I truly believe the 2012 Republican Primary was maneuvered by a plot/strategy by those who wanted to give Mitt Romney the best chance of winning the delegates needed for the nomination.
One of the lessons learned from Romney’s previous run against Mc Cain, was that there is a large anti-Romney population in America. It’s conceivable that Mc Cain’s victory, in 2008, was made possible by the anti-Romney delegates which seemed to be numerous. Under those conditions Romney would lose a head-to-head campaign with Mr. Ed. However, if the anti-Romney voting bloc could be diminished he could have a chance. So, to give Romney the best chance of winning, two of Romney’s true backers would have to give financial support to Romney’s two major competitors.
In the 2012 Republican Primary those competitors were Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum and the two true Romney backers were Billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess.
Sheldon Adelson gave financial support to Newt Gingrich. My belief is supported by an article in the February 15, 2012 Wall Street Journal. The article states:
“In a bit of political chess Mr. Adelson is ready to not only directly support the former House Speaker in the Republican primary, but to use his cash to push Rick Santorum from his position atop the late national polls, according to people who have discussed the matter with Mr. Adelson.
If Mr. Gingrich could afford to continue campaigning, one of those people said, he might be able to draw off conservative evangelical voters from Mr. Santorum, improving the chances of Mitt Romney, who Mr. Adelson believes has the best chance to win November’s general election.”
Fox News.com published the following on 7 March 2012: “With Gingrich exiting the race it would be a true head-to-head race and conservatives would be able to make a choice between a consistent conservative in Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney," Stuart Roy, an adviser to the Santorum-backing Red, White and Blue Fund, said in a statement.
"For instance, with Gingrich out of the race, Santorum would have won both Ohio and Michigan. Newt has become a hindrance to a conservative alternative."
As Santorum's supporters pressured Gingrich, Romney's campaign touted its newly expanded delegate advantage on Wednesday. One Romney adviser claimed it would take an "act of God" for Gingrich or Santorum to catch that lead.”
By giving financial support to Gingrich and Santorum, the anti-Romney vote was split, thus giving Romney the best chance to win. If you remove one of the anti-Romney voting options a pattern becomes crystal clear. Romney loses Iowa, South Carolina, Minnesota, Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alaska, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Since Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia are “winner take all primarys”, their breakdowns were unavailable.
When Romney successfully accumulated the delegates needed and forced the competition to suspend their campaigns, Mr Adelson and Friess began pouring more money into the Romney campaign and Super Pacs.
On April 16, 2012, Politico published an article titled: “Billionaires fall in line.” In that article it states:
“The super PAC mega-donors who dragged out the GOP primary are getting behind the establishment, rather than continuing to back rogue candidates and causes — as some in the Republican Party feared.
Donors like Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess, who gave millions to anti-establishment presidential primary campaigns, are starting to fall in line — promising to support Mitt Romney and cutting checks to groups fighting for congressional Republicans.
Last week, Friess, a Wyoming investor who donated $1.7 million to super PACs backing Rick Santorum’s since-aborted presidential campaign, told POLITICO he intended to support third-party groups backing Romney.”