How Mitt Lost His Mojo
While I’m not yet ready to strap on a bib and sit down for a meal of crow, I will confess that recent trends have me beginning to question my year-long assertion that Mitt Romney really was every bit as inevitable as he would still like us to believe. The “conventional wisdom” would have us believe that Rick Santorum was destined to rise and fall, just as so many of he predecessors did, leaving the field clear for Mitt to sweep up the pieces and slide into home. (By this time you might think I’d learned that the conventional wisdom is frequently neither.) But on the heels of his fairly super Tuesday on February 7th, the pesky Santorum appears to be thumbing his nose at political geniuses and stubbornly holding on to a slim lead in Michigan. (Or possibly a tie, depending on whom you ask.)
While we’re not talking about a huge number of delegates (which will be apportioned out among two or three people in any event), it’s difficult to brush off the impact that the Great Lakes State will have on Romney’s chances. Given his family history there, even a victory which allows Santorum to come within a few points could be nearly as bad as a loss. Such an outcome would continue the burgeoning storyline that Santorum is for real. If we’ve learned anything from past cycles, it’s that in politics, perception always trumps reality. If you can manage to change the perception, reality will follow along in short order. A growing national confidence in Santorum’s chances will lead to more money and endorsements being showered upon him, leading to a very real improvement in his prospects.
But what brought Mitt to this sorry state of affairs? A portion of the blame actually lies beyond his control. When headlines begin appearing which read ‘”Improving economy a blow to Romney” — then, he’s got a problem. No sooner did Romney give a speech on how bad the economy was doing than a positive jobs number hit the news cycle. Before he can make it even two blocks from the podium where he decried the bailout of GM as a colossal failure, the auto giant posts one of their best profit numbers in years. It’s as if the gods of economics and news rooms were conspiring to nominate Rick Santorum.
But some of the fault lies with Romney himself. Rather than making a bold argument as to why he would be the superior choice, Mitt has delivered one awkward moment after another, leaving even his most devoted supporters scratching their heads. While attempting to explain how he is a good fit for Michigan voters, he fell back on claiming that he loves cars. Oh, and trees, too. They are apparently “just the right height” in Michigan. He is also, it turns out, a big fan of lakes as well. The stammering laundry list of nifty things he admires about Michigan went on for longer than I could bear watching.
“Unforced errors have put Romney’s candidacy in jeopardy.”
Heh. From your hesitant keys to God’s flat screen.
Flip Romney never had any mojo to begin with. except with certain writers and the progressive wing of the Republican party.
Flip is a vindictive evil person. He truly should be running as a democrat.
“Flip Romney never had any mojo to begin with. except with certain writers and the progressive wing of the Republican party.”
That pretty much says it. I have absolutely no proof other than observation and evaluation but, I suspect that there was a collusion between a number of RINOmedia types and political operatives from the Born To Rule Republican establishment to force Romney on the Republican base by hook or by crook. Add to that the scorched Earth campaign run by Romney in Iowa (really sleazy gutter ads) and the total refusal of both the MSM and RINOmedia to do anything other mention them in passing and NEVER actually show us those disgusting and obviously false ads and have Romney or anyone from his campaign answer for them tells me that the fix was definitely in. I am not a Romney hater, but I will NEVER vote for another classic RINO forced on us like McLame was. Never again.
Very succinct, Ed, as usual.
Hugh Hewitt’s President Say Anything tag would fit his man Mitt quite well should he make it to the White House.
or…he has always sucked and his present numbers mirror his previous ones even after MILLIONS spent.
Fact is Mitt – he just don’t fit.
Letting McRino praise Rino Romney is a sure sign of being let out to pasture.
Seriously, with Obama able to manipulate all kinds of gov numbers, Mitt is as certain a loser as Dole.
What case has Romney made for his candidacy? Remember, he’s been working on this for 5 years. He has his 50+ point “plan” which is about as many flavors Heinz catsup has. What’s his tax plan, his energy plan, his budget plan, his
foreign policy plan? I would guess that Romney supporters would be hard pressed to tell you. But, he has been slugging Newt Gingrich with millions of, including the lying he left congress in disgrace. And I simply do not trust the flipfloping guy, no matter how good he looks in his suits, smiles nice, or trots out his really nice family. He’s the guy from Romneycare. Any one who passes such a monstroscity just doesn’t pass the conservative muster. Its that simple.
What’s his tax plan, his energy plan, his budget plan, his
foreign policy plan?
They’re here if you’re interested.
Which brings to mind the saying, “Man plans. God laughs.”
Or, no matter whether Mitt lays out a plan or doesn’t lay out a plan, you couldn’t care less.
Is it just me? When I watch Mitt on TV i feel that there is something creepy about his body language, his facial expressions, his overall affect. His very skin looks clammy.
Hollywood stereotyped used car salesman.
Clammy? Used car salesman? You two sound like damn fool Democrats.
MItt is doing poorly because instead of spending his time convincing us he is the better choice, he has spent his money convincing us the other nominees are a worse choice.
We’ve always hated the politics of personal destruction and the smear campaigns employed by the left, and yeet here is ol’ Mitt using their playbook. It speaks to his character and demonstrates he is out of touch with with the ethos of the conservative electorate.
Is there really much new here? Rarely has a candidate been defined and driven by Romney’s naked ambition and sense of entitlement. It didn’t work for Macbeth; why should it work for him?
The sleazy side of the man and his handlers and SuperPac supporters, on full display during the Iowa and Florida primaries, left a lasting stench. Lady Macbeth knew she couldn’t wash herself clean; why is Romney different?
