich. While he was in the race Perry had 13 congressional endorsements, most of them in the Texas delegation. Whether they will follow Perry’s endorsement of Newt remains to be seen. Given his ideological leanings, I think Perry simply thinks Gingrich, who is positioning himself to capture the Tea Party vote, is closer to his policy and political preferences than is the more moderate Romney. I think Cain – also a Tea Party favorite – endorsed for similar reasons. Keep in mind that the Tea Party, on principle, is motivated by a desire to change Washington, and it was instrumental in defeating several incumbent Republicans in high profile races. But it is also a relatively recent phenomenon, springing to life in the last two years. Bottom line: most high-profile endorsements are going to come from the Republican party establishment, not the Tea Party, and that means they are more likely to go to the establishment candidate Mitt Romney rather than the guy who is selling himself as a Tea Party insurgent. At least that’s my read.

]]> By: Jason http://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/2012/01/29/the-real-reason-romney-surged-in-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-24473 Jason Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:49 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/?p=11652#comment-24473 Your mention of Dole and McCain raised a question for me:

My sense is that Gingrich is trailing Romney substantially in the competition for high-profile endorsements. Yet both Perry and Cain chose to endorse Gingrich after leaving the race. Presumably Perry at least had been attractive to some high-profile party figures. Why do you think we haven’t seen more high-profile endorsements for Gingrich if his former competitors are choosing to back him against Romney?

]]>