Romney Bows Out

[Thetagirl218]

Yep! He endorsed McCain! I think it is rather sad when someone who fought against someone on so many key issues is now kissing their butt!!!

How many times did Romney and McCain have the Consverative arugement? And now he is just endorsing him because it is good for the party. It makes me want to go Independent.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Thetagirl218

Yep! He endorsed McCain! I think it is rather sad when someone who fought against someone on so many key issues is now kissing their butt!!!

How many times did Romney and McCain have the Consverative arugement? And now he is just endorsing him because it is good for the party. It makes me want to go Independent.

I know what you are saying, and yet, what are his options really?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I know what you are saying, and yet, what are his options really?

There's an interesting take on it in the Washington Post today: Why Being the GOP's No. 2 Isn't So Bad.

[KDAngel]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

There's an interesting take on it in the Washington Post today: Why Being the GOP's No. 2 Isn't So Bad.

The problem with that is how Romney stacked his cards this time... he made himself a despised character the last 2 months of his campaign (by all those who didn't support him) and he'll be ill-pressed to show back up for the presidency and do well.

I think by and large, GOPers are hoping someone develops as the presidential candidate they wish they had in this race by 2012. Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE McCainiac and I think people who didn't already like him are slowly going to turn to him for whatever reason, but I think on the GOP side, Americans are going to be looking for someone else. Not Romney who they knew they couldn't sell to a national audience anyway.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by KDAngel

The problem with that is how Romney stacked his cards this time... he made himself a despised character the last 2 months of his campaign (by all those who didn't support him) and he'll be ill-pressed to show back up for the presidency and do well.

I think by and large, GOPers are hoping someone develops as the presidential candidate they wish they had in this race by 2012. Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE McCainiac and I think people who didn't already like him are slowly going to turn to him for whatever reason, but I think on the GOP side, Americans are going to be looking for someone else. Not Romney who they knew they couldn't sell to a national audience anyway.

I can't be sure that my experience is typical, but I didn't support Romney early on and I liked him more as the campaign went on. I certainly wouldn't describe him as a despised character within the GOP. It may be the case that your love for McCain is affecting how you think other people view Romney. (I don't mean anything insulting by this; I think it happens to us all.)

I think GOP voters will support McCain generally because they'd prefer him to the Democratic nominee, just as they would have supported Romney in the general had he won the delegates.

I don't know if McCain will really pull the independent votes in the general that people think he will, especially if Obama is the Democratic nominee.

I agree with you about 2012. I think voter turn out for the respective primaries reflects a certain apathy about any of the GOP candidates this time, and the party will have to do better.

[KDAngel]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I can't be sure that my experience is typical, but I didn't support Romney early on and I liked him more as the campaign went on. I certainly wouldn't describe him as a despised character within the GOP. It may be the case that your love for McCain is affecting how you think other people view Romney. (I don't mean anything insulting by this; I think it happens to us all.)

Actually I don't think that it does so much. Most people on the boards know I freelance entertainment reviews, but I write political commentary more than anything. So it's a pretty unbiased assessment, mixed with some political regurgitation popular among the most trusted pundits.

Romney did in fact turn off a lot of people starting in NH. Yes, he had a following, but too many people were catching wind of how he really was a flip-flopper. There was just an innate shallowness to him, that I think started to become so prevalent amongst the political community that he knew he would hurt his image, and thus career by staying in. That and statistically he had to win like 70% of the remaining primaries to get the delegates... I digress.

[shinerbock]

I think Romney will be a strong contender in 2012 if McCain loses, just as he was a strong contender this year. As sad as it is, Romney battled name recognition even when he was the co-frontrunner. He'll retain a core that no other candidate will likely have, and his CPAC speech this year was a great start (many would argue the best of the campaign, and one of the better political speeches of the last decade).

I think the second time around is always dicey, but he'll have much more institutional support from the beginning next time. He'd also be following in the wake of a huge blow for the GOP (putting up a moderate few were excited about AND losing to boot), and he is certainly the biggest visionary among current party leaders. It will be interesting to see what he does in the meantime.

I also don't think he'd be a failure as a candidate in a future general. Hell, he's probably by far the best suited to take on Hillary or Obama head to head in substantive issues and in style points. Unfortunately the GOP didn't recognize that this time, but I think Romney will grow into a more familiar figure over the next four years, and there will be much less initial resistance to his candidacy. We shall see.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by KDAngel

Actually I don't think that it does so much. Most people on the boards know I freelance entertainment reviews, but I write political commentary more than anything. So it's a pretty unbiased assessment, mixed with some political regurgitation popular among the most trusted pundits.

Romney did in fact turn off a lot of people starting in NH. Yes, he had a following, but too many people were catching wind of how he really was a flip-flopper. There was just an innate shallowness to him, that I think started to become so prevalent amongst the political community that he knew he would hurt his image, and thus career by staying in. That and statistically he had to win like 70% of the remaining primaries to get the delegates... I digress.

Obviously, he wasn't popular enough by any standard, but what are you relying on to make the judgment that it was distaste for Romney rather than people's sense that McCain had established himself or that he was the more pragmatic choice?

This may strike you as odd, but I don't necessarily assume that what commonly read pundits and those who write political commentary say necessarily corresponds with reality more than my own experience or that it would necessarily be unbiased. You made kind of a weird appeal to authority there. What other evidence do you have?

I considered Romney the least noxious of the Republican candidates who were still in the race by the time I got to vote in Georgia, but I was never much of a fan with a whole lot of love to lose.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

There's an interesting take on it in the Washington Post today: Why Being the GOP's No. 2 Isn't So Bad.

It's interesting to see the history out there so plainly. I never really thought that much about it before, but I agree I don't generally expect someone to win the GOP nomination on his or her first run, but instead, I think they put themselves out there to the national constituency and perform on that stage for a while. And then the next time(s), maybe.