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Targeting Romney

By W. James Antle, III on 10.17.11 @ 9:16AM

I'm frequently asked a variation of this question I saw on Twitter: "If Romneycare makes Mitt such an easy target, why have half-a-dozen candidates failed to land a blow?" To the extent that this is true, it owes partly to the fact there are a half-a-dozen candidates running to Romney's right and also to the ineptitude of some of those candidates (think ex-candidate Tim Pawlenty). But I don't think the contention that nobody has landed a blow on Romney is completely true.

When Mitt Romney has been the frontrunner, he has been a weak frontrunner compared to Bob Dole in 1995, George W. Bush in 1999, and even frontrunner-who-went-nowhere Rudy Giuliani in 2007. He has also had difficultly holding on to his frontrunner status, even against candidates who only recently entered the race (Rick Perry) or who were not well known nationally before the start of this year (Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain). Most recently, Cain has taken the lead in at least two national polls.

Romney has survived because of superior fundraising and organization, strong establishment support, divided opposition, and concerns about his opponents' viability in a general election. And yet he still hasn't sealed the deal. The moment there emerged a candidate to Romney's right who was thought to have a solid chance in the general, that candidate took the lead. That candidate was Perry, and the disapperance of his lead had more to do with his own failures than with anything Romney did.

I've long maintained there is a good chance Romney will win the nomination. But most conservatives, especially those who identify with the Tea Party, are backing other candidates. Romneycare is the most important reason why. If this ever becomes a two-person race with a conservative insurgent as the other candidate, Romney would be in trouble.

View all comments (45) | Leave a comment

Jack in Wi.| 10.17.11 @ 10:15AM

Romney will be easy pickings for the Democrats, and is disliked by 2/3 of the Republicans. The Democrats will just run adds calling romney a heartless plutocrat. They will show where he has slashed jobs and sent them overseas. They will deride the fact that he claims he will stop Obamacare but loves Romneycare. Besides that Romney has no core values and will flip flop at the drop of a hat. Frankly I will be voting 3rd party if Romney is the nominee. The Republicans have nominated losers for 24 years. They are not called the stupid party for nothing.

Fbebf Ybirf Ebacnhy | 10.17.11 @ 12:30PM

Not that I'm surprised to hear you'd rather have Obama than Romney, you may not be forced to make that choice. A slew of new polls show Cain holding his ground and even gaining against Romney. Newt is the only other one gaining ground.

Perry continues to fade, and Bachmann's day in the sun is clearly over. Paul is back at 5%, battling it out with Huntsman, Santorum and None of the Above for last place. They'd be doing the serious candidates a favor if they'd just drop out now.

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 12:42PM

"Ron Paul Takes Third in Latest Reuters/Ipsos Poll
Saturday, October 15, 2011:

Rep. Ron Paul continues his string of strong poll finishes with a third place finish in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely Republican voters. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted between October 6 and 10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percentage points. Ipsos Public Affairs surveyed 410 Republicans."

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

Fbebf Ybirf Ebacnhy| 10.17.11 @ 1:00PM

Well of course you pick the ONLY poll that puts Paul in the top three.

It's not the most recent poll so it doesn't show Cain's post-debate gains, or Paul's continuing slide back down to the 5% range.

And it only sampled 410 people so it has a larger margin of error than most polls.

But don't let that stop you from posting it a few hundred times!

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 2:00PM

"Ron Paul 51%, Obama 49%. New Harris Poll

Head to head against Obama, only two Republicans are beating him. Ron Paul beats Obama 51% to 49% according to the latest Harris Poll. Everyone else, except Romney, lose pretty big against Obama."

Fbebf Ybirf Ebacnhy| 10.17.11 @ 2:37PM

That "new poll" is almost a month old, and in that month as more voters have gotten to know Paul his support has dropped. Even a month ago that poll was an outlier, with most polls and the most recent showing Obama over Paul by 7% to 10%, almost as bad as Bachmann or Perry.

While Paul and Bachmann and Perry have been trending downward the generic GOP vs Obama polls are trending in the GOP favor, with Romney and Cain being the only candidates who poll ahead of Obama.

