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Subscribe to RSSBOSTON -- Mitt Romney's campaign gathered the national press corps in their campaign war room this morning to deliver a simple message: It would take an "act of God" for any candidate not named Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination.
The Boston-based campaign projected confidence in Romney's ability to win the nomination given the emerging delegate math in the campaign following last night's Super Tuesday contests.
"We will get to 1,144 whether it's on someone else’s timeline, or on our timeline," said one top Romney aide. "We will get to 1,144 and be the Republican nominee."
The background briefing with several members of the campaign's senior staff was emblematic of Romney's campaign: no grand flourishes, just business, math and message, with aides asserting the calendar was ill-suited to any candidate looking to eat into Romney's delegate lead.
Looking ahead to a primary calendar where the only remaining true winner-take-all states appear to favor Romney -- Delaware, Utah, New Jersey and the District of Columbia (where Rick Santorum is not on the ballot) -- the advisers tried to slowly close the door on Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who they said had little to no opportunity left to close the delegate gap.
Other delegate-heavy states like California and Texas (the latter thought to be less friendly to Romney) are winner-take-all by congressional district, which all but guarantees their large delegate hauls' being split among candidates, rather than awarding a large haul to a single GOP hopeful. One Romney aide said one would have to "bend the laws of reality" to see Gingrich or Santorum making a significant dent in Romney's lead in those states.
"There’s not a lot of Floridas left out there, no more Arizonas, no more Virginias. There’s just no more big chunks of delegates to go get. So whether it's a one-, two-, three- or four-way race, you’re still going to have people bunched up there," said one Romney aide, dismissing a question about whether a smaller field might make Romney's path more difficult.
Romney captured 65 percent of the available delegates on Super Tuesday, pushing his total to 339 pledged delegates, according to NBC News projections, out of the 1,144 needed to secure the nomination. A campaign spokesperson also said the campaign had raised $11.5 million in February, yet again outpacing every other Republican candidate. They did not, however, disclose the amount of cash left on hand after bruising and expensive contests in Michigan and Ohio.
Taken together, the campaign hopes math, if not ideology, will help their candidate consolidate a Republican base still resistant to his nomination in some quarters. Romney has thus far failed to win a culturally Southern state (Virginia and Florida notwithstanding) or to convince the self-identified "very conservative" Republican voters that he is the man best suited to challenge President Obama in the fall.
One aide argued that even if Romney never fully wins over rural conservatives, he would end up with their support in November, in part because such voters are the most likely to be strongly opposed to the president's re-election.
Romney aides dismissed the persistent narrative of their candidate as a weak front-runner, unable to connect and failing to garner the support of independent voters -- noting that he won states as diverse as Vermont, Alaska and Ohio last night, and pointing to polling from 1992, which showed then-Gov. Bill Clinton's favorability ratings upside down.
"If I remember correctly, he served two terms," said one aide.
Asked directly when they would begin working behind the scenes to convince the Gingrich and Santorum campaigns to see the math their way, one Romney adviser responded bluntly: "Now."
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can't wait for those debates between the socialist and the Mormon.
should be good... O... uhhh.... uhhh... it's Bush's fault. lol
Pride goeth before a fall, Mittens.
unless your the first black president of course... the pride just goeth before everything
At this point, with 27 months of private sector job growth, manufacturing at a 10 year high, export of American goods increasing including record oil exports, etc. I'd say that pride is appropriate. That said, if you're falling all over yourself to support the man who created the blueprint for the Healthcare Reform Act and encouraged the President to copy it "for the good of the country," then be my guest. ;)
Oh, one more thing - it's "you're" as in "unless you are the first black President..." Why can't y'all ever get that simple little thing right?
at this point,
more people on welfare than at any time in history.
more people on food stamps that at any time in history.
less people paying taxes than at any time in history.
free healthcare for all that really isn't free.
etc......
Wrong again, Jason.
There were more people on welfare/food stamps under Bush. Go ahead, look it up. I dare you.
Less revenue via taxes? Gosh, I wonder why... hmmm, whatever could it be?
What "free healthcare" are you babbling about? Healthcare Reform Act didn't give free healthcare to anyone - it just ensures that you can buy insurance and not be kicked off at the whim of the insurance company when they don't want to pay out.
Get it together, Dude. You're not making any points for your side here.
Year GDP-US $ billion Welfare-total $ billion
1997 8270.46 279.02 a
1998 8727.02 271.24 a
1999 9286.86 277.39 a
2000 9884.17 293.51 a
2001 10218 316.89 i
2002 10572.4 383.19 a
2003 11067.8 418.00 i
2004 11788.9 408.25 a
2005 12554.5 408.51 a
2006 13310.9 413.00 a
2007 13969.3 422.29 a
2008 14270.5 497.06 a
2009 14014.8 626.18 a
2010 14551.8 786.58 e
2011 14958.6 744.68 g
2012 15601.5 679.19 g
Yikes SF troll.
Thanks for playing.
lol... nice link... ;) Now play with the numbers for food stamps, Jason. Yikes! You lose.
i won a long time ago SF.
you said...