Looks to me as though us peasants in the flyover have this figured in a way that mystifies pundits everywhere. Good.
I hope all you visionaries can figure out a way to beat a sitting communist.
Lets don’t defeat our selves with pre emptory surrendor. My pocket book begs you.
If you are a supporter of Romney, or Santorum, or Gingrich or whoever you are going to hear that constant drum beat of ‘hes weak’, ‘he’s weird’, ‘he thinks an aspirin is a condom’.
If we were running Jesus Christ, no offense please, it would be all over the news about unlicensed medical care and tearing down old growth forests to make furniture.
So if you like Romney dont change your mind because of fear. Change your mind for a positive reason.
Mitt never had any Mojo to lose. Mitt is failing, or has failed, because he listened to “conventional wisdom”. He hired consultants who told him that elections depend on the Moderate voters. So he ran a “win the moderate” campaign without any understanding of what a moderate is. Moderates are undecided voters and are not, contrary to what the “experts” told the Mittster, attracted to weakness. Moderates don’t like mush, they need somebody they can count on, they need somebody to tell them what to do. Moderates are followers, you don’t get them to follow you by following them, you must be a leader and Mitt was afraid to lead. Heck, he was even afraid to follow so now he must get out of the way.
You’d think that Mitt would have looked at his experts and said “So you’re telling me that the moderates will be scared by Conservative rhetoric and will run blindly like lemmings to the most strident, dictatorial, leftist ideologue in the history of the country?”. At the end of the day, Mitt just isn’t very politically astute. He spent millions hiring losers to help him lose. Ay Carumba!
And Karl Rove, Anne Coulter put their shoulders to the Romney wheel. I personally was disgusted by this. Fast foreward to today and the candidate whose sole virtue was ‘electibility’ looks as appetizing as yesterday’s pizza. So what do we do now? As a Mitt Doubter from day one, I appreciate the Santorum surge, but, honestly people, I can’t see his message having sufficient appeal to put him over the finish line in November.
Could it be time to bring Newt back from the dead again? Seems more and more like the obvious solution.
I wouldn’t mind seeing them on the same ticket.
complete rubbish. But, nice use of flowery adjectives.
Romney’s problem is he doesn’t have a campaign theme; running on a campaign machine infrastructure & money is not a reason to elect anyone. Romney is purposely not running on his liberal gubernatorial record which includes higher taxes & the infamous RomneyCare.
Romney also says with a straight face RomneyCare is Conservative; it is anything but conservative, but statist liberalism run amok.
As a result, Romney’s campaign is running in the shallow water–ignoring the obvious thorns–with his so-called “inevitability” theme which also isn’t much of a theme.
Romney hoped to run out the clock by splitting the Conservative vote, but I believe Romney will run out gas before the clock runs out. Romney & the establishment Republicans does not get or listen that the Republican Conservative base rejects Romney. They will never accept him.
We are not going to have another McCain for 2012.
Romneycare is conservative and Santorum, who the National Taxpayers Union ranks 5th amongst the 50 senators who served during his tenure, is a “fake conservative.” Ok Mitt, if you say so.
For me, Romney is the ONLY candidate, for either party, who has the real-life track record, as a successful businessman and entrepreneur AND as a governor, to qualify for the Presidency. No one wants to hear it, but ideological purity is the problem, not the solution, in the world today. (Not only is it the problem in U.S. politics, it is THE problem in the world.) I choose personal character over ideology (and over minor failings like the occasional, merely awkward–not evil–phrase).
Please… quit with the Romney/RNC/Elite Establishment campaign talking points…
Romney was nothing of the sort… Romney was wealthy, pampered child of privilege who attended pricy private schools, a private university (BYU) that lead to primo alumni contacts related business/social circles (alumni business contacts are not unethical or illegal, just exclusive), and then attended Harvard Law and Business schools (I doubt seriously that few people on this Earth could afford that combination…). His success is in having lots of money and power contacts in the Establishment.
His corporate success? Right… He made more mega bucks operating a misnamed Leverage Buy Out group (The Dems are champing at the bit to get their social justice/OWS claws into that one). Mitt’s business was sleazy, and his self-proclaimed acumen is also self-serving. LBO’s were and are the corporate equivalent of Strip-clubs, legal but smarmy.
Touting the Olymics? If it wasn’t for those primo alumi contacts the Salt Lake Olympics would have choked. His contacts used volunteers to keep costs down, and I wonder who in Salt Lake City was going to volunteer to work the Olympics? And does anybody remember the massive sleaze scandals that dropped out from all of the bid rigging and bribery for the various national and international Olympic Committees? Even if the Mittster wasn’t involved, he grabbed the handle of a manure wagon.
None of the above translates into the ability to run a government of any sort, and the proof is his massive failure as Governor of the PRM.
He was elected on a fluke plurality. He governed to the left of most Democrats. He worked massive tax and fee increases into the grand scheme of Taxechusetts’ already bloated bureaucracy. AND his Crown Jewel? ROMNEYCARE – individual mandate, fines, high insurance cost, waiting lists, doctor flight, massive cost overruns, sketchy funding to where the monstrosity is nearing bankruptcy… with the additional nastiness that ROMNEYCARE is so bad his re-elect numbers were so low that he quit without running for a second term.
Besides as the experts are saying now.. ROMNEYCARE IS OBAMACARE… Romney cannot run on its repeal without running against himself.
Face it Romney hasn’t any Mojo, because Romney as a Republican is a bald faced lie. You can’t run on an obvious lie for long, most folks will eventually catch on.
Willard Milton Romney is a Limousine Liberal Democrat masquerading as a Republican, and I WILL NOT VOTE FOR HIM… EVER!
r/John – TMF
Everybody and their mother’s brother, John.
