Santorum surges, Paul pushes, Perry prays, Gingrich cries, cancel the Romney coronation

Many Mitt Romney supporters remind me of those North Koreans who mourned
10 times too hard for their fallen beloved leader. Cancel the Romney
coronation for now. He cannot rise above 25 to 30 percent of his own
party. He is deeply distrusted by 70 percent of his own party. The
battle goes on until Super Tuesday at least. And watch what happens when
Ron Paul, Rick Santorum or another conservative demands Romney release
his tax returns, which will show how much money the candidate of the 1
percent made from firms that fired workers to make Romney money.

While Romney is the most likely candidate to ultimately be nominated, Ron Paul will win at least 15-20 percent through the convention and make it harder for Romney to get his 50 percent. There will be one major conservative opponent to Romney before this finishes, most likely but not definitely Santorum. That conservative candidate will be in the finale versus Romney and Paul before this is decided.

Perry will soon be gone. Goodbye. He will not be missed. Bachmann will soon be gone, though she has shown far more class than Perry. How long they remain will determine when the final showdown is scheduled, and only with that showdown will anyone be coronated.

The obsessive GOP attacks against Ron Paul may well drive him to a very powerful third-party candidacy.

Newt Gingrich was always destined to collapse, as I wrote about him and about Trump, Perry and Cain. They were all media creations. There may be a chance for Gingrich to return to life for a brief moment if the Union Leader goes all out for him in New Hampshire.

Santorum may be different. He earned his support the real way, so let’s see if he does well enough in Iowa to raise money and fight through Super Tuesday.

Net net, my point today is: Cancel the Romney coronation for now. When anyone prematurely proclaims Romney as the nominee, remember he is supported by less than 30 percent of his party, and many of them have the sincerity of North Korean mourners.

Romney is the most likely nominee. But this is no sure thing. The race will not be decided until a final showdown between Romney, Ron Paul and one surviving conservative challenger, which will not happen until Super Tuesday, or later.