"Tom DeLay: John McCain Has Done the Most to Hurt the GOP "
"No to McCain-Kennedy, Yes to Border Security - Newt Gingrich "
To all, Please stop McCain.
We all knew Rush would be great today. RUSH: Stop caring who the media likes. Screw them!
Posted on 01/30/2008 10:02:49 AM PST by jdm
In the wake of the loss in Florida yesterday, Mitt Romney needs to focus on tonight's debate to break out as the conservative choice for the nomination. John McCain has taken leads in significant Super Tuesday states, and tonight will be the last national audience for all of the remaining candidates before 21 states go to the polls or the caucuses. Romney has to ignite conservatives and make this a binary race across a clear ideological line.
Some feel that the moment has already passed. Writers at The Corner and Dick Morris have resigned themselves to a Romney loss before more than 10% of the necessary delegates have been won. Others, like my friend and indefatigable Romney supporter Hugh Hewitt, argue that the numbers show that no one can win next week. The truth lies in between, as Hugh has the numbers correct but avoids acknowledging the role momentum plays.
Romney has one big advantage, but it will only be an advantage this week. He has better organizational strength and more resources. He can be more places at the same time as John McCain, which makes a difference when 21 states hold their contests on the same day. He can get his message across to more people simultaneously after this debate, and do it more often. After February 5th, that becomes far less necessary as we go back to a series of one- or two-state primary dates that stretches into April, when Pennsylvania goes to the polls.
If Romney wants to build momentum and define the race in binary conservative vs moderate terms, he has to start tonight and get aggressively positive about his credentials. He has only a few days in which he can crowd McCain out of the messaging. If he can't do that tonight and for the next five days, he will have little chance of prevailing, especially if McCain takes a big delegate lead next week.
What does McCain need to do? He needs to reach out to conservatives. He started last night with a gracious victory speech, but he needs to address the real and honest concerns on policy that conservatives still have with McCain. They need to see McCain promise to go after the Democrats with the same fervor that he went after Republicans over the years, and he has to convince them that he won't go back on his word on border security and tax cuts. After this debate, he has to make a significant outreach effort, and CPAC would be the best place to do this.
And a good number of people actually believed that blacks were three-fifths as valuable as whites. Does that make that true, too? Bigotry is bigotry, no matter how much the bigot believes themselves to be right.
Mitt Romney also still has the second most number of total delegates, and Mitt still has lots of his own money to spend. Like it or not, this isn’t over yet for Mitt. I would truly prefer it if Mitt decided to drop out and then give all of his delegates and all of his money to Duncan Hunter, but reality prevents that from happening.
Same back to you.
>Also, Huckabee doesn’t carry Romney’s (deserved) mormon stigma.
Clear example of religious bigotry.
Better face the heartbreaking truth.... a Republican, no matter who he is, and no matter who he runs against, will never win in November.
Unfortunately, for some reason, Romney doesn’t seem to have too many friends in the GOP. He isn’t well liked. I don’t get why, but he isn’t. And no, I don’t think it’s because he’s such a hard core conservative, since he isn’t. It must be a personality thing.
"Tom DeLay: John McCain Has Done the Most to Hurt the GOP "
"No to McCain-Kennedy, Yes to Border Security - Newt Gingrich "
To all, Please stop McCain.
We all knew Rush would be great today. RUSH: Stop caring who the media likes. Screw them!
>and I think it will hit Romney as hard and as ugly as an amnesty attack will hit McCain.
Like it or not, this argument killed Romney in Florida.
Exactly. Romney is the most full-spectrum conservative. Being pro-life alone is not enough. Democrat Sen. Harry Reid is pro-life too, and he is no conservative.
Don’t forget we get Bill to boot. A few more years of defiling the White House, and selling out our country at every turn is soooo much better than a Mormon./s
"The secret of acting is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made." -- George Burns
Romney has a phony problem. For all his appealing qualities and accomplishments there is a palpable undercurrent of insincerity. He must be authentic, or at least seem to be authentic if he's going to convince primary voters to turn from the known quantity that is the seriously flawed McCain. Hard to see how Romney suddenly becomes that which he has never seemed to be.
For better or worse, the reality is that McCain is largely perceived to be authentic. Many may not like him, but they at least feel they know McCain. In a field of demonstrably flawed candidates, authenticity becomes more important than ideology. Unless McCain stumbles badly and soon, the stark reality of McCain as the nominee lies ahead.
That argument is so flawed. Romney has a 14 to 21-point spared over any other opponent in the GOP in the current polls in Massachusetts. Pointing out that most voters in Massachusetts will vote for the Democrat nominee can hardly be called evidence of insight.
The majority of Republicans in Massachusetts are liberals/moderates. I know — I used to live there. Romney’s not a liberal William Weld Republican; so it stands to reason he’s unpopular with them.
Apparently yoiu don't know what you are getting with Romney. IMO Romney's negatives are higher than McCain's. It is amazing to me how suddenly Romney has become a conservative on this board. At least you ought to be honest with yourself and admit that whoever you vote for in November, if you vote, it will be for a liberal.
Any of the remaining Republicans could articulate a fiscally and socially conservative agenda, but why would you trust Romney's conservative converstion any more than another's?
Yes, but don't ya know touting one's record is seen as "negative campaining" and a no-no? (rolleyes)
Romney's DONE all this but the sheeple don't CARE. When one's made up one's mind to vote for someone with emotion, you can't reason with that.
You also gotta realise only a small percentage of people are actually political junkies who visit sites like this and know the truth. Most people just believe what they see on the MSM and we all know the MSM are rooting for McCain!
It’s easier to just look at the exit polls on why the chose McCain over Romney:
* Hispanics favored McCain on immigration
* Retired people liked McCain’s economic position better
* People thought McCain was stronger on national defense
It’s that simple. Romney can’t win on defense. But he should win on the economy and he CAN win on immigration if he sells his message and convinces Hispanics that he doesn’t hate them.
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