A 'Referendum' on Romney

Mitt Romney has been thought for months to have the New Hampshire primary in the bag. But one vote he didn't have locked up until Wednesday was that of Steve Rowe, a Vietnam-era veteran who spent much of the 1970s aboard the USS Saratoga, a US Navy supercarrier.

Like a lot of New Hampshire residents, Rowe headed into the final week before the presidential primary still unsure whom to support. It was only the endorsement of another Navy vet -- US Senator John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee -- that moved Rowe into the Romney camp.

Rowe showed up early Thursday morning, camera in hand, for a Romney town hall meeting at the Boys and Girls Club here. It wasn't the former Massachusetts governor he wanted a picture of, but the former war hero. "Now that McCain's behind Romney, he'll pull a lot of votes from people like me," Rowe predicted.

That, of course, is what Romney and his staff are hoping. McCain has long been a favorite of New Hampshire Republicans and independents: He crushed George W. Bush in the state's 2000 primary and beat Romney in 2008. And thanks to his brave record as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, McCain -- though a frequent thorn in the GOP's right side -- has retained lasting respect even in his party's more conservative circles. (Which explains why, after endorsing Romney in New Hampshire, McCain flew with him to campaign in South Carolina.)

But there are limits to McCain's influence, even among Republican voters who served in Vietnam.

John Anderson, a nuclear engineer from Pittsburg, NH, was the first on his feet with a question for Newt Gingrich when the former speaker visited Littleton, a town in the White Mountains near New Hampshire's border with Vermont. Gingrich had repeated his description of Romney as a "legitimate Massachusetts moderate," ticking off the issues -- from gun control to health care to judicial appointments -- on which Romney had disappointed conservatives during his term as governor.

"You call him a moderate, and that's being generous," boomed Anderson, a retired Air Force officer who was involved in Operation Ranch Hand against the Viet Cong in 1965. "And as a Vietnam vet, I was pretty upset with a certain person that endorsed him the other day."

Anderson told me afterward that while he deeply admires McCain, he has no intention of voting for Romney, whom he considers too willing to tilt to the left whenever it is politically expedient to do so. "I'm not a Romney-hater," he said. But given Romney's philosophical flexibility, "I do not believe he can take on President Obama."

Every presidential re-election campaign eventually becomes a referendum on the incumbent. No matter who the GOP eventually nominates, voters next November will be deciding whether Barack Obama deserves a second term in office. But the Republican nomination contest has itself become a kind of referendum -- a referendum on Romney. In the "Mitt" camp are those who see in the former consultant and venture capitalist and pragmatic politician the skill set needed to defeat Obama and revive the economy. In the "not-Mitt" camp are those who find it impossible to rally behind a candidate who seems to lack clear and resonant principles.

At the Iowa caucuses, entrance polls showed, Romney handily won the support of voters who cited electability as the most important criterion, while the great majority of those looking for a principled conservative voted against him.

"I'm willing to be another Ronald Reagan if that's what you want me to be," then-Senator Bob Dole unconvincingly promised Republicans in 1995. Dole went on to win the GOP nomination the following year, but the party's conservative core never got enthusiastic about him, and independent voters weren't attracted to a candidate who couldn't even excite his own base.

The case against Romney boils down to the perception that to become president, he is prepared to say anything. The case for him boils down to the conviction that virtually any Republican, even a political weathervane, would be better than Obama. "We cannot afford another four years of this man," a voter in the audience said to Romney at the Boys and Girls Club Thursday morning. "We've got to get him out of the White House."

Before Republicans can take on Obama, they've got to figure out what sort of leader they want to replace him with. "Mitt" may have New Hampshire's primary in the bag, but "not-Mitt" still seems pretty formidable.

Romney makes Obama's ineligibility MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's ObamaCARE/RomneyCARE MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's IAG issues MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's Sharia issues MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's 911 Victory Mosque MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's RomneyMarriage/Gay Marriage issue MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's bad governmental history MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's AGW issue MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's liberal judge issue MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's ineptitude MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney has a history of the BIG DIG and its coverup.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney has a history of destroying the Mass. Constitution which makes Obama’s overturning the US Constitution MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney makes Obama's lying as an issue MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney has a history of backstabbing the GOP, itself, and is hated widely.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney has a history of narcissism which make Obama’s MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

Romney has a history of destroying evidence while Governor, which makes Obama’s destruction of evidence also MOOT.
THAT is why the DNC wants him.

I said it before, and I'll say it again:

"Mitt delivers a Dem/Marxist wet dream: help the GOP nominate the one man the fewest of the GOP base will vote for (let alone donate/work for) and thereby keep the White House solidly Dem/Marxist and give a down-ticket boost to same, implode the GOP in a Whig-like swoop, demoralize the tea party activists and get proxies to morally destroy the LDS during the general election process. Win, win, win, win."

All because of two incredibly egotistical men who have been groomed since childhood to browbeat the rest of us.

Mr. niteowl77

What a crock. Follow some history I complied because of the constant misinformation about political consultant Karl Rove (American Crossroads) and Rick Perry.

Disclosure reports show that neither Bob Perry [Perry Homes/home builder] nor his wife have donated to Rick Perry's presidential bid. Bob Perry has given money to other candidates but not to Rick Perry. The biggest recipient is Mitt Romney. Bob Perry and his wife gave a combined $5,000 to Romney's early this year and $500,000 to the super PAC Restore Our Future that supports Romney.

In 2008, they supported Romney's nomination with a $5,000 donation between them. According to disclosure reports Gov Tim Pawlenty received a combined $10,000 to his presidential campaign and another $60,000 to his political action committee from Bob Perry and his wife. Bob Perry is also the top donor to the Karl Rove-linked super PAC American Crossroads.

With the notable exception of Lamar Smith (R), mostly Democrat giving, including a PAC contribution for Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY), also gave to Bill White (D) who lost in his 2010 gubenatorial challenge to Rick Perry – DIDN'T FIND Rick Perry: Charles Butt [HEB CEO] Political Campaign Contributions 2010 Election Cycle [HEB is the largest private company (grocer) in Texas]

With the exception of $1K to Shelia Jackson-Lee and Gene Green -- both democrats, ALL GOP giving but DIDN'T FIND Rick Perry: Bob Perry Political Campaign Contributions 2010 Election Cycle -- Bobby Jack Perry (Bob J. Perry); Houston, Texas homebuilder, owner of Perry Homes, and major contributor to a number of 527 groups: Swift Vets and POWs for Truth and the Economic Freedom Fund. ---- In 2010, Bob Perry donated $7 million to the 527 group American Crossroads.

Donors to Bush absent for Perry [9-1 support Romney] WASHINGTON — Fewer than one in 10 of the top fundraisers who helped George W. Bush shatter records for presidential campaign money in 2000 and 2004 have donated to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign, a Houston Chronicle analysis of Federal Election Commission data has found.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a wide lead over other GOP presidential hopefuls in donations received from the 939 “Pioneers” and “Rangers” who raised at least $100,000 each for the Bush presidential efforts. “

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