Via HotAir, Mitt Romney has scored two significant conservative endorsements recently, Jeff Flake and Darrel Issa. While that may not constitute a coalescing around Romney, it does help insulate him from RINO charges. Whatever he once was, is he now the conservative who can win?
What’s up with this?
I think it may be dissatisfaction, or maybe disappointment, with Rick Perry’s roll-out. His first debate performance was disappointing, and his second while better, still was less than stellar. Frankly, he seemed unprepared for the debates.
I think Perry can recover, but I also think there may have been expectations which were built too high. And nothing disappoints like unfulfilled expectations, which accounts for his not great recent polling.
The primaries are a marathon, not a sprint. Romney’s strategy has been to go slow, a strategy I criticized as creating a vacuum, but one which may prevail in the long run.
Has Romney survived the Perry push? Does this tweet I sent after the first Perry debate apply?
I’ll answer my own question. It’s not too late for Perry to regain momentum or at least stabilize his frontrunner status, but he needs to do it soon.
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Hot air is a financial conservative that is routinely hostile against social/financial conservatives.
Rick Perry wasn’t even sure that he would participate in the second debate because of the fires. Perry has come out swinging against Romney calling him Obama lite and comparing obamacare versus romneycare.
Seems to me two things are happening.
1. An analysis of his record shows Perry isn’t as conservative as people first thought. He likes government as well as other politicians, but he wants State government to do things rather than the Feds. A true conservative wants all government to do as little as possible.
2. Perry may not be as strong as Romney against Obama. Even if you prefer Perry as a President, you might conclude Romney has a much better chance of winning election and support him for that reason. For many, including me, this is the most important criterion.
So Romney is ready for prime time & Perry is ready for the White House?
Are you kidding….This is what happened when the light bringer Obama was elected.
If Romney and Obama are on the stage Obama will talk about how much he and Romney are alike and how much he appreciated using Romney’s policies as templates for his own.
And Romney will respond with all the things Obama screwed up, although his time will expire before he finishes. Romney is much quicker on his feet and more articulate, good characteristics to have when battling Obama.
This:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/study-most-new-texas-jobs-went-immigrants
isn’t going to help Perrybush either. Almost all of the 81% of the jobs created recently in Texas that went to immigrants went to non-citizen immigrants of which half got here illegally. These are almost all minimum wage and sub-minimum wage jobs.
Good job cowboy! This is the guy we want “rebuilding” America while he lines his own pockets?
It is like the situation where trying to dump the most abusive boyfriend imaginable means taking the first person to come along who promises to relieve all the pain only to find later that person turns out to be just as abusive.
Let us hope that in desperation to vote Obama out of office that we do not make desperate decisions to just elect someone ‘not Obama’.
Obama is just a symptom, not the cause, of this form of sado-masochistic relationship afflicting our Nation.
I’ve been thinking the same thing about Palin. A Palin endorsement for Perry would likely push him to victory. A Palin endorsement for anyone else, would likely steal enough of Perry’s vote to ensure Romney’s victory.
Palin will not be endorsing anyone else because in all likelihood, she’ll be declaring her own candidacy. Watch for Palin’s announcement that she’s quitting her job at Fox. That’s the signal she’s running.
In my opinion Palin running will have the same results as her endorsing someone other than Perry. She’ll take votes away from Perry and probably obliterate Bachmann’s percentage of the vote, but I don’t think she’ll grab too many Romney supporters, leaving Romney the strongest. I have nothing against Palin, and I think she could beat Romney is a race without Perry, but I don’t think she can win with Perry splitting her vote.
Then there is this:
Perry’s Solyndra?
“Making the case for tackling cronyism, reducing the size of government, and decentralizing the corrupting power of a central government will be very difficult for a politician renowned for political favoritism.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/perrys_solyndraby_brian_t_carter.html
Perry’s system of patronage and cronyism
“The Republican Party is ramping up a campaign against President Obama based on accusations that companies like LightSquared and Solyndra represent an epidemic of favoritism and misuse of the taxpayers’ money. They argue that as government expands, the opportunities for legalized bribery increase, and those same beneficiaries then become advocates for an ever-growing government. How is Perry supposed to talk about that during the campaign, should he get the nomination? Moreover, does his style of governance represent the Tea Party ethos or the worst of old-style government? Perry better have good answers to these or he’ll find himself the target of the base’s wrath, not its affection.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/perrys-system-of-patronage-and-cronyism/2011/03/29/gIQAUjfTjK_blog.html
Romneycare = Obamalite. I do not want a waiver, I want Obamacare repealed, so it can never,ever be resurrected.
