Romney Should Choose Bold Colors, Not Pale Pastels

Townhall.com ^ | April 24, 2012 | David Limbaugh

[Kaslin]

Mitt Romney's presidential run could turn out to be a test case to resolve the long-running debate inside the Republican Party as to whether the GOP presidential nominee should run as a conservative or more of a centrist.

How often have we heard both Democratic and Republican political "experts" reciting the conventional wisdom that during primary contests, candidates of both parties must play to their respective base voters and then shift toward the center during the general election campaign? Does anyone even challenge this edict?

The first problem with this is that it implicitly suggests that all presidential candidates are first and foremost politicians who will cater their policy agenda to whatever extent necessary to win their party's nomination and the general election. Perhaps I'm somewhat Pollyannaish, but I reject the cynical view that all politicians are, in the end, political prostitutes.

I am not saying that candidates shouldn't do their best to package their messages in the most palatable and attractive form to voters; that goes without saying. But what about their substantive message -- what they really stand for?

Well, that depends on what they stand for.

Exit polling consistently shows that nearly twice as many Americans identify themselves as conservative than as liberal. Even without that data, we know that Democrats must be convinced this is true, because most of them run as moderates in national elections.

Even President Obama, who is anything but a moderate, attempts to package his radicalism in conservative language. He doesn't, for example, admit his contempt for the free market; he goes out of his way to redefine capitalism to encompass his socialistic leanings and his fondness for government and business partnerships. And, to shift attention from the unpopularity (and failure) of his ideas, he demonizes people and groups to make it a contest between good and evil (as he defines those) rather than between competing ideas.

Ronald Reagan decisively won his two presidential elections by being himself -- a conservative -- not by pretending to be something he was not. Yes, that was three decades ago, but Republican presidential candidates can still successfully run as mainstream conservatives; they can better afford to be honest about who they are than can Democrats because of Americans' general conservatism.

This is not to say there aren't problems with this approach. Most candidates today happen to be veteran politicians who have been constantly bombarded with conventional political wisdom, which just so happens to be conventional liberal wisdom. That conventional wisdom dictates that the American people abhor fighting between the parties, prefer bipartisanship and glorify compromise and diluted centrism.

Further, Republican politicians have been so conditioned by form-over-substance political strategists to believe they must present themselves as compromising moderates that it's hard for them to believe otherwise.

To the contrary, Republican candidates dare not take their conservative base for granted. Energizing the base toward voter intensity and turnout is what is most important. They don't need to be wild-eyed radicals to do this; then again, mainstream conservatism is not radical or extreme -- another myth born of the liberal conventional wisdom.

I believe that people care more about what is good for the nation than whether politicians get along well enough to share cocktails at night after beating one another up all day. They care more about the sausage than they do the chaos and stench of the sausage factory.

This brings me to Mitt Romney. Among the many reasons I supported Rick Santorum is that I am confident he is more conservative and that he could be counted on to remain true to his conservative convictions despite pressure to moderate his positions. Obama has gotten us into such a mess that we can't afford much moderation if we are to turn this country around sufficiently to avert national bankruptcy, let alone a unilateral relinquishment of our status as the world's lone superpower.

I pray that Romney is as conservative as his strong supporters insist he is. And if so, I further pray that he will not be afraid to market himself as a conservative in the general election campaign.

Certain preliminary signs are troubling in that regard. Like candidate George W. Bush in the 2000 election, Romney already appears to be striving to prove that he's not a detached, uncompassionate rich elitist by further whittling away the tax deductions of the wealthy. He also seems to be gravitating toward adopting the liberal template of balkanizing, identity politics -- appealing to people as disparate, competing groups rather than as individuals who should be united as Americans.

To enhance his chances of winning, Romney must vigorously avoid "pale pastels," enthusiastically and conspicuously embrace mainstream conservatism and draw, in "bold colors," as sharp a contrast as he's capable of drawing between his blueprint for America and President Obama's disastrous record. Anything less would be a gift to Obama.

[Jonty30]

Maybe he can choose some thermochromic paints or nano paints that change colour, depending where he’s at.

[Diogenesis]

Romney cannot win.

Romney is a Democrat, BUT NOT THEIR Democrat.

Romney ONLY wins by cheating, buying votes, and lying.

IS THAT REALLY WHAT THE USA NEED?

[luvbach1]

Romney ONLY wins by cheating, buying votes, and lying.

I would call that fighting fire with fire.

[samtheman]

Let Romney be Romney. /s

[Venturer]

God: What I wouldn’t give for an honest candidate who ran as himself.

We get nopthing but cheats ,liars,skirt chasers, and thieves.

[Diogenesis]

At least NOW we know why ORomney helped Obama in 2008.

FLASHBACK:

The McCain/Palin ticket was up ++4 to 10 pts
in some polls, days prior to Election 2008.
So rather than helping the GOP, Romney and
TeamROMNEY and the RNME (Republican National Media Establishment)
decided …to attack Gov. Palin to throw Election2008.

Romney, and the Van der Sloot RNME RINOs for Obama in 2008

Late in October, The American Spectator's The Prowler revealed:
"Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers…
have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election.
'Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,'
says one former Romney aide…
'The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney.
"Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a 'diva' and was going off message intentionally."

---

The Palmetto Scoop reported: "One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was
the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
… aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw
that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.

---

"These staffers are now out trying to finish her off ….hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."

---

"Who's the Palin Leaker from the McCain Campaign?
National Review Online The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin
appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign.
... the source of the “Diva” leak was Nicolle Wallace’s husband."

---

"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"

"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"

"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"

"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"

"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"

[Reeses]

Welcome back Nixon.

[no dems]

Romney ONLY wins by cheating, buying votes, and lying.

IS THAT REALLY WHAT THE USA NEED?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HELL YES!!! Right now we “NEED” to do anything we have to do to get the Marxist Muslim out of the White House. Romney was not my first choice; or my second or my third. But, this is the hand we’ve been dealt, because the “good” Conservatives who had any “electability”, did not have the balls to run. Anyone who says Romney is no different than Obama needs to lay down the friggin’ crack pipe. Let’s just play the friggin’ hand we were dealt. This Great Republic will NOT survive four more years of B. Hussein Obama. As Newt said, and I paraphrase: If he’s this radical now, can you imagine if he gets a second term without having to ever face voters again?

God help us; we’re in one mell of a hess.

[MasterGunner01]

Romney cannot do what he does not know. Romney is about Romney — a self-absorbed, arrogant ass.

[Graybeard58]

Romney Should Choose Bold Colors, Not Pale Pastels

Color Romney liberal, scum sucking statist, that's what he is.

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Romney vs. Obama? One of them has to lose, rejoice in that fact, whichever it is.

[JRandomFreeper]

I will never vote for Romney. I currently campaign against all liberals, including Romney. And if Romney gets the nomination, I will continue to campaign against him.

/johnny

[oh8eleven]

Romney cannot win. Romney ONLY wins by cheating, buying votes, and lying.
You can't have it both ways.
Yeah, Romney's a skunk ... I'm voting for Dear Leader.

[McGruff]

A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers. - Ronald Reagan 1975.

Have they forgotten?

[no dems]

if Romney gets the nomination, I will continue to campaign against him.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just curious; who will you be campaigning “for”?

[JRandomFreeper]

How can I know yet who is the most conservative? All of the primaries aren't over.

/johnny