I came to think very well of Romney as the race went along, and I am very disappointed we will not have the lovely Ann as first lady.
However, I keep remembering the piece I read somewhere which plainly stated that, as a candidate for office, Romney was (and sadly remains) a big time loser.
In fact, he only won ONE election in his whole career and after serving as Mass gov. did not even feel confident enough to run for re-election. That should have been our real warning sign.
Nixon was a congressman and he was a 2 time veep. I’m not old enough to know much about his early career and I know he had a big loss for something before the presidency (won’t have Nixon to kick around speech) but he had won several elections.
And may I add, Nixon wasn’t really a nice guy and Romney really is.
No more Mr. Nice Guys, we need someone with brutal and heartless ambition who will be happy at least fill the mud buckets even if he/she lets other throw them.
Forget appealing to people’s better angels, or whatever that expression is. Fear, fear is the motivator and Obama scared the cr*p out of his voters this time and we need someone who will do the same to our potential voters next time.
My sense is that he did not want it badly enough, and underestimated the amount of detailed knowledge and political skills it takes to win office. I get the impression that politically-speaking, he's a part-timer rather than someone who's deeply engaged in the minutia. He is a great family man whose children have benefited from his attention and guidance. The nation, however, has suffered from his inattention to politics, that culminated in his defeat in 2012.
In contrast, Reagan was an aloof father whose life's work wasn't raising his children; it was figuring out how to raise this nation out of the disasters of the 60's and the 70's, and how to get in a position to implement his preferred policies. As a result, several of Reagan's children have turned out pretty dysfunctional, and it's clear that this must have been a source of pain for him. In retrospect, we owe Reagan a great deal for the personal sacrifices he made on the road to the presidency, so that we could have the decade that slowed down the economic death spiral which was simply a matter of time once FDR initiated the New Deal.
//However, I keep remembering the piece I read somewhere which plainly stated that, as a candidate for office, Romney was (and sadly remains) a big time loser.
haaa haaa ha ha well said.