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Trump To Romney: If You’d Hit Obama As Hard As You Hit Me, You Might Have Been President
Hotair ^
| 04/22/2019
| AllahPundit
Posted on 04/22/2019 8:39:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
ICYMI this weekend, the inevitable counterpunch after Romney tweeted on Friday that he was “sickened” by the Mueller report’s account of Trump’s dishonesty. It’s extremely on-brand, too. The Trumpiest possible reply after being accused of sustained unethical behavior is absolutely to say, “Scoreboard.”
What always surprises me about this criticism of Romney from populists, now including the populist-in-chief, is how little it credits Trump’s beliefs for his victory in 2016. If you’re eager to move the GOP away from Romney-style centrist conservatism and towards something more nationalist, blaming his defeat on his reluctance to attack Obama more harshly is the dumbest possible talking point. You should want to emphasize ideological differences as Trump’s secret ingredient in victory. Unlike the out-of-touch business-class moderate Romney, Trump understood that white working-class voters felt that the GOP was no longer catering to their needs. They didn’t want free markets and forever wars, they wanted tighter trade policies to protect American jobs and money spent on foreign adventures to be reinvested in American communities. And they wanted seriousness of purpose at the border. Yeah, granted, Romney pushed for stronger borders too as nominee (and was criticized for his draconian rhetoric by private citizen Donald Trump) but no one trusts a country-club Republican to crack down hard on illegal immigration. Trump recognized the symbolic power of a wall, just like he recognized that calling for a Muslim ban would show righties that he understood their cultural anxieties even if he couldn’t lawfully ban Muslims for their faith.
That’s the nationalist version of why Romney lost. There’s some evidence to back it up too. Romney himself has spent years trying to explain away his infamous “47 percent” comments late in the campaign that seemed to dismiss Obama’s working-class voters as freeloaders. The fact that Trump passes on that politically potent critique and resorts instead to dopey “you didn’t fight hard enough” shots proves (a) he’s not as invested in remaking the GOP as a durably nationalist party as many of his fans are, and/or (b) he really is incapable of viewing victory and defeat in terms more complicated than “strength” and “weakness,” with “strength” largely defined by how cutthroat you’re willing to be to achieve your goal. If Romney lost, it’s not because the Republican establishment’s policy priorities have been diverging from those of blue-collar voters for many years, with Trump having shrewdly reconnected them. It’s because he never called Obama a Kenyan or whatever. He needed to be tougher.
Romney hasn’t responded and probably won’t, as it’s pointless to try to win an insult war with Trump. His megaphone is bigger, he has many more supporters, and he enjoys sparring. Romney sympathizers already made all the obvious points in his defense on social media after Trump’s tweet anyway. Unlike Trump, Romney was facing an incumbent president in 2012, and not just any incumbent but the man who won more votes in his first election than any candidate in American history. At no point before the 2012 election was Obama’s favorable rating negative, whereas at no point after March 2015 was Hillary’s favorable rating positive. Even so, running against a reasonably popular opponent with all the advantages of incumbency, Romney managed a larger share of the popular vote than Trump did. But all of this is a footnote to history: The only number that counts is 270. Just ask Trump. He’ll tell you.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: obama; romney; trump
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To: SeekAndFind
romney is a POS, same as mccaniac, flake, mccowski, gardner and so many others in the gopE congress.
2
posted on
04/22/2019 8:42:42 AM PDT
by
JoSixChip
(Trump stands alone.)
To: SeekAndFind
3
posted on
04/22/2019 8:43:50 AM PDT
by
bantam
To: SeekAndFind
truth. romney ran to not lose. he thought the stagnant economy would defeat BHO and so he played a deep zone defense.
getting hosed by cramdy crowlady (she seemed oddly prepared to back him when BHO said benghazi was terrorism on day one, when he most certainly did not) and BHO’s manifestly absurd one liner about the 80s wanting their foreign policy back didn’t help. but even they were artifacts of his play it safe strategy when he inexplicably left them unchallenged.
oh, and he couldn’t really criticize ACA because he basically invented the individual mandate. also unhelpful.
To: SeekAndFind
Trump’s speaking truth again...
5
posted on
04/22/2019 8:45:58 AM PDT
by
GOPJ
(If illegals voted Republican Pelosi herself would be down at the border laying bricks. freeperbk1000)
To: SeekAndFind
Romney is a middle-of-the-road type of guy.
He got elected governor in a liberal state, and he thought he could draw liberal voters to him in the presidential election too. So, he feared alienating liberals while forsaking that in the national elections, compromising on your principles usually gets you nowhere. That’s not to say he has principles, though.
What he’s doing now is positioning himself for a possible run and confrontation against Trump in 2020. Otherwise, he would not have run for the senate seat he has now. He’s still very hurt that Trump won and he didn’t. Jealousy and anger is what drives him now; not principles.
