Posted on 09/14/2023 4:57:34 AM PDT by cotton1706
The decision by Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah to forgo his 2024 re-election bid is a classic political Rorschach test. As the standard-bearer for conservatism during his 2012 White House bid against President Barack Obama, the otherwise affable and soft-edged former governor understandably became a lightning rod for Democrats fighting for progressive convictions on issues like health care, the economy and personal freedoms.
But today, the nation finds itself confronting the collapse of the Republican Party as an ideological coalition. The shared mission of even establishment conservatives is trending increasingly toward undermining our institutions and holding power by attacking basic suffrage and fundamental equal protections. No matter how you felt about his individual policies, Romney stood with dignity in opposition to this evolution. For those who have left the party in recent years or those who still hope for a return to a more traditional GOP, his move is a disappointment and a clear loss.
Romney’s respect is well-earned. At the height of Donald Trump’s momentum during the 2016 GOP primaries, Romney, coming off his leadership role as the party’s 2012 nominee, gave an unprecedented address about and scathing critique of the brash front-runner. The New York Times noted that Romney’s criticism at the time “was so savage that historians strained to find any precedent in America politics” of a previous nominee’s attacking a prospective one. Romney called Trump a fraud and argued that the candidate’s promises were worthless. Trump, Romney warned, viewed Americans as suckers.
Romney has continued to hold course, at least where Trump’s gravest mistakes are concerned. He flatly declared that Trump “incited the insurrection” and later voted to convict the 45th president at impeachment.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
I always wondered why a two-faced New Englander would be such a shoe-in for the Utah Senate--I assumed it was because he duped the voters by playing the Mormon card.
We've turned our elected officials into royalty, royalty are royalty for life. Have you seen their perks, and how they are feted and treated? Go down to see your Senator speak somewhere. Do you think you can even get close enough to ask them a question, and they work for you? Don't even try it, their armed guards will arrest you.
Nobody should be surprised that useless losers like this detest Donald Trump.
What a loser... This guy lost his seat to Crist for crying out loud, and was swept from office as Trump was being voted in, didn’t even serve 2 full terms... and has spent his time since bashing Trump.
“The shared mission of even establishment conservatives is trending increasingly toward undermining our institutions“
My how things have turned. The leftist radicals have become statist hacks.
“...undermining our institutions and holding power by attacking basic suffrage and fundamental equal protections.”
And whose basic suffrage was attacked—the dead?
And whose fundamental equal protections—drag queens’ access to kids and pretend women’s access to places reserved for women?
It is hard for me to imagine how long we can remain a single Union when two large groups of our population hold such divergent views of reality.
I saw Romney in Colorado in ‘12.
Almost as lame as McCain in ‘08.
Both of them ran to make $$$ and had no plans to win.
You're absolutely right. Didn't even cross my mind, and I retired at 55. Guess I've become conditioned to the Senate being a nursing home. Good illustration of what media conditioning has brought me to tolerate.
So many here move their elderly congress. I think it’s pitiful that they can’t enjoy their lives. I retired early too. It’s awesome! Why work when you don’t have too? Travel is easier. Sports and other activities are able to be done. People are nuts to work til death.
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