Roger Simon spends ten minutes with Victor Hanson on what's coming at us in 2012. "Romantic appeal means nothing." " Take the Romney castor oil."
Posted by gerardvanderleun at November 11, 2011 7:25 AM
VDH is a brilliant observer of history. I'll take exception with his prognosticatory abilities. Romney is anathema to 70% of his own party, that's why he can't gain ground. All of the Republican candidates are stable, or losing ground save one, Newt. At the top, Romney has long since peaked, Cain is stumbling, and Newt is surging. My money is on Newt.
Posted by: Casca at November 11, 2011 7:51 AMI agree on Newt, I think he can mop the floor with Obama in debates. Maybe he can pick Allen West as VP . Love to see him eviscerate Joey Hairplugs.
Posted by: bill at November 11, 2011 8:22 AMMaybe some pundits described Romney as "the conservative" in 2008, but the pundits are not the base. Some of us out here in flyover country looked at his stances on illegal immigration, socialized medicine and restrictive gun laws and kind of lost sight of the "conservative" label.
Posted by: Daniel K Day at November 11, 2011 8:53 AMIt ain't over 'til it's over. And there is a God; so we got that goin' for us.
Posted by: ahem at November 11, 2011 8:56 AMIf Romney's the candidate, then Obama will win. Was it only one year ago that the Tea Party was celebrating its victory in the mid-term elections? I predicted that the establishment Republicans, after "welcoming" the surge of energy and new blood pushing them to a House majority, would simply pocket the victory and figure they could go back to business as usual. Squeezing out everyone but Romney to run in the general election proves that like the Bourbons, the GOP forgets nothing and learns nothing.
The big question for these brilliant strategists is, "Can you win an election WITHOUT the Tea Party vote?" Because when a big percentage of those people have flatly told you that they WILL NOT vote for this candidate, to go ahead and force Romney on them shows a degree of gambler's mania that would adorn Wall Street. And I don't think the usual tactics of screaming "You can't do this to us!" and threats about how disastrous and Obama victory will be (not to mention the already seen "If you don't vote for Romney, you're working for Obama" insults) are going to work this time. These conservatives have finally been radicalized; they haven't forgotten what happened a year ago, though the "moderates" have. They don't want to settle for managed defeat under the guidance of a fake conservative; they want a real victory, and they've seen that they can get it if they try. The dogs won't be coming to rescue Scott of the Antarctic from his own stupidity this time.
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at November 11, 2011 9:40 AMI'll vote libertarian, constitution party, independent party, even Ron Paul. I will not vote Rino...no Romney, no Newt, and no Perry. And I just don't care what the ruling elite rinos have to say about that. The party of Lugar, Newt, Lott, Pawlenty, Rove, Boehner, is done...in fact burnt to charcoal. To the garbage with them.
Posted by: IndyJones at November 11, 2011 10:39 AMHanson is a good man. I read his stuff, his books, his blog. The fact is, he is a Democrat. I asked him. An old-time Democrat, yes, but then Hanson specializes in old times. Romney would make him happy because Romney is how Hanson remembers Democrats. But those Democrats will evolve to these Democrats every time, as history should have informed Hanson.
This is not going to be a knock-down drag-out fight, anything but. Romney is the solution to pulling that Democrat donkey out of the ditch and getting him functional again. Democrats will desert The One, and that is exactly how Romney will campaign. That contest is not a fight, it's a landslide. Yes, you Republicans thirst for death, you McCain Dole Bush Romney strategic great thinkers. You will own Washington exactly as it is. Again. We have a roomful of mediocrities, and every four years we cheer like a crowd at pro-wrestling.
As another former Hippie all grown up said, we don't want to know how to make Washington work, we want to know how to make it stop.
The Republican Party has demonstrated for four generations that it is not going to make it stop. Washington's B team is what it is. Lincoln, love him or hate him, was organized out of a third party five years old. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, we must think and act anew.
