[Mamzelle]

My two cents..

In 2008 in South Carolina I voted in the primaries for Romney. At that time I thought him better than McCain. I still do. And I ended up voting for McCain after he and Huck pulled a fast one to get Romney out of the running.

I voted for Gingrich in 12 despite a lot of misgivings about the guy. And I donated to Santorum later despite my conviction that he could not keep running for long.

I simply do not think we had any strong, reliable, steady conservatives in this race.

Having expended so much passion over the years railing against McCain, and then ending up voting for him, I learned a hard lesson and didn't waste a lot of passion being angry over how Romney was forced on us as the RINO answer to Obama. It's like being extorted--"Vote for my loser or get Obama"--and I can't say I like it, but it is what it is.

But being a grownup and being a believer in Original Sin and a disbeliever in the perfectability of mankind, I'm still going forward and will support the GOP candidate...until he gets into office

...and there, Jim, I think is when the power will shift from the smug Kristols and Roves and right back into the tea party.

I wish we hadn't been so generous to Bush. He might not have taken his base so for granted and tried to get Laura her heart's desire...that invitation to Hyannis Port that never came.

We can vote for Romney and not love him. We can vote for him and not owe him a **& thing. We can watch every move he makes and work on stocking more and more conservatives in the House, Senate and eventually all the state houses.

Which is why I'm not wasting energy being angry.

After all, Lindsey Graham is up for reelection in 2014...LOL

I honestly think Romney is better than McCain, and I voted for McCain. Nobody I really wanted, except maybe Cain, would run.

And there are a lot of shills on FR running around trying to tell us to stay home this election to worry about.

[Williams]

I want to thank Jim Robinson, first for creating and sustaining Free Republic all these years. Next, thank you for this truce which was needed to preserve the community here.

As soon as I saw the truce, I asked Jim R to allow me to rescind my opus. I’m glad to be back and hope that many will now return to supporting Free Republic. It’s time to come together and definitely time to defeat Obama.

Thank you, Jim, imho you showed yourself to be a strong leader.

[Quix]

Thanks for this.

This post is, imho, a very sensible and welcome answer to prayer . . . and very essential practically.

I still believe that the Marxist globalist oligarchy has rendered the vote counting to be a very corrupt, manipulated charade, farce of a process that does not alter what the oligarchy has already decided about who they will place in office a bit.

However, I still believe we are responsible before God to vote as wisely and prayerfully as we can.

And, I encourage foks to pray earnestly as I still believe that prayer does more to save or protect what shreds of our Republic and Constitution are left than does voting.

I don’t think fantasies about political solutions to the engineered desturction and chaos we are increasingly rushing into . . . help prevent such at all. I think we have to deal in realities. I appreciate your post as it appears to be a greatly more realistic perspective on the political realities currently operating in our besieged Republic.

The Marxist globalists are determined to shred the Rpublic to ashes to enable the overt establishment of their global government on top of those ashes to be all the easier.

The U.S. Senate fully supports those goals with very few exceptions. The House leadership, ditto.

Changing any of that will take tons of prayer and whatever actions God would direct. I don’t expect to see much progress, if any, until after Armageddon, personally. Nevertheless, I believe we must do what we can and that as unto The Lord.

Nothing else will help much at all.

[Agamemnon]

Assuming Romney becomes the (R) nominee, he will need to coalesce the base. He must do this convincingly for conservatives and Tea Party to get on board full throttle, not just halfheartedly.

How many of us were enthusiastic about Reagan in 1980 but thought the "Rockefeller Wing" was going to sabotage our chances when he selected GHWBush as his VP? How many of us were somewhat enthusiastic about Quayle, but not so much about GHWBush in 1988? How many of us were enthusiastic about Kemp, not so enthusiastic about Dole in 1996? How many of us were only cautiously supportive of GWBush in 2000, but roared when we learned he'd selected Cheney as his VP?

How does Romney get us ALL on board? Here's a suggestion:

Run not only with your VP but with your proposed cabinet as well.

