Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Mitt Romney and the Angry GOP - Challenges Ahead - Michael Medved


Michael Medved nails Mitt Romney’s challenges in 2012, as well as the GOP’s. 


On no significant issue has Romney moved to the left or to the center over the last four years; his platform of 2012 offers a program of conservative reform far bolder and more substantive than any ideas he put forward in 2008. 

Mitt’s precise problem came into focus for me with an e-mail from an angry listener to my radio show who upbraided me for my open support of Romney as the most electable candidate against Obama. “We remember what you did to us last time, and we won’t let you get away with it again!” she wrote. “This time you’re trying to ram the RINO, Romney, down our throats and last time it was McCain. It was because of people like you that we got stuck with McCain, when we could have had a real conservative who would have beaten Obama!” 

And who would have been that “real conservative” back in the distant days of 2008?

None other than … Mitt Romney, the “conservative’s conservative ” eagerly endorsed by Senator Jim DeMint and nearly all of my talk radio colleagues, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage and many more. 

That Romney no longer counts as a “real conservative” doesn’t reflect any ideological shifts on his part, but it does suggest a significant movement of the entire GOP toward the enraged and indignant right. The far lower turnouts in Florida, Nevada, Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri all indicate that this tectonic movement hardly counts as a positive development for the Republican Party.
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"The enraged and indignant right." - Sound familiar.

We have seen many such sentiments expressed here, on other sites and in a daily diatribe on most truth twisting Talk Radio shows. This "I'd rather be RIGHT than win" mantrra will prove to be a major stumbling block on the road to successfully ousting President Obama.

Just as Talk Radio and misguided fringer Conservatives mucked up the 2010 mid-term elections, where the goal was to TAKE CONTROL of the Senate as well as the House (while disposing of Harry Reid in the process) they seem hell bent on using the same tactics in the 2012 cycle. The GOP could have deposed Reid in Nevada with a popluar mainstream Conservative, but were overrun by the "blood in their eyes" Right Wing activists who offered us an ill-prepared and unsuitable candidate.

In Delaware, rather than keep a safe, solid seat in the GOP aisle and make the incumbent tow the line AFTER control was won, we had to suffer through the debacle of a  psuedo-witch leading us to defeat, while Talk Radio extolled her Conservative purity.

Why?

"Because we're as mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore."

In our personal lives, very seldom is it wise or successful to make serious decisions while in a highly emotional and angry state of mind. Unfortunately, this logic doesn't seem to be followed in certian political circles.

It's sad to see the same storm clouds gathering again on the political horizon. Hopefully we can wake up, seek shelter from the storm and ride the sensible, pragmatic and MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVE course to victory.

30 comments:

Publius Nemo said...

I'm a MedHead. Great analysis and perspective. Leave it to Medved to strike the chords. Thanks for the post. PN

Machtyn said...

Thanks for the post. Here's my take on the situation:

If Romney is nominated, I vote FOR Romney.

If Santorum is nominated, I vote Republican and against Obama.

If Ron Paul is nominated, I vote Libertarian and against Obama (and hope we don't have another Hiroshima, but say goodbye to my friends in Israel and pray God saves them.)

If Gingrich is nominated, I become Independent and vote against Obama. There is no voting for Newt here. If Hillary were to jump in, I would strongly consider it - she is more a leader than Newt is. Then I pray the SCOTUS strikes down ObamaCare.

Doug NYC GOP said...

Mac,

My sentiments exactly.

I live in NYC so I understand no GOP contender will carry the state.

But I will be voting FOR ROMNEY, should he be the nominee.

I will vote GOP if it's Santorum.

I will NOT vote for Gingrich - I'll vote Libertarian or some other 3rd Party I can find some agreement with.

I will vote GOP down ticket because we do win some local races now and again.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Doug,

I just read this article today and I could not agree more with Michael. The angry ABR people are not thinking rationally.

