The Long-Distance Runner (Be afraid, be very afraid for 2012)

Boston.com ^

[Replace all Democrats]

Just before Thanksgiving last year, a group of former aides to Mitt Romney convened at his salmon-colored Belmont home, many of them gathering for the first time since Romney had disbanded his presidential campaign some nine months before. Romney had invited them for a post-mortem of the election weeks earlier, the type of dispassionate assessment that the Harvard Business School alumnus so enjoyed. But over cookies, they found few of the metrics for success that Romney prized -- Republicans had been decisively thumped at all levels -- and his attention shifted from 2008 to the future.

[ari-freedom]

Iowa: you can’t win iowa without promising ethanol subsidies. McCain didn’t care. He wasn’t going to promise the subsidies, he gave up Iowa and still managed to win the primary. That was a pretty big risk. If romney won Iowa instead of huckabee (they were both for subsidies), his momentum going into NH would’ve been unstoppable and mccain wouldn’t get anywhere. So I give mccain a lot of respect just for that.

[Diogenesis]

You should read more about Gov Palin before attempting
to demean her in the typical RomneyBOT fashion.

Unlike Mitt “I call taxes ‘fees’” Romney who is a
taxing whore as everyone knows,
Gov. Palin increased the money going back to Alaskan
citizens.

Unlike Mitt Romney who LIVES on government bailouts
(to save the Olympics, his companies, his imposed
socialized medicine, etc. etc.) Gov. Palin is a
businesswomen who understands these issues.

Want more info?

[ari-freedom]

LOL do you have any idea how much I tried to knock down romney when 95% of FR was smitten with mittlust?

I want to know if she’s for the flat tax or the fair tax

[Diogenesis]

ari-freedom (RomneyBOT):95% of FR was smitten with mittlust?"

Trying to spin history for Romney, RomneyBOT?

"95% of FR was" NEVER "smitten with mittlust?"
What bullsh%t. 95% of FReepers think Romney
and small fraction of his supporters are reprehensible.

"I'm not running as the Republican view or a continuation of Republican values.
That's not what brings me to the race.
(Romney Video, accessed 9/19/07)

---

"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party
 over to the traitors in the battle just ended.
We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged
 to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support.
Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates
wouldn’t make any sense at all.""
--  President Ronald Reagan

---

"I'm very clear I think, to the people across the Commonwealth
my "R" didn't stand so much for Republican as it does for reform."
(Romney Video, accessed 9/19/07)

---

"A political party cannot be all things to all people.
It must represent certain fundamental beliefs
 which must not be compromised to political expediency
or simply to swell its numbers."
--  President Ronald Reagan

[Max_850]

Buddy,

You got to realize when you have to pull the n00b card you are on the losing end of an argument.

What a shame I wasn't sitting behind a keyboard with you in 2000, was still serving my country at that time.

Sure I'd like to see the Republican party win, but not at all costs. To me principles matter.

If you want to win at all costs why don't you see if the Republican party can put the old Dick Morris/Bill Clinton team together and package them as Republicans this time?

Sure, a telegenic person that can reach to a larger audience would be good. But my honest opinion is you will never win a game that you are pandering to the whims of uninformed masses and the MSM.

[ari-freedom]

“95% of FR was” NEVER “smitten with mittlust?”

where were you during the primaries? How about CPAC when Laura Ingraham declared Romney to be “the conservative’s conservative” to thunderous applause.

[Diogenesis]

You are not believable.

1) Ms. Ingraham said Romney was 'unelectable'.

2)FRee Republic Member Opinion
Thompson 66.8% 1,658 - WINNER
Romney 12.7% 315

Post Election Rasmussen poll - GOP voters:
Palin -- 64% - WINNER
Huckabee -- 12%
Romney -- 11%

3) Romney is a 'conservative' like you are a horse's anus.

[af_vet_rr]

Only Sarah can keep Sarah off the ballot. If she raises money, gets experience, speaks clearly and with force, she could well be the nominee.

