Posted on 10/29/2008 6:34:55 AM PDT by Reaganesque
It’s been the most frequently asked question I’ve gotten from National Review Online readers and conservatives over e-mail and in person since the market chaos and subsequent bailout circus began.
My answer these last few months has always been: Turn on MSNBC. Turn on FOX. Google a conservative candidate for Congress. Romney is liable to turn up.
And yet, a ridiculous item on the Internet yesterday suggested that he’s been in hiding, keeping a “low profile nationally” and unwilling to help out Republicans who aren’t a sure thing.
There are problems with that contention: Why do I keep seeing the man on television? Is any Republican a shoe-in this year? Someone get Norm Coleman on the phone with the good news! Because Romney is scheduled to campaign with the Minnesota senator, who is fighting for his political life against the not-so-funny prospect of Senator Al Franken. The images on his website blog do not suggest someone who’s decided to sit out the election — they suggest someone still engaged in the election year. Nor does his travelog, as he’s been doing McCain surrogate events everywhere from Pennylvania and Colorado to Nevada and Texas (among other places including Oregon, Georgia, Nashville ... ). Nor do his post-debate spin-room appearances or his interview on The Laura Ingraham Show this morning suggest that Mitt is standing down on election 2008.
Romney’s been in Virginia helping Keith Fimian in that newly blue-leaning state. He’s campaigned for Michele Bachman, now a favorite of MSNBC. He’s raised money for John Sununu in New Hampshire and Oregon senator Gordon Smith — both of whose reelection prospects are far from guaranteed. The list goes on.
Since Romney suspended his campaign and subsequently formed the Free and Strong America political action committee in April, he has donated approximately $202,000 to 75 GOP candidates, according to numbers made available to NRO from the PAC. Romney has also made an additional $173,000 in donations through flexible spending accounts to five affiliated state PACS, including $10,000 to the National Organization for Marriage, which is working to pass Proposition 8 in California, and $5,000 to stop a ballot initiative in Massachusetts to decriminalize marijuana.
And when the McCain campaign famously withdrew from Michigan, Romney contributed $50,000 to the demoralized GOP there. According to his PAC, “The total amount of financial support to GOP candidates and conservative causes through Romney-controlled state and federal PACs is $375,000.”
The web piece further blamed former Romney aides for being the source of the Sarah-Palin-is-a-diva complaints coming out of the McCain camp, presumably meant to damage her post-election prospects should the Republican ticket lose next week. The problem with that is: Most of Romney’s inner circle is still his inner circle — some having come from the business world, others being Massachusetts people now running his PAC. Others returned to Washington, and are doing McCain surrogate work, but are far from campaign insiders. Whomever is shooting at Palin from the McCain camp is not doing Romney’s bidding.
The good news for Mitt Romney is folks care what he’s doing. And someone out there sees him as enough of a threat to their ambitions to try to wound him. That rarely happens to irrelevant also-rans.
When longtime Romney spokesman Eric Fernstrom was asked about the former Massachusetts governor’s future on Monday, the longtime aide suggested Romney’s 2008 presidential ambitions weren’t running his life: “Gov. Romney had his shot at the White House, and he lost fair and square.” After a hostile primary season that highlighted some shameful instincts hostile to religious liberty both in the mainstream media and on the Right, you might not blame Romney if he went into retreat. But he never did. Romney got on the campaign trail for John McCain, defending the free-market policies that this successful businessman could no doubt run with, if he were in the driver’s seat.
Romney’s been a team player. Is it because he wants a Cabinet seat? Ask him — but I doubt it. There are easier jobs that taking over a massive bureacracy with limited freedom. Is it because he wants to be president? Ask him, but I don’t think that’s it either — and only time will tell, anyway, who will be Right prospects in a few years.
Watching him these past few months, he acts like a man who found a home on the Right, who both personally and philosophically appreciates those who were open to what he brought to the campaign trail, and continues to want to serve his country in whatever capacity she needs him. Right now, that’s by fundraising, contributing, and campaigning for conservative candidates and causes like the Susan B. Anthony List and Proposition 8 in California.
In his final primary-campaign speech in February, Mitt Romney said:
I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.
I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face of evil extremism.
And so he campaigns for candidates who share his general vision of the world. Romney was with McCain in Ohio on Monday. He’ll be in New Hampshire on Wednesday campaigning for congressional candidates Jeb Bradley and Jennifer Horn. And then he’ll take off for get-out-the-vote rallies.
If you’re wondering where Mitt is — and you can suspend some of your cynicism — the answer might just be: Where he can be of use. If you take him at his word and his schedule, that’s what it reads like anyway.
— Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.
You Romneybots are all alike---when you don't like having the truth exposed about his backstabbing, you resort to dragging religion into it calling us anti-Mormon. Enough already! Romeny could not win the nomiation this time around...what makes you think he will do any better in 2012?
I am looking at my iTunes directory, and I see at least three radio interviews that Mr. Romney has done THIS WEEK for McCain/Palin. Does anyone need any more proof?
It isn’t his religion or money. It is the fact that he ran for Gov as a ‘Ted Kennedy Republican’ and then ran for Pres as ‘Mr Conservative’.
Some of us like our candidates to have beliefs.
BTW - I voted for Mitt in hopes of stopping McCain. I think a Mitt/Sarah ticket in 2008 would have been pretty strong. A Palin/Mitt ticket in 2012 might do OK.
His days of fooling others than his RomneyBOTs is over.
"You will embrace this rebellion. Support it, from our lands in
the north. I will gain English favor by condemning it and
ordering it opposed from our lands in the south. Whichever way
the tide runs, we will rise."
