Posted on 05/23/2011 9:02:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
About a year ago, I thought a Daniels-Ryan GOP ticket for the 2012 presidential race would have been ideal. Alas, Gov. Mitch Daniels is not running for the presidency. Neither is Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, Mike Pence, John Thune, or Jim DeMint. Chris Christie, Rick Perry, and Jeb Bush probably won’t run either. Paul Ryan would still make a good VP choice, but he isn’t running for president.
Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, and Rick Santorum are all “dark horse” candidates. They stand little chance. Jon Huntsman is too liberal (and was in the Obama administration). Newt Gingrich’s campaign is already in trouble. Sarah Palin, I think, knows this isn’t her time.
That leaves Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. Lame, I know. But Pawlenty’s lamer. Against President Obama, I will take Mitt Romney. Furthermore, Romney’s running mate should be Rep. Allen West. Romney-West 2012 would be very formidable. Let’s start with Romney.
We know Romney’s downfalls. He’s Ward Cleaver. Too clean. He’s “inauthentic,” an “establishment” politician. That’s unpopular these days. GOP primary voters want someone real, someone outside of politics; a self-made citizen reluctantly running for public office to save the day. Romney, on the other hand, has been running for president for six years. Then there is Romney’s health care bill which he passed in Massachusetts as governor. President Obama loves to thank and jibe Romney for setting the example on health care reform. It makes Obama’s awful health insurance law look moderate and undermines conservative criticism of it.
All this and more is true. But consider Romney’s strengths. He’s well known. He’s electable. He polls well against Obama. He looks and acts “presidential” (whatever that means). He’s been a governor of a state, an executive in the private sector, and he ran the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. He’s disciplined, articulate, and well-versed in domestic and foreign policy. Romney will be quick to hit Obama on jobs and the economy, on the debt and deficit. When Obama holds Osama bin Laden’s scalp in front of the cameras, Romney won’t hesitate to say, “Yes, Mr. President. Good job. Now let’s talk about how the intelligence that was used for the operation was gathered.”
With Daniels out, Romney’s the frontrunner. And yet he doesn’t seem to be preferred by much of anyone. He can fix that a number of ways. First, he ought to “go big” on foreign policy. Libya, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Israel, China –– these are the issues, yes. But the big issue is our standing in the world. Obama has made it weaker. Romney ought to go big on domestic issues, as well. Unemployment and taxes are a problem. But entitlement insolvency is the heart of the matter. Fiscal issues are a worry. But monetary issues are paramount. Will someone other than Ron Paul ever speak about monetary policy? The opening for Romney is there to seize.
On health care and other issues, he must prove to conservatives that they will be able to hold a President Romney’s feet to the fire. Romney must clarify and champion his newfound federalism. He must promise to repeal ObamaCare. Period. He must seek to win over some of the libertarian-wing of the Republican Party with a sincere defense of states’ rights. That means getting with the times and not being an obstinate idiot about the drug war. That means respecting the Tenth Amendment.
Additionally, if nominated, Romney must pick a running mate who will please conservatives. That someone is Rep. Allen West.
Sure, West is only a first-term congressman. But Americans want an outsider, a Mr. Smith-goes-to-Washington kind of guy. Allen West is just that. He’s a retired Army lieutenant colonel, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, with as sharp of a mind as there is in Congress. He’s a conservative’s conservative; a tea-party favorite. But he cannot be smeared as a radical kook. He’s from swing state Florida — and Florida, remarkably, has never had a candidate on a national ticket. West is also black (not that it matters, but to some, it does). Far from the liberal caricature, we live in a country where that is, by far, a net gain — especially for a black conservative.
Allen West speaks with authority like nobody else in politics. Sometimes his rhetoric on his military service can be self-congratulatory, almost Pattonesque. And that’s slightly cliché in some corners of 2011 America. But it’s not insincere. One listens to him speak and it is evident that they are listening to a leader. West is a man for these times.
Most interestingly — and importantly, to me — West understands the true nature of the Islamist adversary and has not bought into the “cult of counterinsurgency” when it comes to military operations. “We have to get away from occupation, nation-building style warfare,” he said last November. Yes!
And listen to him speak on the enemy. They are not perverting their holy texts, he insists. They are heeding them. More yes! Politically incorrect, no doubt. But true, unafraid, and rooted in reality. Allen West is one of the few politicians in the country who has challenged the Council on American-Islamic Relations for its ties to terrorism. He understands the full scope and scale of the fight ahead. But with that in mind, he is nevertheless committed to avoiding attritional, unending, unwinnable wars.
Romney-West can stand toe-to-toe with Obama-Biden in the debates, on foreign and economic policy, on substance, on style, and with the general electorate. With the 24-hour news cycle and viral video exposure, vice presidential running mates matter more nowadays. They don’t come much better than Allen West. Romney, the electable-establishment candidate, and West, the tea-party war-vet rock star, complement each other very well. Together, they would be the toughest GOP ticket to beat in the 2012 election.
