Mitt Romney is a smart, hard-working, and above-all patriotic American. He knows a lot about manufacturing and that is the key to a sustainable economic recovery. We have to invent, design, and make things.
We could and have elected much worse as President than Mitt Romney. We all know he's not a 100% conservative, and he has the horrible anvil of Romneycare tied to his ankle. I am, nevertheless, willing to give him a pass on Romneycare given that he was a Republican governor in Kennedylandia, Massachusetts (the True Heart of Liberal Darkness). Having gone to school in Massachusetts, I know how rough it is to be a Republican--at times, I even wondered if it was legal. He seems genuinely remorseful about Romneycare, and others have committed more egregious sins and been pardoned. I could vote and campaign for Romney, no problem. He would be an excellent President.
Can he win the White House? I don't know; I hope so. He belongs to one of the last minorities one can still trash with impunity, Mormons (Russians and evangelical Christians are two others). We can expect the oh-so-tolerant liberals to trash his religion. But, they tried it in Massachusetts, and it didn't work. So, perhaps there is hope there.
In general, the Republican candidates and quasi-candidates are interesting and have good ideas. I don't buy the liberal media's depiction of the GOP as a party in disarray--it's primary time! This is what the system is supposed to look like! Get lots of folks out there out on the hustings debating and putting forth ideas. It's a great system despite its cost and frustrations. I would take any of these candidates as President over the calamity we now have. I just hope Republicans join together after the selection process ends, and we don't have any spoiler third candidates out there that will aid Obama. This President must be voted out, and the reapportionment of Congressional seats and electoral votes in the wake of the 2010 census, should help Republicans. I cannot remember any time in my life when California has not gained seats and, of course, the electoral votes that go with them. That is good. Is this enough to win the White House? It helps.
On the negative side, however, I still worry about the phenomenon I discussed a couple of days ago where we have a split between taxpayers and voters. The number of taxpayers continues to shrink and their tax burden increase, while voters increase and their tax burden shrinks. That is a serious issue. It is easy for the politicians to buy the votes of the 60% with the money of 40%. We need to break out of that trap, or we will become Greece.
The trouble with Romney is that he seems to have a problem connecting with voters. In the 2008 primaries, the only primary he won (that I recall) was Michigan, where McCain didn't compete. Now matter how much money he spends, voters don't seem to like him when they get in the booth. (Note: I'll still easily vote for him if he wins the nomination.)
ReplyDeleteRegarding California, we didn't lose seats: we're still at 53. But, this is the first time since 1860 (!) that we have not gained seats. I take it as a measure of how powerful our state economy once was and how attractive a destination we once were that it took nearly forty years of mindboggling mismanagement by the Democratic legislature (who've run the place for 38 out of the last 40 years) to even bring us to a standstill. Now they can begin Phase II, actually killing the state.
Good to see you're back again! You've been missed by this retired foreign service dude.
ReplyDeleteRomney may have "trouble connecting with voters" leading up to 2012. But remember, he had the same trouble in 2008. Demonstrated by the fact that he wasn't nominated. Yes, the expectation was that the 2008 contest was going to hinge on foreign policy. But still, no fires were lit.
And of course, his real trouble, and this will become apparent as the Republican base votes in the primaries is... da dum... Romneycare in Massachusetts. It's not just an albatross; it's a thousand pound anchor. And even worse, he professes to believe it's "working!" Obama just didn't scale it up properly.
As a result, I can't see Romney as a real possibility.
What I would pay good money to see is a debate between Hermann Cain and B. Hussein Obama. That would be a show. Unfortunately, that would have to mean the Cain is the Republican candidate!
Oh, and in regards to California. This para is from the indispensable Walter Russell Mean in his blog:
"Let there be no mistake: when you produce so many criminals that you can’t afford to lock them up, you are a failed state. Virtually every important civil institution in society has to fail to get you to this point. Your homes and houses of worship are failing to build law abiding citizens, much less responsible and informed voters. Your schools aren’t educating enough of your kids to make an honest living. Your taxes and policies are so bad that you are driving thousands of businesses away. Your management systems must be fouled and confused to the max for you to create something so dysfunctional, so wildly beyond your means, that the Supreme Court of the United States (wisely or foolishly is another question) starts to micromanage your jails."
Ouch! That hurt.
Hmm. I can't seem to get the comment selection box to accept me, so I'll try anonymous.
I have a second vacation home on Cape Cod and the incivility of so-called "liberals" makes me retch when I stay admirng its quiet scenery. I like Romney in the sense is that he is the "least bad" among the current GOP candidates. Of course, BarackO is much worse than any Republican alternative, but as a native Wisconsinite, I'd like to see a Badger like Paul Ryan or even a fellow Tosan like Scott Walker run for the White House.
ReplyDeleteBTW, elsewhere I might comment on Yemen, where I met President al-Hamdi back in the '70s when Tom Scotes was US Amb & Plenipotentiary. Been there a dozen times over the last thirty-five years and I think the place is much more important than the gurus in Foggy Bottom. Ditto Syria, which they give a pass because Ehud Barak still thinks he can cut a deal with the slippery Opthalmologist. [sp?]
The USA is Greece. Back in the 4th century BC, Aristotle described polity as the rule of many for the public good, and "democracy" as when the majority in a polity wakes up and realizes that it can use its political power to legally rob the minority. Hillary Clinton's Christmas Tree add back in the 2008 campaign said it all: the Democratic Party will replace "In God we Trust" with "In [the confiscatory] Santa Claus we Trust".
ReplyDelete"He seems genuinely remorseful about Romneycare"
ReplyDeleteRemorseful isn't enough. Is he remorseful enough to totally repudiate it? To promise to abolish Obamacare (and not as a "political promise," either)? Otherwise he has to run on his record, which will keep me at home come election day.
Romney likes ethanol subsidies and believes in anthropogenic global warming. He's out of the picture for me. I might just abstain from voting this year.
ReplyDelete