CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) has chosen former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts as its favorite for the 2012 Presidential nomination in a straw poll conducted during the meeting. In second place is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, followed by a tie for third place between Texas Congressman Ron Paul and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
The conference, which included speeches by Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, has therefore at this early date settled on the idea that Romney will be their best bet to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. This despite the fact of his basically liberal record as one term Governor of Massachusetts and the issue that many Christian evangelicals do not accept him as being Christian because of his Mormon religious beliefs.
What can be said in favor of Romney is his extremely telegenic looks and his outstanding speaking ability. These are definite assets in a race against a person as charismatic and well spoken as President Obama. Were this scenario to work out for 2012, it certainly would be a very interesting and fascinating race, but it behooves former Governor Romney to come up with a detailed explanation of how he would revive the American economy in an alternative way that will work for the masses of Americans and small businesses that face hard times. So far, he has proved better in criticism than in clearcut, defined programs or ideas. Now the burden is on him as the so called "front runner" in the race to show us why we should put him and his party, which greatly helped to cause this economic mess and undermined our world image, into power in January 2013.
Romney has never struck me as a man of great conviction. It is not without precedent for politcians, or people in general, to change their minds on issues; but he was certainly not the GOP’s most conservative member when governing Massachussetts, yet when it was clear that the race for the Republican presidential nomination would be a test of genuine conservative principles, he underwent an apostasy. All style, no substance.