Are You A Romney Superfan?
Both my husband and I are descendants of Romniacs. What are Romniacs you ask? The Washington Post explains:
These are the sasquatches of American politics: rumored, hoped-for, so elusive that they can seem imaginary.
They are Mitt Romney’s superfans.
To be clear: These “Romniacs” are not Wall Street bigwigs or paid campaign operatives. Many of them, but not all, are Mormons like Romney. What unites them is a powerful — and unusual — excitement for a candidate who struggles to excite anybody else.
The good news for Romney is that they exist, these people who call him a “geek,” and “Ward Cleaver,” and love him deeply for it.
The bad news is that there doesn’t appear to be that many of them — a small, eclectic scattering in a nation with 137 million registered voters.
“We are in the thousands,” said Judi Rustin, 61, the poet in Arizona. “And we all bleed red Romney blood.”
So far, Romney has done something remarkable in this campaign: He has managed to win without winning. Despite claiming 16 states and a sizable lead in the race for GOP delegates, the candidate has not been able to build the kind of fervor that could sweep his opponents away. In a recent poll that asked for a one-word reaction to Romney, the most common answer was “no.”
Hey, a win is a win. Most of the passion that people feel for Romney is not of the helpful variety. And that gets almost all of the press attention.
And many of Romney's supporters are of the reluctant variety, which fits quite a few of his Ricochet supporters.
But I'm happy to see an article that actually gives props to those people -- like my mother and my in-laws -- who are fanatical Romney supporters. They may not be that numerous but they do exist and it's nice to see some coverage.
The article, by the way, made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Quite a feat early in the morning before coffee. Wait until you get to the part about Little Mitt.
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Jan '12
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
My grandmother is a Romniac. She's been obsessed with him for four years.
Jun '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
I imagine, at a typical LDS General Conference meeting, Mitt Romney would be hot stuff. Compared to 84-year-old LDS President Monson, and his advisers, Mitt is Justin Timberlake.
Jul '11
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
A poet in Arizona? RINO!!!
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
In most gatherings of any grouping of people, Mitt would be pretty hot stuff. Particularly considering his age.
I'm no superfan, obviously, but the man does have a great presence.
Apr '11
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
I do not recall ever having heard "Romniac" before, although I hope I can plausibly claim to have met a few fans over the years, some of them quite keen. It sounds uncomfortably similar to McCainiac, and if maniacal feelings are your thing, you're probably not an instinctive Mitt man. For a while we had a wonderfully retro "Mittster" for men and "Mittens" for women, but Mittens got drowned out by leftists; Mitt's more minor "google problem".
Comparing the "superfan" t-shirt, which is not Romney's primary apparel offering, with the sweater vest, which is Santorum's, is a cheap crack.
Our firstborn, should he be a chap, will not be called Mitt, nor Willard, nor even Tagg. Should she turn out otherwise, though, she has long been scheduled to be called Anne, which is her mother's middle name, and both a favored Saint and a favored Queen of her parents. It is very important to my wife that it is clear that these three reasons, plus the euphonious nature of the name, constitute a complete and exhaustive list of the reasons behind the name.
May '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Tony LaRussa had a name for it when he was manager of the Chicago White Sox: Winning Ugly.
My fear, of course, is that like the '83 Sox it's not good enough to win your division and get to the post season. You've got to win there, too.
Maybe the bad logo creates bad mojo. Just as that winning ugly team had one of the worst graphic representations in the history of sport (it was modeled on the same template that shows you which bathroom you're supposed to use) the Romney "R" looks like it was squeezed out of a tube of AuquaFresh. And it elicits the same excitement.
May '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
That is one incredibly lame hatchet job. It's like they sent a Tiger Beat Magazine writer to cover a Presidential campaign and came away with Tiger Beat Mag. copy. That is all.
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Hunh? It can't be both a hatchet job and a puffy Tiger Beat piece. I agree it was a bit Tiger Beat-ish, but I thought it was really well done. It showed variety among the Romniacs in a nice way (well, except for the guy they discovered was a registered sex offender, but it's not like they built the piece around that. They buried the nature of his crime and the actual story about it to the very end of the piece).
Aug '11
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
"Willard Mitt Romney! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!"
Nah, it just doesn't have the same chantable quality.
May '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Mollie, it can be a hatchet job and a puff piece if the goal is to reinforce the narrative that there's no there there with Romney. The goal is to make Obama look strong and substantive, and if Romney's acolytes are fan boys and girls rather than policy driven, hatchet accompolished.
Oct '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
"Anne of England" does roll off the tongue...
Mar '11
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Hey, tofu and ricecakes have their fans, too. There's no accounting for taste . . . or lack thereof in reference to those so-called foods.
Aug '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Double-post hiccup!
Edited on March 28, 2012 at 6:13pmMay '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
It came across as mildly positive to me, overall, while acknowledging some problems Romney faces. I guess acknowledging Romney's problems with the electorate qualifies as a hatchet job to the fans.
Aug '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Mollie, before I take a peek, can you promise me that the part about Little Mitt is safe for work?
Oh, and have a cup of coffee first. Deprive Lutherans of their coffee, and who can trust their judgment?
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
The article, by the way, made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Quite a feat early in the morning before coffee. Wait until you get to the part about Little Mitt.
Mollie, before I take a peek, can you promise me that the part about Little Mitt is safe for work? · 6 minutes ago
It is! It's a Washington Post article, though you may want to skip the very end ...
Apr '11
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
Are You A Romney Superfan?
Reminds me of "Questions Nobody is Asking" from a James Taranto column...
Dec '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
If and when he wins the nomination, I'll be a Superfan.
May '10
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
James of England: What? No consideration for Margaret?
Apr '11
Re: Are You A Romney Superfan?
That pic seems to be a riff on the recent Twitter hashtag craze, #kuboobs, only it'd be#romneyboobs, which somehow, seems just...well...flat..