Or perhaps they just don't like Mitt Romney. Personally, Mitt has always struck me as being insincere. Unlike Reagan, Palin, and others, I don't sense that Mitt is really convinced about some of the positions he takes.
I have no complaints about his activity on the campaign trail. He's been a good soldier.
Your comments to me are offensive and unwarranted. If you prefer, I won’t vote for McCain next week. So do keep criticizing me.
| Romney Supporters Trashing Palin |
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Posted by:
Amanda Carpenter at 2:25 PM
From Townhall:
|
BROWN: And, Kevin, even defending this whole controversy over the clothes, the RNC buying all the clothing, it keeps the story going, and, as Dana pointed out, one more day where it's dominating the coverage.
KEVIN MADDEN, FORMER ROMNEY CAMPAIGN NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: Yes. And that's an indication just how unseasoned Sarah Palin is as a national candidate.
Ordinarily, somebody who knows that this is something that you're trying to get to a subterranean level, that you don't want to dominate the narrative for yet another news cycle, would make sure that they don't mention that, and, instead, they focus with a certain rigidity on the message of the day, because that's exactly what a V.P. is supposed to do.
MADDEN: Look, that is why people who have done this before, people who have run national campaigns, always tend to look at prospective V.P. candidates, and they're the ones that are nationally vetted, the ones that have been governors on the scene for a long time, the ones that have been -- gone through the scrutiny of the national press corps in Washington. And that's exactly what has happened here, is that, when you put out an unknown and you give them 70 days with which to go through a vetting process, both by voters and the national press corps, ugly things can tend to happen.[Transcript HERE]].
BINGO. Romney installed the most fascist socialist healthcare system ever,
and --in the usual Romney-way-- not a single citizen voted on it.
Romney signing his imposed fascist, socialist HillaryCARE=RomneyCARE without a vote
to the glee of Democrats everywhere.
Romney was rated a "C" overall by Cato. Here are the facts.
As U.S. real output grew 13 percent between 2002 and 2006, Massachusetts trailed at 9 percent.
* Manufacturing employment fell 7 percent nationwide those years, but sank 14 percent under Romney, placing Massachusetts 48th among the states.
* Between fall 2003 and autumn 2006, U.S. job growth averaged 5.4 percent, nearly three times Massachusetts' anemic 1.9 percent pace.
* While 8 million Americans over age 16 found work between 2002 and 2006, the number of employed Massachusetts residents actually declined by 8,500 during those years.
"Massachusetts was the only state to have failed to post any gain in its pool of employed residents," professors Sum and McLaughlin concluded.
In an April 2003 meeting with the Massachusetts congressional delegation in Washington, Romney failed to endorse President Bush's $726 billion tax-cut proposal.
[Cato Institute annual Fiscal Policy Report Card - America's Governors, 2004.]
Is that a threat to go back to DU, Mr. Romney (newbie)?
I’ve been married for 28 years. I think there’s other things to discuss than this. I didn’t mean anything by it at all. I could have typed “Sarah” or “Mitt,” but I wanted to show a little more respect for both of them. It’s easier than typing “Governor” Palin or “Governor” Romney. :-) But I will use “Mrs.” No problem.
And we can assume he's done more for the campaign this week than 3 radio interviews.
Neither of us are pols, I don't know what he can do any more than you.
I do know he's in the most important fight of his political life now and doesn't seem to be pulling out all the stops to save himself.
“Does it simply boil down to anti-Mormon sentiment or is it class-envy?”
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, for the most part, the ones who always make the most virulent anti-Mitt comments are the ones who always make the most virulent anti-Mormon comments on the religion threads.
I think during the campaign there was class envy. McCain, especially, hated Mitt. That couldn’t have been because Mitt is supposedly a RINO (I say “supposedly” because I think the posturing took place when Mitt was running in Massachusetts. I think his positions now more accurately reflect what he believes), because McCain is a bigger RINO. But Mitt is also everything that McCain is not. He made a fortune on his own merits, while McCain married money. Mitt has an impeccable record of personal probity, while McCain does not.
Do I think Mr. Romney is more qualified than Ms. Palin?
__________________________________________
I believe I have objected in the past to your attempt to lessen GOVERNOR Palin’s importance to her state of Alaska, and therefore the country...
While Romney is no longer a governor...
Eventhough you have given him that title in past posts...
Sarah Palin IS at present a governor...
And you seem to disregard that fact...
Your own words condemn you...
Are you youself supporting GOVERNOR Sarah Palin for Vice President,...
And possible future President of the United States...
Or are you against her ???
That’s what at stake here...
Romney is not running for office any longer and is not on the ticket...
Governor Sarah Palin is on the ticket...
Well ?????????????????
I’ve not seen compelling evidence of the backstabbing. Yes, the mainstream media keeps reporting it. Not a good source of information.
Thanks. I know I have heard her say to just call her Sarah, she is pretty down home. Personally I dislike the whole Ms thing.
No. Rumors that he’s undermining the ticket are blatant lies
Interesting use of words. You use "his staff" seeming to indicate that a bunch of former Romney supporters are involved but then indicate that its only Kevin Madden you are talking about. Then you say "anti-Palin" stories as if there are many that Mr. Madden has put out there and yet, I can only find the one criticism from his CNN interview. And even there, the criticism, by any reasonable standard, is minor.
So, I do have to wonder about your choice of words. Making the allegation of a wide-ranging conspiracy based on a single man's (a man who is working FOR the McCain/Palin campaign, by the way) minor critique is something I have come to expect from the Left and its buddies in the media. So, coming back to my main point: wouldn't your energies be better and more constructively directed towards Barak Obama, a clear, direct and present danger to the very political foundations of our country?
PING to # 55
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