He Turned The Electorate Into A Newt

And yet they might pull this lever for Newt anyway.

So the polls have consistently described a three way race for the GOP nomination between Mittens, the Hermancain and Newt.  After spending a month explaining why Cain was just a flash in the pan, the press is now explaining why Newt can never be the GOP nominee.  And their points are all logical.

So what.

If the 2012 nominating process was logical, Romney would be battling Christie or Daniels or even Petreaus for the GOP nomination.  Instead, he's consistently losing to a serial sexual assaulter and tied with a man with the moral authority of Caligula.

Tony "Not The Gay Actor From Psycho" Perkins says that Santorum is the guy to watch.  To which I say, eww, do I have to?  Yes, Santorum is the real deal for social conservatives, in other words, he combines the religious fervor of Savanarola with the political instincts of Mullah Omar.  I guess it's not out of the question that Santorum surges to a respectable finish in Iowa, but c'mon.

Newt has a few things going for him.

A) He has the sort of low political cunning that will serve him well in the GOP field.  His embrace of Cain in their "debate" was VERY clever.  If Cain continues to implode, he will pick up Cain's supporters.  He has become a consistent critic of the debate formats and the questions.  This allows him to attack the media, a group about as loved as Congress.

B) He has also basically positioned himself as the wizened version of Paul Ryan.  He's the "idea guy" in a party of flat taxers, wall builders and Wall Street deregulators.  Newt has for years managed to convince the press and others that he's an uber-genius.  I think he's more cunning than smart, but hey, you work with what you have.

C) He's the perfect representation of the GOP at the moment.  An angry, middle aged white guy who is awfully sure of his positions.

The downsides?

A) If he's the perfect mirror of the Tea Party voters, is that a reflection of themselves that they want to see?

B) He's got almost no money.  Ideally, Perry will start attacking Romney for him, but we'll see.  Not having money is a real problem.

C) Cain doesn't seem to be really going anywhere.  Cain has to completely implode for Gingrich to become plausible.  It is inconceivable to me that Cain has NOT imploded under the weight of the allegations leveled at him.

But this goes to show how bizarre this nominating process is.  How committed GOP voters are to NOT supporting Romney.

And that leaves the door open for Newt.