Posted on 03/28/2012 8:43:56 PM PDT by TJA
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., endorsed Mitt Romney for president Wednesday night on Fox News' "Hannity," saying Romney offers "a very clear alternative" to President Obama's vision for the future of the country.
Rubio, a young, first-termer who has been discussed as a possible vice presidential candidate, criticized talk of a fight for the Republican nomination on the convention floor, a possibility that is keeping alive the campaigns of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.
"I think that's a recipe for delivering four more years of Barack Obama," Rubio told Fox News' Sean Hannity.
Romney has "earned this nomination," Rubio said, though he again shot down questions about whether he would accept any offers of a spot on the ticket.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Folks, I've got news for you: America has already been destroyed. We're not going to take it back through peaceable, comfortable means. We're well beyond that. God is going to kick our asses and drive us to our knees before we will again taste of any semblance of the America we once knew and loved.
It's going to be a tough road, and we need to be ready both physically and spiritually.
Good post.
I honestly don’t care. It doesn’t make a different in the real fight to come who becomes president.
We are talking about a fight for the distribution of power. Having a president willingly give up that power does not secure the position of that power where we need it to be.
The president & congress must be forced to relinquishment that power practically so they can not simply retake it a whim.
People who worry too much about the presidency are thinking too short term and loosing sight of the real prise.
The truth is the presidency is a greatly overvalued target. That in itself is the weakness we need to exploit. We can more easily take the rest of the Government namely the States and change the world under their feet than we can change anything with the presidency.
Rubio was hyped as a “Tea Party” candidate by the GOP Establishment and many drank the Kool Aid presented through the media.
Were the Jeb Bush’s of the world crying because Rubio replaced Crist? Hardly, because Rubio is a GOP-E man packaged as a conservative.
Newt Gingrich's statement that he'd be voting for Mitt Romney if he's the nominee gave political cover to Tea Party conservatives like Rubio to make his Romney endorsement, and in a cascade effect, that will lead to more and more people climbing on the Romney bandwagon publicly when until recently they've been afraid to say publicly what they believed privately.
In Gingrich's case I can't blame him. He had no choice; if he said he'd vote against Romney in the fall if Romney wins the Republican nomination, he'd destroy his chances of winning the nomination himself and headlines would be telegraphed all over the world saying, “Former Republican speaker threatens to work against likely Republican nominee.”
The rest of us don't need to be publicly saying such things about future backing for Romney, except in those cases where some of us hold public political office and what we say on the internet could hurt us in our local, state or national positions. I realize that over at RedState, they're saying to get the most conservative Republican possible in the primary and vote Republican in the general election. That's not Free Republic's position, and I don't think it needs to be, or even should be.
Romney is not stupid. My guess is that the timing of the Rubio endorsement was planned to precede the upcoming GHW Bush endorsement to reduce the credibility of the inevitable conservative attacks on Romney for being a RINO. Even if that wasn't planned, it's what the effect will be.
Romney knows that he needs to get prominent right-wing conservatives to publicly endorse him now to take the wind out of both Santorum’s sails and those of Gingrich, and build up the aura of inevitability so a brokered convention not only doesn't happen but doesn't come close to happening. Even if Romney wins at a brokered convention, he would be badly damaged by the fight in ways that a conservative insurgent who went into the convention and won the battle would not be.
What's the narrative if Romney wins a brokered convention? People will say “he's not only the weakest Republican frontrunner since Leonard Wood in 1920 but now also a weak nominee because he doesn't have the enthusiastic backing of his own party's base,” which is more or less what Gingrich has been trying to point out.
What's the narrative if a conservative insurgent wins? “Candidate X (Gingrich, Santorum, or fill in the blank with some third name) managed to take on all of Mitt Romney's money and he still won! Maybe he can do that to Barack Obama this fall.” Bottom line: At least for now, let's try to avoid making pro-Romney comments or statements about backing him in the general election unless forced to do so. I don't blame Gingrich for what he said, and I probably don't blame Rubio since the alternatives for them would be worse. For most of us, we can stay neutral about what we'll do if Romney wins the nomination for at least a little while longer.
I agree with everything you said, and actually read it twice through - there were a lot of good thinking points there.
I would say, though, the 'I will support the nominee' statement is something everyone, even Paul, has said. and I think most people consider it that way - at least I hope so.
but I disagree with you about Rubio. He telegraphed a long time ago that he would be supporting romney in the Fla primary, when he came out with a very negative statement about Newt. He fell into line with Jeb bush's state machinery bigtime.
