Glenn Beck: ‘Mitt Romney Could Be The Only Guy That Could Win’ In 2012

Glenn Beck and radio pals Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere rattled down the list of potential Republican nominees for President in 2012 this morning, and they had some bad news for the Tea Party movement: Sarah Palin probably won’t run, Ron Paul is still and long shot, and Mitt Romney, as of now, is the GOP’s best bet.

While Gray and Burguiere are harsh to most of the candidates, Beck spreads the love around. He tells his co-hosts that he likes Palin but doesn’t think she will run, Bobby Jindal but doesn’t think he has the charisma, and Congressman Paul but doesn’t think America is ready for him. Then, at the bottom of the pile, he finds Mitt Romney:

"I have to tell you that Mitt Romney could be the only guy that could win, and I don’t know if he could because I think that Americans are going to be I mean, this country is going to be in deep trouble by 2012, and the next term, if it’s not decided this term, the next term will decide our fate. Then I hope that Americans are ready for an adult and are ready for hard news."

It’s a strange, possibly sad conclusion from someone who had called Romney out for “flirting with socialism,” but ultimately Beck was trying to determine who could win, not who he thought should. If Beck was playing process of elimination, which he clearly was, it’s hard to refute his conclusion that Romney is the least likely candidate to crash and burn in a general election, if only for being a conservative from the most liberal state of America and having moderate successes like universal health care under his belt. Or– and this one is for you conspiracy theorists out there– maybe Beck is intentionally downplaying the Republican candidates’ ability to success so as to clear the brush and become the reluctant right-wing candidate by default. After all, he is the second-most popular human being in America. (Link to a Harris poll: Glenn Beck is the second most popular television personality in America… second only to Oprah Winfrey.)

It’s a strange, possibly sad conclusion from someone who had called Romney out for “flirting with socialism,” but ultimately Beck was trying to determine who could win

This was the Beck I heard the other night, when he more or less dispensed with Romney as a "progressive" Republican. It surprised me, since I assumed Beck would tend to support Romney as a co-religionist. But that support might not be automatic. The second remark that Romney might be the front runner might be wishful thinking on Beck's part or it might be as a result of living in an echo machine.

In any case, Romney is not the fighter we're looking for, and he is not the leader either. If he was he would be in the fight already. If he was a leader he would be leading already.

Palin is more a fighter and leader and she doesn't even hold office. Bachmann, DeMint, and a few others are in the trenches brawling on a day to day basis. Somewhere in the short list of fighters is our next president. It isn't Romney. He's one of the smartest guys around but he is no fighter.

I supported him briefly during the short period between the time that Hunter and Thompson left the race in hopes that Romney would step up and finally stop McCain. He did his cost-benefit analysis and stepped aside. That told me he had no gut for the fight, and that principles were for him not worth fighting for if the outcome was not certain.

This is not the person we need. This is a guy who will deal away the things we believe in, for the sake of a deal.

"Governor Mitt Romney, who touts his conservative credentials to out-of-state Republicans,
has passed over GOP lawyers for three-quarters of the 36 judicial vacancies he has faced,
instead tapping registered Democrats or independents -- including two gay lawyers who
have supported expanded same-sex rights, a Globe review of the nominations has found.
Of the 36 people Romney named to be judges or clerk magistrates, 23 are either registered Democrats
or unenrolled voters who have made multiple contributions to Democratic politicians
or who voted in Democratic primaries, state and local records show.
In all, he has nominated nine registered Republicans, 13 unenrolled voters,
and 14 registered Democrats."
- Boston Globe 7/25/2005

Romney Rewards one of the State's Leading Anti-Marriage Attorneys by Making him a Judge
Romney told the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2004, that the "real threat to the States is not the
constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate,
but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage . . ."
Romney sounds tough but yet he had no qualms advancing the legal career of one
of the leading anti-marriage attorneys. He nominated Stephen Abany to a District Court.
Abany has been a key player in the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association which,
in its own words, is "dedicated to ensuring that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision
on marriage equality is upheld, and that any anti-gay amendment or legislation is defeated."
- U.S. Senate testimony by Gov. Mitt Romney, 6/22/2004 P>

