| With Newt Gingrich's upset win over Mitt Romney in last Saturday's presidential primary in South Carolina, the race to win the Republican nomination is far from over. That means that all eyes are looking forward, first to Florida and then Nevada, Maine, and Colorado.
From Fox 31's Eli Stokols:
Until Saturday, it looked like Mitt Romney was barely going to break a sweat -- never mind be forced to go after any of his primary opponents -- on his pleasure cruise to the GOP's presidential nomination.
But after Newt Gingrich's ground-shaking, double-digit beat-down in the Palmetto State, the Republican race is suddenly competitve -- and set to engage well beyond the handful of early-voting states.
It's exactly what Colorado Republicans were hoping for when they voted to move up the party's presidential caucues from March to Feburary.
"When we voted to move up, no one could have predicted the race would be as fluid and dynamic as it's turned out to be," Colorado GOP Chairman Ryan Call told FOX31 Denver Monday. "Not only will Colorado's voice be heard -- it could actually be decisive."
Call understands that Colorado, with its caucuses wedged in, along with a few other states, between the Florida primary and Super Tuesday, is but one of a handful of states that are becoming increasingly important to the four remaining GOP candidates.
As Stokols goes on to observe, Mitt Romney trounced eventual nominee John McCain in 2008: Romney scored a whopping 60% of the vote in Colorado's caucuses that year.
In Jefferson County, it was even more of a one-man race, with Romney garnering nearly 70% of the vote compared to about 15% each for McCain and Mike Huckabee.
But 2012 isn't 2008: Romney now faces the curse of the "moderate" label among Republican primary voters and the well-oiled machine that is the Ron Paul ground game. That's not to mention the continued threats of both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum if either (or both) keep gaining momentum from other nominating contests.
With about two weeks until Jeffco Republicans head to public school gymnasiums and church basements to help select their party's nominee, we want to know: who do you think will win the Republican caucuses in Jefferson County?
Remember, we want to know what you think will actually happen, not your preference. In other words, if you had to bet the deed to your house on Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, or Rick Santorum, who would you choose? And while we doubt the results in Jefferson County will be radically different than the state as a whole, we only want to know who you think will win Jeffco.
A poll follows. |
