Mitt's Moving...Right
I think it's pretty clear that Romney is becoming more conservative over the arc of his political career. Is he a movement conservative? No. Does he still need to move right on some issues? Yes, but he seems to be traveling in that direction with decent speed.
Mitt governed more conservatively in MA than he campaigned (which is why his reelection prospects looked so dim). He said the experience made him more conservative. Given the nature of politics, I understand why some would view his transformation with skepticism. But I also think it's perfectly reasonable to consider that his conversion is real and ongoing.
The man clearly has the skills to be a turn around artist extraordinaire. With his apparent ideological transformation he could end up being one heck of a president.
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Jan '12
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
Franco
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I disagree with your analysis that Romney, being willing to play "dirty" will help much in the general. In fact it will hurt - a lot. It will further tarnish the GOP brand because the MSM will have none of it They will actively refute any lies. Hell, they are good at refuting truth! They won't let Mitt get away with dirty suff - they will expose him and it won't be pretty. There's plenty of real "dirt" on Obama out there and it gets no attention. Mitt will be exposed and mocked by the MSM if he tries this same kind of attacks he has used with Gingrich on Obama. · 1 hour ago
Well, the MSM ain't the only game in town anymore. He certainly has to be careful, but my intention was to contrast him with McCain. McCain wouldn't fight, I'm seeing evidence that perhaps Romney will. Romney may be another Dole/McCain, but I think it's a bit of kneejerk to automatically categorize him that way. Rhetoric-wise in '08 and '12, he doesn't sound like either of those guys.
Sep '10
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
The MSM is still where clueless voters get their facts, such as they are. And the alternative media is where the most knwledgeable 5% get their info. 99% of these people lie squarely on one side or the other.
From what I've seen, Romney hasn't attacked Gingrich very well or very smartly and a good deal of it has been false. McCain also was pretty good at attacking his fellow R's in primaries.
Yes Romney has critisized Obama, but IMO sloppily.
Romney's premise is that Obama means well, but he's incompetant.
The better premise is that Obama believes things about America that are untrue and that his policies don't fit with what America really is about and therefore fail. (This is the most moderate Romneyeque way I can put this)
He himself is competant. He has enacted many of his intiatives. This narrative is A) more accurate and B) less offensive . That is the. "he's incompetant" is vaguely racist "let the Wall St. white guy take over" Plays right into the hands of the left. They will LOVE to go against that.
May '11
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
Most people here seem to think the "real" Romney is the one who ran against Ted Kennedy, and that he is now pretending to be a conservative. To me, it seems far more likely that Romney has always been a conservative, and the pretending came when he championed the Republican party in Massachusetts. I mean, what else can you do if you are going to champion the Republican party in Massachusetts?
Sep '10
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
To me, it seems far more likely that Romney has always been a conservative, and the pretending came when he championed the Republican party in Massachusetts.
That's a fair point.
Jul '10
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
Xennady
Nothing I've seen from Mitt Romney or the GOP establishment makes me think they would even understand your comment let alone endorse it.
I think that establishment- including Mitt Romney- identifies much more strongly with political class leftists such as Barack Obama than it does with the mass of voters that comprise the GOP base. So the cultural concerns that I have with the left's slow destruction of American culture- which I think you share- merely generate guffaws from the political class of both parties.
Here's the thing: I couldn't care less if he gets the long game. He can guffaw all he wants as long as he does what I'm sending him to office to do.
As far as I'm concerned, his job is to set the tone: rip out a brand new "entitlement" before it gets its hooks into us, get some counterproductive regulations off our backs, have a wife who is proud of America whether he's President or not, not be embarrassed to wear a flag pin, not be inclined to run around the world apologizing for America.
Some of those things might seem trivial but they aren't.
Edited on Jan 28 at 1:13pmMay '10
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
Yes! Well said. This is what I have thought for a long time.
The grief Mitt gets for being governor (and even governing as conservatively as possible, given the circumstances) of a deep, deep blue state is a cautionary tale to all future Republicans with presidential ambitions.
Moral of the story: first you must move to a state where you can be a 100% pure conservative and be elected to state-wide office. Only then may you run for president. Sheesh....
Dec '11
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
Pseudodionysius
Your political process is much more entertaining per Tocqueville than ours and I like to delude myself that I have more influence here over the American electorate than I do over my own Canadian electorate.
In the spirit of North American political exchange, I'd enjoy hearing some commentary on your bold, brainy, and determined prime minister, Stephen Harper.
Dec '11
Re: Mitt's Moving...Right
Mitt need to run to the right in order to win the republican primary. The only reason why he is running even further to the right than before is that Newt beat him in South Carolina. He needs the conservatives to support him, they don't(by and large) which is why Newt won South Carolina.
Mitt may have run more conservative than he campaigned, but bear in mind that it is Massachusetts. The bar is not exactly very high. I wonder if pollsters had to get new question form(I know they probably don't use forms) to include conservative for Massachusetts.
How good of a president remains to be seen(remember he hasn't won the republican nomination). Just because he transformed doesn't mean that he will govern to the right. I still hold his conviction in question. On economics I trust him when it comes to doing some of the easier cuts. However I don't think he will take on medicare, medicaid, and Social security. He could lose too much politically(like the ones before him probably thought). I honestly don't see him doing it.