Nine days ago Florida held their 2012 GOP Primary. In this post I examined the four remaining candidates and gave you my thought on each one. About Newt Gingrich I said,

He does angry a lot better than Rick Santorum. While he isn’t the perfect candidate, and some of the stances he’s taken over the years give me pause, he is the one I voted for.

While I had this to say about Rick Santorum:

I really like him. I like the consistency of his message. I like his principles and the clear way he articulates them. I think he was wrong on supporting Specter, but I can’t fault his reasoning. I don’t care for his spending history, but even that I can accept his explanation. What I don’t like is his “Angry Rick”. While that may be the role he needs to play based on his underdog position, it just doesn’t work for him.

What was unsaid was a belief that between the two Gingrich was the more “electable”. I justified my thoughts about electability with my disappointment regarding Santorum’s debate performances. I still believe that his debate attacks can sound whinney and that, as a strategy, he could find something that works better. “Angry Rick” aside, I honestly would prefer Santorum to Gingrich, but bought into the idea that Newt stood a better chance of winning.

I was wrong.

I was wrong, not because of Santorum’s Tuesday night hat trick, but because I let “electability” be the deciding factor. I should have voted for Santorum because I believed, and still do, that he is the conservative in the race who’s beliefs most closely mirror my own.

I don’t get a do-over here in Florida, but I hope that I will be able to correct my error in November.

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When looking at a system, in our case the GOP Primary and it’s candidates, you don’t always have data that matches the “ideal.” In statistics they use a method called Least Squares.

The method of least squares is a standard approach to the approximate solution of overdetermined systems, i.e., sets of equations in which there are more equations than unknowns. “Least squares” means that the overall solution minimizes the sum of the squares of the errors made in solving every single equation.

The candidates and their credentials are our overdetermined system. We know these men, or at least we have our opinions on them, and try as we might we just can’t get them to match up on every single point along the line that is our ideal. In this examination, “there are more equations than unknowns.” If we wanted to take the time we could rate each one on every criteria that we feel is important from their positions on financial matters to national defense to how presidential they look. If we plotted each value for each candidate we could see how their regression line looks compared to our own.

So what?

There are a couple of things that we can learn from this. A much simpler expression is, “there is only one perfect person, and Jesus ain’t runnin’.” Sorry if I’m the one breaking this news to you, but none of the candidates is going to match your idea of perfection on each point. They’re not. Get over it.

It would also be clear from any analysis that President Obama’s plotted regression would look like a graph of the Chicago Cubs World Series wins. The inverse of that is that each Republican candidate looks much better by comparison. That leaves us to determine which candidate looks the best.

But there’s a problem.

You and I are going to score the candidates differently. Not only are we going to have a different opinion on where a candidate ranks on a particular issue, we are also going to differ on which issues are the most important, and which don’t matter to us.

Again I ask, so what?

Let’s not take our eyes off the goal. We need to defeat Barack Obama in November. We’re not going to do it with the perfect candidate. We just need to determine which candidate, for each of us, is our Least Squares Fit.

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I only have a few minutes this morning, but I do have a few thoughts running around in my head that I want to share.

First, Congratulations to Newt Gingrich for his win in SC. The question, as I see it, is how much of his momentum will carry over here in Florida. Of course that was days ago, which means I am really behind in posting here.

Second, I hate Direct TV but I think their latest commercials are really funny. See, I told you these were random.

Rick Santorum is scheduled to be in Lakeland (where I work) this Saturday. I have tickets to attend the event. It is also a straw poll of the local 9-12 group.

Finally, back to the primaries, I have a post started in my head about the right’s need to find the perfect candidate. The short version – one doesn’t exist. Check back later to read it.

One more thing about the debates, and this is for all of the candidates, whatever question the moderator asks, your answer should include the word “Obama”. Let’s focus here people. Just because I’m all over the map doesn’t mean you can be. In my mind, I really don’t care that much about what you think about each other. The person who is going to get my support is the one who will take on Barack Obama. That is the reason for this little exercise after all.

Have a great day. Let me hear your random thoughts in the comments.

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Just saw this story:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is abandoning his presidential bid, a source tells the Associated Press.

Perry is expected to make an announcement at 11 a.m.

Perry is expected to endorse Newt Gingrich, the source told the Associated Press.

This is going to make a difference in South Carolina and Florida. We’ll see what kind of difference soon.

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Yes, there may be a lot of infighting among the GOP candidates and their supporters. Eventually that will all sort itself out and it will be time for the 2012 GOP Convention. Among the 50,000 or so visitors coming to Tampa will be a large group of Bloggers. I’m lucky. Tampa is practically in my back yard. Others coming to Tampa will be looking for some help.

