Your morning jolt: Rick Santorum leads, Newt Gingrich trails in Tennessee poll
A Vanderbilt University poll this morning shows Rick Santorum with a commanding 38 percent lead in the GOP presidential contest in neighboring Tennessee, with Newt Gingrich in a statistical tie for fourth place with Ron Paul.
Gingrich will spend all of today at events in Nashville. Tennessee voters, like those in Georgia, will cast their primary ballots in the 10-state, Super Tuesday vote on March 6.
The top line in Tennessee:
– Santorum, 38 percent;
– Mitt Romney, 20 percent;
– Ron Paul, 15 percent;
– Newt Gingrich, 13 percent;
– Undecided, 13 percent;
That’s based on telephone interviews with 815 likely GOP voters with an MOE of +/-4.1 percent. A larger aspect of the poll, also conducted Feb. 16 to 22 by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt, indicates that both Santorum and Mitt Romney would narrowly defeat President Barrack Obama in November.
The Vanderbilt poll measured antipathy toward the current occupant of the White House this way:
Fifty-nine percent of those polled correctly identified Obama’s birthplace as Hawaii, with 7 percent saying he was born in “Another Country.” Twenty-four percent of those polled believed that Obama was a Muslim, while 39 percent said he was Protestant. Among the 14 percent of registered voters who think of themselves as a member of the Tea Party, however, 43 percent thought Obama was a Muslim, Catholic, Jew or an atheist.
And yet, the poll summary also includes these lines:
Voters didn’t seem to think that having a Republican or Democrat in the White House would influence the economy much. Forty-one percent thought the economy would be “fairly good” or “very good” the next few years if Obama is reelected, versus 39 percent if a Republican became president.
***
Ever since GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich decided to give up on Michigan – polling shows him in the single digits – and concentrate on Georgia, there’s been the question of whether Rick Santorum would reciprocate.
After a large reception in metro Atlanta eight days ago, Santorum has yet to schedule another appearance in Georgia, and these paragraphs from an Associated Press piece indicate he may remain absent:
With Gingrich the home-state favorite in Georgia, the state offering the most delegates on Super Tuesday, Romney and Santorum were turning to Ohio, the state with the second-biggest Super Tuesday cache.
Romney was expected to head straight there from Michigan on Wednesday. Santorum wasn’t even waiting until the votes were counted and planned to go to nearby Toledo on Tuesday.
Underscoring the fight already being waged in Ohio, it’s the only upcoming state where Romney and Santorum and allied super political action committees were all spending money on television advertising, according to records of advertising expenditures provided to The Associated Press.
***
We’re told that a bill to enforce the application of the state sales tax on some Internet businesses is expected to make its debut today. The vehicle is likely to be HB 993, which is now simply a shell of its future self.
***
The state Senate today will take up HB 800, the measure to make good Gov. Nathan Deal’s appointment of Joe Jarrard as assistant adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard. State law requires five years’ service in the Guard. Jarrard, a 20-year Army vet who retired as a lieutenant colonel, has none.
Dale Russell of Fox5 Atlanta has this summary of the dilemma. In addition, Russell has posted on Facebook a promo touting an examination of Deal’s appointment of former state Sen. Jim Butterworth as adjutant general.
***
Also on the defensive today will be Tim Echols, chairman of the Public Service Commission. SB 483 would allow the five-member PSC to return to its former practice of choosing its own chairman, rather than rotating the position. It’s very likely that Echols would be ousted on passage.
The bill’s lead sponsor is state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, but Ronnie Chance, R-Tyrone, is also a co-signer. And Chance is one of the governor’s floor leaders.
Writes Echols on his Facebook page:
Back in ‘92, the PSC could choose their chair, but there was constant bickering, drama, and infighting that kept them from being able to elect a chairman. The legislature got dragged into it because of how bad it made the state look and how embarrassing it was for the PSC. They set up the rotation system.
By rotating the Commission chair, all the posturing was removed and the PSC could focus on its job–protecting consumers and regulating Georgia Power.
One other benefit that was not originally intended is that the various regions of the state gets “representation” as the chair rotates. This is certainly not the most important dimension to the system, but with power plants and telephone companies situated all over Georgia, it keeps the Commission’s focus on all of our state.
***
The AJC’s Politifact Georgia today takes a look at this statement from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein: “Our small staff of 51 is still fewer than we had a decade ago, yet our caseload – like that of other courts — has grown.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
180 comments Add your comment
WOW
February 27th, 2012
2:49 pm
@ TD
No one listens to Jesse Jackson anymore he is old news.