Complaining that RINOs still largely control the party - Still! - after only one "Tea Party" election and throwing up ones hands in despair is snatching defeat from the jaws of a certain longer term victory.
Instead, the Tea Party folk are focussing on local grunt work rather than showy rallies. They have rightly targeted the Republican Party for turning, because the old-time Democratic Party is gone for good. But it isn't going to be done in one or two elections: It's going to take several before the size of the conservative wing matches its influence in the electorate. Then the Wests and Rubios will replace the Cantors and Boehners.
No more RINO'S as candidates.
You cannot wean a drunk off alcohol by giving him beers to taper off.
Jackass Lite is another name for RINO's. Besides we need to concentrate on winning the Senate. That shuts down any President.
Posted by: Peccable at November 11, 2011 2:05 PMATTENTION REPUBLICAN PARTY: I will not vote for Romney If he is your nominee, I will vote 3rd party or leave the top spot blank. I am over 60 and am tired of voting for useless empty stuffed shirts because they might be a little less harmful to the country than the other useless stuffed shirt. We are at a crisis point and if Romney is the best that you can come up with I don't see enough difference between him and the current incompetent to make a difference. I will not soil my hands with him.
Posted by: James Nelson at November 11, 2011 2:39 PMI concur with Mr. Nelson, above. Moreover, I fear that a Romney victory (which I do consider plausible vs. Obama, since he'd likely pick up a moderate vote or two for every Tea Party member he lost) would merely let an "empty suit" Republican preside over the economic crash we're moving inexorably toward, and pave the way for a Democrat as bad as Obama or worse in 2016.
Posted by: Umbriel at November 11, 2011 2:53 PMListen freaking 'principled' cretins: If you don't vote Republican--even if the candidate is a lawn flamingo---in order to get Obama out in 2012, you're not getting another free election. This is it; this is your last chance. It'll be over. The place will turn into Chicago, where you can vote for anyone you wish---as long as they're a Democrat. Or Russia, where you can vote for an member of the Communist Party you wish. Obama is a tyrant. Pull your heads out of your asses, and wake the fuck up.
Posted by: ahem at November 11, 2011 4:01 PMRomney vs Obama = Obama wins reelection, period. The biggest weakness President Obama has is the mostrosity health care bill that just about everyone is enraged by. If Romney is the GOP nominee, that weakness disappears. If you want a second term for President Obama, keep attacking the other nominees, keep pushing for Romney.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 11, 2011 4:37 PMNo, YOU listen. Why is it up to the "principled" group to save the union? Why does everything depend on THEM to surrender, come to their senses and compromise? Why doesn't the other side try giving up something for a change? Is it too radical to suggest the wimpy moderates take some Tums, settle their queasy stomachs, take a deep breath and throw their support to the genuine conservative and win that way? Why does the brilliant moderate strategy always end up lying like a beached whale flapping on the sand as they cry and plead and threaten with those headstrong conservatives to come drag them yet again to a razor-thin victory? If this is the best they can do, time and time again, then why should anyone listen to them? Just because this is the way it's been for decades doesn't mean that it's the natural order. You've been warned: when people flat out TELL you that they don't want Romney, what is your excuse for insisting upon forcing him as the candidate? What are you counting on? That they're bluffing? That you'll be able to think of something by election day to jolly them out of their temper tantrum and do what you want? What if you can't? What then? Do this if you must, but don't pretend you weren't warned if it all collapses.
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at November 11, 2011 4:51 PMDid you know that if you rearrange the letters "BarackHusseinObama is a SCoaMF" you get "WillardMittensRomney is a SCoaMF"? Weird, isn't it?
Posted by: twolaneflash at November 11, 2011 4:51 PMI've been saying for months that if Romney is the nominee, he will lose to Obama.
I am done voting for chameleonic, unprincipled lawn flamingos with an R after their name. I will vote Libertarian if it comes to that. I've done it before.