I also have reached the conclusion that if the GOP likes Santorum and nominates someone like Santorum or Gingrich,then that tells me that the GOP really has transitioned to a party supportive of big government. I would have thought that the GOP would have had enough of the spending and big government programs under GWB,but obviously they want more of the same.

The GOP party has morphed into the old Democratic party,socially conservative with big government programs and the Democratic party has morphed into the Socialist party.

Santorum is not a small government guy as he clearly states at a conference in June of 2011, but he is socially conservative. It seems to me that the Tea Party has been hijacked by the religious right who places limited value on small government principles.

Maybe this will be the year that the GOP will dissolve. The libertarian leaning Republicans like me will be disenfranchised and will leave the party with their money if the GOP nominates another compassionate conservative who adds trillions more to the national deficit.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/08/mitt-romney-hasn-t-changed-since-2008-the-republican-party-has.html

Anonymous said...

Doug, I think the most frustrating thing for me is the mislabeling of Romney as a moderate, and the failure of so many people in this party to really know what his record is. I see so many false statements about him on every website, in every article. It doesn't matter how many times it's corrected, the lies persist. I expect the MSM to do this, but the way Republicans continue to lie about him, and distort who he really is very maddening.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Attached is the link I meant to post regarding Rick Santorum's Tea Party views from June 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLQnoVpkyqc

Anonymous said...

@Machtyn

I agree with your voting rationale.

Anonymous said...

Doug, Great Job! You just keep proving my points. You must realize that the citizens of the US, millions of them, just do not think the same way you do. You'll have to rationalize that in your mind & reflect on what it means.

Twas I a campaign button manufacturer, I would make one with the slogan, "Romney Doesn't Resonate" on it. The progressive, liberal media is completely livid they can not change people's minds to accept Romney. They never will, no matter the billions they spend or how many commentators or political endorsements he gets. It's all for naught.

So, keep pumpin' these posts out Doug. I smile heartedly when you publish them. ;)

PS. Note how the anti Santorum rhetoric is coming out now from all Right Speak regulars. It exactly follows the 'pattern' laid down by the progressive media, their syncophants & likely your candidate soon.

Anonymous said...

I am glad that the anger is at least turning these ABR's to a more decent person than Gingrich. However, they keep saying Romney has no personality. Santorum is boring AND condescending. He comes across as Holier-than-thou and always has. I agree that the anger directed towards the "establishment" mystifyingly represented by Romney, who has never lived in Washington, is not the best way to choose candidates.

There really is no positive spin to put on yesterday's losses; however, in 2008, we were constantly reminded that Romney had only won caucuses and one primary--Michigan. Santorum has only won caucuses thus far. It remains to be seen whether he has what it takes to win in the primary contests where everyone votes. I don't suppose that anyone in the press is going to bring that up, but I would certainly like to hear it. At least it would be fair, because that's all we heard about Romney in 2008.

AZ

Anonymous said...

P.S. I mailed my vote for Mitt today! It makes me feel just a little bit better. :)

AZ

Anonymous said...

Lionhead

So Romney supporters can't defend their candidate against Santorum's and Gingrich's false accusations? If you term Romney as a progressive then Santorum,GWB and Gingrich are Progressives on steroids.

I also do not feel that vetting Santorum's record to see if it matches his rhetoric as an evil plot.

The majority of people who post here are Romney supporters who will defend Romney, in much the same way that Palin fans supported her throughout her brief political career.

Anonymous said...

leighrow, operative word you used is "defend." Defend away, however, you cannot win on a negative defensive strategy. We've just gone over that on the Publius Nemo post.

Negative is Mitt's default campaign strategy, it's coloring the Right Speak Regulars. If you want to help your man Mitt, you might consider taking a different tack.

How about some POSITIVE Mitt speak for a change. Sing his praises, show off his record, show us his concrete plan to fix the current problems, tell me how conservative he is, etc. (please no pictures with Ted Kennedy behind him). Then we can discuss those ideas. It's up to you...