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
2:54 pm
WOW… I would assume a few still do.
captguitarman
February 27th, 2012
2:54 pm
Just bad luck for the Pubs this election cycle. The field was pretty much awful, and before that it was comedic with Palin, Bachmann, Perry, Pawlenty, Huntsman,and Cain (who brought about his own demise). Those left have viciously torn into each other, giving Obama a pass, and where Jimmy Carter failed with his similar, abysmal record, things are looking good for Obama. The last Pubs left standing do attack Obama’s policies, but that all falls on deaf ears because their increasingly vicious attacks on each other got all the press.
Had the Pubs rallied around their only possible winning candidate, Romney, from the beginning, things might have been different. The Anyone But Mitt circus and a new front runner every two weeks conveyed a lack of Pub seriousness, especially with Palin’s punditry, and Bachmann and Perry in the race, and Cain’s scandalous downfall – and then after that the confessions of Newt’s ex-wife. The election will turn on the economy, not St. Santorum’s social issues. He will never be elected, even if he some how wins the nomination. Newt is a loose cannon who will never be elected. If Romney is finally nominated after going through this Pub/Con run and operated meat grinder, it is easy to picture a bloody, wounded, exhaused, and dying bull having conquered 8 previous political bull fighters, and then looking up to see the best political bull fighter in the country enter the arena. The Pub/Cons will not come together with the moderates as Romney wishfully predicts, and St.Santorum will have, by then, scared away all the independent voters from the GOP.
The best thing the Pub/Cons can do now is to focus on holding the House and trying to gain the Senate.
Wallis T. Coper
February 27th, 2012
2:54 pm
we didnt use to have all these problims with blacks who new there place.
Wallis T. Coper
February 27th, 2012
2:55 pm
now oboma is presadent an they thank they own the contry
orlando
February 27th, 2012
2:57 pm
Again, great post Carole…. Hopefully your words won’t fall on deaf ears.
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:04 pm
looks like there are 13% who know that none of these candidates are qualified enough to represent this country…
and whats up with two admitted adulterers hanging out with each other…Newt and cain or is that cain and Newt(not)able..
Bob in Atlanta.
February 27th, 2012
3:06 pm
Of those people who voted for John McCain in 2008 what percentage was white? 98%? 99%?
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:07 pm
Frankie…You mean qualified like a two year senator from one of the most corrupt states in the country? NICE!
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:08 pm
BOB in Atlanta….You do realize that Obama could NOT have won the election without the white vote. But keep up your propaganda, you are just helping our cause!
theGOPsucks
February 27th, 2012
3:08 pm
- they only voted for McCain because he was white I guess.
Samuel L. Jackson
February 27th, 2012
3:09 pm
I only voted for Obama because he is black!
theGOPsucks
February 27th, 2012
3:10 pm
UGA 1999 – you do realize your extreme right wing backward thinking candidates will not win the election even with a token like Cain?
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:11 pm
@UGA Newt sqandered his time in office by chasing skirts. if he was serious about taking this country to the next level, he would have done so long before now…..the rest of them have had the same opportunity…where they been.
Yuo put up an astroNUT and a Moose head to represent the elephant league..and your existing candidaes keep canceling themselves out… that’s whats nice…
David Dukes
February 27th, 2012
3:11 pm
and i will vote for any white candidate that runs against Obama, even a criminal like Newt!
Carole
February 27th, 2012
3:12 pm
Orlando, thanks.
nomaj
February 27th, 2012
3:13 pm
Go Rick, go!
Once, again, you’re right, this separation of church and state business is so wrong; what idiot came up with that, anyway?. Only a liberal mush-brain would think that it’s not a great idea to have an official national religion.
claude von vonclaudhousdingerski
February 27th, 2012
3:13 pm
jesse jackson is about as relevant as pat buchanan, two racist peas in the same pod.
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:13 pm
ANd I guess you all voted for the other 44 presidents because they weren’t white because they actually cared abuot the country….righttttttttttt
Ummmno one held a gun to the other white voters to vote for a black man..you are after all the majority….morons straight up morons….
claude von vonclaudhousdingerski
February 27th, 2012
3:14 pm
newt’s to fat to be on mount rushmore.
Grand Dragon of the GA Chapter
February 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
Join us at the next klan rally…errr I mean Tea Party event!! We’ll get the country on the right course by electing a white man again because we know that things can only get better if we put the superior race in the highest positions of power
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
“David Duke(s)” HAHAHA you ignorant fools! You guys can not even spell the mans name correctly!
severely pathetic panderer
February 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
I like American cars and trees that are the right height.