I lived there at the time. EVERYBODY wanted to get in on the action somehow.
Getting volunteers – and using them and throwing them away – was easy.
Thanks, you made my point.
Tons of free labor, kind of illuminates the problem, doesn’t it?
r/TMF
That was my point.
What in heavens name do you know about the Olympics with such a stupid statement?
The Olympics (all of them) count on an all volunteer force – I know I was one of them. I met people from all over the country, even some from all over the world who travelled to Salt Lake To VOLUNTEER! And this was not the first Olympics they did this for. What did we get out of it? Working with wonderful people, meeting neat people, we have a completely lovely ski outfit – jacket, vest, ski pants, gloves, hat, tickets for the dress rehearsal of the Opening Exercises. It was a great experience and we are ready to do it all over again.
We happen to be proud of our city and the wonderful ski facilities that are 25 minutes from my door in Salt Lake.
You are so stupid to claim that Romney used people and threw them away. Maybe you should’ve been here this week end to see the 10th anniversary and the wonderful welcome Romney got from those volunteers (who he used and threw away).
Darn get a clue!
One more thing, it’s dumb to say that RomneyCare is ObamaCare. There is a fundamental distinction between doing something at the national level and at the state level. Education run by state governments may or may not be a good idea, but education run by the federal government is a horrible idea. A conservative can be in favor of the former but not the latter–and most are. I think the individual mandate is a bad idea, but it’s one that the conservative Heritage Foundation supported and it’s at least worth a try IN A STATE where it can eventually be modified or repealed if necessary. And making sure that people don’t freeload off the health care system via a coverage mandate–as opposed to government covering them anyway without getting any money at all–is not the worst idea. Again, I don’t like it, but states have the right to experiment. One can be totally opposed to ObamaCare and fight for its repeal but still in favor of a state-based system that contains an individual mandate. That’s Romney’s position and it’s by no means inconsistent.
There is no difference between a local or more distant tyrant when what they want yo do is run your life. Romneycare is Obamacare.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! And contrary to a fundamental pillar of American democracy–federalism. You can change a local “tyrant” quite easily compared with a national one. And you can move to another state or city with a different set of policies. Come on guys, remember the 10th Amendment and all that talk? States as laboratories of democracy? I oppose RomneyCare, but there’s absolutely nothing inconsistent about saying that one supports RomneyCare as a moderate experiment in a hard-core leftist state but that one opposes ObamaCare at the national level.
Yup… RomneyCare=ObamaCare… ObamaCare was built on RomneyCare with the assistance of Romney’s RomneyCare staff…
The State vs Federal argument is bogus. Because we are talking about the state violating the FEDERAL constitution by forcing you to purchase something. Your Federal rights (as long as the Supremes actually uphold the Constitution instead of trashing it.) supersede your State’s rights to impose things on you. Hence, since the 14th Amendment was passed, the state cannot sensor you anymore than the feds, the state cannot declare a state religion, it cannot impede commerce by embargoing or placing tariffs on out of state goods. The state cannot declare you a serf just because the word used is not “slave”.
RomneyCare is Obamacare. Just like the Massachusetts Air National Guard is actually really a functional part of the US Air Force, with a fig leaf glued to the nose gear of the aircraft.
The false separation is maintained to try to prop up a Leftist policy pushed, promoted, and bragged about by a dedicated Liberal pol.
Willard Milton Romney is a Limousine Liberal Democrat masquerading as a Republican and I WILL NOT vote for him, EVER!
r/TMF
It doesn’t contravene federalism in the slightest. The power to make laws in an all but plenipotentiary manner was removed from the states by the 14th amendment, because they misused it.
Romney misused the state’s powers to create law in creating Romneycare–which crime he is still proud of.
It’s far from the only thing he’s done which means he’s not much better than Obama.
If elected, Mitt is the progressive liberal who will get some of what he wants.
So, you hate Romney because he is wealthier than you or me? Do you bozos have any idea who you are parroting?
I think Mr. Huffman makes a solid point. One of Mr. Romney’s problems is that he is fighting against the tenor of our current politics. There would seem to be two political camps in the U.S.—one on the left and one on the right—and both are perpetually angry. Mitt is seldom angry, and his record and thus his policy prescriptions make it hard for him to be warmly embraced by the camp on the right. He’s the man in the middle, with pundits and “thought leaders” on both sides intent on keeping the ball away from him. But the hard left doesn’t win elections in this country and neither does the hard right. Both need the much larger middle. The true believers would prefer to sell us their particular snake oil, which is useful in lubricating campaigns—it excites “the base” and it sells TV air time—but it is much less useful when it comes to governing. It gives us, for example, things like Obamacare. So principles, of course. But also prudence, moderation, reason, pragmatism, judgment, character, electability.
Absolutely…… NOT!
Moderates who are pragmatic, do not win anything much at all, and when they do, the win is so weak and so pathetically muddled that there is no mandate, at all to do ANYTHING.
The “moderates” are the ESTABLISHMENT, and they chase themselves. There is no MIDDLE the Political parties overlap at the Elites. The only rump leftovers are just unaffiliated Democrats who just wait for the media to tell them who is the “cool” candidate to vote for.
There are far more uncommitted, “independent”, and non-party voters across a broad slice of the “Right” than anything in the middle. To play to the > 10% in the “middle” is to lose the greater portion probably closer to 20-25% in the scattered spectrum of single issue, unaffiliated movement Conservative, and unregistered voters.
No more Thomas Deweys… No more Wendell Wilkies… NO MORE RICHARD NIXONS…
No More.