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 4:35PM

Ron Paul Grabs 4th in Latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll

Texas Congressman and GOP candidate Ron Paul placed fourth in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Paul earned 11 percent of the votes, which is a 2 percent rise compared to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in August.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, was conducted between October 6 and 10.

The tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

Fbebf Ybirf Ebacnhy| 10.17.11 @ 4:45PM

Yawn. You have to go to a poll that's not current and one with a huge margin of error because they only polled 336 people ... and the best you can do is find Paul barely out of the single digits and a distant fourth trailing the leader by more than 25 points.

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 4:56PM

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz !

Beats Your Poll Israel Firster.

Let's Guess Who" Fbebf Ybirf Ebacnhy "Really Is.

Let's Guess Who Got Benched By American Spectator Again.

The Tea Party Steps On Fbebf Ybirf Ebacnhy's Face.

Teflon93| 10.17.11 @ 10:15AM

Romney is being propped up by the RINOs and the Left Wing Media. As soon as the fog they create clears, the money will evaporate and the staffers will abandon him in droves.

The attempt to rig the GOP primary process by anointing Romney the standard bearer without so much as a single ballot cast has not sat well with the Republican base. Romney will probably take NH but getting whipped in SC will be deathblow of his campaign as people realize he has zero support in the South.

Bo| 10.17.11 @ 10:54AM

Romney is benefitting from most of his rivals being a bit flakey.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 1:01PM

A bit flakey? You're too kind.

Maybe next time we don't let the tea party pick the candidates, hmmmm?

LiveFreeOrDie| 10.17.11 @ 1:37PM

Ignorant fool. Go back to huffpo fraud!

gsr| 10.17.11 @ 11:08AM

Let me put this simply. If Romney is the GOP candidate, I will simply stay home in Nov. 2012.

Is that clear enough?

sjccoach| 10.17.11 @ 11:14AM

Count me as another one who will stay home if Romney is the GOP candidate. If the Republican Establishment get its wish the country will have another four years of the Obama presidency.

Al Adab| 10.17.11 @ 11:25AM

Romney obviously haws become the preferred Candidate of the Eastern, accomodationist, "moderate" wing of the GOP. Nominating someone whose appeal is to states that the GOP will never carry is a sure road to defeat. It is of no import whatsoever that Mass or NJ or NY republicans support Romnay, they cannot deliever their electoral votes in any event.

Not enough Conservative or evangelical or western voters will support him to elect him. We need a Conservative who can carry the states in play and end this administration of tyranny, not someone who wants to modify it.

Teflon93| 10.17.11 @ 8:39PM

Amen! You ought to be running National Review or The Weekly Standard, A-A....it's refreshing to see conservative analysis again.

LarryK| 10.17.11 @ 11:44AM

2012 - It it's Mitt, out I'll sit!

martin j smith| 10.17.11 @ 11:58AM

It is actually up to Mitt Romney himself. he can be the favorite son of the Establishment side of the Republican Party and turn off the Tea Party or he can demonstrate that he gets it and will work with the Tea Party,Conservatives and others. he has not yet done that. And, he has not taken to give it diretly to Obama particularly on the disgusting class warfare and other rhetoric. He has not shown enough leadership. Maybe if he does these kinds of things he will "seal the deal".

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 12:51PM

Romney demonstrates that he "gets it" by not caving in to the tea party. The tea party is as fickle as they come, like the pretty but vacuous coed who flits from boyfriend to boyfriend leaving a trail of broken hearts. The tea party is in love with Bachmann one week, then she's crashing in the polls and Perry is taking the tea party to the big dance, then Perry is on the trash heap and Cain is temporarily in favor.

And why do we have such a weak field? Because the tea party wanted people like Bachmann and Perry to run, flattered them into jumping into a contest that was way over their heads, then abandoned them a few weeks later. Meanwhile candidates who were afraid of the tea party, and who didn't realize that the tea party would destroy the candidates it touched, were afraid to get in and are now kicking themselves.

Tea, a drink with jam and bread. The tea party is toast.

Mal_Content| 10.17.11 @ 1:10PM

"The Tea Party is toast"

Long live Big Government Republicans!