She's prematurely quit the only two jobs that could give her a decent amount of experience. Personally, I think she's done running for any kind of office. After seeing what her family went through and after realizing she's not as prepared as she thought she was, I think she did the smart thing and realized that she and her family are better off if she work behind the scenes rather than go through the hassles of an election. Given her comments on supporting conservatives whether they are Republican, Democrat, or independent, I wouldn't be surprised if she either formed or supported a third party or tried to force the GOP to change its stance on some things.

[af_vet_rr]

I think the point was the Hutchison has the same toughness that Hillary is perceived by women to have. So in that sense, Hutchison probably would’ve won more Hillary Democrats than Sarah Palin did.

First of all why should we cater to Hillary Democrats - I thought we were talking about being a more conservative party and chasing Hillary Democrats is going the wrong direction. Second, Hutchison is a little too moderate for my tastes.

I do agree that she would have been more suited to a national campaign and more debates against Biden than Palin.

[MHGinTN]

'Buddy', you gotta realize that when you stoop to trying to put words in someone's mouth, you've exposed your agenda. Nowhere have I advocated for winning at all cost.

BTW, n00b, folks at FR see right through the deceit of trying to put words in someone else's mouth, known as trying to fabricate a strawman.

But that was a nice try, 'Buddy'.

[ari-freedom]

I never said romney was a conservative. but my POINT is that romney fooled a lot of conservatives into thinking he was.

Laura’s famous speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jHDKseofPE

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Last thing we need is Palin. It is my honest opinion that she foisted herself onto McCain and that he wasn’t actively seeking her out. I don’t like Palin. I do believe that she cost us a lot of votes.

You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

[Leisler]

“We realized by last year Mitt Romney was one of the family,” David Keene, the head of the American Conservative Union, said in February when he presented Romney to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the movement’s largest annual gathering. “He is more important to us today than he was last year.”

Arlan Specter loving David Keene. Entrenched hack, bought, toupee wearing, 'Washington' Conservative!

[Leisler]

"The grander challenge is whether Romney, a proud strategist of reinvention who called his first book Turnaround, can get away with such a stylistic makeover -- even if Romney’s heart is far more that of a technocrat than a true believer.

Michael Dukakis was a 'technocrat'. How fitting for Mittens.

[ari-freedom]

bah. a lot of conservatives fell for romney. why? because he’s a smart guy who did his homework and knew exactly what conservatives wanted to hear even though his actual record was liberal. They were willing to give him a break. “He has seen the light, he converted. Don’t be a single issue voter” they said.

Romney’s accomplishment wasn’t getting RINO’s to vote for a RINO. That’s easy. Romney got conservatives to vote for a RINO.

[Molly T.]

After reading your post, all I can say is “You’re kidding, right?”

[Leisler]

By and large the GOP primaries are conservative.

For the amount of work Mitt did, as early as he did, multiplied by the money HE spent, the money he raised, the support of fake hack ACU head, the National Review, the big business faction and financial factions.....Mitt got his ass whooped.

His results were pathetic.

And will be again. He drips desperation and political vacuousness.

[Diogenesis]

No real conservative voted for Romney. Romney lost bad despite his $$$$$$$$$$.

Romney is a DNC whore (apology to all whores).

Mitt "Brutus" Romney got a "C" rating from CATO.
And that was BEFORE Romney's uberfailure Socialized medicine and coverup of the BIGdig kicked in. .
Note again that the record also shows that shapeshifter Romney also betrayed President Bush as Governor
Romney was against the conservative tax cuts proposed by President Bush (How Romney is that?).

Here are the facts from CATO.

"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.

[ari-freedom]

I voted for huckabee. I had big problems with him but I would rather vote for a flawed person, knowing what I was getting, than vote for a total fake like romney and pretending he was everything I wanted.

[Castlebar]

I hope you don't misunderstand; I agree that the MSM struggle to tilt the vote to AG was despicable.

However, W stood far over Gore intelectually, and W campaiged heavily in West Virginia and Arkansas and Tennessee in the waning days of the election, while the Divinity School flunk-out spent them in California running up his meaningless numbers.