Conservatives sometimes have to be reminded that a President is not king. He can't get anything done by dictate. Above all, he must be a quarterback for the team. While a quarterback may sometimes run a ball in to the end zone himself, more often than not he strategically uses the talents of his team mates to move the ball down the field and bring about the win.

Did anyone hear Palin the other night (4/12/2012) on Hannity when asked if she'd consider being Sec'y of Energy? Did you watch her show the following night in place of Greta? Did anyone hear our own FReeper Allen West when interviewed on Hannity (4/11/2012) and asked whether he'd consider being Romney's VP? And BOTH essentially said YES!

Newt has effectively conceded. Are any of these folks any less conservative for facing what are becoming our realities this election cycle?

I have proposed cabinet and administration roles for persons who were Romney's rivals at some point. These are the skill sets we conservatives wanted applied to the places of government where they'd be most effective. Instead of rivals let's make them team players:

Rick Santorum - Sec'y of HHS

Sarah Palin - Sec'y of Energy + Sec'y of Interior (merge these)

Newt Gingrich - Sec'y of Education

Michelle Bachmann - Attorney General

Herman Cain - Sec'y of Commerce, HUD, and Head of GSA (merge)

John Bolton - Sec'y of State

John Petraeus - Sec'y of Defense

Tim Pawlenty: Sec’y of Transportation Ron Paul - Head of Federal Reserve (let the audit begin)

Donald Trump - Head Council of Economic Advisers

Paul Ryan - Head of Office of Management and Budget

Joe Arpaio - Head of FBI, and Homeland Security (merge these)

Dick Cheney - Head of CIA

White House spokesman: Mike Huckabee 1st Supreme Court nominee: Mark Levin

2nd Supreme Court nominee: Ann Coulter

And our own FReeper, Allen West, as VP.

I was a Perry guy. Keep him as Governor of Texas. He's doing fine right where he is.

Next: Most of these folks are honed primed and stoked from the recent primary debates. They're all sharp. Nationalize the cabinet selection process as much as the Presidential and Congressional elections.

Release every one of these folks back out onto the campaign trail with an assignment: tackle in an "in your face" way each of these departments - stage a kick-off news conference in front of each one of them in DC. Challenge the office holders to the equivalent of Lincoln-Douglas style debates allowing each Obama appointed office member to defend their record and their (mis)-management of their public trust.

They won't debate, you say? OK, try some new Rules for Conservative Radicals. Stalk them, dog them with cameras, "Breitbart" them, shame them into the arena, watch the cowards avoid the heat, watch for and exploit their mis-steps, create and run ads based on their failures in office and refusal to be made accountable.

While this is distracting the DNCs resources, Romney can land his own punches on Obama in the same way he's managed to blow away all his opposition in the primaries. Use Romney's well funded strike teams to confound opposition at the grass roots, do what they can to discourage and depress Democratic opposition and their voters.

Face it: if Romney was able to take out his competitors in the primary don't you suppose Obama's hacks could have taken anyone of them out in the general?

Have Romney's boys sew the seeds of hopelessness and dissension in the Obama ranks, cut 'em off at the knees, emphasize betrayal and failure of Obama to keep 2008 promises. Undermine, destroy and confound the opposition into a confused, ill-directed mass. They'll find themselves fighting on more than one Alinskyized, freeze-the-target candidate -- not just a single Presidential candidate, and instead they'll be spending their resources fighting 15+ personalities "running" for cabinet offices AND the Presidency!

Who are the DNC’s "generals" they have to call into a fight like that?

Instead of dividing us with all the endless sniping, let's quit doing the DNC's work for them and work on dividing THEM for a change!

Romney and Netanyahu both began strategic business careers at Boston Consulting Group. Agree with them or disagree with them, but admit that they are patient, long range, strategic thinkers.

One of the things Romney has been able to do in large part is to keep his persona distanced from the decisively well-calculated positioning of opposition to rivals in the primaries. His name-less, face-less cloaked "hit-men" are as effective as any guerrilla force out there, but all that activity is maintained at a plausibly deniable, comfortable, arms-length distance from Romney the candidate. I dare say it puts the likes of Nixon's and Clinton's "opposition research" squads to shame.

