If Mitt Romney lost the Florida Primary, could it be the end of his candidacy?

[GordonGecko]

I say no....but it makes the chances of him limping into the Convention a bloody mess, broke, and hated by a big minority of his own Party...that more likely.

 

[Bo-4]

It wouldn't be the end. Mittens makes 20 million a year on investments alone and he'll spend it if necessary to go down to the bitter end and get the power he's been craving for the past decade!

 

[GordonGecko]

At some point though, his handlers at RNC HQ would be worried that they were backing a losing horse and that to have ANY control over Newt, they'd need to get behind him.

I think that point would be WAY down the road though...say a Super Tuesday, where Newt won most of the primaries and Romney picked up only one or two.

THEN, the RNC would start "negotiations" with Gingrich.

 

[Cerulean Mutt]

Nope. One thing you can say about Mitt - he's prepared for the long haul with a nationwide campaign organizations a decent sized war chest. He'll battle to the bitter end.

 

[GordonGecko]

Nope. One thing you can say about Mitt - he's prepared for the long haul with a nationwide campaign organizations a decent sized war chest. He'll battle to the bitter end.

But that "bitter end" goal-post could get moved. If he loses 30-70% of the Primaries upto and during Super Tuesday, it will be damn near impossible for the RNC and Establishment types to keep backing him...even with a ton of cash.

Mind you this is WAY hypothetical...I see Newt being the one who does 30-70% and being forced out due to lack of money.

But if reversed, endless cash can carry Romney only so far.

 

[Cerulean Mutt]

It's been a crazy primary so far, so I'm not willing to wager how it's all going to shake out.

Super Tuesday is before the switch from proportional to winner take all delegate allocation, so we need to be sure to look at the total delegates won that day, not total victories. Races decided by thin margins aren't going to do much to thin the herd if it's still under a proportional allocation.

 

[Cerulean Mutt]

Also, this is Mitt's last shot at the Presidency - there is no "we'll get'em next time" .

 

[Doc]

VERY hard to predict, BUT...IF he loses Florida, he could risk losing the entire South.

Although, I still think he will at least go the distance. He is "safe" in that aspect, far better positioned than any of the other Primary Candidates.

Due to MONEY, if anything.....