I like the IDEA of Mitt Romney. He’s an adult. It’d be nice to have adults running the show again. He has plenty of executive experience. He was a successful businessman so he know how the rest of America works outside the public sector. He’s smart and an effective public speaker. The whole Mormon thing doesn’t bother me.
But he is another Metrocon. He’s a conservative on the wrong side of the vital Civil Rights issue outlined by the Second Amendment. And he has onerous things on his political record to back up that hoplophobic attitude. I’m sure JayG will clue you in, if you want to hear him rant (and I recommend it. Jay’s rants are wonderfully entertaining.)
He's no Bill O'Reilley, but Bill isn't running for president.
Romney will have to SPRINT to get ahead of the issue to convince me he has changed. Maybe insist everyone around him Open Carry when there is press around? Insist the Congress pass a federal Shall Issue CCW law? And somehow get that passed even though he has no way to lean on lawmakers. He’d have to do something to earn my support at the voting booth. And I’m not alone.
Plus the Massachusetts Socialized Medicine. Another big strike against Mitt. No more ‘compassionate’ conservative silliness.
So Mitt… Good in theory, horrible in execution.
Maybe Mitt would make a good Veep...
I'm with you.
ReplyDeleteSee Ya
Thank God O'Reilly's not running.
ReplyDeleteHe's not a conservative -- he's a populist.
For example, he not only supports restrictions on basic civil liberties (such as bearing arms) during emergencies (such as "snow"), he DOES NOT think it is possible that any guns would EVER be confiscated in America durign an emergency (like Katrina).
O'Reilly has proven, on his own show, that he is at heart, an enemy of the Constitution, if it stands in the way of his fuzzy, populist-minded feelings.
With our Electoral College system, Mitt would need to have a VP that drew in votes from states that might not have voted for Romney otherwise. Sure, Mitt can lock in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and maybe some other states in that area, but they would almost certainly have voted Republican anyway. Yes, he can pull in MA, usually a Democratic Party stronghold, but he'd probably pull that off as a VP candidate also.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans need to have someone (or both people) on the ticket that will bring in one of the BIG traditionally Dem states. If they can bring in even just CA or NY (without losing TX or any other of their big states) it would be all but impossible for the Dems to win. You can't just yank 10% of the electoral vote away from one party and give it to the other and still expect them to win.
It's just not realistic.
Obama won't win reelection. I've said that since before he took office. He barely won and he had a LOT of people that ONLY voted for him in order to "make history". Lots of people that would not have even bothered to vote otherwise. Well, history has been made now, so where's the incentive to go vote for him again? Even if he had been a halfway decent president and the country was in good shape he wouldn't have won.
No, Hillary is going to be on the Dems ticket as President. What was the biggest complaint against her last time? She had no foreign policy experience. Now that she's been Secretary of State, that pretty much goes away. Throw in the way the Dems base their primary process on Super Delegates instead of the will of the people and she's almost guaranteed to be the Party's pick. Even if things are bad, she can always say "If only you had voted me in instead we wouldn't be in this condition. After all, the last time there was a Clinton in the White House we had a booming economy." and manage to convince people that she'd be a good choice.
Then we're up against the whole "make history" thing again with people wanting to elect a woman. Unless the Republicans front Sarah Palin or another woman, they might not win the next presidential election, no matter how bad things are. The problem would be in picking a running mate that would pull in big Dem states. Mitt might be able to pull that off. Someone that could win CA or NY would be better, though.
FWIW, I'm Mormon and I didn't vote for Mitt. Fred Thompson was my choice.