Go Right, or go home.
r/TMF
“Romney never gets angry”.
Sigh, yes we know. Flip lets his SuperPac get angry then says he has no control over that. What a smarmy cockroach he is.
Mitt Romney’s real life track record brands him as a socialist, a homosexual activist, a demagogue, and a liar.
Oh, and that businessman thing? It includes bringing hard-core pornography into a hotel chain.
Romney’s just not talking about the right issues. I don’t know if it’s his consultants and advisors, or what.
There’s NO reason why his candidacy should “depend” on a weak economy. It doesn’t. There are many more reasons why someone with his views is absolutely vital for the country than what we have now:
-America’s place in the world: How do we interact with int’l organizations, regional power blocs, and other countries? We seem to have deferred our national sovereignty to the Arab League, the UN and the EU. Obama has conferred with these organizations more than the U.S. Congress in employing U.S. power. How should Americans be thinking about their independence of action in the world? This includes everything from giving INTERPOL immunity (which PJ says just sent a guy from Malaysia back to Saudi to be beheaded for “blasphemy”) U.S. Naval freedom of navigation, contributing through these organizations for humanitarian relief, and supporting operations for “rebels” and freedom fighters whose make-up and loyalties are unknown, or antithetical to America.
-Economic liberty: the punitive and arbitrary enforcement of needless regulations on everyone from Gibson Guitar company to dry cleaners for their carbon output. Leave the little guy alone, so he can work, prosper, and provide for his own family rather than dependent on the government for free healthcare, college tuition, subsidized mortgages and discounted Chevy Volts. Give citizens the space that is their birthright to make their own choices and meet their own obligations.
-Crony capitalism: stop the mega-grants from tax payers to campaign donors and bundlers who set up companies that go bankrupt because they have no market, no business model except to get gov. grants, and no serious intent to do any real business long-term.
-Taxmaggedon2013: stop the tax hikes that could start another recession by instituting long-term tax policies, rather than the short-term, incremental cuts and hikes that have business people lurching chaotically from one panicked decision to the next — and all lasting only a few months, rather than well into the future.
-Military strength: the sequestration cuts could imperil U.S. national security in a dangerous world, and squander the experience and skills gained the past ten years. Two Secdefs and many others say this will cut muscle, not just fat.
None of these things require a bad economy. They’re actual, essential issues people care about that Romney should be running away with. There’s no excuse.
Romney has talked about most of those issues in the GOP debates. And in his speeches. And on his campaign website. Surf to his campaign website and look for yourself.
But the GOP base doesn’t care about any of that.
Romney’s style is to discuss those issues as technical problems to be solved by a competent manager like himself.
And that’s the problem. The GOP base wants to frame this election as Freedom vs. Socialism.
They want somebody to debate Obama and call Obama a Manchurian Candidate to his face–someone who is deliberately, cold-bloodedly wrecking the country to advance some Marxist/Alinskyite agenda. They want the GOP candidate to talk like John Galt and announce that all that welfare-state stuff starting with Social Security must be eliminated so we can go back to living the way we did under the Calvin Coolidge Administration.
Romney just can’t deliver that kind of red meat to the GOP base the way Gingrich can.
That’s because it is.
Romney will never do it because Romney is on Obama’s side.
True, that.
This is a lie being promoted by the mainstream media that the economy is getting better. It simply is not. Sure, your job numbers will get better if the grand total of unemployed people are no longer being counted. Gallup just last week put the actual number of unemployed at 9%, and if you count in all of the people who are looking for jobs, want jobs, or are stuck in part-time jobs but want full-time jobs, the number increases to about 15%. And we haven’t even counted the roughtly 23 million people who have lost jobs since the start of the recession and have not found a new one.
And lets not even talk about the national debt and how much money Obama and the Democrats spent to get us to where we are today. This is a debt that is rapidly becoming something we will not be able to pay back unless we do something about it NOW. And Obama and the Democrats have done nothing for Medicaid or Medicare reform, let alone fix Social Security. Nothing, not one thing. So our debts will only continue to explode at a rapid rate with Washington doing nothing about it.
If Romney can’t articulate this, if Romney can’t articulate how bad things really are and that things are getting worse a lot faster than people realize, then he does not deserve to be the Republican candidate.
Not only can Mr. Romney not articulate the condition of the economy, he can not bring himself to disagree with the liberal media.
The only reason Romney was “electable” and “inevitable” was because the Republican Party leadership thought they could force voters to vote the way they wanted them to… and before the sleeping giant woke up and decided to identify itself as the TEA Party, they probably would have gotten away with it.
The fact that Romney is unelectable is crystal clear to anyone who remembers he would be running against an African-American DEMOCRAT and he is a long-time member of a religion which did not recognize blacks as fully human until 1978! The MSM has not touched this yet, because Romney is not the candidate yet, but as soon as he is (which fortunately, is looking less and less likely) ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The LA Times, and every other major media will be running articles/shows “exploring” Romney’s religion.
Romney mojo? He has swum the entire time in muddy waters, but he’s never had his mojo working.
Romney has played Mike Myers, in this nightmarish “B” movie.
Bachman, Perry, Trump, Cain, Gingrich have all tried to finally do him in. Up he pops in that mask again.
If this were a fictional race he would be the tortoise. I’m not sure who will be the march hare, but all the rest seem to qualify.
I don’t buy “conventional wisdom” about this primary season, because it has been unconventional since the start and there has been a decided lack of wisdom, grace, sanity in it. Mostly it has been marred by foolishness, grandiose ridiculousness, puerile tantrums and bombastic bellicosity.