Dems and Libertarians are lining up in New Hampshire to vote for Romney and Huntsman. The RINO establishment,Dems and MSM love to give us our nominee…Mc Cain was oh so electable my friend! He would appeal to the independents! I’ve seen this movie before. Perry may not be Conservative enough for you, but don’t try and tell me Romney is more Conservative. Romney will not win, Romneycare makes him just as bad as Obama. the Dems want Romney as the nominee….enough said.
This is interesting. Gov. Perry has the single best argument to beat Obama and that is an economic record in Texas and Perry has the ability to split the Latino vote. The GOP cannot win the general election without spitting that voting block. Latinos will want a secure border and reduction in crime. The GOP is promoting Rubio,Sandoval,and Martinez and we would alienate a voting block with Romney’s hard right rhetoric while Perry is saying the borders have to be secured first before there is immigration reform which is cart after horse common sense.
All of these other issues are distractions & Romney cannot match Perry’s record of jobs in Texas. Romney doesn’t know more then Perry about border issues either.
That Romney would not credit Perry as the executive for overseeing Texas economic growth is a fallacy since it means Romney & the GOP can’t blame Obama as the executive for a failure of the national economy. It’s a cheap pretzel logic tactic and tries to absolve Romney’s single term as Gov. Of Mass. where he enacted Romneycare the blueprint for Obamacare and Mass. ranked low in job growth and since Romney care lost investment & 18,000 jobs. Romneycare relies on Federal Taxpayer dollars so we all pay for that plan.
Why would I as a voter think someone like Romney would engage in any repeal of Obamacare or any budget reforms like the Ryan Plan? Why would I even think Romney capable of leading a conservative sweep or being re-elected because based on his record he’s lost more elections then he’s won.
Why would I think Romney who has bought into the AGW scam do anything to role back the EPA and drill & mine? The EPA has all but crippled the Gulf & Energy states. The EPA has tried to shut down the Texas Grid.
Gov. Perry may not be the eloquent debater that seems to be called for today but in Texas actions speak louder then words and Perry has a long record of conservatism that works. Perry is plain spoken and in Texas we see this as an asset.
On Hannity last night Perry called Romney “Obamalite” and I think he nailed it. Perry is driving the narrative in terms of job growth and consistent leadership. The GOP has to nominate a candidate who is a clear contrast to Obama. Obama is still blaming the Bush Administration for his failed policies and Perry who inherited the economy of Texas after Bush went to DC oversaw the legislation and enacted policies for Texas to weather the downturn in the national economy. 5000 people move here a month from other states looking for jobs because they don’t come here to live on the dole but Texans will work hard to help others get back to wok and on their feet. We do this for each other and we did this for Katrina refugees & we are doing this for victims of the wildfires who will rebuild.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/perrys-system-of-patronage-and-cronyism/2011/03/29/gIQAUjfTjK_blog.html
That is why Perrybush appeals to the Latino vote. Perry is just another crooked politician who says whatever you want to hear at that moment.
personally I am less likely to be highly motivated to engage in the necessary drudge work of getting out the vote for candiates who only run on ‘job creation’.
There is more to ‘Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness’ than government-stuffed,fatted wallets.
I have no interest in pledging my life, my wealth and my sacred honor for those Americans who cannot get off their barcaloungers, unglue their eyeballs from Hollywood Jon Stewart’s comedy canal and fight for something greater than a pitiful job created by crony capitalists palm-greasing corrupt politicans.
I noted after the last debate that Romney was saying the right things that would allow me to vote for him with a clear conscious.
I just hope he’s not pulling a Nixon on us. Nixon campaigned like a conservative, but after he was elected he was arguably the most liberal Republican ever elected.
What is it about sweet-talking bad-boys we find so alluring?
Hmmmmmm…..
Via Jim Hoft at TheGatewayPundit:
Romney Says Perry Is Unelectable — He’s Not Moderate Enough
Couple things.
Perry, as with all candidates, is not without blemishes and his debate execution was not perfect. However, while he may have his faults, I believe he genuinely wants to push government back to the states and rollback regulation, and that he would help do that. Its up to us to keep the states clean – and its a lot easier than trying to manage unelected federal bureaucrats that Obama is setting up. So I see him as a victory.
But when you look at the polling numbers, it hasn’t hurt his standings that much with conservatives in the polling, so the loss is in the moderate camp. (The usual weak-kneed media influenced sellouts).
For that, the explanation I think is that the media is, as is expected, everything it can to destroy every conservative candidate. Watch how every news issue is framed – from executions to other things unrelated to the campaign – in ways to tarnish Perry. We have to realize that the media is working hard to pick our candidates for us. If you haven’t spent a year reading HillBuzz, the best blog by a bunch of ex-democratic on-the-ground strategists that you can read, you should go back and do it to understand how our enemies work us.
