Mitt Romney Finally Comes Off the Ropes

While there was no debate last night, the start of the new year is a good marker in our ongoing count of Facebook support for the Republican Presidential candidates. Mitt Romney finally won a round, edging out Ron Paul to add more Facebook supporters in the last 2 weeks of 2011 than any other Republican candidate.

Candidate	Fri 12/16 Noon	Sun 1/1 Noon	Pickup
Mitt Romney	1,220,643	1,260,521	39,878
Ron Paul	635,626	672,803	37,177
Newt Gingrich	216,905	223,670	6,765
Rick Santorum	36,484	41,069	4,585
Rick Perry	176,829	179,969	3,140
Jon Huntsman	28,966	30,635	1,669
Gary Johnson	145,446	146,709	1,263
Michele Bachmann	460,043	460,288	245

Gary Johnson is a scratch, having quit the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party this past Wednesday.

This race is fast coming down to a two-man contest between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Indeed, looking at the past debate rounds, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only candidates who consistently finished in the money.

Event Round	Period	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Reagan Library	9/7 to 9/8	Ron Paul	Rick Perry	Mitt Romney
Tampa	9/8 to 9/13	Ron Paul	Rick Perry	Mitt Romney
Orlando	9/13 to 9/23	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney	Rick Perry
Dartmouth	9/23 to 10/12	Herman Cain	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney
Las Vegas	10/12 to 10/19	Herman Cain	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney
Michgan	10/19 to 11/10	Herman Cain	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul
South Carolina	11/10 to 11/13	Herman Cain	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul
DC Neocon	11/13 to 11/23	Herman Cain	Newt Gingrich	Mitt Romney
Huck-a-bee	11/23 to 12/4	Newt Gingrich	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul
Des Moines	12/4 to 12/11	Ron Paul	Newt Gingrich	Mitt Romney
Sioux City	12/11 to 12/16	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney	Newt Gingrich
New Year's Day	12/16 to 1/1	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul	Newt Gingrich

Looking at Rick Perry and especially Herman Cain, one can only wonder what might have been. For Newt Gingrich, it has been too little too late as he is still 87,639 supporters short of crossing the Biden Line (Joe Biden currently has 311,309 supporters on Facebook).

Mitt Romney has been playing the rope-a-dope, taking punches from a protected stance as his opponents one-by-one tire themselves out. Ron Paul will go the distance, so Romney will have to beat him at the ballot box.