Romney Takes Arizona and Michigan

It looks like Mitt Romney will win Arizona and Michigan.  Just a couple of weeks ago, Santorum had taken a lead in the national polls and had a substantial lead in the polls for Michigan.

Romney can thank Ron Paul for his victory in Michigan.  The last debate, that took place in Arizona, may have been a game changer for Rick Santorum.  Ron Paul took him to school.  He pointed out many of his inconsistencies and exposed Santorum as a hypocrite.  He pointed out that Santorum campaigns like he wants smaller government, but his actions as a senator were completely different.

While there are still headlines to be made, I think Mitt Romney is the heavy favorite to win the nomination at this point.  It is hard to believe that the Republicans will put, as their nominee, the founder of Obamacare.  Romneycare was instituted in Massachusetts and is very similar to Obamacare.  While Romneycare may be constitutional, it still does not make it good policy.

The one issue that the entire Republican Party agrees on is that Obamacare is a bad thing.  So the party nominee will be the unofficial founder of Obamacare.  Makes sense to me.

Romney is really going to get the nomination out of default.  He has the money and backing to win it and the other candidates all have their major flaws.  Of course, Ron Paul doesn't, but the majority of the country isn't quite ready for him yet.

Rick Perry should have stayed in the race.  Conservatives are hungry for someone decent who matches their views.  Perry was horrible in the debates, but he should have stuck it out.  He actually could have come back and challenged Romney.

As for Ron Paul and his libertarian message, he will have over 100,000 votes coming out of Michigan.  If he stays in the race (which I expect him to), then he will likely amass a couple of million votes when it is all over.  While not all of the people who vote for him are hard-core, he definitely has the most loyal and passionate following.  This was shown by about 4,000 people attending a Ron Paul event in Michigan.

I think it is fairly safe to say now that there are about one million Americans who would consider themselves solid libertarians and several million more who lean libertarian.  To put this in perspective, no Libertarian Party presidential candidate has ever received a million votes in one election.

Although the percentage of libertarians still seems small, we don't need a majority to gain liberty.  We need a tireless minority.  We need a solid 10%.  We are getting closer and closer.  I really believe that there is good reason to be optimistic for the long-term future.  More Americans are waking up and embracing the idea of liberty.  I think the libertarian revolution is really rolling now and I expect it to continue.