Monday, February 6, 2012
Moving the Goalposts on Romney
As the nomination of Mitt Romney continues to look more and more like a reality, those "dead-enders" waiting for The Conservative Messiah are playing a quaint game of "move the goalposts" in attempting to minimize the magnitude of Romney's growing momentum. First it was "he can't even get 40% of the vote"--then he stomped to victory in Florida with 46%. Then it was "he can't even get 50%"--and now we have Nevada with a 50% plus whipping of Mr. Speaker. Now it is "turnout is down--see, Conservatives are staying home like they will in November." Again, balderdash. There remain at least two "conservative" (by their own estimation) candidates, so presumably, these "sitter outers" are doing so with legitimate choices left. No friends, if turnout is down, it is because Republican voters are sensing what the rest of us sense--the curtain is falling on this race Mitt will be our man.
Congrats CW, your horse won. Now you people have to deliver. Your wing of the party hasn't done that well in the past what with John McCain, Bob Dole and George the 1st., but I'm optimistic, I think.
ReplyDeleteObama won too. He's going to run an aggressive populist campaign straight out of the Huey Long playbook and what better candidate to run against than an elitist, Wall Street moneybags. Furthermore, Obama's achilles heel, Obamacare, is for the most part negated by Romneycare.
I know what you're thinking, "But Hammer, you degenerate alcoholic prick, you KNOW Newt couldn't beat Obama, he's too unpredictable and erratic". True enough but that's why he's so dangerous to the Dems. Does anyone doubt that if Newt got Obama in a debate situation he would absolutely filet the sonofabitch? Newt is a nasty piece of work with a first rate intellect, and head to head with the bubbling stumbling non-teleprompter assisted Obama would be a bloodbath, and the Democrats know it. They did not want to run against Gingrich. But I'm not really a Newt guy and what is is, water under the bridge.
So Mitt is our man. What must he do to win? First he needs to shore up his base and name a running mate from the Reagan wing of the party. I suggest Michelle Bachmann. She's smart, she's tough and her conservative bona fides are impeccable. This will help with the identity politics angle as well. Next to offset some of this class warfare rhetoric he needs to attack crony capitalism with issues like executive compensation. It's out of control, it's unwarranted and it's not free market. Propose reforms like more stock holder rights (more on this later). And lastly go after the economy like it's the only issue, because it is. Attack Obama's bogus unemployment numbers, attack the credit card economy, attack the bailouts, attack attack attack. It's a target rich environment so there's plenty to work with, but for Pete's sake stay away from social issues.
Hemming and hawing ain't gonna get it done against Obama. Romney is not going to win the general because of an organizational or money advantage. He's going up against a well organized well funded propaganda machine which includes the media. He's going to have to bring his A game and show some aggression at times. You know everybody I talk to is waiting for Romney's "I paid for this microphone" moment. Get pissed off once and a while. And stop acting defensive and all apologetic about how you earned a living. Show leadership, present a plan and show that you have the smarts and the guts to see it through. Be the man with the fuzzy nuts!