Friday, October 28, 2011

George Will: In Romney, "Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis"

I must say, I'm shocked that this is coming from George Will. He is the epitome of an establishment voice in the Republican Party. Does he finally get it?

Politico has a sneak peak of his Sunday column.
Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles who is not only becoming less electable, he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate: Republican successes down the ticket will depend on the energies of the tea party and other conservatives, who will be deflated by a nominee whose blurry profile in caution communicates only calculated trimming. Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor who takes his bearings from ‘data’ ... Has conservatism come so far, surmounting so many obstacles, to settle, at a moment of economic crisis, for THIS?
Read the entire article HERE

37 comments:

marK said...

So, Mitt isn't liked by either the Right-wing extremists or the Establishment stooges.

He must be doing something right.

Right Wingnut said...

Mark, ever since Christie officially bowed out, the establishment stooges have been behind Romney for the most part. They have nowhere else to go.

Anonymous said...

I'm done arguing about wether Romney is great or awful. And for the most part I'm done arguing about the other guys, unless something new comes up. I've made up my mind about how I will vote. You make up your mind how you will vote. Neither of us are going to sway the other. Whatever happens it looks like the republican party is set to splinter.

DanL

Anonymous said...

Rant on.. At least Mitt has a brain and knows how to use it. I am disappointed that Will would take this position but I guess there are no right wing zealots for him to pick from this time so he is denigrating the guy in the lead.

Doug NYC GOP said...

That "glass ceiling" of Romney's is looking more impressive each passing day, as the desperation over the inevitability of Romney grips passe opinionators like Will.

Considering everything has been thrown at Romney and he continues to remain strong nationally and even more so in individual states and the head to heads against Obama, suggest he has bed rock core of support, Will, Rushbo and Levin, can't or won't see or accept.

Romney WILL BE the nominee and the next President.

Sulkers are welcome on the bus, but can sit in the back until their disposition improves.

BOSMAN said...

George Will?

I thought he was dead!

Anonymous said...

Most voters have never heard of Dukakis. And those that have hardly see a resemblance.

I think Will's point will go nowhere. Accept by pundits pushing a rival.

Lori*

Pablo said...

Do my eyes deceive me or did George Will just criticize Romney for being responsive to data?

Ohio JOE said...

"Mark, ever since Christie officially bowed out, the establishment stooges have been behind Romney for the most part." While I do not agree with the article in most regards, that phase hits the nail on the head.

Ohio JOE said...

"Considering everything has been thrown at Romney and he continues to remain strong nationally" True, but at this point in time, not quite as strong as Mr. Cain.

Right Wingnut said...

OJ, what part of George Will's comment do you disagree with?

Ohio JOE said...

Well RW, I think Mr. Will is trying too hard to link the two MA politicains together. I think it is too simplistic to declare that they are both technocrats. They suffer from two totally different things. In short the first guy was too extreme and the second guy is too moderate.

Anonymous said...

All I can say is that Romney is a stronger candidate that all of the other GOPs combined because he is still hanging in there at or near the top,and he has everyone and everything coming at him,including the kitchen sink. Unlike Cain who complained that Rove was trying to sabotage his campaign, Romney has not whined about his detractors comments. Will is probably a disgruntled Perry supporter who is trying to knock Romney down a few points while trying to score points with the MSM. What is the establishment worried about?That he has a brain and he is worth 200 million and can't be bought?I for one will be contributing more money towards Romney's campaign.

Anonymous said...

OJ, you are half right. Dukakis was extremely liberal, but Romney is not extremely conservative. But Romney is not a moderate. I would call him a pragmatic conservative.

Another thing. I don't know much about Dukakis, but has he ever been called the best businessman in America?? Did he ever save the Olympics?

And remember folks, Will is the one who said that we could count on either Obama, Daniels or Pawlenty being president in 2013?

-Martha

Terrye said...

George Will was not a fan of George Bush either.

Ohio JOE said...

"Romney has not whined about his detractors comments." No, he has underlings do that for him.

Ohio JOE said...

"But Romney is not a moderate. I would call him a pragmatic conservative." In European terms that is correct, but here in America, real pragmatism is further to the Right. We need not win the house and many governorships by being mainstream pragmatic Conservatives, we won by being American Conservatives.

Doug NYC GOP said...

"Romney has not whined about his detractors comments." No, he has underlings do that for him.

FALSE

The Romney campaign has responded when needed and in a straight fwd manner.

Ohio JOE said...

"The Romney campaign has responded when needed and in a straight fwd manner." Haha and none of the other campaigns have? C'mon!

MassCon said...

Who needs data when we can have hatred, angst, and division?

Right Wingnut said...

I believe he's talking about polling "data."

Terrye said...

I am reading Romney's book now and I am impressed with how intelligent he is..He thinks about things..he analyzes issues and tries to come up with solutions.

As for establishment...well all of these people have ties to the establishment. Even Cain has ties to the Fed..they have money. Most of the pundits who make their living talking about all of this have ties too...I don't care how much they complain about the elite.

Romney is smart and competent..right now that looks pretty damn good to me.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't it the establishment that went searching high and low for anyone but Romney?

