Posted on 09/05/2013 9:40:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Ten months after Mitt Romney shuffled off the national stage in defeat consigned, many predicted, to a fate of instant irrelevance and permanent obscurity Republicans are suddenly celebrating the presidential also-ran as a political prophet.
From his widely mocked warnings about a hostile Russia to his adamant opposition to the increasingly unpopular implementation of Obamacare, the ex-candidates canon of campaign rhetoric now offers cause for vindication and remorse to Romneys friends, supporters, and former advisers.
I think about the campaign every single day, and what a shame it is who we have in the White House, said Spencer Zwick, who worked as Romneys finance director and is a close friend to his family. I look at things happening and I say, you know what? Mitt was actually right when he talked about Russia, and he was actually right when he talked about how hard it was going to be to implement Obamacare, and he was actually right when he talked about the economy. I think there are a lot of everyday Americans who are now feeling the effects of what [Romney] said was going to happen, unfortunately.
Of course, there is a long tradition in American politics of dwelling on counterfactuals and and re-litigating past campaigns after your candidate loses. Democrats have argued through the years that America would have avoided two costly Middle East wars, solved climate change, and steered clear of the housing crisis if only the Supreme Court hadnt robbed Al Gore of his rightful victory in 2000. But a series of White House controversies and international crises this year including a Syrian civil war that is threatening to pull the American military into the mix has caused Romneys fans to erupt into a chorus of told-you-sos at record pace.
In the most actively cited example of the Republican nominees foresight, Romneyites point to the candidates hardline rhetoric last year against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his administration. During the campaign, Romney frequently criticized Obama for foolishly attempting to make common cause with the Kremlin, and repeatedly referred to Russia as our number one geopolitical foe.
Many observers found this fixation strange, and Democrats tried to turn it into a punchline. A New York Times editorial in March of last year said Romneys assertions regarding Russia represented either a shocking lack of knowledge about international affairs or just craven politics. And in an October debate, Obama sarcastically mocked his opponents Russia rhetoric. The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold Wars been over for 20 years, the president quipped at the time.
That line still chafes Robert OBrien, a Los Angeles lawyer and friend of Romneys who served as a foreign policy adviser.
Everyone thought, Oh my goodness that is so clever and Mitts caught in the Cold War and doesnt know what hes talking about, OBrien said. Well guess what. With all of these foreign policy initiatives Syria, Iran, [Edward] Snowden whos out there causing problems for America? Its Putin and the Russians.
Indeed, earlier this summer, Moscow defiantly refused to extradite National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to the United States, prompting Obama to cancel a meeting he had scheduled with Putin during the Group of 20 summit. Russia has blocked United Nations action against Syria. And on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told lawmakers that Russia was one of the countries supplying Syria with chemical weapons.
To Romneys fans, these episodes illustrate just how unfairly their candidate was punished during the election for speaking truths the rest of the country would eventually come around to.
The governor tried to enunciate how to deal with these very hard, tough issues, and we were met with slogans, OBrian lamented. And now the real world is exposing the slogans as being totally trite.
Admirers point to other examples of Romneys unrewarded wisdom, as well.
During a foreign policy debate in October, the candidate briefly expressed concern over Islamic extremists taking control of northern Mali an obscure reference that was mocked on Twitter at the time, including by liberal comedian Bill Maher. Three months later, France sent troops into the country at the behest of the Malian president, bringing the conflict to front pages around the world.
On the domestic front, Obamacare which Romney spent more time railing against on the stump than perhaps any other progressive policy is less popular than ever, while the federal government struggles to get the massive, complicated law implemented. (One poll in July found for the first time that a plurality of Americans now support the laws repeal.)
And while the unemployment rate has, in the first year of Obamas second term, gradually fallen to post-crisis lows, the still-ailing U.S. economy, which served as the centerpiece for Romneys unsuccessful case against Obamas reelection, was given a potent symbol earlier this summer when Detroit became the largest American city ever to declare bankruptcy.
The Motor City became a symbolic battleground during the election, with Romney proudly touting his fathers ties to the auto industry, and the Obama campaign relentlessly attacking the Republican for a Times op-ed he had written years earlier headlined Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.
The president took the title of that op-ed, which of course was written by editors of the New York Times, and used it to say Gov. Romney was being insensitive about his own home city, complained former campaign spokesman Ryan Williams. Romneys article argued that beleaguered automakers should consider going through a managed bankruptcy instead of taking a bailout but, Williams said, the presidents campaign intentionally tried to blur the lines. It worked. And several months later, the city is going bankrupt because of liberal democratic officeholders.