The Republican Party insiders keep pushing candidates on us that infuriate conservatives and libertarians, and they know it. They don't care. They just keep trying to scare us with the boogeyman: "You have to vote for the R no matter what, because if you don't, the D will win." And it has largely worked up till now.
Anyone who thinks that a go-along-to-get-along RINO will take the slightest steps towards getting the country back on track has rocks in their head. The Republican elites are moving in the direction of European "conservative" parties. They have no intention of rolling back the welfare state; they merely argue that they can administer it better than the Democrats.
It is widely believed that many conservative voters sat on their hands in 2008 rather than vote for McCain (not me; I happily voted--for Palin). So has the Republican leadership learned anything from that? Have they come to realize that their candidate must first and foremost be acceptable to the conservative and libertarian wings of the party? Hell no. They seem determined to double down and force Romney on us whether we like it or not. Because it's "his turn", I guess.
So if worse comes to worse and Obama wins a second term, I don't want to hear anyone blaming it on voters who have values and principles. Put the blame squarely where it belongs: with the feckless, corrupt, and useless Republican Party.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, ahem.
Posted by: rickl at November 11, 2011 5:19 PMMabuse: Because you won't have any freedom left. Don't you have any regard for the little freedom you currently possess? Or are you just that dense?
Posted by: ahem at November 11, 2011 5:38 PM"When good compromises with evil, only evil benefits."
~ Ayn Rand
I am fifty years old.
I am done voting for the lesser of two evils.
Hung by the neck through a trap or garrotted a turn at a time, you still die.
We have never lived in a friendly world, and extending the interval where we have behaved like it was will only make the collapse that much more terrible.
I'd be happy to vote Republican, if only there was one running.
Posted by: TmjUtah at November 11, 2011 5:42 PMRomney, the man that lost to the man that lost to Obama? In what universe is that a good plan?
Stop watching the damn polls. Not one voter has even voted yet in a real primary. Are Repubs so cowardly that they have to have the fight ended before the first shot is fired? Really?
The only reason to follow who is where in what poll is so you can vote like the rest of the sheep. There is no safety in being one of the sheep. If the opinion of others is so dang important to you, lie. Vote for the man or woman you think has the best ideas and tell all of your friends you voted for the eventual winner. But for God's sake don't vote for Romney and expect less than full-time RINO selling out. Isn't the one thing everyone agrees on is that our next President must be able to do the hard things while he's being called everything but a child of God? Romney is the last candidate you could expect to resist the tide. Be a citizen not a passenger.
Posted by: Scott M at November 11, 2011 6:35 PMWow: Comments running hugely anti-Romney! Great.
Add my vote for Cain. Others ahead of me wrote better than I can.
Posted by: Norm at November 11, 2011 6:44 PMWhat's the worst that could happen? If Obama wins, we get four more years of Democrat liberalism. If Romney wins, we get four more years of Democrat liberalism.
Since it no longer matters who gets my vote, I see no reason not to vote for a real conservative.
Posted by: B Lewis at November 11, 2011 6:49 PMRomney can't break above 25% against the rest of the Republican field yet he's supposed to be the only one capable of going up against Obama in a nasty mean campaign?
It. Is. Not. In. Him.
He'll be a blow dried and smiling hard but losing worse McCain redux.
Posted by: ThomasD at November 11, 2011 7:04 PMStop confusing the desperate need to defeat Obama with Romney's ability to defeat Obama. Romney couldn't even come close when running against McCain.
Posted by: Scott M at November 11, 2011 7:06 PMStop watching the damn polls. Not one voter has even voted yet in a real primary.
This is what has me concerned.
Once upon a time, the conventions were where candidates were chosen. The party insiders would go into their smoke-filled rooms, engage in some horse-trading and wheeling and dealing, and come up with candidates. The convention delegates would then vote on them.
After a while, there came to be a perception that the whole process was opaque and maybe a tad corrupt. The state primaries were created to give the party's voters a say in which candidate should be nominated. Eventually the candidates were chosen entirely by the primary process, and the convention became a mere ceremonial formality.
