Romney ego trips and falls flat in Iowa
By Howie Carr | Friday, January 4, 2008
For Mitt Romney, it may be one and done. Last night he looked like an overrated second seed out of the Big Ten who gets upset in the first round by Campbell College.
As for Hillary, as my listener Ron from Norwood put it, she’ll be the one taking hostages at her headquarters in New Hampshire today.
Mitt not only got his teeth knocked out by Mike Huckabee, but the Huckster and his new plug, ugly Ed Rollins, mussed up his hair pretty good, too. Unless something happens this weekend - and debates have not been Mitt’s strong suit this year - he could be going down in the record books as the John Connolly, the Phil Gramm, the Steve Forbes of the 2008 race.
The guy who blew millions on an ego trip off a political cliff.
See you in New Hampshire, Mitt said last night. Yeah, at Lake Winnipesaukee, on Fourth of July weekend. Is it safe to say, Mitt, that Huckabee brainwashed the GOP voters of Iowa?
Maybe Mitt should have run for re-election as governor after all.
Instead, he had a press availability scheduled in New Hampshire this morning at 2 a.m. That must have been some wakeup call, not to mention a wake. Mitt can spin it all he likes that the Huckster had a natural base in Iowa, but that’s what money is supposed to overcome. That’s why they call it the mother’s milk of politics.
It must grate on Mitt that already the McCainiac rumpswabs of the press corps are promoting the Republican fight as McCain-Huckabee. But the fact is, Mitt’s been fading in New Hampshire faster than he did in Iowa. Like sharks, the voters smell blood in the water.
If there is the slightest glimmer of hope for Willard, it’s that Hillary’s wounded, too, and her flailing makes the Democratic ballot that much more attractive to the independents in New Hampshire in four days. For months now, the Barack Obama rallies have had the same feel as Deval Patrick’s last year - thousands of overweight Baby Boomer moonbats on prescription medication, the men in gray ponytails, the women knitting in their tent dresses, all of them in full swoon. How did Joe Biden describe Obama as a “clean” black man? The Boomers vote Obama, they feel good about themselves, their lives haven’t been a total selfish waste.
McCain’s Strait Jacket Express can’t match that karma, or star power. The Republican primary will have to be won among Republicans. And you can bet that Mitt is ready to hit the grumpy old man with everything but, as that folksy Huckster put it, the kitchen sink. Here is the Romney campaign’s weekend theme:
McCain = Ted Kennedy. Money will be no object. When you’re already down for $20 million, what’s another five? Whichever Republican finally gets Huckabee one-on-one wins. It’s the longest of long shots now for Mitt, but what’s he got to lose except Tagg’s inheritance?
But in the end, Mitt’s ad barrage won’t work. Because Mitt has the same problem Hillary does. They just don’t like him, or her. They don’t connect. Hillary is just so 20th century. Her husband was the ultimate Teflon politician, nothing stuck to him. She’s Velcro, unable to put across a single lie with the panache of her husband.
She’s got more money than God, and how is her campaign spending it? They’re buying ads on my radio show, and Rush Limbaugh’s. Michael Savage must have been sold out.
If she goes down in flames, how long do you suppose she and Bill will remain married? About as long as Rudy and Judy most likely. And how about Giuliani - you had to know that something was wrong in that campaign when they put Paul Cellucci and Joe Malone on the same bus in New Hampshire and thought the boys could bury the hatchet once and for all.
As for Fred Thompson, he didn’t do that poorly in Iowa, but what’s up with the 1:30 arrival this afternoon in New Hampshire? He’s ceding two news cycles in New Hampshire to his new worst enemy, John McCain, whose minions tried to sandbag him yesterday with the rumor that he was dropping out of the fight. We all thought Fred was a politician, it turns out he only played one on TV. And you know very well that Arthur, his character on “Law and Order,” would have been up at dawn this morning, thanking voters at a subway stop somewhere.
This campaign is off to a great start. This morning it looks like it comes down to Obama vs. McCain in the finals, but tomorrow, who knows?
Anyone for a brokered convention, or two?
Please see post #53.
Incredible column.
Um, Fred isn't contesting New Hampshire?
Mitt should of just called Perot and asked him how buying the ticket works out.
I wish his appeal was limited to these folks, but it's not. Obama is no Howard Dean. He's every soccer mom's dream. He's so nice!
Be afraid of Obama. Be very afraid.
A brokered convention for the GOP? Sounds good if Fred doesn't go anywhere. Who might be the consensus candidate for president to emerge?