Posted on 02/21/2011 2:19:42 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
A year before Republicans pick a 2012 candidate, their presidential outlook remains muddled. Nothing exemplifies their dilemma more than the all-but-certain candidacy of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. By traditional standards, he should be the GOP front-runner. He was the 2008 runner-up, is personally attractive and professionally successful and can mount a well-financed, professional campaign. But he doesn't even have clear support within the party's mainstream wing, let alone the increasingly influential tea party faction.
His problems were evident from what he said — and didn't say — when he joined other hopefuls in wooing activists at last week's annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
Romney was relatively well received, thanks in part to his organization's success in mobilizing his backers. He finished second again in the presidential straw poll, showing support in a crowd that's not his natural constituency.
But his speech was heavy on crowd-pleasing anti-Obama one-liners and weak on substance. It failed to stir the spontaneous enthusiasm that greeted such speakers as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and, to everyone's surprise, the New York real estate entrepreneur turned reality-show host, Donald Trump.
Romney began with some curious commentary on Obama's State of the Union speech, chiding the president for a failed effort to redefine himself and present "a new and improved Barack Obama."
What's odd is that raised one of Romney's greatest handicaps, his efforts to redefine himself over the years. A moderate pro-gay-rights candidate when he challenged Sen. Edward Kennedy in 1994 who said he'd protect "a woman's right to choose" in 2002, Romney now sounds like most GOP conservatives.
He condemned liberal policies that "failed to protect the unborn" in a speech replete with conservative catch phrases like "America is an exceptional nation" and belief in the Constitution "as it was written and intended by the founders."
He failed to mention the ongoing revolution in Egypt, lest any pro-democracy comments anger conservatives stressing stability, and touched only tangentially on the issue that is a top GOP target — and his Achilles heel — health care.
The reason, of course, is that Obama's health care law, which Republicans abhor, resembles the law Romney passed in Massachusetts. Both require everyone to purchase health insurance.
Ironically, the failure of other states to match Romney's achievement made national health legislation more necessary. But Republican rivals are likely to give him substantial grief over the issue.
His changing political persona and vulnerability on health care are two reasons many Republicans have doubts about Romney, who failed in 2008 to show the popular appeal needed to win the nomination. Indeed, he seemed in Iowa and New Hampshire to fare less well the more voters got to know him.
One reason for Romney's crucial role at this stage is the contrast with the party's more conservative wing, where the ultimate pecking order depends heavily on whether Sarah Palin runs, a decision unlikely to come soon.
But the shape of the establishment field may hinge in part on whether potential rivals believe Romney can go all the way in what looks like an uphill race against Obama.
Of course, Romney's potential mainstream rivals have their own problems. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, perhaps the most charismatic and politically astute of them, carries more baggage than a Boeing 747, between his lobbyist past, image as a old-style white Southerner at a time of growing national diversity and comments on the South's racist past showing him as out of touch with reality as Hosni Mubarak seemed in Egypt.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels gave CPAC's most substantive and challenging speech, calling efforts to eliminate earmarks "a trifle" and saying focusing on them and "waste, fraud and abuse trivializes what needs to be done." But he has angered some social conservatives by down-playing their issues, and he lacks the charisma of Palin or Bachmann, not to mention Obama.
Two other potentially appealing candidates, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, say they won't run.
In that field, Romney's support in the crucial first primary state of New Hampshire, assuming he can maintain it, could help him become at least a GOP finalist and, absent a clear conservative alternative, a possible nominee.
But so many Republicans would not be seeking an alternative if they had greater confidence he was a true front-runner and potential 2012 winner.
Where has he been for 2 years? Why didn't he lead the charge against TARP, against Porkulus, against screwing GM and Chrysler bondholders, against ObamaCare?
Romney has been nowhere, right where his campaign will be going.
Only a dumb ass media prick could conceive of a sentence like that.
Mormonism is so weird it will wash away anything else when the media starts exposing it to the world right out of their own leaderships’ quotes!There are many reasons why the left is pushing Romney, and why they will vote for Romney in open Republican primaries. Mormonism and RomneyCare are the two top reasons. These two factors combine to make the re-election of BO a fairly easy task.
I think I´m liking Alan West more & more.Me too.
For the GOP, Romney is the ultimate Risky Business.
Well hey, if the GOP leadership caste puts Romney above all the rest, we WILL see another 4 years of Obama...
Looks to me like they are not learning their lesson from the last general election...
Way to go dipsticks...
Some “Funky Cold Medina”!!!
Not that I have seen. It was a complete shock for me to see that he voted no on that.
I’m confused...
Is he a Green Bay PACKERS or Cleveland BROWNS fan???
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