What I'm seeing now is a series of polls and debates conducted by the MSM with the objective of creating a clear front-runner, with an air of inevitability about him, before any of those pesky voters get to have their say.
This means that the primaries themselves may very well become a mere ceremonial formality.
I seriously doubt that candidates chosen by the MSM will be an improvement over candidates chosen by party insiders.
Posted by: rickl at November 11, 2011 7:08 PM"The Republican elites are moving in the direction of European "conservative" parties."
Lest anyone doubt this please look at the recent Senate vote that shot down Rand Paul's attempt to rein in the EPA. Two Democrats crossed over to support the measure, but it was defeated by the votes of five Republican Senators.
Beltway Republicans are not going to be part of any solution to our current problems.
Posted by: ThomasD at November 11, 2011 7:10 PMThomasD:
See also the half-hearted, bungled (or procedurally sabotaged) attempt to rescind the incandescent light bulb ban a few months ago.
Romney will crush Obama in the general election. Look at the electoral map. Romney will take Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and most likely Pennsylvania.
I don't give a flying fuck about any issue except one: can the nominee beat Obama? If so, I'm for him. If not, I'm against him.
Posted by: gedaliya at November 11, 2011 9:17 PMNoooooo!!! Not Romney!
The stench of milquetoast emanating from him is too much for me to toggle the lever AND plug my nose. If my arms were ten feet long... maybe.
There's no place like home... there's no place like home... there's no place like home....
Posted by: Cond0010 at November 12, 2011 12:33 AMVDH is right, if Mittens is the nominee then we'll all hold our nose and vote for him. We have no other option or sensible course of action. The idea that Romney will be just as bad as Obama is a fool's notion and ditto the idea that the GOP can be turned around in two election cycles.
It will not take as long to set this country upright as it did to turn it on its head if we keep our eye on the prize and if we start dealing with the Progressives as the enemy instead of as the loyal opposition.
Posted by: I-RIGHT-I at November 12, 2011 3:46 AMHey umbriel,
It's already stinking over man! YOU should get your head wrapped around THAT truth right freaking now!
Keep your powder dry. It's coming soon.
Wait for it.......
CIII
I voted GOP twice in my lifetime, for Goldwater and for Reagan.
I'll vote for Cain. If he's not the candidate I hope Paul(L) runs as third party. The other two parties are one and the same.
If Romney, buy metals, silver is a better bet.
Posted by: Peccable at November 12, 2011 6:50 AMThe 2012 elections are a waste of time. We are voting for 2 candidates chosen by the transnational elites for the plebeians. The only option for regaining the Republic is war. That is where your energy should be directed. We are long past any other option working. If this thought doesn't sit well with your comfort zone, then maybe we don't deserve what are forefathers fought for.
Posted by: RackmanIII at November 12, 2011 7:11 AMThe Domestic Enemies are pushing Romney because he is their backup plan if their anointed white house pimp should lose because Diebold cant hold up their end.
There is no such animal in the entire state of masachussets as a conservative or a legitimate independent that hasn't been born and bred from the bowels of the democrap party. If you know anything about northeaster politics the back room is the game the rest is a dog and pony show by both parties for the idiot masses..
There is ONLY ONE candidate that is bent on restoring the nation to constitutional law and he is our only hope, otherwise you dont have enough food or ammo.
Posted by: Yank lll at November 12, 2011 7:58 AMIf the opinions stated here are representative of even 10% of Republicans, Obama is a shoo in for 2012.
Only a true masochist could want that. Obama equals certain financial failure with the attendant damage to the average citizen. With him there will be NO CHANCE to set things right. Newt, Romney, or Cain may not be dream conservative candidates, but they are what we have and represent a far stronger chance to curb out of control spending, relax destructive regulations, enact a positive energy policy, and stop the anti-business jaw-boning. On the other hand, those are all a certainty with Obama.