"Romney announces he won't fill judicial vacancies before term ends
Despite his rhetoric about judicial activism, Romney announced that
he won't fill all the remaining vacancies during his term - but instead
leave them for his liberal Democrat successor!
Governor Mitt Romney pledged yesterday not to make a flurry of lame-duck
judicial appointments in the final days of his administration . . . David Yas,
editor of Lawyers Weekly, said Romney is "bucking tradition" by resisting the urge to
fill all remaining judgeships. "It is a tradition for governors to use that power to appoint judges
aggressively in the waning moments of their administration," Yas said.
He added that Romney has been criticized for failing to make judicial appointments.
"The legal community has consistently criticized him for not filling open seats quickly enough
and being a little too painstaking in the process and being dismissive of the input of the
Judicial Nominating Commission," Yas said.
- Boston Globe 11/2/2006

“The Massachusetts Republican Party died last Tuesday.
The cause of death: failed leadership.
The party is survived by a few leftover legislators
and a handful of county officials and grassroots activists
who have been ignored for years.
Services will be public and a mass exodus of taxpayers will follow.
In lieu of flowers, send messages to Republican voters
warning them about a certain presidential candidate named Romney.”
- Boston Herald, 11/12/2006

"In 2006, while Romney was chairman of the National Republican
Governors Association - a group dedicated to electing more
Republican governors - his own hand-picked Republican successor
as governor lost badly to the Democrat, despite the fact that Republicans
have held the governorship in Massachusetts since 1990. Romney largely
ignored the Massachusetts elections and spent most of the time
during the campaign out of state building his presidential campaign.
He came back and publicly campaigned for the Republican candidate
the day before the general election!
“Locally, this is a rebuke to Mitt Romney and checking out within six months
after being elected and having accomplished almost nothing,”
[Jim] Rappaport [former chairman of the state Republican Party]."
- Boston Globe, 11/8/2006

Romney is already halfway home.

One reason that 2008 was such a bad year for conservatives was because even then, Romney had sucked up so much air by letting it be known that he was running, and willing to self finance, which he did to the tune of 50 million dollars, that kept many conservative possibles out of the race because they saw the odds as too long.

2012 will be much worse, there will be some partial efforts by some of the conservative names that we throw out, to build name recognition and campaign structure for future use, but their campaigns will at best be about winning a slot on the Romney ticket.

Mitt Romney is not just a guy that shows up on TV and wins name recognition polls, Mitt is running and running hard, he is locking up every bit of the primaries that he can, in every important state that he can, when the day comes for the general public to look at the candidates, the other candidates will find out that they don’t have donors, that they don’t have top tier campaign help, that the decision makers and opinion makers have already been obligated to Mitt, they will find that they are already three years behind in a one year primary, and that they are looking for assets in a political store that has already been sucked clean of usable goods by Mitt Romney.

For more than two years Romney has worked relentlessly and strategically, and spent millions of dollars, campaigned nationally, built allegiances, laid his ground work and built his organizations in primary states, structured portions of the GOP with personnel of his choosing all in an effort to avoid the chance of anyone being able to undercut him, or even to gain their footing next year when the primary formally kicks off.

Romney is focused on one goal in his life, when 2011 starts, Romney will have three years of preparation in place to avoid another 2008.

Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are in a war for the soul of the Republican Party, one left, one right, Mitt Romney is a liberal in his soul, it is genetic. Sarah Palin is a conservative in her soul, it is genetic, this is the old battle between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, the old battle between the Western/Southern conservatives and North Eastern moderates.

Governor Palin and Governor Mitt Romney are already shaping the 2012 primary, and fighting for it’s structure and themes, and tone, and it’s goals, it will either be the old party or the new party emerging from the primary.

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