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Tony McNulty has a little quiz for you about the candidates for the Republican nomination.

By Tony McNulty

27 Jan 2012, 11:21

Do you know?

1. The main contenders in the race to be the Republican nominee are variously labelled as Senator, Governor, Speaker, Congressman – but how many of the four remaining candidates are currently holding elected office?

2. South Carolina and Florida are the first two contests in the Old South, but which, if any, of the candidates can claim to be from the South?

3. Which candidate has already been the presidential nominee for a party and in which election?

4. What has Rick Santorum got to thank Dan Savage for?

5. Why will Rick Perry remember the presidential nominee debate held on the 10^th November 2011 in Rochester, Michigan?

 

Who said?

6. “Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have too.”

7. “But obviously, we’ve got to stand with our North Korean allies.”

8. “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them someone else’s money: I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn money.”

9. “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.”

10. “Polls are for strippers and cross-country skiers."

 

Who?

11. Who are Willard, James, Richard, Newton and Ronald? And what do they have to do with the 2012 Republican race?

 

Answers

1. Ron Paul is the only remaining candidate still holding elected office – he is the Republican Congressman for the 14^th District in Texas. Romney was Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. Gingrich was Republican Congressman for the 6^th District in Georgia from 1979 to 1999 and Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. Santorum was Republican Senator for Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007. Americans continue to use the last title of public figures.
2. Rick Santorum is the only Southerner – that is, born in the Old South – he was born in Virginia although his entire political career has been in Pennsylvania. Gingrich, although an elected politician from Georgia, was actually born in Pennsylvania, as was Ron Paul, who went on to be an elected politician in Texas.  Romney was born in Michigan, but became a politician in Massachusetts.

3. Ron Paul secured the nomination for President of the Libertarian Party in the 1988 election. He secured 431,750 votes, only 0.47% of the total national vote.

4. Gay Rights Activist, Dan Savage, was so appalled by Santorum’s comparison of consensual gay sex to polygamy, incest and adultery and other homophobic outbursts, he asked his readers to invent a definition of ‘Santorum’. He set up a website explaining the winning definition which now comes up every time Santorum is googled. Why not Google ‘Santorum’ to find out more?

5. Perry famously announced as this candidates debate that “it’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: commerce, education and the uh…what’s the third one there? Lets see.” He went on to say: “The third one. I can’t.” He made matters worse by saying: “Oops.”  He forgot energy – and tried to correct the omission later in the debate, but it was too late and he not only looked completely foolish, but the clip went viral. 

6. Michelle Bachmann said this in June 2011 when she launched her presidential bid in Waterloo, Iowa - the town where she grew up. Sadly, she confused two very different people. Film star and American icon John Wayne was born 30 miles away in Winterset, Iowa. It was John Wayne Gacy who was born in Waterloo. Wayne Gacy was a serial killer who raped and murdered at least 33 young men and boys.

7. Sarah Palin said this on 24/11/10 on Glen Beck’s radio show when asked how she would handle the latest round of sabre rattling between the two Koreas.

8. Rick Santorum’s less than subtle dog-whistle, at a campaign stop in Iowa, 2/1/12

9. Mitt Romney made this rather foolish comment, albeit taken completely out of context in January 2012.

10. Sarah Palin, speaking to a Tea Party rally in Iowa, 3/9/11

11. They are, or were, candidates in this year’s race for the republican presidential nominee. Willard Mitt Romney, James Richard ‘Rick’ Perry, Richard John ‘Rick’ Santorum, Newton Leroy ‘Newt’ Gingrich and Ronald Ernest Paul.