Posted on 07/01/2008 4:56:30 PM PDT by Plutarch
Sen. John McCain will choose businessman and former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney as Vice President, in his bid for the White House this November, a source closely connected with the McCain campaign, who asked to remain anonymous, told us earlier this afternoon.
Though others were close in the running, the choice ultimately came down to the money–not the man. According to our source, the campaign narrowed their Vice Presidential options to Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, the two most successful opponents of McCain in the bid for the Republican nomination. But despite Huckabee’s sway with far Right conservatives and evangelical voters, Romney packs the deepest fund-raising pockets.
As a successful businessman and prominent member of the staggeringly wealthy Mormon community, Romney brings with him the potential to raise “upwards of $60 million in 30 to 60 days, whereas Huckabee could only raise $10 to $15 million,” says our source.
McCain needs those types of numbers to be competitive with the money-sponge that is the Obama campaign, which has 1.7 million individual donors–as well as the Hollywood machine–and is ringing-out advertising dollars across the country, saturating voters in his ‘50 State Strategy‘ to win the White House.
“How the hell did the publisher of the ‘Top 20 Side-Boobs of All Time‘ get this scoop,” you must be asking yourself, right now. (We were asking ourselves the same question.) And here’s the answer: It’s all part of the McCain campaign’s plan to directly target college-age voters, in an attempt to sway them away from Sen. Obama, says our source.
Additionally, the campaign wants to solidify their ticket far in advance of the Obama campaign making their VP choice, in order to get a “head start” on the surge in fund-raising they expect to receive with the announcement of Romney as the Republican VP pick.
So next time two dudes in suits knock on your door, they might want more than to proselytize about the Book of Mormon…
UPDATE: We understand better than anyone how crazy it seems that we got this story first, so a healthy level of skepticism is expected. But we stand by the accuracy of our reporting on this, and will give you as many new details as possible in the coming days–including the name of our source, if we can.
You are wasting your time, you know as well as I do Mitt love is blind and impervious to facts.
Mitt Romney is the one bright spot in this total mess of an election.
I think it says a lot that Mitt Romney has the support of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, et all.
And....I’d really like to see what Mitt will do to any Dem facing him in a debate. :) That would be so good.
He doesn’t have facts on his side so crude drivel is what remains.
Sad...
Expected...
Mitt is trying to keep himself in play for the VP or 2012 so he has his folks still doing their thing, along with those in love with his dashing good looks, politics be damned...
God help us all if he is around in ‘12 to diloute the field again...
You are exactly right. I think it is far more important to seek out people who can lead instead of people who desperately cling to partisan politics. Mitt is a grown-up. He takes everything into consideration and then devises the best way to move forward. He is smart, honest and courageous. I really hope McCain has the good sense to put him on the ticket. Even though I do not think it will necessarily be the best thing for Mitt's political career, it will be the best thing for the country and certainly improve the quality of debate.
“Oh yeah. With McCain, we can have 3 more Souters! Oh joy.”
You don’t know that. But you do know with Obama you get Bader Ginsbergs lol.
When I see some facts I will respond to them, as I have in previous Romney bashing threads.
He will give it up because he knows little to nothing about MA or Mitt Romney — well, nothing other than the garbage that has been fed to him by the likes of massresistance.are youkiddingmerightnow?
Sad....
So expected....
Seems to me that Romney donors would be more likely to donate to a McCain candidacy if Romney were on the ticket. At least that's what the thinking is.
Well, if he does its his worst decision ever, and yes I’m including his pandering on Global Warming. The guy who’s ineptitude brought us Gay marriage as VP... stupid.
Facts mean nothing to you guys, only Mitt love. Facts were presented over a year ago, Jim even created a Romney truth file, with facts beyond just massresistance and the like. If you could not see it then you sure will not see it now.
There are two basic Mitt supporters here, those who are in love with him, some literally, and his dashing good looks, and those that support him due to their relationship to his campaign or his religion. I have found that neither are much interested in facts...
