Why would Romney put people in his cabinet with whom he has profound political disagreement? Why would they accept a position in the cabinet of a man with whom they disagree and in many cases, do not like? To influence the direction of policy formulation and the debate in general, one might suppose. It's how the game is played. I haven't heard any one amongst those who ran say that they didn't "like" someone personally. They might not have liked what someone else did, an ad someone ran perhaps, or didn't like the outcome of a primary, but I think most of the "personal" vitriol happens on discussion boards.
Smart campaigners keep their emotions in check. Santorum was not more clever than Obama in this regard in all this Trayvon Martin brouhaha for example. Posters to blog boards don't have that emotion check constriction, either, largely due to the fact posters to boards are anonymous.
These people know that once Romney is elected that they would have absolutely no influence over him.
That's not what I hear from the likes of Palin, Gingich, West, McDonnell, Haley, Ayotte, and a host of other Tea Party republicans who are actually holding or have held elective office.
Romney didn’t campaign to have his political enemies run the show.
They may have been his primary opponents, but I hardly think as strategic-thinking and savvy a business alliance builder as he is, he sees only "enemies" --- as a host of posters around here have made of the opposing candidates who were not their first favorites. I think he sees allies.
I think he's looking at a lot of scrappy fighting allies in the battle for this fall's elections. And he'll need every one of them. And if he's as smart as he's shown himself to be in alot of ways on a lot of things, he will employ their skills in the larger effort of winning.
Depressed losers is what we have to make the DNC.
I think there's too many on this board too willing to give up -- and Obama's minions just laugh for what ineffective fools they've made of their opposition without having to even try or even spend a dime to make it happen.
FReegards!
They may have been his primary opponents, but I hardly think as strategic-thinking and savvy a business alliance builder as he is, he sees only "enemies" --- as a host of posters around here have made of the opposing candidates who were not their first favorites. I think he sees allies. I think he's looking at a lot of scrappy fighting allies in the battle for this fall's elections. And he'll need every one of them. And if he's as smart as he's shown himself to be in alot of ways on a lot of things, he will employ their skills in the larger effort of winning.Sounds exactly like the kind of mindset which leads to "bipartisianism" where conservatives are forced to give away the farm. Is that an admission that Romney will govern from the left (like everyone knows he will) if he is elected? No all-star team of conservatives in Romney's cabinet will drag his away from his instincts and inject conservative principles where none have ever existed.
No question that a bunch of big-name conservatives will support Romney but almost all have or aspire to positions of power or favor within the Republican Party which they are not going to jeopardize. Us rank and file members of the Republican Party are not so obligated. If someone is totally distasteful to us, we don't have to endorse him, work for his election, or even vote for him.
I have voted for the Republican Presidential candidate in every election since Ford, sometimes unenthusiastically. As I have been saying since early 2008, I won't vote for Romney. He's everything in politics that I have been fighting since the Reagan Revolution (and earlier as a youngster, when I first became interested in politics with Goldwater).