Anonymous said...

leighrow, here's a perfect example for you; now when listening to Romney's stump speeches, he never addresses current problems & how he will fix them even with his CEO experience.

Bloomberg reports that, ""the U.S., lacking a plan to contain $1 trillion deficits, faces the prospect of another rating cut in six to 24 months depending on the outcome of November elections, according to John Chambers of Standard & Poor’s. America has had an AA+ rating with a negative outlook since Aug. 5 when the New York-based unit of McGraw-Hill Cos. stripped the nation of its AAA ranking for the first time, citing the government’s failure to agree on a path to reduce deficits. The U.S. has a one-in-three chance of another downgrade, Chamber said today during an S&P sponsored Webcast. “What the U.S. needs is not so much a short-term fiscal tightening, but it has to have a credible medium-term fiscal plan,” said Chambers, managing director of sovereign ratings.""

Instead of attacking the remaining candidates Mr. Mitt needs to focus on real problems that need real solutions. How about starting with "a credible medium-term fiscal plan." Show us your stuff Mr. Mitt or go home.

Terrye said...

Lionhead..what are you talking about? Romney has offered up many plans and ideas to deal with the current problems facing the country..

And btw, I have been listening to these flip flopping wind bags on talk radio and Fox trash Romney for months while they flit from one crappy candidate to another. If I want to defend my candidate I will. I don't really care if you like it or not.

BTW, Ronald Reagan managed to win 49 states without the help of Rush or any of these anger junkies..he actually got the votes of a cross section of the country. If he were around today and had the "support" of people like Rush and Mark and Laura and Hannity, I doubt very much if he could pull it off..there would be too much division and too much anger. Lucky for him, he did not have their help.

Terrye said...

And btw, Lionhead why don't you give your high minded lecture about the evils of negative campaigning to your candidate who trashes Romney every time he opens his mouth..and then give the same lecture to Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and the line up at Fox news.

Santorum is not as conservative as Mitt Romney..just saying he is does not make it so.

Anonymous said...

Lionhead

I share Terrys's sentiment. Why don't you scold Gingrich and Santorum's supporters on their campaign of lies and distortions. Gingrich and Santorum are no tea party standard bearers if the tea party is suppose to represent a small fiscal conservative government movement.

Why don't you visit redstates or rightscoop and critique their posts... but maybe that would not suit your fancy, since it would not be in keeping with your ABR agenda??

Terrye said...

leighrow...Santorum does not even like the Tea Party, he has said so himself. I put a link to his remarks in the other thread...conservative samizdat has more on that.

As for his record as a conservative, Santorum voted against increasing the number of immigration investigators.

voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens.

voting against hiring an additional border patrol agents

voted against the flat tax

voted to increase the internet taxes and tobacco taxes.

voted to allow gas taxes to be used to subsidize Amtrak

voted against repealing the Clinton 4.3 cent gas tax increase.

voted against food stamp reform.

voted against medicaid reform.

voted for a federal ban on possession of assault weapons

voted for federal funding for anti gun education programs in
schools.

voted against the Right to Work bill.

And the list goes on and on. There is more and just talking about his voting record is not "attacking" him.

Ohio JOE said...

"Just as Talk Radio and misguided fringer Conservatives mucked up the 2010 mid-term elections, where the goal was to TAKE CONTROL of the Senate as well as the House (while disposing of Harry Reid in the process)" It is interesting that the Left wing of the party keeps blaming the Right Wing of the Party for losing the Senate when we were not going to win it anyway. Nevermind that the Left tried to give us duds in PA, FL and KY. The main point is that the Left (or Moderate) Wing within the party had no plans of winning the house and had to be dragged over the finish line kicking and screaming.

Anonymous said...

Romney or Santorum become nominee, I will vote for either one. Ron Paul or Newt Gingrich become nominee, I will stay home and pray for this country.

