By Pete Carril ’12
This past Tuesday, Mitt Romney took the Florida primary with Newt Gingrich finishing in a distant second.
Lafayette College Republicans Vice President Garrett Rice ‘12 believes that Romney’s victory in Florida “reinforces the idea that this is Romney’s race to lose.” Never before have three different candidates gone on to win the first three vote primaries, with Rick Santorum winning the Iowa Caucus, Mitt Romney winning the New Hampshire primary, and Newt Gingrich winning handily in the South Carolina primary.
So far, the races have stirred up as much controversy as excitement. “This is the most bizarre primary season I have seen in my entire life. I can’t tell if the primary is comedy or drama,” Professor of Government and Law Joshua Miller said, voicing the opinions of countless political pundits and analysts across the country.
Such sentiments are ill-fated for the GOP base, as the numerous gaffes and nefarious attack ads continue to elicit criticism from party loyalists. According to Rice, the perceived vicious nature of the race is created by the media.
“All of the negative media attention given to candidates is relatively normal and I think once the primary season is over there will be attack ads against both the eventual Republican nominee and President Obama,” Rice said.
Unlike Miller, Rice believes the strangeness of the race is to be “expected.”
“There is only one primary right now instead of two like there were in 2008, and I think that a lot of the students in favor of President Obama are not very concerned with the Republican primary, even though whoever the eventual nominee is could greatly affect Obama’s chances of winning re-election,” Rice said.
Steve Saunders ‘12 echoed this feeling, saying that he has been paying less attention since “there aren’t as many candidates.”
Matt Bernhard ‘12 disagreed, citing the tumultuous nature of the economy as his motivation for heightened political awareness. “I’m also paying more attention because I’m going to be looking for a job when I graduate,” he said.
Matt Musso ‘15 said that he has been following the race, but attributed this to a politics class he’s taking that “forces” him to pay attention. When asked if he would be as interested without the class, he said “probably not.”
When asked what they will remember most about this primary season, both Rice and Miller said, unequivocally, the blunders. Miller referenced two Romney proclamations that seem destined to haunt his campaign: “I like to be able to fire people” and “Corporations are people too.”
Especially after Florida, many pundits and analysts predict Romney will defeat his opponents and become the Republican nominee for President. Miller, though, warns against an early projection in Romney’s favor.
“Newt Gingrich came back from obscurity and Romney seems to be sinking,” Miller said. “The Republican Party leaders are really nervous because neither of them can beat Obama. Gingrich has too much baggage and no one likes Mitt Romney.”