The media is already raving about what a successful debate it was tongiht for Romney. We have previously written how Romney needed to go on the offensive during these debates, but there was a point tonight where he went a little far in our estimation. On one point, Rick Santorum pleaded for the conversation to move away from bickering about whether or not Newt is a lobbyist or how rich Mitt Romney is. Newt then concurred with Santorum and even offered a “truce” with Romney over the back and forth attacks. This gave Romney a chance to elevate the conversation, but, instead Romney threw some accusations right back into the face of Newt asking for him to explain himself for prior accusations. I believe this was a sad moment for the Republican primary and the general conservative political state. Romney was not willing to change gears, and it is no doubt that his advisors have told him to put his boot on Newt’s neck and not let up. It was a good chance to get down to things that matter, yet Mitt decided to play dirty politics. It was a small and already overlooked moment, but one that echoes for those hungry for a cogent Republican field with substance and real talk.

Bev Perdue announced today that she would not be running again for Governor. This was surprising to many, but considering the scandals that are surrounding all around her and her lackluster polling against McCrory, it isn’t unbelievable. The big question now is who will step in to run in her stead. Someone like Erskine Bowles would certainly be a formidable candidate, even though it is becoming the eleventh hour at this point. This is surely good news for the McCrory camp overall, but they have been doing opposition research on Bev for years which is now useless. Now they must sit and wait to see who steps up. There is no question that Democrats nationally will have a say in who steps in considering the emphasis on this state as well as the Democrat National Convention being held here. However, today is a good day for the McCrory camp, and many will be curiously watching to see who the Dems put forth as their new gubernatorial candidate.

There is a school of thought that says Republicans are hurting each other to the point that they are merely helping the Democrats and Obama’s chances of re-election. This is far from true. Yes it is true that the news has been distracting and Obama has gotten away with bad plays such as the Keystone Pipeline, but overall the Republicans beating each other up may prove to be beneficial. It is flawed thinking to believe Republicans need to hurry up and pick a nominee so that all of the attention can be put on Obama. This trial by fire is good for whichever of the four candidates emerges. One of Gingrich’s criticisms has been that he is a ticking time bomb just waiting to say or do something inappropriate. The current environment gives everyone a chance to see just how Newt responds to harsh criticism and extreme pressure for prolonged periods of time. The long days of campaigning and rhetorical gun fight with Romney will only make him a stronger candidate if he comes out on top. The same goes for Romney. He hasn’t truly been pressured until recently, and you find out what a candidate is really made of in times like these. Regarding the electability argument Romney supporters cite; If Romney can’t beat Gingrich in a primary battle then he probably won’t be able to beat Obama. Republicans should relax and see the current battle as more of a preparation for next fall than an act of cannibalism.

The Romney camp is still reeling from the results in South Carolina, and they are going through their most tested period since the inception of their second presidential run. The painful responses that Romney gave regarding his tax returns that he finally released this morning (same day as State of Union is no coincidence) were uncomfortable to watch, and Mitt needs to rather listen to his advisors more or be quicker on his feet when faced with these problems in the future. Governor Romney has been taking heat from the opposition from his Bain Capital history, and it would benefit the governor greatly to keep owning this record and not shying away from being successful. It took him some time to incorporate this into his lexicon, and it is something he needs to continue to do moving forward. Also, Mitt took too long to go on the offensive. It took a whipping in South Carolina for Romney to realize that he is going to have to get his hands dirty, and hopefully it is not too late for him at this point.

As we sit tonight looking at the S.C. returns, the Romney camp is reeling. It is almost incredible that the “inevitable” nominee has found himself in such a defeated state. He has only now won 1 of 3 primaries, and even the New Hampshire primary has an asterisk given that he had such an advantage being from Massachusetts.

We will take a close look at the results and what the drivers were, but it is clear that Romney will need to change course. His unwillingness to release tax returns; his record at Bain; his “flip-flopping” history; all are converging to make him vulnerable. That someone with as much “baggage” as Newt Gingrich; that someone as poorly financed as Rick Santorum, could beat him in 2 of the 3 primaries tells you something. There are some deep concerns about Mitt Romney and he has been unable to assuage them.

Nexus Politix has mentioned Chris Christie before. Maybe that is wishful thinking. We will be watching the rebuttal to the State of the Union given by Mitch Daniels. Perhaps he will add some perspective into the Republican primary race.

One thing is for sure. The pundits who wrote off Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, were wrong. Gingrich has arisen from the dead. That he won this primary by such a large margin tells you that Romney is no longer inevitable and in fact just experienced a drubbing. The drama continues to build and anything can happen next.

Two of the better angels in their respective professions, Jon Huntsman and Tim Tebow, are now out of the picture. Tebow was the first to go, having never really had a chance as Tom Brady, the experienced and talented pro quarterback for the New England Patriots, decimated the Broncos defense on Saturday. Millions tuned in as Tebow has accumulated a huge fan base, and is probably the only person I see as giving Mitt Romney a run for his money. It is certainly not any of the remaining Republican candidates!

