Posted on 01/01/2008 10:08:20 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Mitt Romney said last year that it would be akin to a nightmare to have to fund his presidential campaign out of his personal fortune.
But I can think of worse things. One would be spending $20 million of your money . . . and then losing. Forget akin to - that would be the politicians ultimate nightmare.
So now Mitt Romney is about to find out how much it costs to buy - or fail to buy - an election in 2008. A lot more than the $6 million it cost him to buy the Massachusetts governorship in 2002, thats for sure. Forget the $63 million Mitt raised through the first three quarters of 2007 (which included $17 million of his own).
Lets talk about how much of his cash Mitt has thrown into the campaign by now. We wont know until Jan. 31, but its got to be way more than $20 million.
And for what? Who knows at this point? By this time in most campaigns, the candidate has a pretty good idea if hes going to win or lose. But this week the polls are all over the place.
And for at least another day he finds himself in a two-front war, with John McCain in the East and Mike Huckabee, the dope from Hope, in the West. Two-front wars are tough - just ask Napoleon and Hitler.
But what has to be worse for Mitt is the prospect of possibly losing in Iowa to a Gomer Pyle look-alike. Its one thing to be running barely ahead of John McCain in New Hampshire - hes a war hero, a political heavyweight, not to mention the amigo-in-amnesty of Ted Kennedy, who crushed Mitt in 1994. Plus McCain has all the local newspapers behind him.
But Mike Huckabee? This is a guy who used to be a radio DJ in the 70s, and not in any major markets, either. Remember those cheesy polyester-garbed types spinning Top 40 platters on the 5,000-watt AM stations? They all signed off their shows with such doggerel as: This is Mike the Huckster, and just remember, as you go through life, whatever your goal, keep your eye on the doughnut and not on the hole.
Huckabees problem, though, was that he did keep his eye on the doughnut. Soon he weighed 300 pounds. Most of those 70s DJs migrated into the exciting field of previously owned automobile sales. But Huck set up shop in a tent. Can somebody shout amen?
This remains the base of Huckabees support, of course. Among those caucusgoers who have handled a poisonous snake as part of a religious service in the past 30 days, the Huckster has a 96-2 lead, and that last two goes to Fred Thompson, not Mitt.
McCains core voters are the people who speak Spanish, Huckabees are the people who speak in tongues.
How does Mitt explain to the partners at Bain Capital if he loses to Mike Huckabee? I mean, that would be like losing to Warren Tolman or John Lakian. Completely unacceptable.
No wonder Mitt has been spending money like a drunken sailor, although the difference between the sailor and Mitt is that Romney doesnt have the bad-ice-cube excuse. Everyone has the occasional moment where suddenly you cant control your spending - youre trying to impress some babe, maybe, or youre in a high-stakes poker game. Which I suppose is what Mitts in, although I think by this time he thought hed be reacting to Hillary, not Huckabee.
Bhutto gets shot, and Huckabee apologizes to Pakistan, like the United States shot her or something. And what happened after Huck made a fool of himself? He went up two points in the national tracking polls.
I hope Mitt pulls it out in both states, but if he doesnt, the reporters will be grilling him in a few weeks about why he blew 20 million in Steve Forbes-like futility.
To which Mitt should reply, I was drunk. So what if its not true? Its an answer that always works for the Kennedys.
It is but if they say anything against Romney they must be "left wing media".
“Romney haters can prattle on as much as they want”
I think even Mitt got a good laugh out of this comic essay.
Both men will continue to work. In that case, we might get a few more episodes of Law and Order, a movie bit part or two, and maybe Fred continues to dabble in Politics and he contributes to the bloated federal spending in the Senate.
Now if Mitt continues as he has, we will see a large number of new millionaires, and if he goes to work for Exxon, a huge new find of oil.
I like Mitt, but I am sorry that he will have to work for a bunch of sour grapes Republicans. Maybe one day, some will be appreciative of those who took a cut in pay for the cause of freedom.
Went to the Hannity Freedom concert in Dallas with some other FReepers and Mitt was introduced along with some other politico figures. Romney showed up in formal suit and coat while all the rest were informal. TX gov Perry wore jeans and boots all the rest were equally informal. The contrast was very noticeable.
I just saw a Fox news poll stating Paul may come ahead of Rudy..now THAT’S funny!
I don't like Huckabee because he's a phony, 24/7. (Another lying fat boy from Arkansas, what a surprise!) I don't like McCain because of the way he left his first wife to pursue the second one (after his first wife had fought tirelessly for the MIA's), the Keating-5 stuff, his stands on immigration, campaign "reform", Bush's judicial appointments, and Bush's tax cuts. Romney is plastic. I like Thompson's principles but he just doesn't seem to have the fire in the belly. That leaves Rudy, who's highly imperfect, too. I dunno. It's depressing.
Mitt wore that same suit and tie, IIRC. Fred is now being interviewed by Mark Levin — very nice Q/A by Mark. Fred’s low-key approach is refreshing and IMO effective.
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