Romney Bows Out

[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.