Mitt Romney

The Biggest Loser Due To The Tea Party Takeover Of The GOP: Mitt Romney!

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As one analyzes the growing influence of the Tea Party Movement on the Republican Party, it is obvious who the biggest loser is with the emergence of this radical, anti government, anti incumbent fringe movement: Mitt Romney!

Romney is no Tea Party type, but instead is a solid, experienced businessman and competent governor, who dealt with the issue of health care in Massachusetts!

He is also often seen as a liberal from New England, although he has worked very hard to create the image that he is a solid conservative!

He is a Mormon who will have great troubles overcoming social conservatives who keep on espousing Christian values, and consider him as radical because he is a Mormon!

On paper, even though he has shortcomings, he seems to be the most qualified, competent candidate the GOP could offer as a challenger to President Obama! Romney has great business experience, and made the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics a success!

If the GOP used its intelligence, rather than its emotions, it would nominate Romney as the best of the group of potential candidates!

But it is clear that Mitt Romney has lost any edge he might have had, once the Tea Party Movement emerged as a significant influence, pushing the Republican Party far to the right!

So the GOP will lose any chance it had to win the 2012 Presidential election, and the worst scenario of all is if Sarah Palin somehow emerged as the nominee two years from now! 🙁

The Growing Religious Bigotry In America Very Troubling!

Ronald 6 Comments

Religion is supposed to bring people together, promote peace and understanding, and encourage tolerance!

But just the opposite has been happening in recent years! We are seeing a nation that is, by reputation, much more devout than most European countries, demonstrating a total lack of tolerance on the part of many “good, religious people” who would claim to be close to God!

Why should it matter if someone is a Muslim, a Catholic, a Jew, a Mormon, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a mainline Protestant, a Baptist, an evangelical Christian, an atheist or an agnostic?

What makes any religious belief somehow better than other divine thoughts? We are supposed to be a nation of religious freedom, but there is apparently so much hate and suspicion, if someone in public life is of a different faith than you are!

Why should it matter that John F. Kennedy was a Catholic? Why should it matter that Barack Obama had a Muslim father? Why should it matter that Mitt Romney is a Mormon? Why should it matter that Joe Lieberman, a Jew, was a theoretical heartbeat away from the Presidency if Al Gore had won the Presidency in 2000? And why should it matter if some political candidate might doubt the existence of God or not believe in God?

We are supposed to be a nation that believes in separation of church and state, so religion should NOT be a factor in politics, and promotion of hate and prejudice towards people, public or private, based on religion is a disgrace, that undermines American democracy! 🙁

A Horrifying Scenario: Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin! :(

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Chris Matthews on MSNBC today described a possible horrifying scenario in 2012: Presidential nominee Sarah Palin! 🙁

Matthews’ reasoning was that Sarah Palin has a positive image among 76 percent of Republicans, and as the only woman likely to run for President, and with views that place her on the “hard” right of all men who might run, that she would have a decent chance to do well in early primaries and caucuses in 2012! 🙁

The argument is that Palin could win the Iowa caucuses because of the strong evangelical influence in that state! While the theory is that Mitt Romney, as a ‘favorite son” New Englander in the Boston TV market, would win the New Hampshire primary, it would be dismissed as insignificant!

Then, the theory is that Palin would go to South Carolina, a strong evangelical Christian state, and would win over Romney, who is a Mormon (not considered Christian by many evangelicals)!

Then, she would go to Michigan, the home of Romney’s father, who was a potential Presidential candidate in the 1960s, and where Mitt Romney grew up, and in a multi candidate race, in a state with high unemployment and a terrible economy, would pull out a fraction of the vote large enough to be seen as the winner!

If all this happened, the argument of Matthews is that Palin would have “momentum” to win the GOP nomination! 🙁

This scenario is a nightmare, but to believe it would actually happen in a time of disillusionment and bad economic times, is seen as an extremist action of Tea Party Movement types, which could present the country with the most extreme GOP candidate since Barry Goldwater in 1964!

And actually, Barry Goldwater, being intelligent and knowledgeable, and ultimately a social liberal in future years, and a libertarian of substance as compared to Rand Paul, would be preferable to a woman who has no substance, no knowledge, and is truly an example of a KNOW NOTHING mediocrity rising to the top! 🙁

Of course, even if Sarah Palin were to win the GOP nomination, is there any scenario that can imagine her defeating President Barack Obama?

ONLY if one believes that the nation is ready to go down the drain completely, and elect the most incompetent, idiotic candidate that would ever have been selected by a major political party in the history of the United States!