Sorry George. Enough of the "kinder-gentler" crap. Tight formations, and "gentlemen's wars" provided the fixed targets that let us destroy the British in our War of Independence.

I can see that machine going to work on Obama and leaving more than just a few lumps. Let's turn the "talents" of Romney's henchmen on to Obama, keep them disciplined, focused, and this side of doing any thing "Watergate," and let them go for the DNC's jugular.

If Romney is what we've got to work with this time around let's face that fact head on and let's hold his feet to the fire and make our will known as conservatives. If he's smart he'll seek our trust, and appoint many of our cabinet choices. To secure our trust he's going to have to both earn it and maintain it.

Romney will go a long and convincing way to doing that by arming, deputizing, and funding the campaign efforts of his "cabinet-in-waiting."

FReegards!

[dsutah]

Oh Yeah! Charge!

[ari-freedom]

Santorum lost because Romney said he spent too much and was for earmarks.
Newt lost because Romney pointed out that he was against capitalism and was associated with Freddie Mac.
Perry lost because Romney pointed out that he was in favor of tuition for illegals.
Moral of the story is we can’t beat RINOs by being more liberal.

[haakondahl]

Fellers, I came up with a strategy doc. Tell me what you all think. http://haakondahl.com/blog/?p=2953
The point is just what Jim said above. Because you can’t defeat Obama by voting “present”.

Hoc Sugit, Hoc Sugit!

[neverdem]

I hope the sign doesn't offend you, but ABO!.

The Dohrn Connection, it's like they're giving America the middle finger.

Rumors about low turnout could well be true. When I voted for Newt in the NY primary, I was the only voter at the poll at that time, about 5 PM in Riverdale, a Bronx neighborhood.

Take heart! The Tea Party movement helped to knock off three members of Democratic Socialists of America/Congressional Progressive Caucus in 2010.

Hat tip to LucyT. It's near the end of comment# 30 on that thread. I would have thought that those moonbats were in safe seats.

[mvpel]

So here’s the thing - Ron Paul is pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, pro-borders, pro-constitution, pro-small government, pro-defense (an Air Force veteran as well), pro-liberty, and he’s just won his fifth state guaranteeing him a slot on the convention ballot.

Yes, he’s said some things about foreign policy that raise many Republicans’ hackles, but does that trump all his other conservative bonafides? Would you really rather have Romney instead of a rock-ribbed constitutionalist who holds what you consider to be a short-sighted view of foreign policy and military interventionism?

Paul might be persuaded to change his views on foreign policy once he gets the classified CinC briefings, but how likely is it that Romney can be persuaded to change his litany of anti-life, anti-family, anti-liberty views once elected?

Ron Paul is the only candidate left besides Romney in the GOP field. Are we really willing to flush all the Tea Party’s gains, by nominating the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama, over this one issue of a non-interventionist foreign policy?

[Tunehead54]

Ok - here’s the plan. Pay attention.

We push hard for Mitt to take Palin on as his VP. He caves when he sees how McCain’s numbers went up after naming her, they’re elected with strong senate and representative majorities.

Then with our best opposition research we move to impeach him and we end up with Madame President Palin. And for you ladies, we’ll also have the First Hunk for four years minimum. ;-)

Of course, Mitt probably doesn’t even drink coffee so we might actually have to set up some kind of sting along the lines of the recent secret service antics.

Only problem: We have to push for Palin, hide Romney’s weaknesses and then hammer him just after the election.

To all: Feel free to post if you have a better plan. ;-)

[SJackson]

We must continue expanding our inroads into the state houses and into every elective office in the land. We must continue building on our majority in the house and we must retake the senate!! We must help the conservative governors and state legislatures to fully restore the ninth and tenth amendments and reclaim the real political power away from the federal usurpers and return it to the states and the people per the constitution!! This way, regardless of who wins the presidency, we can cut his unconstitutional expansionist movements off at the knees. And if any executive, civil officer or judge dares commit impeachable offenses, we must hold the majorities so we can impeach and remove them from office!!

