With Mitt Romney passionately advocating for John McCain’s candidacy in cable TV interviews, traveling with to western states for McCain fundraisers, and campaigning in Pennsylvania for Senator McCain, it appears that the McCain camp is testing the waters of a Romney vice presidential nomination. Although Mitt Romney would bring advantages to McCain’s candidacy, Romney remains a deeply flawed vice presidential candidate because he lacks a consistent conservative track record, fails to energize conservative voters, epitomizes the “say-anything-to-get-elected” politician, and lacks support amongst values voters.
The most problematic aspect of Mitt Romney as the vice presidential nominee is the fact that he is running as a republican. Yet, Romney’s history is marred by a slew of liberal positions he vehemently espoused while campaigning in the 1990s in Massachusetts. For example, Romney once asserted that he would be a more vocal proponent of the gay agenda than far-left Senator Edward Kennedy. Similarly, in his debate xyz woman, Romney vehemently contended that he was not a pro-life candidate or a friend of social conservatives. With it comes to gun rights and other conservative issues, Romney passionately repudiated conservatism during his Massachusetts campaigns. As a vice presidential candidate, Romney will be in an extremely difficult position. He can either revert back to parts of his past in an attempt to connect with independents and Democrats and thereby alienate conservative voters or he can provide Democrats and hard-line conservatives with a limitless video real of quotes espousing positions antithetical to classical conservatism. Either way, Romney is a liability to John McCain.
The second problem with Mitt Romney as a vice presidential nominee is his failure to energize the base. Despite Mitt Romney’s expensive and repeated attempts to portray himself as the heir of Ronald Regan—whom, he impugned while campaigning during the 1990s—and staunch defender of conservative ideals, Romney utterly failed in convincing conservative voters in primaries. For example, in Iowa and South Carolina, exit-polls showed that Romney lost heavily amongst voters who described themselves as very conservative or somewhat conservative. When it came to garnering support from key grass roots Republicans, Romney failed there too. The fiscally conservative Club for Growth said Romney’s economic record contained some “troublesome positions that beg to be explained” while the socially conservative Pat Robertson inexplicably endorsed Rudi Giuliani and national security conservatives like Liz Cheney endorsed Fred Thompson.
The third problem with Romney is that he epitomizes the classic politician who will say anything to win an election. His never-ending slew of spin, sophistry, and non-sequiturs raised countless doubts about his authenticity. For example, in Romney’s much-anticipated speech of faith in America, he said, “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.” When confronted with the fact that his father never marched with Dr. King, Romney entered the sophistry hall of fame by saying, “If you look at the literature, if you look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of in the sense I've described. It's a figure of speech and very familiar, and it's very common. And I saw my dad march with Martin Luther King. I did not see it with my own eyes, but I saw him in the sense of being aware of his participation in that great effort.” This type of rhetorical gymnastic is familiar and common? Rather, it is this type of insincere “say-anything” attitude cost Romney dearly in republican primaries. In Iowa, exit-polls showed that voters who said the most important candidate quality was “saying what you believe” overwhelming opposed Romney. The same dynamic played out in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida.
A final problem with Romney as the vice presidential nominee is his lack of support amongst social conservatives and values voters. In a television and YouTube age, he cannot escape his repeated and emphatic support of abortion and gay marriage while campaigning in Massachusetts during the 1990s. Given the large and important role that social conservatives play in the Republican Party, it is absolutely essential that these voters feel energized and enthusiastic. Mitt Romney is not a vice presidential nominee that engenders strong support. Mitt Romney is flawed.
2 comments:
nicely written. one of the best summations why that fox romney should never ever even be remotely considered as eligible for the levers of power. and has anybody ever asked how someone so devoutly mormon, a bishop, and a missionary, as Romney was in France - could so easily and glibly sell out family values just for power in massachusetts?
Thanks for the comments.
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