Enter the 2012 GOP Convention Blogger Supersite. I am setting up this site to gather and share resources the attending bloggers might need. I urge you to visit the site and add it to your links, feed readers, etc. I would really appreciate it if you will visit the first post and add your comments and hit all the share buttons.

As I said over there, the first order of business is compiling a list of Tampa-Orlando area bloggers. Let me know if you fit that description. Soon, we’ll be looking for information about those coming to the convention.

Friends, 2012 will be a blur and August will be here before we know it. Help me spread the word today. Thanks!

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It’s a new year, new month and there is a new lineup, so it’s time for a new poll. With Michele Bachmann “suspending” her campaign the field shrinks, if only slightly. With New Hampshire and South Carolina coming up in quick succession, I imagine the number of candidates will contract again by, or just after, Florida.

Here’s who’s left: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and All The Rest. If you vote for all the rest please feel free to leave a comment telling us who that vote represents.

Get you vote in soon. I think things will be moving very quickly. Tell your friends about the poll

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If President Obama as made one thing clear in his three years in office, it is that he regards the Constitution, Congress, and the American people as impediments to carrying out his agenda. So far it’s been bad. It just got a lot worse.

White House attorneys have concluded they have the legal authority to make a recess appointment despite Republican efforts to block the move, Democrats said Tuesday, and administration officials say they reserve the option to install Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without Senate approval.

[...]

[T]he White House has concluded that it can make the appointment even if the Senate has not formally recessed, said one Democrat familiar with White House thinking. “They have decided no one can stop them.”

If this doesn’t outrage people, no matter what their party affiliation, our republic is truly lost. I’m not sure we can even last another twelve months.

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The First Cup is a (sort of) daily post pointing you to some of the best posts from around the right side of the blogosphere. If you have a post that you would like considered for the First Cup, send the link to lakelandjim at gmail dot com.

Welcome to the post Iowa edition of the First Cup. Just 8 votes separated Romney and Santorum. Here’s what the blogosphere had to say:

For all the updates you could possibly want check out Hot Air.

Bob Owens says Iowa proves voters are idiots. I don’t think he’s wrong.

Sister Toldjah posts Iowa Caucuses – the latest depressing developments.

Michelle Malkin looks at Iowa-bashing snobs and sore losers.

Changing gears — At No Runny Eggs you can see the NRE 2011 Awards – Yesterday’s Jackass of the Year nominees and today it’s the Thank You for Existing list.

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The First Cup is a (sort of) daily post pointing you to some of the best posts from around the right side of the blogosphere. If you have a post that you would like considered for the First Cup, send the link to lakelandjim at gmail dot com.

Happy New Year! Yes, I know it was yesterday, but I avoided the computer pretty successfully for the day. Now, I’m ready to take a look at how the right side of the blogosphere is starting out the year.

Doug Ross details The EPA: Enemy of Civilization and backs up his thesis.

And it’s not just the EPA rockin’ the stupid into the new year. At the Jawa Report: EEOC: Employers Who Reject Stupid Job Applicants Violating Americans With Disabilities Act

Michelle Malkin reminds us of the last marine to be tried in regards to the alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in the village of Haditha in 2005. Seven have been cleared. Remember SSgt Frank D. Wuterich: The last Haditha Marine goes on trial

The Iowa Caucus is tomorrow, so I expect a slew of stories on that over the next few days. New Hampshire is a week away, South Carolina on the 21st, and I’ll get my chance on the 31st here in Florida. 2012 will not be boring.

Here at bRight & Early I have a few goals for 2012: More (and more consistent) posting, more comments, a new look, and, silly as this may sound, more posts with pictures.

I am also still planing a blogger bash for bloggers coming to Florida for the 2012 GOP Convention. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about that.

Finally a reminder. We would like to expand the number of writers at Reclaim Conservatism and The Bullpen.

Have a great day! Bonus question for the comments: Is today (January 2nd) a work holiday for you, or are you back to BAU (Business as Usual)?

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The First Cup is a (sort of) daily post pointing you to some of the best posts from around the right side of the blogosphere. If you have a post that you would like considered for the First Cup, send the link to lakelandjim at gmail dot com.

Happy Monday! Here’s what’s happening around the conservative blogosphere.

So, you want a comprehensive look at where things stand in the polls. Over at Ace’s read CAC’s Poll Dump (Updated Every Sunday Through Election Day 2012)

Wyatt thinks he’s Indiana Jones

At Hot Air Jazz Shaw asks, Where to now for Cain’s supporters?

Go on over to Mike’s America to see the NRSCC video comparing Obama and Carter.

Finally, go ahead and vote in the bRight & Early 2012 Presidential Primary Poll #14 – The poll is over in the sidebar.

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