There were more people on welfare/food stamps under Bush
It's what's great about demoturds... it's all good until you show them facts.. then... chirp...chirp
demoturds?
lmao... such a WINNER!
you said... more people on food stamps that at any time in history. Did you forget?
So if Mitt Romney becomes president and he runs the country like a business does that mean Americans will
be downsized and the job of being American will be outsourced and will he collect a huge bonus for a job well done?
the post office would be a good start.
it's losing money faster than a sailor at the Pink Pony.
the employees are grossly overpaid, undereducated and indolent.
Sounds like downsizing is a good plan to me.
Where in the Constitution does it say that the USPS will have to make money? It doesn't, but it definitely lays out the creation and duties. It is just one of those things like defense that we have to do. You can't just ignore parts of the Constitution, you have to take it as a whole..
lol... someone's filled with righteous, fox-news induced indignation over the gaul of the best postal service in the world... perhaps if the GOP hadn't tampered with them, they'd be just fine? Research is your friend, Jason. ;)
lol
i can see where the post office is necessary and vital to our safety.
they'd be fine... with an 80% administrative overhead it's one well oiled machine.
lol
Ever heard of the Postal Clause, Jason? Apparently the good old founding fathers felt that they were necessary and vital to our well-being. PAEA took a thriving organization an eviscerated it.
Jason, you might be walking a little too close to the deep end. The post office has nothing to do with our defense. You probably need to brush up on American History.
What? You've flunked it three times?
He thinks he's the man but instead of running away with it he is limping away with it. He had better hope he has the delegates he needs by the convention or he will be screwed. I dont think any of it matters because he wont beat Obama.
So it's either Goldman Sachs ( Romney ) or Goldman Sachs ( Obama ).
No thank you...I'll support Ron Paul.
Praise you jesus!
tempting the Almighty, are we Mittens?
Any mention of God stirs up the clueless heathen secular liberals....what a bunch of witless buffoons. God help them.
Feisty, only 4,999 more mentions of "magic underwear", and I win my over/under bet...
magic underwear
Average I.Q of clueless heathen secular liberals......126
Avewrage I.Q of guys named Bob from Virginia.....32
average IQ of Obama's base... can't tell... they can't read the tests. lol
Hey Jason, how can you tell of a poster on a political board is a Republican?
By their unoriginal, copycat mentality.
Can this country exist with a Conscientious Objector President?
All the atheists with the anti God speak...... may chime innnnnnn....................NOW ! MSNBC has done it again....
"There's not a lot of Florida's left out there..." Sad but true: Romney's spokesperson needs a grammar lesson and MSNBC needs to get a good proofreader. (Should be: There AREN'T a lot of FLORIDAS out there...")
Apparently Virginians named 'Bob' succumb as well...
Right about now, God is looking down and shaking his head and wondering when the residuals are going to start rolling in for use of His name so much in these campaigns.
he doesn't needs resids... he knows Bernake.
history tells us the before the Titanic launched they mentioned something about God not being able to sink the boat, we all know how that turned out. Romeny or his people should choose their words carefully.
If Santorum had won the noimination you just know the evangelical crowd would have said it was divine intervention. How come when Mitt will win there will be nothing said and of course when Obama won why no mention that maybe that was God's will? I guess it is only God's will when it is something they want to happen!
I heard that kind of language was used before the Titanic set sail!! Remember it was supposed to be unsinkable.
it need a act of JOSEPH not GOD ..............OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GOD what is wrong with this World every nobady is useing you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KHK nexus
imagine if Obama or a Democrat said something as arrogant as this.......Fox, Maha El Rushbo, Beck, OReally?, and Hannity would soil themselves
Pride goeth before the fall, assh|e
Dear God,
I know i dont often ask you for favors and such, since youre busy making sure entropy and evolution keep working. But if you could pull off some small act and maybe get the GOP nomination to goto someone like oh i dont know... Ron Paul and not Mitt Romney, thatd be just super.
Thanks
Why does God hate Santorum?
I am praying for an Act of God, Vote Newt
Dumb!! Romney just told Santorum what he needs to do and I'll bet Santorum has already made a deal with God.
Hello God, this is Rick. I haven't talked to you since yesterday but could you read this article on MSNBC. Romney is really pushing it isn't he. So wait until the last minute and then ACT !!!
"Even God Himself couldn't sink this ship"
(Uttered by the owners of Titanic, and we all know how that turned out.)
His bravado about God and his nomination aside, I like Mitt. He connects with average Americans by basically telling them that the icicles on their shacks sparkle in the sunlight, just like his diamonds do. What's not to like? :)
Technically speaking, Romney didn't make the "act of God" comment, his staffers did. Still, I think declaring victory at this point is premature. Also, even if you are right, rubbing the other candidate's noses in sh*t isn't a good way to endear yourself to them come November, when you are going to need their help.
Romney, you're the frontrunner. Act frontrunnerly. You want to beat the Gingrich and Santorum campaigns, but not alienate them.
Oh, please, God.