If that happens, the nation is truly doomed in a complex world that requires a person of brilliance and insight, which Sarah Palin has inability to be! And if that were to happen, it would condemn John McCain forever in history for having given us this woman as a legitimate candidate for national authority! 🙁

The Potential Influence Of Nikki Haley In GOP Politics In 2012!

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South Carolina Republicans nominated 38 year old state representative Nikki Haley for Governor on Tuesday, and it has attracted a lot of interest!

Why, one might ask? There are several reasons!

First, Haley would be the first woman governor in South Carolina history!

Secondly, she was accused of sexual liaisons with two different men, and denied both, and it had no effect on her being chosen by the voters!

Third, she was backed by outgoing Governor Mark Sanford, whose reputation has been in the toilet since it was revealed he was having an affair with a woman in Argentina, behind the backs of his wife and fellow South Carolinians, who wondered where had disappeared for a period of days last year!

Fourth, she was endorsed by Sarah Palin, and is seen as a similar conservative rallying point for many Republicans nationwide! She could also help Palin in the South Carolina presidential primary in 2012!

Fifth, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney made a major financial and campaigning commitment to Haley, and might also be helped in return by Haley in a 2012 Presidential race!

Sixth, Haley is an Indian American, and would become the second person from that Asian country (after Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana), to become a high ranking leader as the Governor of another Southern state, improving the image of the Palmetto state, which it badly needs!

Seventh, the fact that Haley was born as a Sikh, and converted to Methodism at age 24, became an issue when her primary opponent, and evangelical Christians, brought up the issue of whether she was a “good Christian”! By overcoming that religion issue, the issue of religion mattering in choosing a nominee may have been retired as a controversy, which could help Mitt Romney (a Mormon) if he competed in the Republican nomination contest in 2012!

Finally, Haley is another attractive conservative woman, just like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, but it is hoped she will come across as more substantive and less divisive than her cohorts! 🙁

Some feel that IF she is elected Governor, she could be a candidate for Vice President, and in the long term, the Presidency!

Imagine–a young, attractive woman of Asian Indian heritage–as a possible future national leader! Certainly, she will be worthy of notice and attention! For her sake, hopefully, she will not self destruct as others have been prone to do! 🙁

South Carolina: An Embarrassment Again Politically! :(

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South Carolina has long had an image of being an intolerant place, and a state of embarrassing politicians! 🙁

The state of historic hard line political figures including John C. Calhoun and Strom Thurmond, it has had the embarrassment of Governor Mark Sanford going to Argentina and meeting his lover behind his wife’s back, and refusing to resign! 🙁

It is the state of Republican Senator Jim DeMint, one of the absolutely worst senators ever put into office by voters, since the enactment of the 17th Amendment in 1913!

It is the state of Alvin Greene, an African American with no qualifications or experience to be a United States Senator, somehow magically winning the Democratic nomination over a state senator by a vast margin, with no one having any idea how he did it! Greene had no website, no campaign funds, did no campaigning, is totally inarticulate, and faces a felony charge on pornography next month, but yet is the choice of the Democratic voters! Maybe, the answer is that his name was first on the ballot, and the average voter probably had no knowledge of the race when they voted! 🙁

This is also the state of Nikki Haley, the front runner for the GOP nomination for Governor, born a Sikh, but converting to the Methodist faith at age 24. Haley, endorsed by Sarah Palin, and calling herself an ally of the Tea Party Movement, is controversial enough, but now she faces an opponent who is using her religious background as an issue! Gresham Barrett’s campaign is trying to plant fear among evangelical Christians as to Haley’s true religious beliefs, as if it should matter! 🙁

This is the issue of what is a “good Christian”, something unique to evangelicals, including Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who is exploiting the issue for the upcoming runoff election! 🙁

This is a sign, unfortunately, of what former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a Mormon, will face when and if he runs for President, and competes in the South Carolina primary, a race notorious in the past for the badmouthing of Senator John McCain in 2000, when he ran against George W. Bush, and racial bigotry was exploited! 🙁

In South Carolina, if it is not race that is the issue, then it is religion! 🙁

Haley won 49 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial primary, but it will be interesting to see if she can go over 50 percent and become the nominee as a result of the exploitation of the religion issue by her opponent’s campaign! 🙁

Whatever one thinks of Nikki Haley, it will be a bad reflection on South Carolina if she fails to gain one percent plus more votes because of the issue of what is a “good Christian!” 🙁

A Different View Of Barack Obama: A Pragmatic Moderate!