6
posted on
04/22/2019 8:47:13 AM PDT
by
adorno
To: SeekAndFind
It’s Twitter, and making a list of reasons that Romney lost would be pointless. The superiority of Trump’s positions are implicit in his victory. Besides, Romney attacked Trump for ethics, not politics. Wrong time to go on a rabbit trail.
7
posted on
04/22/2019 8:47:52 AM PDT
by
Dr. Sivana
(There is no salvation in politics.)
To: SeekAndFind
The real truth is Romney did not show differences between him and Obama...didn’t actually campaign like he even wanted to win. He did up to a point and about the time he should have fired up he seemed to just quit.
8
posted on
04/22/2019 8:49:03 AM PDT
by
Tammy8
To: SeekAndFind
LOL. He’s so right. Romney is yet another Republican with political Stockholm Syndrome. The Dems can beat him and say the most savage lies about him but he doesn’t respond in kind out of some stupid, twisted notion of “honor” and “principles.” Yet he has no problem attacking Trump in the harshest of terms. Does this dope really think that what Trump did is worse than what the Obama Administration and Hillary in particular did? The Obama/Clinton crimes were simply covered up and ignored, including by Mueller. If Romney doesn’t understand that, he’s a fool. If he does, he’s an opportunistic hypocrite who craves liberal love.
9
posted on
04/22/2019 8:49:52 AM PDT
by
Opinionated Blowhard
(When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
To: SeekAndFind
blaming his defeat on his reluctance to attack Obama more harshly is the dumbest possible talking point...
~~~
Stopped reading there.
It’s not dumb, particularly as a ‘talking point’. It hits right back at the fact that Romney lost, and he won.
Now is it factually correct? I’m sure the article goes deep into the pile on that one. Not really interested though. It’s a perfect counter ‘talking point’ when Trump shows how Romney is not really on “our side” and probably closer to Obama than he is to Trump
10
posted on
04/22/2019 8:50:28 AM PDT
by
z3n
To: SeekAndFind
I voted for the slimy backstabbing hypocritical bastard thinking that he would be better than the turd that befouled the white hut for 8 years. Now I’m not sure that zero wasn’t the better choice inasmuch as the turd at least consolidated the non liberal voters against the Democrats. Romney would have sown enough dissent and discouragement in the republican party to keep the country going down the socialist path.
11
posted on
04/22/2019 8:50:44 AM PDT
by
from occupied ga
(Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
To: adorno
Well to me it has become clearer that his principles are pretty far left. As you say if he has any...
Anyone even considering voting for Romney over Trump cannot be even a hint of a conservative. That would be something between RINO and absolute dim.
12
posted on
04/22/2019 8:53:12 AM PDT
by
Tammy8
To: Opinionated Blowhard
RE: Romney is yet another Republican with political Stockholm Syndrome.
One reasons why Democrats tend to control the narrative -— THEY ARE UNIFIED EVEN WHEN THEY ARE WRONG.
Republicans have NEVER been unified. In fact, even when they are in the majority in the Senate, it is DE FACTO, a Democrat Senate composed of 47 Democrats and the likes of Collins, Murkowski, Gardner, Romney just to name four ( thank God Jeff Flake and John McCain are gone ).
13
posted on
04/22/2019 8:55:00 AM PDT
by
SeekAndFind
(look at Michigan, it will)
To: SeekAndFind
To: SeekAndFind
15
posted on
04/22/2019 8:59:28 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
(Endut! Hoch Hech!)
To: SeekAndFind
To: SeekAndFind
At this point I would settle for rombot punching himself in the face.
17
posted on
04/22/2019 9:00:10 AM PDT
by
Leep
(It's.. (W)all or nothing..!)
To: SeekAndFind
How could you run against ObamaCare, when for all intents and purposes, you were the “Father” of Obamacare?
18
posted on
04/22/2019 9:02:20 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
(Endut! Hoch Hech!)
To: SeekAndFind
If Willard had hit Obama as hard as he hit Newt Gingrich he would have won.
19
posted on
04/22/2019 9:05:51 AM PDT
by
Georgia Girl 2
(The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
To: Tammy8
That would be something between RINO and absolute dim.
Romney is no conservative, and no RINO. RINO would make him a republican occasionally, but, Romney is more of a liberal than republican. He is rightfully, according to his record and rhetoric and ideology, a liberal. He has tried to appeal to republicans when they need arose, but, he only got ahead in democrat strongholds, but not because democrats in those areas wanted a republican in power or someone that was appealing to all sides. People who vote for him has this image of him as being fair and unbiased, but his record shows him to be a liberal. He only votes and runs with republicans, just to get ahead. IOW, no principles at all.
20
posted on
04/22/2019 9:07:18 AM PDT
by
adorno
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