Don’t Get Your Hopes Up
May 30, 2009 by D. R. Tucker
Filed under Elections & Voting, Media Rites
Will former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney run for President again in 2012?
Romney’s stepped-up schedule does seem to suggest a second bid for President Obama’s job in three years. However, considering what happened the last time he ran for President, the chances of Romney actually landing the nomination are Slim and None–and word on the street is that Slim just skipped town.
Romney came into the ‘08 Presidential game with two strikes against him: the perception that his ideological shift to the right was more fiction than fact, and the preference among many Republican primary voters for a candidate who was, ahem, a “Christian leader.” The one-two punch of Massachusetts and Mormonism was a knockout blow for Romney–a blow that led to the lame John McCain acquiring the nomination.
Republicans who regarded Romney as a crypto-moonbat or a cult member in ‘08 won’t change their minds in 2012, no matter how poorly Obama is performing as President. The GOP’s conservative base wants a nominee whose conservative credentials are not in dispute: unfortunately, Romney will never be viewed as such a candidate.
At this point, it seems likely that the GOP’s nominee in 2012 will either be former House Speaker Newt Gingrich or Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (assuming, of course, that both choose to run). Gingrich has had his issues with grassroots conservatives in the past, but his legacy as a passionate crusader for the Right’s vision will serve him in good stead on the 2012 campaign trail. Palin will obviously receive plenty of conservative support in the primaries: her only obstacle will be the perception by some moderate and conservative Republican primary voters that she cannot “seal the deal” in a general election.
Romney is a great speaker, a strong intellect, a shrewd businessman. Unfortunately, he is also someone who stands beneath a glass ceiling. Deep-seated skepticism about the sincerity of his conservatism (and deep-seated bigotry about his religion) would prevent him from becoming the GOP’s standard-bearer in 2012. He has a role to play in the GOP’s future–but it will not be the lead role.
NH Lady on Sat, 30th May 2009 4:23 pm
I believe people will get behind Romney because he is the candidate most Republicans wanted in the last election. When McCain handed his votes to Huckabee in the W VA caucus so Romney couldn’t win, I think Mitt knew he was being double teamed. I hope Huck is happy to have stabbed Mitt in the back for McCain.
McCain was elected by Indepedents – not Republicans. Most who voted for McCain actually voted against Obama – not for McCain.
Boston Patriot on Sat, 30th May 2009 5:20 pm
Mitt Romney is a gifted leader no doubt. As a resident of Massachusetts during his tenure as governor, I resent the way he foisted “health care reform” on us. The program continues to chew holes in the MA/federal budgets, and is laden with top-heavy, overpaid bureaucrats. Moreover, if it is proven that Romney is among those attempting to undermine Sarah Palin’s viability as a future political candidate, he is finished. Huckabee is a non-entity as far as I am concerned: a big-government, open-borders, bigot.