Romney has indeed been an oaf. He started out with marginal enthusiasm in 70% pool of unconvinced voters. He has indented those margins.
However, despite this Custer-like last stand of the non-Romney cavalry, I do not believe the current “conventional wisdom” any more than I have believe the sitting bull sessions that preceded it.
The 70% of voters who could not make up their mind to choose one of these eminently inferior candidates, still like None of the Above better than any of them.
Oh, the 30% will shout and yell and wave pom-poms for their designated hero, and some people have never picked up a pom-pom, but have resigned themselves to holding their nose and voting for …anybody on the ticket.
But, if Romney wins Arizona, Utah, the Northeast and California, maybe part of the Northwest…and Gingrich wins a bit in the South and Santorum takes the rest and Paul gets his bizarro world 10%…nobody is going to have even close to enough delegates by August, looking for one of two things.
A consensus candidate or a “compromise” candidate. There are absolutely ZERO candidates currently running who fit the former description. I don’t give a damn what past, present or future “conventional wisdom” suggests, there is not a galvanizing candidate in this grouping, there will be NO “consensus” surrounding them to become the candidate.
If we do not do the wise thing (there is not a shred of evidence the Stupid Party is capable) and run an actual “brokered” convention with an actual “consensus” choice acceptable to all, we will wind up with a “compromise” candidate.
And a “compromised” electorate. That candidate will be Romney. Forget the very polarizing Gingrich and forget Paul entirely.
The ONLY hope we have, is for the Santorum, Gingrich contingent to refuse to give Romney the votes. That would force a “consensus” candidate into the picture.
“Conventional wisdom” suggests that “we never do this”, “it can’t be done”, “there’s not enough time”, “he wouldn’t be properly vetted”…and other inanities.
It is either Romney as a “compromise” or someone not in the picture currently. Take your pick. But, don’t expect an August convention to have any more wisdom than we have seen to date.
The demonkrats understand that to win votes you MUST appeal to the emotions of the people; this is another way of saying you MUST utilize propaganda (ie., lies, mis-information, slander, etc.) and seek to absolutely DESTROY (personally) the opposition. Not “reach across the aisle,” not “work with democrats,” etc., but totally destroy them.
The Republicans think they can beat the master propagandist (i.e., marxist leninist liar of an S^B)Barry, HUSSEIN oCOMMIE, by citing facts and speaking in generalities (ie., I will increase employment, I will east the tax burden, etc).
This simply will not work against expert left wing marxist propagandists !!
The republicans must put forth SPECIFIC plans and at the same time, point out, repeatedly and specifically, how oCOMMIE hates the USA, its citizens, its history and how he seeks to destroy – literally – the USA.
The republicans have to start targeting oCOMMIE personally, as well as his fellow communist travelers – Pelosi, Reid, and point out that these people are simply communist vermin that seek to destroy our constitutional republic.
Unless the republicans get tough, oCOMMIE will win re-election.
Half the country pays zero taxes and a very large percentage is on the govt. dole – thanks to oCOMMIE; this is an intentional a purposeful policy on behalf of the demonKrats to make the populace dependent on the govt. All oCOMMIE need do is promise them more handouts and he will have their vote.
The republicans had better wise up.
IMHO, if Romney wishes to win the nomination he should concentrate on delivering the message that Obama’s policies are ruinous, rather than running nasty attack ads against the other Republican candidates. Although my advice is contrary to conventional primary wisdom, Romney has just gone too far in tearing down his fellow candidates — his attack ads have too often been proven to be full of lies, misdirection and misrepresentation. Time to change the tone, if he wants to win.
Oh, and decisively disavowing RObomney care. He can’t win with that piece of rotting fish strung around his neck.
Santorum is the 2012 edition of John McCain and Bob Dole rolled into one becoming the candidate of the blended Parties whose goal is to have Obama re-elected.
Am I the only one who finds it suspicious that months on end of 2% ratings in the polls prompted Santorum to project confidence that he would be the nominee? This is the GOP’s GHWB-Reagan debacle all over again.
Romney’s problem is he is a terrible candidate. The worst the Republicans have found in a long time. He can’t even beat a unelectable religious nut like Rick Santorum in the GOP primary. He doesn’t appear to stand for anything or have anything to say on any topic, his life story is one of being born rich and having it all handed to him, he is a Patrician dunce turned corporate raider who makes Michael Dukakis look charismatic and likable. He is the Peter Principle writ large.
What is worse, I, and I suspect I am not alone, believe he is behind all the scandals that have destroyed the other nominees. That it is Romney operatives who dug up the dirt and handed it to the press. There is absolutely nothing to like about him.
I still plan to vote for whoever the GOP runs, but I don’t see how any of our remaining candidates can win. They all are also rans. Not one of them is up to beating Obama. We will be lucky to get 40% and most likely Obama will have a Democrat majority in both houses.
We must have better people in the GOP than this. This is a really important election. I don’t think the country can take four more years of this crap. We will be a People’s Republic with Dear Leader For Life in the White House by 16.
I don’t have to wait for Election night to be depressed this time. Our field is like entering motor scooters in the Indianapolis 500.
Why didn’t anyone good run for President?
Once again, we are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
I sometimes wonder (in a conspiracy-nut kind of way) if the Republican party ‘elites’ have planned it that way…if they feel like the economy can’t be saved in the short term and are willing to let the national ship sink to unprecedented lows with Obama, just to harm the Democrat brand — and to hell with us ‘little people.’
I don’t think they (R’s) even begin to understand how very, very angry we are with them and their sniviling, cowardly accommodations with the progressive economic agenda.
Bingo.
