Saturday, April 14, 2012

Conservatives: Make Romney Earn Your Vote

For the past several weeks, the elite factions of the GOP have implored conservatives to throw in the towel and line up behind Mitt Romney. Considering that several of these individuals had either been highly critical of Mitt, or had withheld their support until his nomination was all but assured, I have to assume that much of this support is tepid at best. There is no better example of this than what Marco Rubio had to say the day after declaring his support for Romney’s candidacy.
“There are a lot of other people out there that some of us wish had run for president — but they didn’t,” Rubio told Townhall.com in an interview. “I think Mitt Romney would be a fine president, and he’d be way better than the guy who’s there right now.”
Apparently, Rubio’s endorsement wasn’t well received by the tea party activists who are largely responsible for his triumph over Charlie Christ in the 2010 Florida GOP Senatorial primary. The depth of Rubio’s support doesn’t really impact Romney’s candidacy. He’s already on record guaranteeing his support. Rubio has forfeited the ability to influence the Romney campaign on policy.

Conservatives who believe that presidential elections are won by rallying the base should withold their support for Mitt Romney at this time. If we capitulate seven months out, he will take us for granted even more than he already has. In other words, he will “Etch” and “Sketch” himself into a carbon copy of Obama in the hopes of winning Independents and right-leaning Democrats. If the past is any indication, this will result in millions of conservatives refusing to pull the lever for Romney in November. The unfortunate outcome will be four more disastrous years of Obama.

Make him earn your vote.

Cross posted at Redstate

21 comments:

cimbri said...

This post presupposes that the "base" is anti-Romney, which obviously is impossible since he would not have won as many votes as he did if it were true. In fact there are many Republican bases, probably at least 20 of them, mostly based on geography. The NH base is different than the Illinois base, which is different than the Missouri base which is different than the Florida base, and so on.

Romney can damage himself by over pandering to the anti-Romney Republicans. He has to be very careful about "earning" this particular vote, which could cost him other votes. He should go no further right than he already has. Let Obama get them to the polls, he is doing a good enough job by himself.

hamaca said...

You've outlined one approach to "ensuring" Romney remains focused on conservative issues. I think there are pros and cons to other approaches as well for those who think as you do.

For example, were all conservatives to rally around Romney in an overwhelming demonstration of strength, the narrative could soon change to Obama's weaknesses and an overall rejection of him and his administration. Romney would remain loyal to them and wouldn't risk or even need to risk reaching out to moderates in a way that frightens conservatives.

However, I don't even see any of it as an issue, since I'm absolutely convinced Romney will govern conservatively, which is why I support him.

BOSMAN said...

Romney earns a lot of votes by not being Obama.

It comes down to Romney or 4 more years of Obama, do you think Republicans need to be wned and dined? I don't think so!

cimbri said...

I think these particular Republicans playing hard to get are risking the whole Republic with these games.

They assume that all these center/center right Republicans are going to vote for their version of conservatism in 2016 if they don't get out the vote in 2012 and torpedo Romney. They have pulled this stunt before but I think if they do this again, we need to officially jettison them, and state publicly that we are moving closer to the center. I would rather have more conservatism than less, but I would also rather have less conservatism than pure Obama/Hillary Clinton liberalism. It's just simple logic.

Another problem with their argument is the version of conservatism they espouse. Santorum, whom they have been supporting, voted against national right to work. I can say categorically that you are not a conservative if you support someone like this. Go down the list, Santorum and Gingrich are not more conservative as Romney, and if they are, it is not by much. There certainly is not enough difference to cause this mysterious reluctance. Obviously, there are other things at play here.

Every citizen has to do their part. Romney has moved very far in their direction, now they have to move halfway to him. It's not just Romney's responsibility to serve the Republic, we all have a responsibility to make the Republic work and survive.

Unknown said...

This article also pre-supposes that those who support Romney aren't conservative.

RW, I'm as conservative as it gets, and he's had my backing this entire time. I don't need to go down his list of conservative endorsements either to prove my point.

So respectfully, up yours.

Anonymous said...

Romney did earn my vote. Maybe to your lunatic nutty standard he hasn't. So screw yourself.

Slick-Willy said...

Don't get too hung up on RW's negative posts. He's not a bright guy to begin with and his hatred for Mitt goes way beyond politics, making his anti-Mitt arguments even more irrational and skewed.

Anonymous said...

I'm very conservative, and Romney EARNED my vote way back in 08. I am so happy to finally be able to vote for this CONSERVATIVE candidate.