Myself, I'll vote for a ham sandwich if that is who the Republicans nominate. Because with a ham sandwich, there is a chance that all the anti-business government activity will stop. That's the first step on the road to recovery. I like those odds better than handing certain reelection to Obama by not voting or voting third party.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at November 12, 2011 9:45 AMI'm 77 years old. My first Presidential vote was for Eisenhower. Even now, I can safely say that every election since then has been a choice between bad and worse. Each time I held my nose and voted for the lesser of the two evils - knowing full well that I was still voting for evil.
No more! For a variety of reasons this may be the last time I get to vote for a President. I will not vote for Obama OR Romney! Aside from skin coloration there is no difference between them. The rest of the Republican hopefuls are as sorry a group as I have ever witnessed and if they are the best that can be brought forward for our consideration we truly deserve whatever we get from Obama and Soros.
Posted by: Oldfart at November 12, 2011 12:46 PMI'm fairly certain America is doomed no matter who wins the presidency at this point. We've gone too far, there's no way back - or, rather there is a way, but the nation lacks the will and character to take it.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 12, 2011 2:22 PMI have also come to the very reluctant conclusion that Romney is going to win the nomination. I was supporting Perry, then Cain, until I watched his stupefying talk about abortion. Stop blaming the establishment for Romney. The other candidates in the race have not needed establishment help to self destruct. I am sick of people who think they can run for POTUS and not even do their damn homework. Newt is bright but is on his 3rd wife, and has supported liberal causes when they were more popular (see global warming, heath care mandates). If conservatives target red state liberals for defeat (both RINO's and DEMO's) we won't have to worry about 5 senators defecting on crucial votes.
Posted by: Peter at November 12, 2011 3:34 PMto vote for the lesser of 2 evils is just as evil....ron paul is the only true conservative on the gop ticket and no one else will do anything to fix the problems obama has set into action.. if you dont stand on your principles then you will be forced to accept evil in your life. this is the time to deciede.. do i vote for evil iow romney or obama or do i do what is right with my principles and god given rights and vote for a true conservative that will fight to bring this country back from european socialist control
Posted by: denny at November 12, 2011 3:47 PMCapitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
Posted by: rickl at November 12, 2011 7:31 PMI WILL NOT vote for Romney.
If we manage to get a true Conservative POTUS (along with majorities in Senate/house) we *MIGHT* be able to turn this thing around without massive bloodshed. If not, then I see the options as "fast collapse" or "slow collapse."
Given no chance to avoid it, I believe "fast" is likely to be the least-hellish option.
For these reasons, if I cannot vote for a TRUE Conservative, then I will vote for Obama!
Cain's imperfect, but head-and-shoulders above the rest. He has a proven track-record of hiring smart people and getting the job done -- that IMHO makes him the best candidate in 50 years!
Posted by: Dedicated_Dad at November 13, 2011 1:10 AMA new morality, a new world with its new organizing principles was born in the 1960s. It can't be voted out of office. It can't be refuted. It can't be stopped. It will work its effects for generations before it has a common name when the whole world is dominated by its culture. It doesn't matter for which candidate you vote: Romney the slow or Obama the fast. The old world of liberty is gone. It will never return.
The universal culture of Zucotti Park, Altamont and Woodstock will eventually triumph. It is anti-logical, anti-White, anti-male, anti-religion, inhuman, cruel, and socialist. Based on images instead of words. Welcome to the future.
Posted by: ErisGuy at November 13, 2011 5:46 AMYou people make me sick. What a stupid bunch of asses.
Posted by: lj at November 13, 2011 6:53 PMDale Carnegie's has nothing on you lj.
Posted by: ThomasD at November 13, 2011 7:48 PMRomney a "middle of the road conservative"?
Shite!
We're stuck with a choice between a Marxist and a RINO-Obama look a like (well, minus the melanin).
Posted by: jjet at November 14, 2011 2:47 PM"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.
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