Right now they are “tut tutting” those poor misguided peasants, meaning US, and comforting themselves with the “certainty” that will will all fall into line and dutifully vote for ABO like the good little serfs that they know we are.
No.
If Romney is the nominee I will write in Rick Santorum.
NOT because he is a great candidate, but because he’s a far, far less bad choice than Mitt Romney.
If the Republican Elites do not believe the economy can be saved, we need new Elites.
I believe that a dose of American Laissez-faire governance, combined with altering the tax code to the benefit of the tax payers, and an all of the above pro energy policy would create a major boom.
“Why didn’t anyone good run for President?
Once again, we are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”
As I told CFB, I’ll tell you: It boils down to two words, affirmative action. Top-tier potential Republican candidates would rather not have their reputations sullied as “racists” by Democrats & the MSM for running astute campaigns against our “esteemed” first AA POTUS. So they are sitting this one out, leaving it up to the second-string candidates have at it. Everyone knows Obama is dong a deplorable job; Dems & Pubs alike. If he were white, he’d be sitting through impeachment proceedings by now. But noooooo. Not only is he being left alone, they are going to slick his way to a second term. Why? They don’t want to be buried under the heavy weight of the race card. No riots in the streets will happen on their account; this means so much to them they are willing to risk having the interests of the country driven asunder by four more of Obama & Co. Aren’t they special?
Hey you’re even making me feel bad with such a downer of a post. However unless something really bad happens I don’t see how Obama loses no matter who is the nominee. However, while Romney might be a tad better in the general election he still loses but it will be worse for the down stream Republican candidates as he brings no excitement at the top of the ticket. Newt and Santorum could even though they have no chance they might help below the ticket with more voters showing up.
Even Sarah at number two could not help Romney.
Romney didn’t alienate the GOP base with any “unforced errors.”
They were extremely hostile to his candidacy from the very beginning–from the day he announced his candidacy.
Go search the archives of conservative forums like RedState.com from last summer for example. From the very beginning, the GOP base has been demanding “Anybody but Romney.”
There’s nothing that Romney can say or do that will win them over. They will always regard him with suspicion, just because he got elected governor of ultra-liberal MA. And in their eyes, no one who could get elected governor of MA and then run for senator of MA could possibly be a conservative.
There’s a reason why Gingrich keeps referring to Romney as a “Massachusetts moderate,” not just a “moderate.” He knows that GOP base conservatives regard MA as the stronghold of the enemy–the home of the Kennedys and Tip O’Neill and Barney Frank. And Romney is getting tarred with that association.
No, it’s because of his TRACK RECORD while being governor of MA.
He’s a socialist and a homosexual activist and a liar.
The error was in thinking that Mitt Romney should be anywhere NEAR the Republican nomination.
All I can say is, “Faster, please!”
The sooner this liberal is gone the better for America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLWnB9FGmWE
Destroying lives doesn’t help any campaign.
The biggest problem Romney has is that he seems more interested in bashing fellow Republicans running against him than focusing on the real enemy: Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats who are wrecking the country. Ronald Reagan would be appalled at the sleazy campaign Romney has run.
Does anyone truly think that Santorum will be elected? All this fire-breathing feels great, and I too would certainly like a more conservative candidate than Romney. But if you think that Obama would be getter than Romney you’re smoking something. And if you think Santorum can beat Obama you’re on meth. Romney has a shot and will be beholden to the Republican base if elected. And he’ll be friendly to business, not insane on the environment, pro-energy development, and pro-conservative when appointing supreme court justices. That beats four more years of Obama. Look guys, we have one shot at repealing ObamaCare and it is in 2013. Romney has promised he’ll do that and there’s no way he’ll go back on that promise if Congress can deliver. If you’re willing to give that up for a zero prospect candidate like Santorum, you’re on . . . well, what’s worth than meth?
Make that “what’s WORSE than meth?”
You know I read the first couple of comments, knowing what I would get. And then went to the bottom to comment and, thank goodness, read your post.
You all don’t like Romney because he is faithful to one woman, has a great family, has a steller business career, has not been a pot or meth or drugs or alcohol user, has saved (and oh yes, he did, I volunteered and I know) the Olympics, – took no money for the 3 years, was gov of mass for 4 years and took no money. He volunteered for service in his Church for over 15 years, took no money.
But that’s not a good example of the kind of man we need in the Oval office. No we need a man who cheated on his wives, (the evangelicals can forgive him, but never countenance a Mormon in the highest office), or a Catholic who can’t seem to get out of the birth control issue, or a man who seems to be a good guy, but his foreign policy is a little crazy.
God help us and all of you who use any excuse not to vote for a great man and use all kinds of excuses except the one you really don’t want to state.
Santorum will never get the indies and the blue dogs, but you all go down with your ideas and watch out country turn into greece!
What business experience do any of them have? Only one!
I suppose the Billion dollars of tax payers money that bailed out the Olympics didn’t help much now did it? Where was his mantra of let the Olympics go bankrupt or let them fail then? Maybe a managed bankruptcy would have worked fine if they had some lenders now wouldn’t it? Yes Mitt came to the rescue using the taxpayers dime.
If you remember the date of the Olympics it was just after 9/11. The money was needed for security both of the participants and the citizens. But then you don’t care about safety of the populous!
Just for everyone else, I thought you might like to see a great article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204792404577227173888056682.html
It boils down to whether Republicans want any chance of winning. With the current crop, like it or not that means Romney. Gingrich is deeply flawed as a character, as nearly everyone–including conservatives–who have worked with him will attest. Santorum is a really good guy–great values, great wife, great family. He deserves lots of credit. But he has no appeal to anyone beyond the base, and he’s no small government conservative. I would vote for him in a heartbeat over Obama, but he’ll lose by a large margin as the media portrays him as a fanatic. His own state of Pennsylvania voted him out. It’s Romney or nothing, folks–unless someone has a real brilliant idea for bringing to pass the mythical “brokered convention” and convincing someone (who?) of great conservative stature to agree to a coronation.
