GOP to Mitt: Thanks, but.....
I keep hearing these incredible numbers associated with the Bush administration. You thought 935 recorded lies prior to the Iraq invasion was impressive? How about over ONE MILLION missing e-mails from White House accounts (not the R.N.C. ones that were set up in violation of another law) that are supposed to be part of the public record from the 2002 to 2005 period. The White House at first said it was trying to recover the missing missives, but NOW says that they don't have to provide them at all. Think Mr. Cheney's old telephone lineman skills could be put to work here, or have they already been utilized?
It's time to close the books on Mitt Romney's campaign. The Super Tuesday results went badly, and last Thursday he "suspended" his campaign, meaning that he retains the delegates already committed, and can try to find money to repay himself the $40 million or so that came out of his kids' inheritance and went into signs, party favors and attack ads.
That's a lot of money to burn without some kind of return, though the good news is that there is still about $150 million or so left. The Romneys won't be applying for food stamps anytime soon. I don't begrudge him - it was his money to spend how he wanted. You could even make the case that candidates SHOULD put their own money on the line when running for office. But that's for another time.
As for the campaign itself, you could see it many different ways. Mitt outlasted a fistful of other GOP white guy presidential wannabes, and 2nd (maybe 3rd) in a field of nine is certainly respectable. No one caught him doing or saying anything scandalous, though he didn't hesitate to "go negative" on his competitors early and often on local media. He kept to all the standard conservative positions, but had been on the other side on some of the same issues running in liberal Massachusetts in previous races.
In fact, while some unsuccessful campaigns (Perot, Lugar, Forbes) get some credit for having exposed certain issues, I don't think in six months that anyone will be able to say just what it was that Romney was FOR, except winning. He kept getting caught in meaningless "fibs", such as the "varmint gun" he didn't actually own, "seeing" his father (the onetime Michigan governor) march with Martin Luther King, even though Mitt was in France at the time, and the never-quite-explained turn to the Pro-life side. Because he had this aura of being virtuous, these things stuck to Mitt the way they wouldn't have stuck to a Reagan or Clinton.
The Mormon faithful really wanted the Mittster as president, believing that all you need is to be right (or "righteous") to succeed as president. He got 90% of the Latter Day Saint Republican vote in Utah, where they love him far more than in the Bay State. They will tell you now, as they grab your lapels) that Mitt should be the running mate, or start a 3rd party or at LEAST be Secretary of the Treasury.
The job he wants (if you can call it a "job") is that of heir apparent for 2012 - the next guy off the bench assuming McCain doesn't overcome all the personal and party baggage he's obliged to lug this year. For now, all Mitt can do is gracefully accept the GOP sentiment of "Thanks, but no thanks", and hope that all the CHANGE promised by Democrats implodes on itself, giving him another chance in four more years.
It's time to close the books on Mitt Romney's campaign. The Super Tuesday results went badly, and last Thursday he "suspended" his campaign, meaning that he retains the delegates already committed, and can try to find money to repay himself the $40 million or so that came out of his kids' inheritance and went into signs, party favors and attack ads.
That's a lot of money to burn without some kind of return, though the good news is that there is still about $150 million or so left. The Romneys won't be applying for food stamps anytime soon. I don't begrudge him - it was his money to spend how he wanted. You could even make the case that candidates SHOULD put their own money on the line when running for office. But that's for another time.
As for the campaign itself, you could see it many different ways. Mitt outlasted a fistful of other GOP white guy presidential wannabes, and 2nd (maybe 3rd) in a field of nine is certainly respectable. No one caught him doing or saying anything scandalous, though he didn't hesitate to "go negative" on his competitors early and often on local media. He kept to all the standard conservative positions, but had been on the other side on some of the same issues running in liberal Massachusetts in previous races.
In fact, while some unsuccessful campaigns (Perot, Lugar, Forbes) get some credit for having exposed certain issues, I don't think in six months that anyone will be able to say just what it was that Romney was FOR, except winning. He kept getting caught in meaningless "fibs", such as the "varmint gun" he didn't actually own, "seeing" his father (the onetime Michigan governor) march with Martin Luther King, even though Mitt was in France at the time, and the never-quite-explained turn to the Pro-life side. Because he had this aura of being virtuous, these things stuck to Mitt the way they wouldn't have stuck to a Reagan or Clinton.
The Mormon faithful really wanted the Mittster as president, believing that all you need is to be right (or "righteous") to succeed as president. He got 90% of the Latter Day Saint Republican vote in Utah, where they love him far more than in the Bay State. They will tell you now, as they grab your lapels) that Mitt should be the running mate, or start a 3rd party or at LEAST be Secretary of the Treasury.
The job he wants (if you can call it a "job") is that of heir apparent for 2012 - the next guy off the bench assuming McCain doesn't overcome all the personal and party baggage he's obliged to lug this year. For now, all Mitt can do is gracefully accept the GOP sentiment of "Thanks, but no thanks", and hope that all the CHANGE promised by Democrats implodes on itself, giving him another chance in four more years.
posted by Mark at 2:17 PM
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