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In the midst of so much progaganda that terms Barack Obama a “socialist”, the very intelligent and perceptive Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, published an article last week in the Washington Post, in which he declares that, based on the 15 months so far of the Obama Presidency, it is clear to him that the President is a “pragmatic moderate”!

Hooray to Norman Ornstein, who is absolutely correct in his assessment! He dismisses the attacks of Newt Gingrich, Liz Cheney, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and numerous others who regularly assault the President as not only “socialist”, but also “radical”, “totalitarian”, and willing to promote “retreat” and “surrender” in foreign policy.

Ornstein points out that the new Health Care reform is not radical at all, and that most of it was backed by moderate Republicans in the time of the failed Bill Clinton health care plans, and that Mitt Romney had made that moderate Republican plan the basis of the Massachusetts health care system in 2006. Now the former Massachusetts governor is trying to separate himself from what Obama has done, even though it is very similar to what was enacted in the Bay State!

The economic stimulus was not radical, according to Ornstein, and could have done much more on public works programs, but has thankfully started to have an effect on the economy in a positive way as shown by recent economic statistics. And most of the funds loaned to banks, insurance companies and auto companies are being paid back already!

The nuclear treaty with Russia was supported by Senator Richard Lugar, the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and pushed also by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served also in that capacity under George W. Bush.

On the subject of terrorism, Obama has had successes, and is following the similar strategy of Bush. His energy policies, while opposed by many, includes some off shore oil drilling and nuclear power development. He is also trying, with some criticism, to promote accountability in education reform.

Ornstein’s conclusion is that Obama is mainstream, pragmatic and moderate, operating in the center of American politics, with a tip to the left. Ornstein calls it “center-left”, but not left of center!

What Ornstein states is precisely the view of the author, and the extremist language from Talk Radio, Fox News Channel, and many Republican and conservative spokesmen, is really starting to wear thin!

Barack Obama is in the tradition of earlier Democratic Presidents–Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson–and in some respects Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Republican President Richard Nixon in his better moments–moderate, pragmatic centrist!

The Republican Party, Mitt Romney, And 2012

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At this point, before anyone announces their candidacy for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012, it makes sense that the strongest potential nominee is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Romney has the record of having been the favorite of those Republicans who did not want Senator John McCain of Arizona as their Presidential nominee in 2008.

Conservatives rallied around him, even though one could argue that his record in Massachusetts, particularly with the state health care plan enacted in 2006, made him seem more as a moderate to many Republicans.

As the alternative to many Republicans, he stands now in a similar position to Bob Dole in 1996 (after President George H. W. Bush) and John McCain in 2008 (after George W. Bush). In other words, he is, in many people’s minds the heir apparent for the nomination.

Romney’s personal background as a successful businessman and promoter of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, and his photogenic appearance and wonderful family image, also help him greatly.

But, at the same time, the fact of the Massachusetts health care plan being very much like the Obama Health Care Plan now in effect, harms Romney, despite his attempt to deny that there is much of a link between the two plans.

And, unfortunately, the fact of his Mormon faith remains a problem for many evangelical Christians, who see the Mormon faith as a cult.

By far the most reasonable choice for the Republicans, the question also arises whether the Tea Party Movement activists will see him as an ally, which at this point seems highly doubtful.

So at this point, Romney will not say if he plans to run. Apparently, President Obama thinks so, however, as he referred this past week to Romney as a presidential nominee.

It will be interesting to see how Romney deals with the problems surrounding his candidacy over the rest of this year.

But also realize that except for Jimmy Carter, it has been the reality, in the last century of American politics, that the party which wins the White House always keeps the control for at least eight years.

So it will not be easy for any Republican to defeat President Obama in 2012, even though one could, theoretically see the President as in trouble, due to the problems with the economy.

Mitt Romney’s Political Problem: “Obamacare” Is Much Like “Romneycare”!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is seen as one of the leading GOP candidates for the 2012 Presidential nomination, is having difficulties on his book tour because of Tea Party people who denounce the Massachusetts health care reform enacted in 2006 as too much like the Health Care reform just passed in Congress and signed by President Obama.

Romney has been attacking the process of enactment of the federal legislation more than the substance, as people in Massachusetts are also required to buy health care or face penalties. Also, small businesses are required to provide coverage or face penalties, and taxes have gone up to implement the plan.

This has put Romney on the defensive, and makes his future candidacy much more vulnerable in a time of Tea Party activism. This complicates any potential candidacy, although Romney makes clear he has not decided whether to run for President in 2012.

