Posted on 12/31/2011 7:30:28 AM PST by TBBT
It’s an article of faith among many Republicans that Mitt Romney is the most electable candidate in the GOP field. But it’s not clear that this assertion is actually true. In fact, if one were going to design a Republican opponent tailor-made to President Obama’s liking, that opponent would be uniquely vulnerable to Obama’s main rhetorical thrust (making class-warfare arguments), uniquely unsuited to take clear aim at Obama’s least popular action as president (spearheading the passage of Obamacare), and uniquely strong in states that are unlikely to matter in the general election race. In all three of these ways, Romney is made to order for Obama — while his chief rival, Newt Gingrich, is not.
None of this is to question Romney’s potential appeal to moderate voters. Nor is it to deny that Gingrich has more baggage and would be easier for Obama to try to vilify as a “conservative extremist.” But there is more to winning over moderates than simply running the most moderate candidate, and the truth is that no one really knows whether Romney or Gingrich would pose a more powerful electoral challenge to Obama.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
yep, Romney is the LEAST electable of all the candidates currently running (well... execept for the lunatic Paul)
Romney would get destroyed just like McCain and for similiar reasons. Remember the press told us then that McCain was the most electable also :) I wonder why they would consistently pick the worst candidate for us? it’s almsot like they want the Democrat to win! *rolls eyes*
And Romney like McCain, Dole, and a long list of losers is anything but compelling. Boring and dull come to mind.
Gee, it’s hard to believe the msm would have any reason to pick the worst candidate for the republican voters. My world is shattered. LOL.
Romney - the generic loser.
They did the same thing in ‘08’ with McCain. Kid gloves, a lot of free air time before and during the primary, and long knives after the convention. I would bet money that Obama has at least a dozen ‘I lost my job because of Bain’ ads tee’d up ready to run as soon as Mitt wins.
Most of us don't see it either.
I can't see him beating hussein. The ObamaCare issue gets neutralized out of the gate with romney. After that, there'll be mormon bashing taken to absurd levels.
Who cares about moderates, it’s Independents that count. They are about 30% of the population, according to Rassmuseen. They’ve called 15,000/month since 2009 for the survey.
What kind of odds are you giving and how much are you prepared to wager, or is this just another of the many gum flappers that float in and out of FR, making statements and then, when called, run for the tall weeds.
I agree. Most women will not trust a man who is determined to be a serial cheater.
http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2011/12/27/7_reasons_why_mitt_romneys_electability_is_a_myth/page/full/
In reality, Independents are subject to the same political realities and districting mathematics as the rest of us. The greater polity cares little for your own attempts to classify or categorize yourself.
Active political life occurs within the frame work of parties, or internally within factions that themselves gravitate to the parties.
Our system of single member districts and first past the post election victories ensures that we will have ONLY TWO POLES OF REFERENCE.
If you are a pollster and you really want to see which way things are going you attempt to find out how your samples voted last time. You do that by stealth and trickery ~ just like you do it to discover brand preferences.
The business of political polling in multi-party Europe is probably just this side of Sisyphean ~ and there even the pollsters wait for the electoral results anxiously and are frequently surprised. They can detect only the broadest of movements.
But back to the Independents for a moment ~ they may well be free of direct party affiliation but they still live within the real world of organizations and natural classes that in their turn gravitate to the parties. Getting off the local party mailing lists does little to change your employment, religion, age, location, lifestyle, race, creed, color and so forth. Those factors continue to play an enormous part in how you will behave in the coming elections and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.
Or, they may realize that Newt is just their kinda’ guy, who they’re attracted to, and try to pull that lever over and over and over.
Obama is toast.
“having him achieve the power of the Presidency might be just the recipe for a little PAYBACK”
You have articulated something I have wondered. Is all the negativism from some older members of congress a fear of retribution?
Personally, I don’t think Newt would shell out “payback”; it isn’t good politics and I trully think his “reformed” character would preclude it.
It is funny to watch the old timers squirm. Reminds me of the Bible verse (paraphrase) “the evil flee when no one is pursuing.”
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