Posted on 01/19/2015 5:06:02 PM PST by Maceman
Mitt Romney, not one to quit while he’s ahead, took polls placing him at the front of the GOP presidential pack at face value and decided to run for president again. Departing from his repeated denials of interest in seeking the office for a third time, Romney informed a “senior Republican” that he “almost certainly will” run, the Washington Post reported on Monday. Last Friday, he told a group of important GOP donors in no uncertain terms: “I want to be president,” signaling that they should get ready to open their wallets.
Reaction within the GOP has been far from enthusiastic. The GOP establishment and party “moderates” have not been quick to embrace their old standard-bearer. Case in point, straight from the Wall Street Journal editorial page: “The question the former Massachusetts Governor will have to answer is why he would be a better candidate than he was in 2012. The answer is not obvious.” Indeed, it is hard to see why a candidate that Americans see as un-relatable, unprincipled and only out to benefit his 1%, plutocrat friends deserves a third shot at the presidency. No, blaming it all on economic growth leading up to the 2012 election (for which he, of course, gives President Obama no credit) won’t cut it. Widespread criticism aside, Romney has enough fundraising clout and name recognition (the main reason for his place at the top of the polls) to make him a serious 2016 contender despite the reservations of pretty much everyone.
One might expect grassroots, Tea Party conservatives, who fiercely opposed the “Massachusetts moderate” last time around, to oppose another Romney run with special vehemence. However, many on the far right look with favor on the notion of another Romney campaign, which is sure to divide the GOP establishment. Betsy Woodruff of Slate compiled a few telling reactions to Romney’s announcement from grassroots conservatives. “This is going to be corporatist on corporatist crime,” said Steve Deace, a respected conservative radio host from Iowa. “And whenever corporatist blood gets spilled, we all win.”
Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and Chris Christie, to name only the biggest names, draw from an overlapping web of donors and big business interests like the Chamber of Commerce. The overwhelming cash advantage that any one establishment candidate would hold over the Tea Party is diminished if Wall Street, big energy and other key donors place their green eggs in different baskets. With New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a weakened state owing to Bridgegate, New Jersey’s struggling economy and concerns about his fiery temperament, a reluctant Jeb Bush’s decision to dip his toe in the water raised the prospect of an establishment favorite early on. Romney’s reemergence ensures that this won’t happen, at least not yet.
This is good news for grassroots favorites like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who will have a bigger opening to generate enthusiasm and court donors as the establishment titans (known to harbor not-so-fond feelings for each other) duke it out. Things could get even more dicier if less established but nonetheless formidable candidates like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker enter the fray, provided they can make a strong, distinct impression in a crowded field.
Hardcore conservatives may never love Mitt Romney, but they could have reason to thank him come the primaries. As Chris Bedford of the Daily Caller puts it: “A three-way battle for the soul of the [establishment] GOP? For its money, consultants, and votes? Good news, we think.”
Insanity:
Wouldn’t that be kinda like someone arguing with his reflection in the mirror?
“Romney doesn’t believe Jebbie can win the primaries, so Romney wants to jump in the race in order to (try) to prevent Ted Cruz from getting the nomination (this is what Romney thinks, anyway).”
That makes a lot of sense. And I agree, Romney had his chance. He blew it, and now we have better choices for the ticket. I wouldn’t personally be opposed to seeing Romney as a Treasury Secretary or some other financial post in a GOP administration, but he’s just not the guy we need in the Oval Office.
Like others have said here I suspect Willard is only running to knock out any conservative from the nomination ????
I am praying for Romney, Jeb, and Christie to divide the liberal vote so we can finally elect a conservative.
I’ve been saying this all along. Hopefully conservatives don’t divide their votes.
They still have to get the base to vote for their rino, and I think the base is feeling pretty betrayed right now, and I have a feeling they (we) are not going to feel any differently in two years, will you?
Exactly what I have been advocating here for well over a year; it is about time they got their vote split so that we can win a general election.
the base is feeling pretty betrayed right now
I got a call from the Republican Senatorial Committee on Sat. They hung up on me when I said; “McConnel has to go, or at least get out of leadership and he can take Bohner with him.”
I hope they are getting lots of replies like that.
Romney ran in 2008 ?
You gotta be kidding, that's fifth in line of presidential succession. No way he should be that close to the presidency.
In 2012, the Republican candidate with the most money was Rick Perry. Texas oilmen were standing in line to flood his campaign coffers with contributions.
However, Governor Perry had to drop out of the presidential race early because of a gaffe he made during one of the debates that he could never recover from.
So the lesson is that money is not the be-all and end-all of politics. More important is doing well in debates, being able to inspire people, connecting with the voters.
Unfortunately, during the 2012 Republican primary season, none of the candidates was particularly outstanding during the debates, which left primary voters divided among a number of mediocrities, and Mitt Romney, the most polished and least objectionable, walked away with the nomination.
We don’t know yet if any of the 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls is a charismatic enough debater to dominate the primaries and prevail early, or if we’ll be faced with another long battle of mediocrities.
But we do know that the big-money candidates — Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney — will not be able to buy the nomination any more than Rick Perry was able to do in 2012. So why are we so worried about them?
The debate between Jebediah and Cruz will be like a wrasslin’ match between Barney Fife and Earnest T. Bass.
You know what I’m talking about.
I can’t wait.
Hate to break the news to Romney, but he will get about 55% of the white vote (of those who even turn out), and the Democrat will SWEEP the minority vote and coast to victory, as happened in 2008 and 2012.
Now...if a TEA PARTY person runs (i.e., Ted Cruz), then he gets 65% of the white vote, plus a MUCH HIGHER turnout of whites, plus a decent percentage of Hispanics (they tend to also like white conservatives...maybe not a majority, but close enough to 50% to not be a factor). Given all that, the REPUBLICAN SWEEPS TO VICTORY.
That is the fear of the DEMOCRATS, and the fear of the Republican Establishment - the ONLY THING worse (to them) than a Democrat winning is a Republican winning that doesn’t answer to them.
I can’t remember if it was Erik Erickson or Buck Sexton who subbing for Rush said ‘world government is nothing but a bunch of loosely-aligned bureacracies’.
LOL, okay, okay. How about Ambassador to Outer Elbonia? :-)
[I wouldn’t personally be opposed to seeing Romney as a Treasury Secretary or some other financial post in a GOP administration,]
Ann Romney could be in charge of school lunches.
“Romney Family Table” got four and a half stars on Amazon.
Shoot, while we’re considering moderates for pres, let’s fill the bus. Add Orrin Hatch and John McCain, too.
Let Cruz be the only one to speak to the conservative base.
This is an ultra left-wing blog designed to look like a legitimate news site and will even pop up on google searches as “news” articles when you look up a given topic.
That said, I would not be so sure about this. Romney could use Bush or another candidate as a foil as a mushy moderate and at least try to shape the narrative that *he* is the strongest, more conservative alternative.
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