Posted on 12/18/2010 2:08:56 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
As we all know, Mitt Romney's biggest problem in the 2012 Republican primaries is that conservatives don't trust him, given that he used to be a pro-choice moderate who got health coverage for Massachusetts' uninsured. His answer to this problem has been to run frantically to the right, staking out the most extreme position he can on any issue that comes up (his latest is an attack on lazy unemployed people). But the truth is this strategy is going to fail.
What Mitt needs to understand is that voters don't make judgments based on checklists. If a true-blue conservative wants to choose his primary candidate based on ideological affinity, all the screamingly right-wing op-eds in the world won't make a difference. It's a feeling, an identification, a sense that the candidate is "one of us." And Mitt just ain't. He's going to have to find some other way to win them over.
That isn't to say ideology doesn't matter -- Romney will have to convince them that he's conservative enough, passing a threshold of ideological acceptability. But he seems to be trying to prove he's the most conservative, and that won't work. Which is why he really needs Sarah Palin to enter the race.
If Palin gets in, she'll have the crazy vote locked down, and that will take the pressure off Romney. If the only thing that matters to you is finding a candidate who hates liberals as much as you do, the choice will be clear. Voters who care about other things -- like who has a chance to beat Obama, who seems to know what he's talking about, whose jaw is the squarest -- will then be choosing between Mitt and a bunch of other candidates who are not, at this point, looking like a bunch of giants. If the race comes down to Palin vs. Romney, Mitt will be in great shape, because Palin has a relatively low ceiling of support even within the party, and chances are she'll be running a Keystone Kops campaign more notable for its entertainment value than for its ability to accumulate delegates.
Whether progressives would rather have Romney be the nominee over someone else is a difficult question. He's probably the one with the best chance to beat Obama, but he may also be the one most likely to govern sanely, should he actually win. This is a question a lot of progressives I know are now asking themselves with regard to Palin -- should you want her to be the GOP nominee, given the small chance that she'd win, set against the likelihood that if by some turn of events she did, within a few months America would become a post-apocalyptic hellscape where survival depends on forging an alliance with the cannibal gangs to overcome the zombie horde?
In either case, there's no easy answer. But it's not something we'll be deciding anyway.
Sorry, this time we won’t be letting the Democrats and Left-Wing Press pick our candidate.
Hope that is OK with you left-tards!
It’s a feeling, an identification, a sense that the candidate is “one of us.”
Written by a lib, no doubt about it.
In some states there are open primaries and you can stop it. That is how we got McCain.
What was it this guy was saying about somebody having "the crazy vote locked down"?
They sure are in for a jolt. The Palin organization has been orchestrating and carrying out detailed and extended "campaigns" around her booksigning tours, her speech schedules, dealing with the media, all the crucial elements which contribute to a successful candidacy. Certainly fundraising will be the least of Palin's worries if she runs!
These people are pro's by now. It has all happened right under the enemy's nose, and in their arrogance they haven't even noticed.
(twitch) being from Minnesota and knowing of Al Franken (twitch) I'm (twitch) fighting the idea that (twitch) Sarah Palin (twitch) may be the best damn thing that can happen to us (twitch) on a national (twitch) basis in 2012 (twitch).
I guess perhaps that I may just be crazy to have a wanton directive for a true conservative leader.
I'm just NUTS but with conviction!
PSSST, please don't let it out that I have voted Bachmann every time she has been elected (twitch) for they may lock me (twitch) up for good for my own good.
Am I crazy?
I've lost track of how many pieces I've read lately written by libs containing amateurish psychological ploys to get us to like Romney.
The left really seems to like him. 'Nuff said.
No offense, but Mitt couldn’t even beat John McCain.
Whether progressives would rather have Romney be the nominee over someone else is a difficult question. ....................................... Looks like the MSM picking your candidate again. Why not Dole/McCain? LOL
If you have to prove you are, you aren’t.
We got McCain because of Mitt Romney being in the 2008 primaries.
I actually think to some extent that Sarah Palin running in the primaries could help someone like Mitt Romney. If people really feel she can’t win the general election because she resigned from the governorship, they might be more forgiving of another candidate’s weaknesses—just to get someone, anyone else to win the nomination.
That said, I think Romney has a big hill to climb as a result of all the criticism of Romneycare being like Obamacare.
Lately I get the impression that Palin probably won’t run, but could end up being a “kingmaker” by throwing her support behind someone else. (Huckabee maybe?)
Romney didn’t help.
Blame Romney then, first he killed the selection by making all potentials know that he was entering the race with all of the money, and all of the organization and people, and then he was too weak to defeat even a broke, McCain or Huckabee.
Romney is still here and now wants to ruin 2012.
First, Gov. Palin running helps Gov. Palin.
Second, nothing could help Romney except if he apologizes
for what he has done.
Finally, RomneyCARE = ObamaCARE = FASCISM
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