I do agree however...
Sad and so expected...
And obvious...
I have no intention of voting for Barr or the libertarians. If Romney can nudge McCain to the right some more, and if that helps McCain to stop pandering to the illegals and global warming nuts then voting for the ticket is a no-brainer.
I don't know what was up with Anne and Laura, though I can guess, but if you will look back (you wont, fact allergies) Hannity was backing Rudy forever and It was not until the end the Rush said anything about Mitt, indeed what few words he said were more for Thompson (Only conservative on that stage comment, etc.)
Expediency can make for strange bedfellows in the long term, and Mitt was a point of expediency, with his money and contacts, but in the end he still did not make it. There must have been some reason he failed, and no it was not anti-mormon bigotry, those numbers don't pan out except maybe in the south, but simply despite the fact he spent so much, in the end it was a no sale with Conservatives even though he had some in the Conservative media drooling over him at times. Like I said, expediency.
Also if you will look back (I know you wont, same reason) Mitt never got past 13-15% support here until after Fred and basically every one else dropped out, and even then he was in the running with Huck and company. I would consider this a Conservative site, as you must since you are attributing that term to yourself despite whom you supported...
So am I a minority with Conservatives, I think not, however I maybe with those “Conservatives” blind to fact...
Scariest part, we may have to have this whole fight again in ‘12, wasting another opportunity to get a real conservative in the running...
If Romney makes the ticket — I will vote it. But I just think he can’t bring a state (Mass.) and, then back to the primary, and some big flip-flops.
Guess we will have to see.
I think the anti-Mormon part played a factor but it was somewhat minimal. What played an overwhelming factor was how the primaries were run. In most of the states, Romney took the lion share of the conservative vote. Where he came up short was w/ the crossover vote. Mccain killed amongst Dems & Indy's. That's where he won. Fact! Your assertion that he was a no sale among conservatives is flat out baloney.
Fred was the favorite here & was one of my top choices as well. After Fred bailed (in some ways, a blessing in disguise, he was a horrible campaigner) Romney ended up w/ 75% of the support here. Thus, you are very much in the minority not only here, but nationally, & among the conservative talking heads.
As far as fact allergies, perhaps you may want to keep the ad hominum attacks to yourself until the facts are actually on you side. I don't begrudge you for not liking Romney, to each his own. But it's one thing to not like, & quite another to go after a guy simply b/c of an agenda that's not in keeping w/ conservatism.
I wasn't Romney's biggest fan at the start either, but similar to my feelings about Reagan after his stint as Governor of Calif., he changed, & I changed w/ him. That change is what undoubtedly garnered so much support among conservative bed rocks as well as conservatives in general. Was there anything RINO about the last 2 speeches he gave as he left the stage? All be it, Romney is not Reagan yet, & maybe never will be totally, those speeches were very Reaganesque & something this country was/is in dire need of. Just MHO of course.
I have seen the light...
Mitt the life long hunter and NRA member (since 2006) Pro life (Again just so happens to have occurred leading up to this cycle) and open market health care guy (Romneycare, the plan even Kerry and Kennedy, two conservative stalwarts like, was just an anomaly currently sucking money out of MA citizens) is the man, we should have him be the nominee!
The problem with Mitt was not his conversions (though the constant comparison to his stance on abortion with Reagan's disgusts me to this day) but what drove them. There are conversions of conscience and conversions of expediency, and his were way too convenient.
Given his dynamic personality he drew attention, but to consider him a Conservative stalwart, no matter who pimped him, is a bit much, and money played a factor, his reach was deep, just not deep enough to sell the man to the faithful rank and file. If he was all that, he would have done better, but he was just not convincing in his role as Conservative, and there was a reason for that. Not even the support of the pundits, for their various reason's and interest, could get that much lipstick together.
As far as Rush, given McCain, even Romney is a Conservative, but again, it is a matter of Degrees, there are Democrats that are stanch conservative verse McCain. As it was he never was enough of a threat to talk about his conservative shortcomings, but especially now with the Romneycare fiasco in MA, it would come up, and will come up if he is one the ticket.