>> If Slick Willard is the candidate we’re going to war with, I’m a conscientious objector.
ROFL! Tag line material.
Pretty sad that a candidate that can walk and chew gum at the same time should be able to beat Obama next year but between 100%ers and some pretty poor candidates we may not get someone as qualified as that. I don’t think Romney can take the nomination anyway since the base will decide many of the primaries and he’s not doing well there. (i am no Romney fan,not by a long shot)
Let me preface this by saying I think he author is nuts and Romney wont be and shouldnt be the nominee.
But wont vote for him over Obama? Really? So if given the choice of a 2nd Obama term, with socialism entrenched and liberals on SCOTUS, you’d let that happen?
How’d that “I’m not voting for the RINO” work out in 2008?
We’ll see. IMHO Pawlenty is more likely to be the nominee.
Who?
That was total nonsense. Romney is not a front-runner except in the sense the sense that various talking heads say so and even Mr. Rasmussen pointed out that Howard Dean led the polls and was considered the leader of the pack. Yeah, let’s just go with the same freakin candidates because YOU say so...let’s have McCain 2.0....I’m sick and tired of listening to you windbags....let us give someone fresh a chance at this instead of having us settle for a republican that passed Obamacare before Obama and believes that healthcare is the role of the government. It is already starting...people are going to declare RINOs the “viable” candidates....declare the tea party “extreme” and try their best essentially to leave us with the same worthless politicans.
“If we’re going to have a president who believes in global warming, I’d prefer it was a Democrat. John Huntsman is a joke.”
It IS a joke. The elites are apparently smoking crack, thinking we need a second rich mormon businessman RINO ex-governor in the race, as if that category needs more contenders. Truly bizarre.
Or it may just be elite desperation, that they know Romney is past his sellby date and they need someone else (Daniels? oops).
No, but if said candidate fails on 20 of the 27, what are you winning by voting for him?
And make no mistake, Obama, Pawlenty or Romney are not the answers to what is ailing this country, and there are very few degrees of separation between the three.
Anyhow, it probably doesn't matter who wins at this point, with so many in this country willing to elect anyone who promises them more entitlements, or at least the continuance of previously aquired entitlements, there is little chance that this country will right itself without major bloodshed, IMO.
On the other hand, we'll more than likely continue down the path towards becoming outright slaves to the federal government, as few are willing to sacrfice anything towards the goal of returning this country to the path towards prosperity and freedom.
I hope I'm wrong, but the future doesn't bode well for the U.S.
Not if they want to win. When it comes to the Fed and the banks, "silent as the grave" seems to be the operative maxim.
It's Romney's turn to lose in 2012. He's no worse than others - and he looks better than McCain. If Republicans can keep the House, make gains in the Senate, and postpone public awareness of the current Greater Depression until 2013, they can hope that the Great Collapse will then take Obama down with it. Or maybe it will just unjustifiably turn him into a savior figure, like Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Ubiquitous media bias in favor of the welfare state can no longer be overcome by mere expressions of principled conservatism. Allen West or Sarah Palin can give rousing speeches all day, but their words boil down to "We're taking away somebody's monthly check," and that isn't going to sell to enough of the voters. Something too big for the talking heads to gloss over is going to have to break before a non-statist can ever win high office again.
It's not particularly "pro" Romney as much as a piece resigned to the fact Romney is the frontrunner, the likely nominee, and what that could mean.
Pawlenty, Newt and the "dark horse" candidates won't beat him. If Palin takes a pass, who is going to capture the nomination from Romney?
I want better candidates. The field is truly pitiful. We get the ones we get. 2012 is Obama's to lose. The Republican party is pathetic.
Anybody but Sarah, eh. But preferably Mitt.
I never heard of this guy, but I think he is an, um, Establishment guy of some kind. A friend of Rove and KLo.
I sure can do without this pimpRomney article. I would not vote for him even if he chose Allen West as his running mate and I love Allen West. Hopefully, West would be smart enough to say no way. So his future would not be tainted by the stench of Romney.
Spot on post!
Mainly, Americans make Presidential Elections a referendum on the last guy. So, how 0bama is perceived is the key.
That being said, I’ll take any non-libertarian (Ron Paul, etc.) non-Socialist (Romney) Republican.
This guy lives in some kind of drug induced dream world. Romney and West. I don’t think so. I’m for Cain or Bachmann. Bachmann/West would work. If Cain should win he should beg Bachmann to take second spot. If she says no then maybe Bolton. If TPaw takes the nomination he should also try to get West in the second spot.
No thanks....won’t vote for Romney under any circumstances.
Yes you will. Because the alternative is another 4 years of Obama. Romney won’t govern by fiat. And hopefully with a republican senate to go with the congress,the president will be marginalized regardless of party.
Why won’t the Myth Romney candidacy DIE!?...
Answer: Elite and effete republicans with democrat help..
Romney hasn’t a chance of winning the primary’s..
The TpCaucus will see to that.. Only thing Romney has going for him is the main street media..
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