I just think it's funny that Romney is somehow considered establishment now. He is truly an outsider, it's just that the establishment can read the writing on the wall, and they know there are no other viable alternatives.

-Martha

Slick-Willy said...

RW: "I believe he's talking about polling 'data.'"

Nope. He wasn't. Polling data wasn't part of that critique's equation.

Slick-Willy said...

This is an idiotic comparison by the way.

Dukakis was an extreme leftist whose entire history was based in New England. He was a lawyer that never really practiced. He served in the military for a couple years and spent the rest of his life in politics. He had zero business experience and was pretty much a socialist/communist at heart.

Mitt grew up in MI, went to college in UT and spent most of his professional life in MA, though he ran international enterprises and spent substantial time in several other locations. No one thinks Mitt is extreme--extremists of every stripe hate him for this. He's a conservative, but is closer to the center than many.

OJ's comment that Romney = the Eruo version of being a "pragmatic conservative" says nothing about Romney. It just illustrates OJ's lack of perception when it comes to historical conservative politics. Romney has been more conservative--pretty much across the board--than Reagan was pre-POTUS. He is certainly more conservative than either Bush. And he's more conservative than ANY competitive Euro politician has been since Thatcher.

Anonymous said...

"I'm RW and I have not had an objective opinion in three years."

Right Wingnut said...

RW: "I believe he's talking about polling 'data.'"

Nope. He wasn't. Polling data wasn't part of that critique's equation. - Slick Willie

---------------------

I guess we'll have to wait for the entire article to know for sure.

Slick-Willy said...

RW: "I guess we'll have to wait for the entire article to know for sure."

Nope. This is just a piggy-back off of his interview last week where he said the same thing. The talked about how both men are "technocrats," focused on the data and not connecting with people emotionally. It had nothing to do with polls.

That said, Dukakis never used numbers to accomplish anything. He was a lawyer that used numbers to an extreme because he thought it gave him substance. Romney analyzes numbers to achieve something--and his achievements are many.

Right Wingnut said...

Willy....


I'll still wait for the full article, but that's not the main point of the article. He believes, as I do, that the GOP is heading for an electoral train wreck if Romney is the nominee.

If Mitt can't win over ultimate establishment hack, George Will (and others like him), he has serious issues.

Slick-Willy said...

"If Mitt can't win over ultimate establishment hack, George Will (and others like him), he has serious issues."

LOL. So is Romney's problem that he can't win the establishment? Or is it that Romney IS establishment? The anti-Romney self-viewed purists love to have it both ways.

While I can appreciate your view, it contradicts the only data we have. No one really knows what will happen between now and Nov '12, but all of the data suggests Romney gives us BY FAR the best chance to oust O.

Going for the purist choice (who is inevitably a conservative with no pragmatism and/or no experience -- see O'Donnel, Angle, etc.) will ensure four more years of Obama.

Romney is a very strong option, but he definitely has flaws. But he is BY FAR the best chance conservatives have. It's not close.

Terrye said...

RightWingNut..the Gop is heading for a trainwreck if they nominate one of the other people up there..now if some competent intelligent person wants to get in this they should..but just sitting on the side lines and demanding something else won't accomplish anything.

Cain can not beat Obama..Perry can not even debate Romney..imagine him with Obama..Bachmann and Santorum will never win a general and while Newt Gingrich is a smart man..he has a lot of baggage.

Three years people seemed to think Romney was a conservative, now a lot of those people are saying something else...maybe they are the ones who are off base. After all, they do seem impossible to please.

Anonymous said...

Romney is more conservative than Reagan and that's good enough for me.

Anonymous said...

I, too, am reading Mitt's book. His analysis and depth is impressive, especially when I read of Cain's total lack of foreign policy preparation and Perry's inability to string together coherent thoughts for debates. Mitt didn't sit around playing the stock market the last four years. He studied, he analyzed and wrote an excellent book. (And he helped Republicans win in 2010!)

OJ and Wingnut, have you read Mitt's book? Just wondering.

Will is DIVISIVE. We need to UNITE to save our country. I will remember Will, Limbaugh, Levin and Beck and their divisiveness.

ccr

larry said...

Didn't Will predict Pawlenty would be the nominee?

Maybe Tim will write a rebuttal for Mitt. Wouldn't that be something?

Ohio JOE said...

"Will is DIVISIVE. We need to UNITE to save our country. I will remember Will, Limbaugh, Levin and Beck and their divisiveness." You have totally lost it by claiming that Mr. Will is like Mr. Limbaugh and company. Mr. Will is a unique bird who does not fit into a neat category. Further, Mr. Limbaugh is not the divider, the establishment started the fight so quit whining now that you have to clean up your own mess.

Anonymous said...

You don't even know what the "establishment" is Ohio Joe. Why don't you go ahead and define it for us?

The "establishment" is the conservative version of "the man". It means nothing. When populist use the word "establishment" what they really mean is, "This guy is reasonable, articulate, not prone to hyperbole, and looks good in a suit. He can win an election and I will fight him with every fiber of my being."

Stop repeating what you read online and let an original thought run through your head.

MassCon said...

Anon 6:39

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!

DING DING DING!!!!!!

NAILED IT!!!!!!!