Is Mitt forfeiting Florida

....so he decided to do a partial release ASAP....he probably does not believe he can win any state, until he gets it behind him. I wouldn't call it a forfeit - just the timing is not working out for him.

Probably goes back to the Spiro Agnew days.

Then I worry. Ever since Reagan won, and then G.W. Bush won, I never take it for granted that someone truly terrible cannot win in the good old U.S.A.

If he has a "sunny" personality like Reagan or was what passes for handsome in republican land, then I'd worry. The last angry president this country elected was Nixon. And we don't elect people who looks like a troll for President.

No he wasn't nasty and petulant angry like Nixon.

But he was sarcastic bullying angry.

Hopefully the memory is fresh enough that we would not repeat. But I really do hate to take the chance.

when he first ran....remember he was the one everyone wanted to have a beer with. I belive "amiable dunce" was the best description of him early on. Cheney, on the other hand, was always a dick.

giving people nicknames, etc. In some ways that is worse. Bush was the high school kid who pretended to be your best buddy so that he could copy your homework and then he would show you up in front of his cronies. Rather than amiable dunce, he was a sly conniving bastard. I never wanted to have a beer with him.

but my point is the same. Even he knew he had to cover up the nasty to get elected. EVERYONE knows Newt is nasty so he has a choice - try and cover it up which wont work (he's a hothead who cannot let any slight lay there - he has to be a dick about it) or stay the angry man he is - I don't think that gets elected.

My dad fears all demigogues (sp?) and has absolutely no faith in the country that voted for W. When he asks how I can be so optimistic I answer that he raised me that way - drives him crazy.

he may be down right now by 5 points or so, but so was Newt down in SC. And the media is saying this morning that Mitt got the best of the debate last night. Thursday's debate will be pivotal to both Mitt and Newt.

There was a poll today that had Gingrich up 5 with a week to go.

After Florida, everything pretty much stops for a month. That means the only thing the media will have to focus on is "Why Mitt lost", "Can Mitt recover", "Is Mitt's team collapsing", "is the GOP panicking" etc. stories.

I tuned in last night for the SOTU. Mitt and his packs are running alot of strong negative ads against Newt in Fl. I saw several unique 30 second attacks in the few political ads I saw. In fact most of the ads I saw were attacks on Newt, they were more common than commercial ads.

As far as the taxes go, the idea is to air out the dirty laundry long before the general election season, in hopes that the public will tire of the story and so Romney can evade further discussion of it in the future with "asked and answered." The extra time will also allow for the Romney camp's own counter-lies to do their work.

That still doesn't explain why Romney would release the figures on the very day that President Obama pinned his own reelection on raising taxes on people like Mitt.

Taken all together, that's beyond stupid... is Mitt working for President Obama?

(As I pointed out elsewhere, earlier, the limited release of tax information will instantly spur investigators to look for what Romney's hiding, as well as pique public interest. But Mitt's holding a dirty dog and doesn't seem to care if he tosses the dog on the couch. I guess he assumes the help will clean that up for him...)

As far as Florida goes, perhaps Mitt isn't forfeiting the race there so much as considering it in the bag and moving on. I'm not sure there has been a fair election in Florida since 1998. Maybe Mitt knows there hasn't been one and thinks he's got that race... "secured," as Karl Rove would put it.