There we have it… We don’t like Romney because he’s LDS. Give me a break! When does this idiotic martyr complex stop?
I live with LDS members all around me. We have several large Stakes in Northern Virginia. Our high school has a very significant LDS population. I serve with LDS parents on advisory boards, serving food at the concession stand at football games, doing Booster club activities for the band. I don’t agree with LDS theology… that’s a religious discussion, and I do not embark on it with my LDS friends because I value their friendship more than theology. What I do admire is the public civic spirit that my friends demonstrate as a matter of their everyday lives.
Romney’s charitable giving is a function of his active membership in a religion that requires him to tythe. That religion also requires of him a very stiff measure of service to the LDS community, and missionary work. He has the exact same of those sorts of qualifications as Harry Reid, Morris Udall (or any Udall for that matter) so it counts for little as it relates to politics.
I am a Roman Catholic, who has zero problems voting for a Mormon for any office, if that person is of the qualifications in leadership and political philosophy that I see worthy of my vote.
Please park the defensiveness and martyr complex. Stick to the facts of what Mitt Romney is, and what he has done, politically.
He IS a Limousine Liberal Democrat masquerading as a Republican and therefore I WILL NOT vote for him, EVER!
(Nowhere in that pledge do you see even a subatomic particle of religion.)
r/TMF
“Nowhere in that pledge do you see even a subatomic particle of religion.” Not from you, but there’s plenty of anti-Mormon animus out there and it has an effect. But regardless, Romney’s not a “liberal” and to call him one is silly. He’s a moderately conservative Republican who knows how things run and how to run them. Obama is a hard left guy who has no idea how government runs and doesn’t care. He seeks to remake American government and society and to let future presidents clean up the mess. Which means we’re Greece in 5-10 years unless we get an adult in the White House soon. Romney, for all his flaws, is an adult. He won’t prentend that raising taxes to 60% on the “rich” will solve any of our problems. He will likely adopt some version of the Ryan plan for reforming entitlements once elected. He will fight to keep the military strong. He will stop the Obama anti-business crusade. He will stop crony-capitalism. And he will appoint conservative justices to the Court–certainly far more conservative than Obama. Yes, he will also compromise with Dems in ways that may be somewhat painful. But those compromises will be infinitely better than getting nothing or risking national bankruptcy. The party’s up on the debt issue. We’ll either figure out a way to pay our bills and stop sinking deeper into debt or all our pensions won’t mean a thing and whether taxes on the “rich” are 38%, 43%, or 60% will be entirely academic. It’s Romney and a chance or nothing. Deal with it and get to work before it’s too late. And who knows, he might just surprise you–as Reagan did to those of us who remembered how “soft” and “liberal” he seemed at times as California’s governor. (And no, I’m not saying Romney is Reagan.)
The list of Romney’s conservative accomplishments as Governor is underwhelming.
I could care less that Romney is from the LDS. I am Atheist and consider all religions to be equally useless superstitions. I’d vote for a Wiccan if they were believably Conservative, free market, low tax, small government, pro energy, and had thought about anything beyond how cool it would be to be President.
I am against Romney because he is going to lose. The race for President is largely a personality contest and Romney doesn’t appear to have one. I don’t want any of the candidates we have left. Cain was the pick of the litter and Romney’s operatives stabbed him in the back. He never did anything Bill Clinton didn’t do, and he actually ran a business. Being a corporate raider is not business experience. It’s legalized theft reserved for the country club set.
No, I do not favor Mitt Romney because: (i) he is not really a conservative, (ii) he has not articulated a clear and positive conservative message, (iii) he will not pursue the conservative policies we need if he were elected and (iv) he is seeking to gain the GOP nomination by spending tens of millions of dollars and engaging in unfair negative attacks on Newt and now Santorum.
We’ve heard that line time and time again, and we’ve seen how it works out time and time again.
We are not buying it any more.
THIS is exactly why Romney would be worse than Obama. We’ve gotten where we are exactly because of this lie.
The RINOs have foisted one liberal after another on us, with the promise that they would be “beholden” to the conservative base. When they get elected, they act like the liberals they are until the next election, when they start making conservative noises again, and we are expected to dutifully line up and vote the party line again.
NO MORE!!!!
No more appeasement. No more RINOs. No more liberals pretending to be Republicans.
I will vote for a very imperfect candidate (like Rick Santorum) but I will NOT vote for another Establisment RINO.
Take your Dole-McCain-Romney cabal and get out of my country!
When Mitt was in Salt Lake for the 10th anniversary of the Olympics (last weekend) the fed dems put pressure on the dems in SL to stand up and proclaim that Romney didn’t save the Olympics. Well 3 former “have been” dems stood up in front of the camera and lied. The head of the dem party in Utah stood up and stated that the dems need to tell the truth and not stand up and lie, because everyone knows that Romney did save the Olympics. Good for Dubakas!
Scott Johnson at Powerline sums it up nicely.
Resistance to Romney is a full blown disease.
The problem is, the “cure” of the “non Romneys” is simply a different disease. They all suck.
I understand the resistance, but I am lukewarm on the non-Romneys as well. If I had to choose a candidate among them, I would choose Romney. I think he is the least bad of the lot.