I think what is going now, is what I have read a few places variously, that there is going to be a major push now by the gop establishment to establish romney's inevitability, after his recent losses, through endorsements by major gop players... and rubio was just on that list.
romney was one of the first people to give to rubio's fledgling campaign, most likely because he understood the necessity of have many friends in florida, and sadly Rubio fell for it...
I am sure you are familiar with the verified information that 35 or 36 of romney's endorsements received various amounts of money from him prior to their endorsements.
I think one of the saddest things about all of this is the fact the freshman tea party class is proving just as corruptible and co-opted as all the other classes. A lot of them have already lost their way...
I would bet my next paycheck that this is the ticket we'll see coming out of Tampa.
Very true, Milt is BUYING the nomination. We don’t need a liberal coward too fearful to appear on Mark Levin or Glen Beck. Unfortunately, I heard on a Chicago news prort last night that Newt and Milt have been meeting regularly. It’s no wonder that Newt’s tongue has been swallowed lately re Romney. It’s a freakin’ sad spectacle. Bob
Do you know of any substantial differences between the Constitution Party and America’s Party?
Right now, I’d pick whichever one of these 2 parties that rise in prominence.
I don’t care WHO endorses the socialist lite, they can’t defend the guy other than saying that he’s a buisnessman. George Soros is also a businessman. I understand the need to coalesce to defeat the Punk, but wouldn’t it be nice if there was a little bit of principle behind the endorsements.
As for me, it ain’t over until the convention nominates someone. Newt is meeting with Milt, and Paul has been in the tank for Romney since day one. That leaves, Rick, and my family and I will be proud to vote for him in Pa. on April 24th. GO RICK!!!
Sorry, that’s news *REPORT*.
There are quite a few differences.
One of the most important concerns foreign policy.
They are primarily Ron Paul isolationists, and we stand with Ronald Reagan in support of a firm policy of Peace Through Strength.
Yes. That and more.
I am ready for President Mitt..I don’t want that MARXIST in for life... and I have a feeling he might cancell the 2014 mid terms...
I think that you're 180 degrees off on this. If the USSC strikes down ObamaCare, then health-care reform is now back on the table as a major issue. What has the GOP-E done to us? They are so obsessed with winning this election that they have abandoned their principles to push forward the Grandfather of ObamaCare. Is there anyone less qualified to talk about a viable, conservative approach to health care than Mitt Romney?
The USSC is likely to give us a winning issue and we are about to surrender the nomination to the one candidate who can't take advantage of the issue.
I can’t stand him, he’s always been just another open border loser, whining about our legal system being broken, the usual lies and evasions, all to allow more criminals in.
In fact, at least I attended the SLC Olympics and know that Romney did a good job with those. With Rubio, I would trust him even less than I trust Romney. As far as I’m concerned, Rubio is just another shadow Communist sympathizer.
... by smearing his opponents and lying about their records endlessly, buying endorsements by throwing boat loads of cash. Having fox news and Smudge report continually and shamelessly propagandizing for him.
I have no respect for how he's "earned" it.
Many of us, including Free Republic itself, will have to make difficult decisions if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee. Those are decisions I do not want to have to make, and the best way to avoid such problems is for Romney not to be the nominee. That's the best thing to work for in the short term.
Since the Supreme Court is going to strike down Obama Care, Romney Care might not be an issue.
That’s not guaranteed. If they uphold it, healthcare will be a huge issue.
Furthermore, anyone on Free Republic who has been listening to the discussion I’ve been having about Christian politics over on the Orthodox Presbyterian and United Reformed listserves knows what I think about Christian politics,
ould I have a link for these?
“We are now at the stage, the 4th quarter, where many conservatives become weary and start to give up. That is what they want; it is what they EXPECT, just like in 2008.
They have these trivial “endorsements” lined up throughout the campaign like today’s Rubio endorsement. They are sequenced. They are choreographed. They are scheduled long in advance. The Rubio, Ryan and Bush endorsements have likely been on the calender from day one. They are designed to cause disillusionment, to make you think it is time to get in line and drink the poison from their trough with the rest of them.”
Romney Rents Supporters - Many who may be as Legal as his Lawn Maintenance. http://www.TableOfWisdom.com
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