I might disagree with the use of regardless. If Romney wins, it will be in large part because conservatives take him to the dance. He's no fool, he'll recognize that. My guess he'll build his legacy, that's why you run, on economic issues. Social issues, government expansionism, gun rights, there's no upside in flopping his flips. We'll be far better off with Romney than Obama. Returning power to the states, that's always a problem and wouldn't necessarily be hopeful. Though again, there's no upside in opposition.

[Diggity]

“We must continue expanding our inroads into the state houses and into every elective office in the land. We must continue building on our majority in the house and we must retake the senate!!”

This is our only hope.

[Hot Tabasco]

Therefore I hereby propose a general truce among our conservative forces!!

Pssssst! Over here Ansell......

[donmeaker]

I am sorry to read that. I regret that FR is becoming more like Little Green Footballs.

It is our duty to vote for the lesser of two evils. We can start the next campaign after this one is lost, if it is lost. If we win, we can encourage our friends to hold more conservative positions.

Don’t have an argument with not trusting politicians. No politician is worthy of trust, yet even Obama paid his union and environmentalist wacko supporters back. Support Romney and perhaps he will support the Gun Rights supporters who gave him a chance.

[dajeeps]

This is exactly where the RINOs expected to leave us, with no other choice but to bend over, as they did with Dole, GW and McCan’t. We know where that road leads. It leads to the same kind of selling out of the forgotten men to carry the ever expanding burdens of big government, while the politicians enrich themselves and go on with business as usual doling out favors to their friends and skewing markets for their benefit.

We have accomplished nothing, not even anything close to restoring the extraordinary political work of Ronald Reagan that made the kind of lives we lived from his time up to the crash of mortgage scam possible. It is gone, buried under a layer of RINO guano so think it is out of reach.

Obama didn’t start this, and is not the root cause. His is just the last name on the very long list of politicians that added more to the train of abuses of the forgotten man, and no outcome of 2012 will do anything more than change the names over the doors of power to do so or the inevitable consequences of it. They do not care about us, never have, and will not until we make them care; and that doesn’t just go for the politicians themselves, but the people who are voting these subversives into office in the first place. There is no other way to finally get this over with, and we would not be the first generation to make hard to choices to go full bore into the unknown for the possibility to rid ourselves of the scourges of tyranny, knowing full well what the consequences of no longer capitulating to it mean. With God as my witness, I would gladly go through whatever it takes, if means a possibility to end this madness once and for all. The faster the consequences from what has been done to us come, the better off we will all be, even it means we have the fight of our lives.

[free_life]

Ron Paul is the most pro life candidate and a tea party candidate and still in the race and the only way to prevent Obama or Romney from further destroying America. If you don’t want a socialist big govt big spender pro abortion in the WH support Ron Paul. How is it you miss that Jim?

[TBP]

No way I can support Etch a Sketch and I’ll be happy to campaign against him. You can be a conservative or you can support Etch a Sketch. Not both.

[gimme1ibertee]

Thanks,Jim...well-said. I’m looking at my vote for Romney as a vote against four more years of 0bama-something that this country cannot sustain.We are on the brink,and it’s time to just sigh deeply,hold our collective noses and pull that lever.He’s only one man,and, by voting conservative down the line for congressional candidates,we can help keep Romney in check for the duration,then Sarah can step up in 2016 and finish the repair job that we so desperately need.

[OPS4]

Many Freepers will vote for Romney, as I will. We need Obama out and that is all that remains between a semblance of our once Great Nation and total Socialism.

Many of my friends here have already quit coming in and have joined other forums.

I have stayed to do my best to defeat Obama for a second term
of theft and socialism.

We can all agree to disagree, on Romney but getting the Vote out to defeat Obama and his Czars, MSM, and Communist friends is the first order of work we need to undertake.

God Bless You All!