Grand Dragon of the GA Chapter
February 27th, 2012
3:18 pm
hey UGA 1999, i love ya brother! keep on preaching the truth
Barack Obama
February 27th, 2012
3:19 pm
Vote for me, I will….
Kill Jobs
Increase Debt
Keep the poor people poor and needy.
Keep blacks in poverty
Kill the value of the dollar
Pass legislation that will cause gas to increase to over $5 per gallon.
HAHAH, poor souls, if they only knew the truth.
theGOPsucks
February 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
Duke is not a man. He’s an ignorant fool that happens to think just like you do!
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
so Newt is hanging out with Cain, must make the adulterers feel great to see two morons like this trying to represent this country….
At least make the election interesting so far, you have got two adulterer, an anti-christ, a mormon, and the old man of the sea….they all walk into a brothel..have you heard this joke before…….
theGOPsucks
February 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
If Obama would do all that then the right wing should be voting for him, half of that list is what the right wing themselves want to do (keep the poor needy, keep blacks in poverty, increase cost of gas so oil companies can get richer)
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
theGOPsucks….Did I ever say I supported David Duke. However he is no more a racist than Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. HA this is GREAT!
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
theGOPsucks….Nope you can vote for him like the other 95% of blacks. You guys cannot see the forest for the trees. Your blind faith in a man that is killing America is great.
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
theGOPsucks….Your last comment is hilarious. Gas prices are higher now than they ever were with Bush. So I guess you are right Obama just wants to make the oil companies richer.
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
vote for which republican
they will;
tax the poor
increase the wealth of the rich
promise $2.00 gas
approve adultery for every household
kill the elderly
and not create one damn job, except increase their own financial portfolio
Lourdes Whipperwill
February 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Fascism will come to the shores of America wrapped in the flag, carrying a bible, and proudly displaying a stillborn fetus on the family mantle.
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
I admit that I am an idiot. I know the country is better off if Obama gets reelected. I simply just can’t bring myself to vote for a black man. There I said it. Are you all happy now?
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
continued;
fight useless wars
kiss china’s A$$
let IRAN…run up in’em
Random Reader
February 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Coward!!! Step up and speak on it!! His blood is boiling because a person that does not look like him is in the Oval office!!!
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Nice job moniker stealing. You have been reported and are going to be banned. SEE YOU ALL THE LEFT HAS NO MORALS OR ETHICS, THEY WANT TO STEAL EVERYTHING!
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:27 pm
Obama is white, I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
the GOPsucks
February 27th, 2012
3:28 pm
UGA – newsflash for you, I’m not black. I’m white as I assume you are. It’s no wonder gas is higher than in W’s years, the far right is doing anything and everything possible to get Obama out of office, even if it destroys the country. Most people are wising up to that but you need to wake up too man
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:29 pm
UGA….why is it every republican thinks the president controls the price of gas..gas did hit $5.00 when Bush was in office…
BUSH signed off on $5TRillion dollars for the bailo out in Aug 2008..
put us in two wars
allowed freddie mac and fannie mae (along with Newt) to ram rod the housing market..
Lourdes Whipperwill
February 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
Not all gopers are bigots, but all bigots are gopers.
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
I am so ashamed of myself. This has been a intervention. Thank you all. I am such a fool. Help me overcome my predjudice and racist ways.
Frankie
February 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
hey UGA…your GOP cronnies even said they will destroy the country jst to get Obama out of office…does that sound like people I want representing me…NOT…
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
theGOPsucks….Oh so when Obama and the Democrats had control of the House, Senate and Oval Office it was the Republicans that forced him to continue the Bush tax codes, increase debt, bow to China and pass policies that have caused gas to skyrocket…..OH I GET IT NOW! haha.
Random Reader
February 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
Can anyone tell me why Santorum thinks it is a bad idea for parents to want their kids to go to college???? This guy really does want to send this country back into the 40’s and 50’s… Women need to stay barefoot and pregnant, Only rich white men need to be educated beyond high school…Where did the right get this clown from???
theGOPsucks
February 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
this place has gone mad, I’m outta here
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
Frankie….Because DEMOCRATS SAID THE EXACT SAME THING ABOUT BUSH….THE ROOSTERS ARE COMING HOME!!!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4e6_1330224490
UGA 1999
February 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
Frankie…Provide a link or proof of your last statement please.
Lourdes Whipperwill
February 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
The Father of Lies lives on my cul-de-sac. HE’s a snazzy dresser and loves to bbq.
Random Reader
February 27th, 2012
3:36 pm
Mitch McConnell said his only job was to make Obama a 1 term President…Please tell us how that means working to advance the country???