The question for Santorum is money. Gingrich is falling like a rock after his post-primary pressers in Florida and Vegas, he never caught on with donors because too many of them remember what a backstabbing creep he is, and no one wants to be embarrassed. So can Rick attract the big money bundlers who have stayed out of the campaign for the most part so far (Romney's machine is mainly his own, many of them former Bain clients) to take a chance on him.

The fact is the most conservative candidate with any qualifications in this race was Pawlenty, and he was far from a "movement" conservative. Bachmann, with three terms in the House and a couple in the Minnesota legislature and no serious accomplishments to show for it, wasn't ever a serious consideration. The rest aren't nearly conservative enough to satisfy the base, which is why they've flitted from one Not Romney to the other this cycle. Truth be told, take away all the baloney, and Romney is as conservative as any of the rest, if not more so.

No, EPA was a preemptive strike. Nixon created the agency before Congress could create a full Cabinet Department. Even though it's Director has always been treated as Cabinet rank, they aren't, and are subject to more Executive control because of it. It was similar to his initiative to the Soviets, he was buying time.

Sometimes the bad is not the worst alternative.

Untrue. The largest MA pro-life group gave him a perfect score as Governor. But he did have a legislature that varied all the way from 85% to 90% Democratic. He vetoed over 900 bills, but nearly 800 were overridden.

You don't have to like the guy, but stick to the facts.

If Congress isn't willing to do the serious business of cutting huge amounts out of the budget, what is the President going to do? If they step up, any Republican President will sign those bills. Romney would probably be good at implementing cuts, he knows how to streamline an operation.

Tradition will break this year in one form or another. While it's true no one has won the nomination without SC since they began holding a primary, neither has anyone won it without winning Florida. So it's shattered either way - like all streaks, it continued until it was broken.

A brokered convention isn't within the realm of possibility. Neither Gingrich nor Santorum will be able to win enough to keep the money coming in. Gingrich's high burn rate accounts for why he didn't do campaign events in Nevada for nearly a week, he has to work on money. Santorum has a leaner operation, but too lean to make a real dent. Money dries up fast when a candidate clearly can't win, and faster if the winner is evident.

The only possible scenario might be a Daniels entry, qualifying for as many ballots as possible and urging supporters to vote for Cain or Perry in states they appear on the ballot. He's the only one besides perhaps Jeb who could make a chance of winning enough delegates to force a brokered convention.

Besides, are we sure we want one? The guys making the deals won't be the average Tea Party attendee, they'll be the dreaded "Establishment" everyone talks about.

"The GOP Establishment is an amorphous entity composed of politicians, media types, consultants, writers, lobbyists, party hacks and donors whose first priority is protecting their positions and privileges"

Wow, they sound pretty bad. How convenient that all of those you oppose are "hacks" and selfishly guarding "their positions and privileges" while you patriots are none of that, no politicians, writers, or donors among you! I bet you all are full-time volunteers at the local hospice or animal shelter, or run soup kitchens, right?

Well, looks like you will be winning the Pure of Heart award, but I'm still not sure how Moneyball translates to winning offices - I understand that winning offices eventually leads to control, but it's still Underpants Gnome Economic Theory so far:
Step 1: Collect underpants
Step 2: ??????
Step 3: Profit!

Baseball was keeping extensive stats on every level of play long before there were pocket calculators. The stats are pretty sketchy on politicians, especially if you are planning to run mainly newcomers with no track record. How does your plan ensure any better result than the status quo, however flawed it is? And what's to prevent your pure of heart newbies from deciding they like the power and privilege themselves?

I mean, isn't that how most of the "Establishment" became the "Establishment?" Or were they always the spawn of Satan, even when elected to their first office?

I found this picture of Max Blumenthal: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a... - obviously, this was taken during a break at a pedophile conference, in between raping kids.

And thanks to Max for setting the new standard of proof.