They will do the same to Romney (or Huntsman, if he had a shot), but first they need to shoot down every single other conservative candidate to get the “soggy cucumber mayo” (h/t HillBuzz) nominated, then they will destroy him. Then the unflattering pictures, stories, etc. will come out.
Its been their strategy from the start. And the “moderate” wing and the weak-kneed in the party will fall for it everytime.
I think it is good to vet our folks hard, and Perry deserves to be vetted.
But I am disgusted by Romeny’s attacks on him around Social Security, and anyone who is buying the sweet-nothings he is whispering doesn’t see him for what I perceive to be the spineless wimp that he is.
We had better primary some more Republican Congressman and get some real conservative senators in there, because if we take the White House with Romney, we will not get any real fight or leadership.
6 months ago, I was not excited about a Palin run or a huge Palin fan, and thought her best shot was an outside troublemaker for the party.
But now, frankly, I am so disgusted by the prospect of Romney running that if he starts to comfortably reclaim the frontrunner status, I’ll be hoping she jumps in.
Yes, I want to beat Obama. Romney does not excite me as someone who will necessarily be up for the challenge, or if he wins, while he undoubtedly will be better, will create 4 more years of Bush-like “not quite as big as the Democrats” growth of the federal government.
He will not fight for us. He does not stand for us. He will care too much about his image to die on the sword for what is right, in my opinion.
Electability matters, but the “unelectable” mantra is being pushed hardest by the left, and we have to keep a very close eye on how they are tring to pick our candidate for us.
Because its not because they are trying to help our cause.
PrincetonAl, I was thinking the other day how the media acted during the 2008 campaign season. McCain was far off my radar, simply because I had taken the time to read the Shamnesty Bill that McCain co-authored with Ted Kennedy. And Romney seemed too slick by half for me.
But the media played McCain up, saying what a boon he was to the GOP crowd of candidates. He was, according to them, the best thing since sliced bread for the GOP. Well, McCain won the primaries, and immediately the press came out with accusations against McCain claiming he had had an affair and had cheated on his wife, Cindy. I remember the presser McCain gave, with wife Cindy standing behind him, to disavow those accusations. McCain had made the mistake of thinking that the press was really in his corner. They weren’t. They wanted the GOP candidate that a young, inexperience senator from Illinois, that the press was unwilling to vet, could defeat.
And the McCain/Obama race is history. Mission accomplished for the media who finally got their really first, true, socialist president.
I don’t put much stock into the debates. Yes, Romney seems better at the debate system, but he had had lots of practice. And it drives me nuts to have lengthy, wordy responses that really don’t say a damn thing.
In 2008, there were a lot of article written about Romney’s flip-flopping on the issues. Now it is Perry’s turn to be vicerated, while Romney seems to be off their radar. For me, it is familiar. The press doing their best to destroy a person who can actually relate to Americans in fly-over country while they shove the East Coast Brahmin down our throats, who will not win against Obama.
Palin should get in if that is what she wants to do (the clock is ticking on that window of opportunity) but if she does, she will take votes away from Bachmann, who seems hell bent in destroying her own campaign with the latest smears against Anita Perry put out by her PAC, and Perry. The east and west coasts will never pull the lever for Palin, so that will give us McCain Deux.
The internet is a wonderful thing. I has allowed me to go back and see what conservatives were saying about Romney in 2008. Not much of it is complimentary.
Romney wants to win. This may be his last chance. If he loses this time and runs again in 2016, he will have gained the name as perennial runner like Pat whats-his-name and Shorty wats-his name who are both deceased but ran for years in every election and were jokes. He will say anything and do anything to win. He’s just another politician and nothing else. An establishment republican in love with the status quo in DC from a professional political family like Bush. . Having said that, if by some horrid chance he wins the nomination, I will vote for him. It is that important to get rid of obama before he totally wrecks this country. It may already be too late. With the crazy support obama still has, I don’t think Romney can win.
Palin as McCain deux?? I don’t think so. Perry’s state’s rights points are very true NOW. But just like in 1994 when the republicans retook congress, I said the very next day. “lets see how much they do about too much federal power now that it is their power.” The only one who has demonstrated an ability to actually stand up to the corrupt power brokers and return power to the people has been Palin. The only ones who derive their power from the voter and not the establishment power brokers are Palin, Cain, Johnson, & Paul. BTW Palin is running.
Some early endorsements for Romney certainly help his cause. The GOP always carries a large but feeble faction that fears bold idealogues. That faction went for Ford in 1976 and George H.W. Bush in 1980 because it feared a nominee that might rock the boat. We got Reagan anyway and thank goodness we did. My guess is that Romney is perceived to be the “won’t rock the boat” candidate.