Jon Huntsman, one of the more rational, experienced, professional, competent candidates in the race for the nomination, is reportedly facing reality after a disappointing finish up in New Hampshire and dropping out. The Republican faithful never rallied around him, and were it not for Mitt Romney and his enormous lead in the polls, this would be a step back for the Republican Party. Huntsman never really fulfilled his potential, and I’m sure he will re-group to see what might have gone wrong, just as Romney did after failing the last time around. Huntsman was sane; one of the more memorable messages for me was his message that the Republican Party can’t be known as a party that is anti-science.

We look forward to the debate tonight and the coming vote in the South Carolina primary this weekend.

This coming year Charlotte, North Carolina will be at the epicenter of the political world. The Democratic National Convention is being held in Charlotte September 3-7, so all of the party figureheads will be out in full force. It is no coincidence that the DNC chose Charlotte as the city to hold their convention. North Carolina went Democratic in the last Presidential election, and the Democrats want to keep it that way. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the DNC on elections in Charlotte and throughout the rest of the state. The upcoming gubernatorial contest between Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory will have many people around the country watching. The energy and momentum certainly see to be with McCrory at this point, but many things will occur between now and next November. McCrory recently reported raising 1.5 million in the second half of 2011 which means more than 2.5 million for last year. This is a considerable amount of money considering what he raised in 08. This strong fundraising coupled with Bev’s recent issues of campaign and administration staffers running into legal trouble spell out a good start for Pat. Anyone who follows North Carolina politics know that Pat is still in for an uphill battle being a Republican attempting election statewide. However, Bev’s accomplishments while in office have been meager at best, and there continues to be a veil of corruption cast over the Democrats running Raleigh. Presidential politics always has a significant impact on state elections, so it will be interesting to see how that will play out in the gubernatorial race here next November.

If you watched Mitt Romney’s speech having just been projected to win the New Hampshire primary, you saw a confident front-runner who is destined to win the Republican nomination. Huntsman on CNN says he has his ticket to South Carolina, and Ron Paul has a strong 2nd place finish. Stopping Romney is going to be almost impossible; and Republicans need to think twice about continuing to futilely attacking him on his tenure at Bain. Democrats will certainly do so; but Republicans who do so do the party a disservice.

Romney has minefields ahead, but he is much stronger than the rest of the Republican field and the results in Iowa and New Hampshire support that contention. We have promoted Chris Christie in this blog and trust his judgement on the Republican side. Chris Christie is no dummy. He fully stands behind Romney for President. So we’ll bow to the inevitable and now pencil him in as a possible VP. Christie vs Biden would make for some lively debates!

The country will be well-served and will be presented with clear choices if it is Romney versus Obama for President. We look forward as this Primary process leads to this inevitable result.

There is a lot of drama going into tonight’s debate, and the airwaves are full of tough attack ads, one which we have just watched produced by the Ron Paul campaign against both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich running in South Carolina. While the Ron Paul campaign has a long ways to go before it can compete with Romney, it has pulled no punches when competing with the other candidates. We are looking forward to the debate in New Hampshire!

We have watched the debates and up to now had been very impressed with Mitt Romney’s polish and professionalism. He stayed on message, communicated his main strength which is rebuilding the economy, and when threats arose he crushed them viciously via his SuperPac. We have no doubt that once that SuperPac is unleashed on Rick Santorum that his numbers will go down. The Pac will need to take a different approach though because “the baggage” of Rick Santorum is an entirely different brand than Gingrich’s. Nevertheless, Santorum by most accounts, including ours, is likely going to be a flash in the pan.

Gingrich, in the meantime, will be working day and night to destroy Romney in retaliation for the attack ads that had Gingrich’s campaign numbers plummeting in recent days. That relationship could turn very ugly. And we suspect at the end voters will like both of these men less than they do now.

Romney has to be reeling. Despite the spin about Iowa not mattering and really only trying to win at the last-minute, it has become very clear that there are many doubts in Republican minds about the conservatism of Mitt Romney. While we at Nexus Politix  have been impressed with his performance, Republican voters have not. Something will need to change to break through this wall and stop the “not Romneys’ like Rick Santorum from getting their moment in the sun.

Republicans may need a wake-up call, so we’ll give them one here. Mitt Romney cannot and will not beat Barak Obama as things stand now. In fact, he may not even be able to beat Rick Santorum. What are Republicans to do?

Our suggestion? Pay yet another visit to New Jersey, or catch governor Chris Christie if he returns to  Iowa and deals with them “Jersey Style” as he said he would if the voters didn’t place enough ballots for Mitt Romney. It’s that or re-program Mitt Romney to deal with the campaign landscape not as we wish it was, but as it is.