As far as being in the minority, when it finally got down McCain and Huck vs Mitt even I voted for him in our polls. I also would rather have the flu than a heart attack, but prefer neither...
I never quite saw it a 75%, except when Huck was finally not in it and it was McCain and Mitt only. Not a big leap there, nor an endorsement of Romney's conservative Bonafides. Last man standing is more like it, kind of like the guy with the lowest passing grades in Med School is still called Doctor...
But certainly you would have to agree that all these conservatives would have known all that you do, & yet still backed Romney. You state that he didn't connect w/ the faithful rank & file. Why then, did he garner so much of that vote? Again, McCain didn't win b/c of conservatives! He won on the backs of Dems & Indy's. Had the primaries been exclusively Republican, Romney may have won in a landslide. Your assertions just don't pan out.
As far as Rush is concerned. Do you remember when McCain won the nomination? He was telling his listeners that he might vote for Hillary. Coulter actually did tell her listeners that that's what she was going to do. Now, if they were going to do that against McCain, why not against Romney if he was such a RINO? Using your analogy, McCain was certainly better than Hillary from a purely party perspective. Last man standing would have been Hillary. So why not use the same tact against Romney? If you're going to throw the baby out w/ the bathwater, why not go all the way? Because they didn't see him as the RINO you do. They probably know a lot more about him than you do. Apparently you don't feel the same.
Although I don't follow these guys blindly, I do trust their judgment as I verify. No offense, but I'll take their judgment over yours. I think they know a little more. They didn't just tacitly endorse the man, they did so w/ vigor.
One of the biggest problems we conservatives face right now is eating our own. That had better change quickly IMHO.
I don't know what the pundits knew, they may have known everything about the man and, like it seems several folks even on FR were doing as well, were either willing to overlook it or had some more expedient reason. Given the comprise nature of the Conservative movement and more over the GOP over the past few election cycles, maybe they were looking to win via pretty and attractive again, instead of actually sticking to Conservative values which we will ultimately have to do again, once McCain or Obama wreck things enough to get us back to Carter like conditions. Maybe that will snap few heads around since we have had it so good for so long. Or maybe there were other more base reasons driving their support. Only they know, but it did seem rather odd considering the data I reviewed. I deal in raw fact, and raw info, that is what I saw, about all the Candidates, and given his own words and actions, some where a compromise was made.
Anyways, speaking of the pundits, I think expediency was the flavor of the day. Egads, Hannity, the poor bastard, was fawning over Rudy. You think he was ignorant of Rudy's positions? I don't, and yet Mr. Conservative went out of his way to give him a platform. So the judgment of the “pundits" leaves me a bit flat.
I consider FR a good cross section of the mostly uncomprised Conservative faithful. Why did it take everyone dropping save McCain and Mitt to to get Romney to register in the on line polls. Something to ponder. Remember these polls occurred after your pundit friends were fawning over the man.
As far as eating our own, I think that is about to end, though the mechanism of that end scares me. Things have been good for many years economically and politically. Under those conditions people have time for pet concerns, for comprimse and flirtations with glamor candidates and bright shiny objects. They have time to look past deep driving principles to compromise, to not rock the boat. Those times are quickly drawing to a close. When things take their final downturn, there will be a cry to fix it, like we did in 1980. Maybe then a true Conservative will get a hearing, maybe then people will actually get serious about doing what is right, not what is flavor of the day.
Facts mean nothing to you guys, only Mitt bashing. I participated in numerous threads where I went line to line debunking the bull%^&#. If you could not see it then then you sure will not see it now.
I don’t fall into the categories that you listed which really doesn’t surprise me as I highly doubt you ever really read anything that a Mitt supporter ever posted.
Like I said, the Mitt bashing is old and played, and completey devoid of context and facts.
Sad and so expected.... blah blah blah.
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