Judge Rules Against Rick Perry’s Virginia Ballot Law Suit … Perry, Gingrich, Santorum & Huntsman Will Not Appear on VA Ballot for March 6th Primary

NO SOUP FOR YOU …

A Virginia judge rules against Rick Perry’s legal challenge to the Virginia ballot rules. If the primaries make it to March 6 and the Virginia primaries, Perry, Gingrich, Santorum and Huntsman will not be on the primary ballot. so says  U.S. district judge John Gibney. Basically the judge states, the candidates knew the rules in advance, they had an opportunity to follow the rules and failed to do so. Since they did not get the required 10,000 signatures from registered voters, including at least 400 signatures from each of the state’s congressional districts, they failed to meet the standard to be on the ballot.

The courts opinion can be read HERE.

“They knew the rules in Virginia many months ago; the limitations on circulators affected them as soon as they began to circulate petitions,” he writes. “The plaintiffs could have challenged the Virginia law at that time. Instead, they waited until after the time to gather petitions had ended and they had lost the political battle to be on the ballot; then, on the eve of the printing of absentee ballots, they decided to challenge Virginia’s laws. In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair.”

The decision means Perry, as well as Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman, will not appear on the ballot in the state’s March 6 primary.

Much more on the decision at Outside the Beltway.

The decision makes perfect sense. Everyone knew the standard to be on the ballot, if you failed to meet that standard why should you be rewarded for not following the rules.  The only names that will appear on the Virginia GOP primary ballot will be Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. That should be an interesting situation in its own right.

CBS Poll: Romney Beats Mitt Obama 47-45, Ron Paul Tied and Santorum Only Trails by 4 Points

WOW, the following CBS poll could not have gone over well with Barack Obama and his reelection minions. A CBS poll shows Obama trailing GOP Presidential primary contender Mitt Romney 47-45, basically tied with Ron Paul and The One leads Rick Santorum 47-43.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a two-point lead against President Obama in a potential general election matchup, according to a new CBS News poll.

The survey found that Romney is the only GOP candidate to hold a lead over the president in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, though Texas Rep. Ron Paul trails by just one point.

Both Romney’s lead over Mr. Obama – 47 percent to 45 percent – and Mr. Obama’s lead over Paul – 46 percent to 45 percent – are within the survey’s three percentage point margin of error.

More polling analysis at NRO.

Let the primary voting begin in New Hampshire … first up, voting results from Dixville Notch.

Post Iowa Caucus … Mitt Romney Up Big in New New Hampshire Polls with 20 Point Lead, Santorum Sees Modest Bounce

With just a few days to go before New Hampshire primary, Romney with commanding lead.

Following the Iowa Caucus 8 vote narrow victory by Mitt Romney over Rick Santorum, the former Massachusetts Governor appears to be up big in the polls for the New Hampshire primary. According to three polls, Mitt Romney has a commanding lead in the Granite state of NH. Romney is in the lead in New Hampshire; however, it appears that Santorum has received a modest bounce as well. It is impossible to imagine that Mitt Romney will not win NH; however, the real question is whether the second place candidate will be Santorum or Paul and if that individual will get more than 20% of the vote.

A Suffolk University poll for Boston-based WHDH-TV shows Mitt Romney up big with an overwhelming 40%, in second is Ron Paul with 17% and Rick Santorum has surged into third with 11%.

An NBC/Marist poll, Romney receives 42% of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, followed by Ron Paul with 22, and Rick Santorum at 13%. Although Romney has a commanding lead in NH and it is pretty much a forgone conclusion that the race will be called much quicker primary night in New Hampshire, than that of the Iowa Cuacus, the poll shows that Santorum has made considerable gains from 2% to 13% in a month.

More than a month ago – in an NBC-Marist poll conducted Nov. 28-30 – Romney stood at 39 percent, Gingrich at 24 percent, Paul at 16 percent, Huntsman at 9 percent, Perry at 3 percent and Santorum at 2 percent.

The University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll conducted for WMUR-TV also shows Romney up big in New Hampshire prior to next weeks primary and Santorum with an increase. The poll shows Romney leading the way with 43% of the vote, Paul in second with 18%, Santorum in third up from 4% to 11%, and Gingrich and Huntsman trailing the pack.

More polling data and analysis at the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Also, the most recent Rasmussen poll shows a major shake up in the GOP race, Santorum up big; however, Romney up as well.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters in New Hampshire finds Romney earning 42% support. Texas Congressman Ron Paul is a distant second with 18% of the vote, followed by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, hot off his photo finish with Romney in the Iowa caucuses, at 13%.

According to the Real Clear Politics average polling, Romney up by 21% in the Granite state.

Eight is Enough … Mitt Romney Defeats Rick Santorum in GOP Iowa Caucus by 8 Votes … GAME ON!!!

Eight was not only enough, it was just enough last night for Mitt Romney.

The 2012 GOP Iowa Caucus went down to the very end … the final result, Mitt Romney defeats Rick Santorum by just a mere 8 votes. It was nip and tuck throughout the evening between Romney and the anti-Romney candidate, Rick Santorum.However, the story of the night was not Romney’s victory, it was Santorum’s surge from no where to coming in send by just 8 votes. Incredible.

WIN: Romney
PLACE: Santorum
SHOW: Paul

Mitt Romney’s quest to swiftly lock down the Republican presidential nomination with a commanding finish in the Iowa caucuses was undercut on Tuesday night by the surging candidacy of Rick Santorum, who fought him to a draw on a shoestring budget by winning over conservatives who remain skeptical of Mr. Romney.

In the first Republican contest of the season, the two candidates were separated much of the night by only a sliver of votes, with Mr. Romney being declared the winner by eight ballots early Wednesday morning. But the outcome offered Mr. Santorum a chance to emerge as the alternative to Mr. Romney as the race moves to New Hampshire and South Carolina …

As Rick Santorm stated last night … GAME ON!!! Next stop, New Hampshire.

2012 Iowa Republican Caucus: Its a Three Way Race Between Romney, Santorum and Paul (Update: Ron Paul Finishes Third)

The 2012 Iowa Caucus as been a nip and tuck, too close to call horse race all night long. Its been back and forth between the three lead horses, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. What will come of this, is Iowa really going to make Ron Paul the winner? Really?

See real time poll results at Fox News.

Presently with 87% of the vote in at 9:50 PM CST … Santorum 25%, Romney 25% and Paul 22%. It is rather interesting that Paul’s negative and nasty ads may have cost him voted in the waning moments leading into today’s caucus vote. Paul may have savaged Gingrich; however, he might have done harm to himself as well.

Continued updates can be found at The Other McCain … Santorum having a hell of a showing tonight, Beating even surge projections. Talk about peaking just at the right time. Will Santorum be able to sustain the momentum and the slings and arrows that will follow not that he is a top tier candidate?

UPDATE I: Fox News predicts that Ron Paul finishes third. WOW, what happened to all the Paulies in Iowa? Third? Sorry folks but this is a major failure and set back for the Paul campaign.

UPDATE II: So far predicted finishes … 3rd Ron Paul, 4th Newt Gingrich, 5th Perry, 6th Michele Bachmann and 7th Huntsman. It is still up in the air as to who is #1 and #2, Romney or Santorum.

UPDATE III: At 10:44  PM CST with 95% of votes counted: Santorum 29,017 – Romney 28,908

UPDATE IV: 11:23 PM CST – Romney 29,625 – Santorum 25,584