The resistance to Romney among a large part of the base of the Republican Party, however, suggests to me that Romney himself would be less than a stellar candidate against Obama. He’s got problems that the non-Romneys have successfully exploited. Romney’s defense of Romneycare in the debates has been a recurrent thumb in the eye to the not inconsiderable number of Republicans for whom repeal of Obamacare is a priority along with with fiscal and economic issues.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/02/im-ok-youre-ok.php
Brilliant minds are saying “it’s too late” for a real candidate to step in and save the day. I disagree with every fibre of my being. Because if it’s too late, we’re sunk.
Romnney and all like him are the disease.
We’ve been vaccinated – it’s time for some potent bug-killers.
One reason Mitt Romney has lost his MOJO is that every media outlet including Fox is in a full court press to derail his candidacy. You cannot find a favorable story about him anywhere. Rush, Sean, Mark and Sarah are all determined to keep the primary going for some self-serving reasons or perhaps just misguided.
The sooner we pick a candidate the sooner the media has to listen to him go on the offensive solely against Obama and not the other candidates.
We need a problem solver not life-long politicians eating at the public trough.
To be fair, you’ve got to admit it’s hard to make a case for Mitt being a good R nominee, when his record makes him a D.
That’s because there’s nothing good that can be said about him.
I don’t understand what “mojo” Romney ever had, aside from the blessing of the Republican elite and from the media and the Democrats who still would prefer to run against him.
The former helped stack the primaries to ensure that their handpicked loser would get the nomination—and he may yet—and the latter have cheered them on.
Well, here’s news: nobody wants Romney, if by “nobody” you mean the bulk of the people whom the Republican elite expected to roll over and vote for this android. It is uncertain whether anyone will be able to beat the stacked deck, but he is still the guy who’s expected to take a dive in the tenth round.
That’s probably the dumbest theory out there. Why would Paul Ryan, Carl, Christie, etc etc want Romney to lose to Obama. Dude, do you know how stup** you sound?
cfbleachers,
+10
Mitt Romney did not ever have any “mojo,” just a lot of money to spend on negative ads against Newt. The problem that Romney has is that he is not connecting in a positive way with most Republicans. Romney is not articulating a clear, positive conservative message; and that is what is key to winning the GOP nomination, not spending tens of millions of dollars and having a PAC broadcast unfair negative ads.
I don’t know that Romney can correct that problem given who he is and that historically Romney has not been a conservative. While Newt was a Yound Turk Captain in the Reagan Revolution, Romney was voting for liberal Democrats Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale and Paul Tsongas.
Mitt “severely conservative” Romney has changed positions more than an insomniac with restless leg syndrome. I am hoping that no candidate has enough votes to win the nomination on the first ballot at the convention, and that we end up with a ticket made up of two of these: Palin, Ryan, West, Christie, and Daniels. (No, not Rubio, as he is not a natural born citizen because his parents were not U.S. citizens when he was born. Besides, he has an annoying lisp.)
Christie is as much a RINO as Romney.
It would be the stuff of comedy if the nation weren’t on the cusp of catastrophe.
At first it appeared that Mitt Romney was a rerun of John McCain. But now it is abundantly clear that he is instead the worst possible combination of Bob Dole and Algore, John McCain and John Kerry.
Romney is the designer candidate – designed by liberals.
Romneycare
Vulture Capitalist
Cult religion
47th of 50 states in unemployment
Flip-flopper extraordinaire. Beyond world class
If he has an ideology, it’s to compromise about everything.
Pisses conservatives off whenever he opens his mouth
Bad-mouthed Reagan
Polite to democrats and the media
Zero political abilities
Plastic
Scared witless of being called a racist
As far as you can get from being a man of the people
Declared fan of obama
What more could they want?
I just cannot fathom there ever being a point in my life, even at gun point, pulling the lever for Romney. Just would not happen. He has always been toxic to me since he came on the scene.
Same here except I will not be pulling the lever for Santo the Catholic under any circumstances. He’s easily the worst of the bunch.
Maybe time to reconsider Newt.
I like Newt, he seems like the best choice we have.
Obama started a culture war to stop Romney and the social cons fell for it hook, line and sinker. It’s so pathetic and laughable. How little man has changed.
Is not paying much attention to history a specialty of yours?
Or are you just very selective about it?
Romney was hated long before Obama was a factor, and it’s ALL due to Mitt Romney. He didn’t need any help at all.
All of his problems have come out of his own mouth.
For a funny take on that (good luck getting the tune out of your head afterward):
Willard “Mitt” Romney: “They Call Him Flipper”
Obama began his campaign almost a year ago, before you signed on to start trolling for places to trash Romney, and obviously before you noticed. Socialism? Hell, we are trying to stop Communism in this election. This country is already Socialist.
He has devoted enough of his energy and money to the campaign. He should shut down the campaign and live in the luxury his money can provide.
“I’m not coming out as some sort of spokesman for the anti-tree, car-trashing, lake-draining lobby here, but you’re going to have to do better than that.”
Now that’s funny!
As we all know, there is indeed a car-trashing lobby; they are rich, jet-setting eco-freaks who want us peons to do without fuel and live in crowded Third World cities whose only transportation options are crowded and crime-ridden buses, flimsy and easily-stolen bicycles, and shoe leather.
Believe it or not, there is even a lake-draining lobby of sorts. It’s called dam removal. They want to drain man-made lakes to restore watersheds and allow fish and other aquatic life to migrate freely. Of course, some dams have outlived their usefulness and can be removed, but others are there for good reason.
I am not sure that there is any anti-tree lobby, but if there were such a movement, I wouldn’t expect them to be on the same side as the car-trashers and lake-drainers!