Last Warning for the GOP
Glasgow, Scotland — As I stayed up until 6am this morning, feeling like the only person in Scotland following the events of the Iowa Republican primary thanks to numerous dodgy streams of MSNBC and CNN, as well as Twitter, one thing jumped out at me… Iowa was it for the Republican Party. If the message hasn’t got through to republicans after these caucuses, it never will. Mitt Romney is a weak candidate.
What reaffirmed my opinion of the weakness of Mitt Romney? Rick Santorum.
Now don’t get me wrong, Rick Santorum is weak as well, but to have virtually no money and be out spent by a large margin by Romney and still place in second by a hair is remarkable. Mitt Romney won in Iowa by a handful of votes… okay, about a handful and a half. He was unable to better his total for 2008, which a lot of people are belittling, but which I believe is significant as Iowa is a super critical state of President Obama in the general election. But what should have alarm bells ringing in the Romney camp is the Santorum’s speech which directly proceeded Romney’s speech.
Now, I just about disagree with everything Santorum stands for (while funnily enough have areas of agreement with Romney) – but despite this, last night, I felt Santorum’s blue collar message was extremely powerful. The story he told of his grandfather and the disappearance of manufacturing jobs is more powerful than anything I have heard come out of Romney’s mouth. How did Romney respond? By giving a rambling, unfocused and quite frankly awkward version of his stump speech. Mitt Romney is not a great speaker at the best of times but next to Santorum, he looked and sounded awful.
Mitt cannot effectively articulate the conservative message and he doesn’t make a sharp enough contrast to Barack Obama. Communication is just as important as their respective resumes.
Now with a wounded Newt Gingrich who is after Romney’s political blood and the likelihood that the majority of candidates will be focusing their targets on the former Massachusetts Governor, the road to November doesn’t look as smooth as it otherwise might have done. His experience and history will surely be put to the fire and for me the absolutely critical flaws of Romney, such as Baine Capital, his steadfast defence and membership of the 1%, his flip flopping and, most important of all, RomneyCare will be exposed.
If Santorum, Huntman or Gingrich can’t kill Romeny’s candidacy off, Obama will, make no doubts about that. The most humorous thing about the GOP at the moment is its suffering of Obama derangement syndrome. According to the Republican Party, Obama is the worst most ineffective President of all time, while his legislative record states otherwise.
The Republicans should be under no illusion about the formidableness of President Obama. He is by far the most skilled politician of my generation and his campaign team have been putting together a campaign strategy on Romney that could fill a reasonable library.
Iowa should have finally convinced the GOP to take the race seriously, to think hard about Mitt Romney and to finally respect their opponent that is in the White House.
8 Responses to “Last Warning for the GOP”
I think what we are seeing on the airwaves and what is being said behind closed doors are two different things. Reps do respect Obama and know he will be a very tough person to beat. Obviously, they can’t say that publicly, but they know. The Rep establishment will continue to push for Mitt because they know he has the campaign experience needed to beat Obama. Mitt has been around the block and can compete and that is really what matters.
The other candidates can’t even compete…not even playing in the same league, maybe not even the same sport.
My thoughts are the Republican primary are showing that America wants and needs a centirst third party that will support and promote positions that a large number of Americans support. Suggested 10 point centrist party platform.
1. A immigration policy that makes the borders harder to cross illegally.
2. An immigration policy that deports many illegals and eliminates sanctuary cities.
3. An immigration policy that allows for those that are productive immigrants, that have been here for more than 15-20 years or were young children brought in illegally to have a way to stay here now.
4. Tax reform that makes everyone pay their fair share, not allowing 45+% to pay no federal tax, 1% to avoid paying their fair share and making the other 50-55% middle class pay much more than their fair share.
5. Courts that uphold the constitution, uphold laws and do not write their own laws by manipulating the interpretation of laws to support a specific judges opinion.
6. A zero based federal budget that provides for programs that are effective, eliminates ineffective programs, caps spending at a specific percentage of GDP and balances the budget within 5 years.
7. Individuals on governemnt support programs following the requirements that the 50%+ that work and pay taxes follow. That means drug screening and other requirements to qualify for support.
8. The Bill of Rights followed without manipulation. No more wiretaps without court approval, no more government interference into private lives without cause, etc.
9.Congress and the President follow the same laws that all Americans follow (ie insider trading, healthcare, etc)
10. Term limits for congress( if its good enough for President, then its good enough for congress).
Now you all can start calling me an idiot and how stupid these positions are, but what we have today and what we have had for 10+ years sure does not seem to be working
I was also impressed by Santorum’s speech and less-so with Romney’s, which Yes is a concern for Romney, but I think you are reading too much into the results in one state. Iowa is not Romney’s primary audience. It’s not necessarily indicative of how he will do nation-wide. Personally, I think the whole “Romney ceiling” talking point is overblown. It remains to be seen if his numbers will go up as the field shrinks.
Good post, especially a regards ODS. Banging relentlessly on a not bad president is bad politics. Charting an alternative course is good politics, but the Republican field in the main had been unable to do so.
Romney’s numbers have to go up as the field narrows even if the right-wing conservatives who stop campaigning throw their support to Santorum.
Meanwhile, third parties are a pipe dream, and the addition of a third party in this years race will guarantee an Obama landslide.
@RP
Okay, you asked for it. Three of your points are really one issue–so learn to count correctly.
Tax reform would be very good. However, all taxes must be taken into account. There are payroll taxes, taxes on gasoline, taxes on certain imports, taxes from state and local governments, etc. Making the absurdly false claim that the lower 50% pay no taxes is not a logical party position.
5 & 6 currently contradict each other.
7 & 8 will always contradict each other.
I have been a big supporter of 9 & 10. Thanks for adding those.
Rcountme.
Tax reform..OK, there are hidden federal taxes in the cost of many things. I am specifically addressing federal taxes, but states have to do what they need to do to fund their programs. Reform needs to occur so the middle class does not pay more than “full fair” while others do not pay their fair share. Everyone needs to pay equally in federal taxes as everyone benefits from government programs. The ones that should not have to pay are those with disabilities that make it impossible for them to make an income that supports their needs. Right now can you say the federal tax program is fair given all the loopholes and tax credits. Do you think you even understand a small part of the federal tax laws?(unless you are a tax attorney).
“5 & 6 currently contradict each other”.
How does upholding the constitution and a zero based budget contradict each other?
“7 & 8 will always contradict each other.”
Do you believe employment requirements such as drug screenings for hospital workers, truck drivers and other professions is contradictory to the bill of rights?
[...] Last Warning for the GOP (themoderatevoice.com) [...]
I think President Obama will not have a lot of trouble winning re-election. Unless of course Herman Cain gets back in the race.