Referring to the bankruptcy, Putins posturing, and the Mali conflict, Williams added, Obviously, it would have been nice if any of these incidents would have occurred during the campaign to vindicate Romney. You would never want to see the bankruptcy of a major U.S. city, or the president embarrass himself on the world stage like he has, but Gov. Romney did discuss these potential outcomes.
Romneyites are processing these feelings of vindication in different ways. The campaigns chief strategist, Stuart Stevens, said he has been disappointed to see their central message that Obama would be unable to restore Americas strength turned out to be so accurate: If there is a part of the world in which America is stronger, its hard to find. Whats the president doing? Attacking a talk radio host. He has criticized Rush Limbaugh with more conviction than the leaders of Iran We can only hope it improves.
And Jennifer Rubin, the conservative Washington Post blogger who became Romneys most outspoken advocate in the press, accused members of the news media of failing to take the Republicans arguments seriously, while allowing the incumbent skate through the race untouched.
As for the media, they are the least self-reflective people I know, Rubin said. The left-leaning media has carried the presidents water faithfully, eschewing the least bit of critical analysis. Now they dont like the result?
For Zwick, perhaps the closest thing to a true Romney loyalist on the campaign last year, the belief that his candidate turned out to be right offers little comfort. Its frustrating because theres no way to correct it, Zwick said. We dont do what they do in the U.K. and lead the opposition party when you lose. When you lose there is no way to sort of be vindicated. Theres no way to say, OK, well, I didnt win the presidency but Im going to continue to fight. Theres no fighting. Theres no platform to do that. Fifty million Americans voted for the guy and yet its all for nothing.
I wish hed run again, Zwick added. Hes not going to. But if he did, Id be right there.
Yeah, sure.
So some of you decided that King Obama was better. Good thinking, or rather immature foolish childlike thinking. Got what you asked for. Are you enjoying your choice now? Most never understood voting for the lessor of the two evils since the Republican voters placed Romney on the ballot not you ass hats. Get it? So STFU. You were wrong.
Hey I voted for bastard, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he sucked as a candidate.
I don’t know about that allegation. In general they are good people.
I would have liked someone with fire in the belly, but I will not call Romney a bad guy or a homosexual. That IMO is a bit childish and not true.
There’s no way that my dislike of Romney could override my absolute loathing of the Obamanation. Some here seem to have managed that.
I voted for the bastard but my assessment is not wrong. He is what he is. A GOP-e loser RINO!!
Romney would have been a much better president than Obama. I think he would have really tried to take on the deficit using moderately conservative solutions. I’m not sure what he would have done in foreign policy. Pretty much every candidate says things and does the opposite — Example # 1 is Obama himself. Having said that, Romney certainly wasn’t some dream candidate. I haven’t seen one of those since, oh, about 1980.
He swore he’d be better for gay rights than Ted Kennedy. And proved it.
Yeah, but he lost. His campaign sucked just like McCain’s. Just like Dole’s. Don’t run GOP-e RINOS!!
This piece is rich with irony. Not the least of which is the fact that in order to find a “fan” they had to find someone who was on his payroll.
You are clueless about the Romney Agenda.
Gay Marriage by FORCE.
RomneyCARE/ObamaCARE by FORCE.
Romney even wanted Americans to pay for the healthcare
of Hezbollah.
If not for Romney, Obama and Soros would not be
running America for al Qaeda.
Natural ally? Russian folk’s endemic animosity towards anything American is known world-wide. Have you just arrived?
Romney may have been vindicated by the course of events, but he could not convince enough people, or buy enough counter-votes in those districts where the practice of vote fraud is wide-spread, to carry the day.
And Romney did not fully convince people that he thought he was a better man for the job than the Current Occupant of the White Hut. He pictured himself as “just as good”, and that was not enough to get a LOT of people off their hands.
Nope, he was wrong about almost everything, from his lukewarm campaign, his refusal to paint Zero as the Social he was/is, his refusal to point out the failures of Zero in stark terms, to his support of abortion and the Gay Agenda.
Wrong Candidate for the GOP at any time!
That says something about the higher ups in the Republican party too:(
Romney was wrong about a lot of things, like his op-ed encouraging a national version of RomneyCare
Yup. The GOP leadership sucks! Stay away from them. I’m supporting nothing but grassroots conservatives. Run, Ted, Run!!
"Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people"and
We had rabbits when we needed tigers.
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