Ohio JOE said...

Really great post RW, having an attitude and a sense of entitlement is not way to win my vote.


"This article also pre-supposes that those who support Romney aren't conservative." Not necessarily.

Anonymous said...

Romney will pick a Conservative VP and will run as a Reagan Conservative.

Etch a Sketch is Santorum campaign BS. Now Newt is still pushing it, hoping to pick up Santorum's support in the Southern primaries in May. He will only hurt himself,for if he would fully back Mitt now, Newt would have a much better chanceto get some of his ideas in the Platform.But, I guess ego trumps reason with him.

The same lable could be applied to both of them if you check their positions over the years.

Anonymous said...

I have voted for Republicans ever since I was eligible to vote. As a kid, I cried when Barry Goldwater lost overwhelmingly to Lyndon Johnson. I have supported Mitt Romney since 2007, and I actively support him now. He's exactly what this country needs at this time. So, please explain to me again: Why am I NOT considered a member of "THE BASE"?

corep said...

so lets see we have two famously anti romney folks in Rightwingnut and Ohio Joe telling us if we are romney supporters we arent conservative. Oh me oh my.... i am soooooo afraid of being not conservative like these guys.

Grow up and get on board the right wing extremist nuts no longer govern our party but now us conservatives have taken it back.

thanks for your thoughts but i am ok with the definition i have of conservative. .

if you persist you do more harm than good.

Noelle said...

I am a conservative, and Romney has already earned my vote. He earned it by being prepared for the primary. He earned it by having a profound understanding of the economy. He earned it by having an impressive resume, including many successful years in business, turning around the SLC Olympics, balancing the MA budget. He earned it by having a plan to address the issues, domestic and international, social and fiscal. He earned it by being an honorable man who respects his wife and family, who respects the citizens of this country, who respects the rule of law, and who respects the Constitution.

Given the choice between Obama and Romney, it's not even a choice. Romney is the ONLY person to consider voting for.

Right Wingnut said...

Noelle, That's great. I'm glad you're sold. Unfortunately, a lot of folks on the right are not.

Anonymous said...

For those of us who think Marco Rubio might be on the shortlist for VP, his "tepid" endorsement might have been more of a strategical downplay of things to come. This is politics. We only see what they want us to see. And they don't want to tip their hat to the Democrats too early. They will ride the VP high as long as they can at the right time. - Moi

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Noelle. I am a conservative, too, and I am so tired of this "the base doesn't support him stuff." If the base didn't support him, where did he get all the votes?

AZ

Machtyn said...

RWN: Unfortunately, a lot of folks on the right just have not studied the candidates.

Rick Perry tried to claim the Tea Party mantle, his governance was far from it. Santorum tried to claim the Tea Party Mantle, is DC stances were far from it. That Newt was even viable, twice, shows that people are either hypocrites or are not paying attention. To follow my argument, the answer is "not paying attention."

As such, if the Right needs further convincing to get behind Romney, they just need to start paying attention.

(I am not saying you, RWN, are not paying attention, the operative subject is "a lot of folks on the right." I understand you have disagreements with Romney. I think you are misguided, but I wouldn't lump you in with the "lot of folks.")

Anonymous said...

why are these people say that we that vote for Mitt are not conservatives...it's just a bunch of bunk!!!!!!

Ohio JOE said...

"so lets see we have two famously anti romney folks in Rightwingnut and Ohio Joe telling us if we are romney supporters we arent conservative." You obviously failed to read what I said. I said that it was not necessarily the case that all Romneyites was non-Conservatives.

Ohio JOE said...

"As such, if the Right needs further convincing to get behind Romney, they just need to start paying attention." We are paying too much attention. Look, I do not need convincing that Mr. Romney is better than any democrat, but when people try to tell me that he is better than any Republican, I have to laugh because he does not seem to get that some of us want to be a free people who want to pay low taxes and carry on our business with low regulations.

Joel2012 said...

For Romney to be the nominee, he has to do this and he has to do that. For Romney to excite the base, he has to do this and he has to do that. For Romney to unite the base he has to do this and he has to do that. For Romney to win the minority vote he has to do this and he has to do that. For Romney to pick the right running mate he has to do this and he has to do that. For Romney to win the general election he has to do this and he has to do that. In the final analysis I think Romney is doing just fine doing things his way. It's working! He has tied up the nomination and now focusing his efforts on the general election. I think his chances are better than average and look forward to an incredible campaign. I also look forward to a one term administration.