Posted on 08/30/2012 2:31:29 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
TAMPA, Fla. — The Texas delegation at the Republican National Convention is, for the most part, backing the candidacy of Mitt Romney.
But that doesn't mean everyone here is enthusiastic about the former Massachusetts governor.
Romney, who is expected to accept the nomination tonight, was not the first choice for many members of the Texas delegation, several delegates said this week.
Gov. Rick Perry, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum each sent their backers to Romney after they dropped out of the race.
And like good party soldiers, the converted supporters see Team Romney as the best option to oust President Barack Obama.
"I think we're seeing the delegation coming together. ... It's the way the system is supposed to work," U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold of Corpus Christi said Wednesday.
Still, not every Texan attending the convention is sporting a Romney pin on his or her white cowboy hat. Many are suspicious of his conservative bona fides because he enacted a health insurance mandated when he was governor of Massachusetts.
The civil liberty-loving, government waste-hating supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul tend to feel the same way as their leader, who hasn't endorsed Romney. And Paul is popular with a good chunk of Texas' 155 delegates, 20 of whom voted to nominate Paul on Tuesday.
In Texas, it doesn't matter much that there is fractured support for Romney, said University of Texas professor James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project. There's plenty of animosity toward Obama for Romney to win the state.
"Nationally, it becomes more important," Henson said. "A big part of both campaigns is mobilizing the base."
The fact that Romney is not enthusiastically supported by core voters in his own party is a problem, especially in battleground states, where the winner will be decided by a narrow margin, Henson said. The danger for Romney is that Republican voters simply won't show up to cast ballots, he added.
Don Zimmerman, a delegate from Bee Cave and Paul fan, joked about Romney's support among the Texans. "There's evidence that the Romney team is going to return manufacturing to America because they are manufacturing unity at the national convention," Zimmerman said. Come November, Zimmerman said he will probably vote for Romney, though he won't like it.
"I'm going to vote against Obama," said Zimmerman, a self-described anti-establishment voter and cynic. "Obama is a powerful motivator to drive you to Romney."
Jeff Milburn, a 46-year-old alternate from Dallas and another subscriber to Paul's philosophies, said there is dissension in the delegation over Romney.
The liberty-minded Milburn said he's still not sure if he will vote for Romney in November.
"He would not be my first choice," Milburn said. "I have been hearing the words ‘vote for lesser of two evils' since the mid-'80s. ... It's very disheartening."
Milburn said he and other Paul supporters remain suspicious of Romney and his pledges of small government and reform. "You don't know much about what he really stands for," Milburn said. "Is he going to make cuts that are going to piss people off? I don't think so."
One encouraging component of the Romney campaign is his running mate, Milburn said. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan brings credibility to the ticket because of his fiscal conservatism, he said.
Mark Boldger, an alternate delegate from a small town near College Station, says he's a Romney supporter now. He agreed that Ryan satisfies the need for fiscal conservatism called for by both Paul backers and fiscal conservatives. Boldger didn't back the Massachusetts governor originally. He supported Gingrich in the early days of the race and had worries about Romney's Massachusetts health care plan. Boldger has since come around, and these days he focuses on Romney's positive traits. "I believe it's going to take a businessman to balance this budget," said Boldger, a retired financial adviser. "I think it is going to take running this country like a business."
Most factions of the Texas party seem to have dutifully jumped on the Romney wagon.
Following the lead of Santorum, perhaps the most socially conservative candidate in the presidential primary, Texas' religious conservatives are generally behind Romney. Santorum, who addressed the Texas delegation Wednesday, said that he is sometimes asked why he threw his support to Romney after such a bitter campaign. Shrugging, he told the crowd that he always answers by saying: It's easy. Obama is on the ticket, and he must be defeated.
For tea party-affiliated members of the Texas delegation, the reasoning is similar. Rosemary Graber, 20, a delegate from Yoakum, said she cannot cast a ballot that could lead to Obama's return to the White House. "If I vote for a third party, my vote is lost," she said.
Yep. That headline is true.
And much like the 2008 election, I’m voting for the VP and against Obama.
I’d vote for a can of corn before I’d vote for Obama. ABO
Party of Stupid vs the Party of Evil . . you decide!
After that we build a fence a mile high around the state.
Screw the bastards!
I,too, am a Christian Zionist. Last night at our little rural Tn prayer meeting, we all prayed for God’s people, the Jews. Only our President hates them>
“Texas tried that 150 years ago and it didn’t work out too well.”
****
Different Texas today. We’ve got the natural resources (oil and gas were non-issues the last time), our own electrical power grid, lots of tech, booming economy, and defense resources.
As a practical matter if secession were to occur, I’d foresee many states in the South and most of the upper Middle America states that border Canada leaving. The U.S. would be left with the Northeast and West Coast plus a narrow band of states connecting them.
What is wrong with our nation today is that we have a federal government that is out of control and exceeding the established Constitutional limits.
Both major parties support that violation. I won't be voting to support either.
/johnny
P-R-I-O-R-I-T-I-E-S!!!!!!
I agree with everything you say but allowing the Obamaturd to get re elected won’t put a stop to abortion OR Obamacare.
Stop Obama NOW and in 4 years replace Romney if possible and if not do it in 2016.
Roe V Wade has been around for almost 40 years. Do you really believe if Santorum was the nominee we could get it overturned? If so I would really love to hear how it would be done.
Don’t take it personally. I think he was just trying to be helpful and thought you made an inadvertant mistake in the famous quote. :)
/johnny
The retread just had a blowout.
/johnny
First you remove the establishment’s biggest threat to you, then you fight the establishment itself.
Ain’t rocket science.
Either way is fine. Really.
>> animosity toward Obama for Romney to win the state... describes me.
+1
>> Will you sell your Christian soul for 30 pieces of Planet Kolob minte silver coins ... made by satan, the blood brother of Jesus Christ ?
LOL!
WTF are you talking about?
LOL. And the point is?
Where were all these stories when Kerry was running against Bush?
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