With the reality of this ugly mood spreading in the Republican party, which is being greatly influenced by the Tea Party movement, and with the fact that, as a Mormon, Romney faces the prejudice of many Christians, particularly evangelicals, who think of Mormonism as a cult, Romney’s path to the nomination has been greatly compromised!

Mitt Romney’s Appearance At The National Press Club: Presidential Potential

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who failed to win the GOP Presidential nomination in 2008, is on a book tour for his new work, which is seen as the prelude to his Presidential candidacy in 2012.

Already believing that Romney is the Republican party’s best bet against President Obama in 2012, the image that Romney left at the National Press Club appearance this afternoon was a good one.

While of course Romney attacked President Obama on both economic and foreign policy, he also made two statements worthy of note.

He was asked if the United States should be considered a Christian nation, and he responded by saying that of course the Judeo-Christian values of honor, family, home, loyalty, etc. have had an important impact on our history, but at the same time we are also affected by other religious values of other faiths, and that it would not be correct to call us a Christian nation. That statement made the author feel very reassured, as we are NOT a Christian nation, but at the most a nation with a heavy majority of people who are born to one Christian sect or another. Romney made it clear that we were not designed to promote one particular view of God on the nation at large. Coming from a Mormon, who will have trouble, unfortunately, gaining support from evangelical Christians who distrust the Mormon church, it is a statement that makes one feel comfortable that his goal is NOT to promote theocracy in America.

Romney also said that he is a conservative (although his record in Massachusetts belies that), but he stated that the goal of government should not be to go too far to the Left OR too far to the Right in making government policy. This statement reassures those who do not want a dramatic swing to the Right, and makes Romney, despite whatever rhetoric he might utilize, seem to be an ultimate centrist or moderate if he were to win the White House, a view that the author has long believed.

Romney has the potential to bring the Republican party back to the center of American politics, but of course the rightward tilt of the GOP in Congress and the growing influence of the Tea Party Movement could very well become a barrier to his having the chance to gain the Republican nomination.

If the Republicans were smart, and they probably are not so, they would nominate Romney as having the best chance to be a strong opponent of President Obama, and who would likely be a mainstream, acceptable President were he to triumph in the election of 2012.

The CPAC Straw Poll Results: Totally Preposterous! :(

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The Conservative Political Action Conference finished its convention yesterday evening with the announcement of the results of its straw poll on who should be the GOP Presidential nominee in the Presidential Election of 2012.

Eleven people were on the ballot, including: Governors Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitch Daniels; Senators John Thune and Rick Santorum; and House members Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence, and Ron Paul.

I wish to point out that Romney, Huckabee, Palin, Santorum, and Gingrich are all out of office. Also, realize that the odds of a member of the House of Representatives becoming President are next to nil, as only one, James Garfield, was ever elected, and unfortunately he was assassinated, dying within six months of his taking the oath.

Only about 25 percent of the people who attended the conference participated in the straw poll, which was won for the past three years by Mitt Romney. Romney certainly is a legitimate contender and has the qualities needed to be a serious Presidential candidate, but this year he did not win the straw poll.

Instead, Romney ended up in second place, behind, of all people, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas! This is a shocking and preposterous result, and is totally lacking in reality within Republican ranks!

Paul winning is more the reaction of young conservatives, including college students, who find him appealing because he is against overseas involvement and is a major advocate of small government and low taxes.

But Ron Paul’s chances of being the GOP nominee are less than zero in reality. The Republican party is not going to nominate the only possible candidate who wants to withdraw from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a man who was basically ridiculed in GOP debates in the 2008 primary campaign by John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and basically, all the other GOP candidates.

Also, and not meant to be a statement of age discrimination, but face the facts: Ron Paul will be 77 in 2012, and therefore would be 81 to 85 at the end of a first and second term in the White House! Are we likely to elect someone who would be almost the age of Ronald Reagan at the end of his second term when he first takes the oath? Let’s get real!

Also, while there are those who enthuse about Ron Paul, he does not come across well in debate or on television, so it is safe to say that he may have beaten out his ten rivals in this silly CPAC poll, but any of the others are more likely to be nominated than the Texas Congressman, including the controversial Sarah Palin.

My impression is that while there may be lots of discontent toward President Obama, the Republicans cannot win an election for President based on that alone. They have to have a LEGITIMATE candidate as the alternative to the President, and that is going to be very hard to do.

Facing this reality, if the GOP was smart, they would nominate Mitt Romney as easily the best qualified to run, but with the religious influence of evangelical Christians and the basic distaste of Republicans for the Northeast, will they be willing to nominate a former Massachusetts governor who happens to be a Mormon, a group which most evangelicals think of as a cult? Stay tuned! 🙂