Anonymous said...

Here is my analysis of the problems with the Repubican party...we have a lot of 'not so bright' people in the party who really muck it up for those who are sane...lol. Granted they are aided and abeited by Fox News and talk radio, who play on their lack of intelligence and just being pack followers, but we will all pay for their ignorance.

Anonymous said...

Here is my analysis of the problems with the Repubican party...we have a lot of 'not so bright' people in the party who really muck it up for those who are sane...lol. Granted they are aided and abeited by Fox News and talk radio, who play on their lack of intelligence and just being pack followers, but we will all pay for their ignorance.

Anonymous said...

AZ

Is early voting going on AZ?

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Doug NYC GOP, for a superb analysis.

As a Romney supporter since 2007, I’m taking last night’s losses in stride. In the big picture, I don’t think Santorum’s wins are a game changer at all, except maybe for Newt. They keep Santorum alive for now, and he becomes the next ABR candidate up to bat. I’m tempted to say the “final” ABR candidate—but, wait, there could still be a mystery entrant, a white knight in the wings, or even a brokered convention!

I can’t put a happy face on last night, but BEARING DRIFT has an interesting post with a contrarian viewpoint: “Santorum sweep a blessing in disguise for Romney”
http://bearingdrift.com/2012/02/08/santorum-sweep-a-blessing-in-disguise-for-romney/).

Taken together, the results in MN, MO, and especially CO (whether you want to trumpet them or downplay them) are certainly a wake-up call to the Romney team that they must bring their A-game to every single contest. Otherwise, as we’ve seen repeatedly, any loss, weakness with any demographic, or less than optimal performance on any issue will be instantly pounced upon by the media, DC beltway insiders, the right-wing-o-sphere, and the Obama reelection machine as a telltale sign that Romney’s campaign is doomed (if not in the primaries, then in the general).

Romney isn’t going to win every primary contest. He said he wouldn’t, he hasn’t, and he won’t. So, fasten your seatbelts, everybody.

“Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.” – Friedrich Nietzsche (1888)

Terrye said...

ohio Joe:

It is not just the left wing of the party who blame those folks..Santorum blames those people. I have heard him trash the Tea Party myself..he did not like Rand Paul or Nikki Haley or Christine O'Donnell or Sharon Angle or any of those people and he made a point of saying they were trying to redifine the GOP and that he would oppose them. I heard him say that on the Bill Bennett show and Conservative Samizdat has a link to the Competent Conservative which has video of Santorum going after the Tea Party and libertarians.

So it is not just the left it seems..it is the same guy who has been endorsed by Ed Morrisey and Michelle Malkin.

Terrye said...

And btw, the so-called establishment does want to take back the Senate..they want to win elections. They do not want to become a fringe minority lorded over by a bunch of talk radio clowns.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 2:33. Arizona has a vote-by-mail system that any registered voter can sign up for. You can either mail in your ballot or bring it to any polling place on election day. Our ballots arrived on Monday. Mine was mailed back today; I needed the happiness voting for Mitt today would bring me! The actual primary vote will be held on February 28.

AZ

Anonymous said...

People now running to Sant, once were the nonsense that surged for Perry, Newt and Bachmann. Think about it

Dkoyle said...

Romney has been criticized for running a few adds comparing himself to his opponents but no one can afford the media time that would offset all the three hour segments that line up to trash him every day. Keeping all this contention going is great for ratings and advertising.

Dkoyle said...

Romney has been criticized for running a few adds comparing himself to his opponents but no one can afford the media time that would offset all the three hour segments that line up to trash him every day. Keeping all this contention going is great for ratings and advertising.

Dkoyle said...

Romney has been criticized for running a few adds comparing himself to his opponents but no one can afford the media time that would offset all the three hour segments that line up to trash him every day. Keeping all this contention going is great for ratings and advertising.