Posted on 10/15/2011 9:27:00 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney's early success in the Republican presidential race is challenging the tea party's clout. Will it continue to pull the GOP sharply right? Will it slowly fade? Or merge with mainstream Republican elements in a nod to pragmatism, something it's hardly known for?
On the surface, Romney's strength seems at odds with the tea party's fiery success in ousting Republicans seen as compromisers, and in making the House GOP caucus more ideological, even when its leaders plead for flexibility.
Romney defends the government's 2008 bank bailouts, plus the mandated health insurance he initiated as Massachusetts governor. He says he can work with "good Democrats." Although he later changed, Romney once supported abortion rights, gun control and gay rights.
These positions run counter to the beliefs and goals of many tea party activists scattered throughout the country. Yet Romney is faring better in polls, fundraising and debates than are contenders with stronger tea party credentials, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I really, really, really, really dislike these people (AP, and the media). I didn’t want to use the word hate, but boy, they are pushing the envelope.
Romney has not risen he has stayed the same and 75% of the folks do not want him as their candidate. I would bet a solid one half of those will never vote for him in the primaries. He better hope that they change their mind if he gets the nomination. However, until then it is a battle between “We The People and the elite media/political class. I know who is supposed to win such battles.
AP failing to realize that in another 13 months of this utter economic BS, short of a literal miracle, people will look to do what the Dems so eloquently ran on in 2008: Anyone but Bush. It will ultimately boil down to ANYONE but OBAMA! =.=
than are contenders with stronger tea party credentials, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry
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Perry does NOT have strong Tea Party credentials.
This statement is true. The rest of it was BS.
If Romney wins the Tea Party is going to be hurt bad.
He's going to have to "rise" without my vote in 2012. No big deal though. He'll have the homosexual vote, the feminazi vote and the gun grabber vote.
Rise? What Rise? He gets the same 23% in poll after poll after poll. Romney isn’t “rising” in anything
This is AP. That’s all that needs to be said. They want Romney just as they wanted McCain. If they get him, they will turn on him because their ultimate objective is the re-election of Barack HUSSEIN Obama.
I don’t consider 25% approval clout. The other factor they’re ignoring is Palin. Until she dropped out of the race she had quite a bit of support on hold. Now that it’s been released her supporters are looking at the rest of the field.
Most, if not all, of that support is going to Cain. Mittens’ numbers certainly didn’t go up. Now that Cain has the momentum, his support will grow as more of the voters find out who he is and hear his message.
Romney’s already peaked. Cain isn’t close to his final numbers yet.
The anybody but Mitt sentiment is not going away. Perry had his opportunity and blew it with abysmal debate performances. Now, it’s Cain’s chance to rise to the occasion. If he can prove he’s more than a one-trick pony (999) and can show a depth of understanding on a broader range of issues — he’s going to win the nomination. Fundamentally, people like Herman Cain. Fundamentally, people distrust Mitt Romney.
If you add all the rest (except maybe Huntsman), the TEA Party has at least 70% and last I looked that beat 20 — 30 by a LOT. (Using words the brilliant can understand.)
I know Rick Perry is far from solid with the TEA Party, but the things he's currently saying mostly appeal to the TEA Party too excepting immigration which is a pretty big deal. It remains true that making DC irrelevant, getting rid of the UN, drilling here, now, and everywhere are pretty popular with all of us and some of us don't know about some of his earlier positions...
Bottom line we win 70% to 30% minimum unless we splinter.
FYI posted on Drudge Palin changed her status on facebook from Republican to conservative. I think she’s done with the GOP.
I should clarify. I’m not a Perry supporter, I’m for Herman Cain. In the very beginning I liked him and Bachmann, but he has been more solid than she...
I said that about Perry because there is a lot about Perry that appeals to the TEA Party despite the other stuff, and I would prefer him to Romney, but that’s as far as I go with him. Bottom line: we, not the Establishment, get his numbers when the final vote is in. (Assuming we don’t kill each other off first.)
Nominate Romney if you want 4 more years of Obama, GOP, I won’t backing him.
The Tea Party is saving their powder until they see the whites of their eyes and then fire for effect!!
anybody but Obama
OMG. I hope this means she’ll support one of our Conservatives sooner or later and not that she’s going third party like maybe with Trump. Just thinking that she DID meet with him not too far back.
Wouldn’t it be a kick if she challenged Hussein, running as a Conservative Democrat... Say in the image of JFK (who I thought was practially a Communist at the time, but he looks not that bad compared to today’s Dems.
All she’d have to do is re-register and humiliate him in the debates. Not saying she’d win, but she could hurt him.
I’m told Trump was on Greta last week and he told her there would likely be a challenge to Hussein and that she, Greta, was going to love it!
Palin really is a maverick, but I sure hope she doesn’t go third party as that is probably the ONLY way Hussein can win and we do have some good people running.
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