Look at who the GOP chose to run against them in their ssecond terms...nothing astonishing about their reelections. To the casual observer it might seem as though the GOP actively sought to have Clinton and Obama reelected.
“To the casual observer it might seem as though the GOP actively sought to have Clinton and Obama reelected. “
I thought about that, but then you have to realize what the ego is like for people like John McCain and Mitt Romney. It was McCain’s last possible shot at the presidency. He had paid his dues and he had enough favors owed. It was his turn, damn-it! The fact that he looked like an old fossil running opposite a younger man was irrelevant. The fact that he had zero personality was irrelevant. The fact that he was not well liked was irrelevant. It was his turn and it was his last chance at the brass ring of history. The man’s incredible ego, I think, is driven by his brain cancer. No telling how long that has been a factor. But, even without the cancer, people who rise to that level of power and sustain it for decades generally have outsized views about themselves.
Romney, I think really sees himself as the prototypical Republican. And, in many ways, he represents the new, improved (cough) kinder, gentler conservative (cough.) The fact that he didn’t resonate with the base really didn’t matter because he thought there would be crossover votes from the fifty percent of takers (or whatever term he used that was later replaced by Hillary with “deplorables.)
Romney reminds me of my lesbian relative who declares she is an arch conservative despite never having voted for a Republican. This is because she votes for the candidate, not the party. Having gotten her to tell me she had voted for only Democrats her entire life did not shake her from declaring she was “conservative.” That’s Romney in a nutshell.