LiveFreeOrDie| 10.17.11 @ 1:40PM

Care to bet on it Troll? The only thing toast is your mancrush, Obama.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 2:20PM

A bet? The stakes are already as high as they can get, LFOD.

The tea party wants a pyrrhic victory. When people talk about the GOP field being very, very weak who do you think they're talking about? You've got Bachmann and Perry in the race only because the tea party wanted them, but they couldn't sustain tea party support for more than a few weeks each in spite of saying all the things the tea party wanted to hear. With friends like the tea party ...

Mal_Content| 10.17.11 @ 2:30PM

With Conservatives like Mitt Romney, who needs Liberals?

Romney 2012.

Big Government
Big Spending
Conservative rhetoric, but not action.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 2:52PM

So Mal, do you think the tea party did a good job of promoting non-flaky candidates? The pundits who describe the entire GOP field as very weak ... which wonderful tea party candidate are they so very, very wrong about?

Mal_Content| 10.17.11 @ 3:41PM

I'm not in the Tea Party, Romney2012, so I can't speak to their motives or opine on their results regarding nominations since I am unaware of their goals (are there uniform goals in the TP?).

As for what pundits believe...who cares? Do you make all of your decisions based on what the talking heads on TV say?

Romney is a RINO, as is most of this GOP field. He is the political equivalent of the "V" formation in football...the safe bet and the Liberal-lite choice who might be able to beat Obama. The slick Centrist that the GOP is loathe to get behind until it has tried every other option (Cain, Bachmann).

You can settle for the status-quo if you want. I'll vote for a real conservative even if I have to write him on my ballot.

Teflon93| 10.17.11 @ 8:40PM

Marco Rubio, among others.

martin j smith| 10.17.11 @ 1:26PM

That is fine Trolls or whatever. So are you Mal-Content( assuming you are not really a Socialist
happy if Tea Party supporter voters decided who cares if its Romney-Obama is the real deal where as Romney is the phoney with no principles. Are you willing to see millions of voters say to Romney--fine " Up yours" . But then again in this world nothing is real so we shall see. The only people who would dismiss the Tea Party are Socialists or arrogant Republican establishment types who do not give a crap about this country. Whichever way you put it--have it your way--lets see what happens. Also Romneycare 2012--assuming you are who you are--how do you think the big result hap[pended in 2012 ? The Tea Party was responsible. So, whoever you are be as arrogant as you will but if you are really a Romney supporter your help is very destructive for your candidate.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 2:02PM

If it weren't for the tea party's help Romney would have never have gotten this far. The things that have kept him alive are (a) the tea party pushing some really, really weak candidates like Bachmann and Perry, and (b) the tea party being so fickle about supporting the candidates who wouldn't have been in the race at all if it weren't for the tea party encouraging them to run.

Now we've got tea partiers saying they'd rather have Obama than Romney. That's just sour grapes. Romney will pick someone like Cain for a running mate, and when push comes to shove the prospect of another four years of Obama will get most of them to hold their noses and vote for Romney.

Does that mean that Romney is the best possible candidate? Not by a long shot. He's just the best shot at escaping the self-destructive behavior of the tea party that would give us an unqualified candidate like Bachmann or Perry or Cain.

For heaven's sake the tea party tried to give us Sarah Palin, and how much more destructive to the GOP could you get than running Sarah Palin for president?? She was smart enough to stay in the media where she's effective, but that's no thanks to the tea party.

Teflon93| 10.17.11 @ 8:42PM

Romney couldn't excite his wife. Obama will wipe the floor with him because conservatives will stay home in droves.

After all, we didn't exactly pack the polling places for the guy who whipped Romney last time around.

martin j smith| 10.17.11 @ 1:34PM

Oh yes, I forgot to mention--It is still up to Romney to Convince those Republicans who may be skeptical
of his candidacy that he can be trusted. That would include the Rush Limbaugh Conservatives ( among others ) and Tea Party folks. Its up to him and any reasonable and real poster would have to admit that being arrogand to large blaocks of voters makes no sense at all except if one is a fake --a troll-a Socialist.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 2:06PM

Wait until it comes down to a choice between Romney/Cain and Obama/Biden or Obama/Hillary, and then let's see who still needs to be convinced.

Teflon93| 10.17.11 @ 8:43PM

Romney needs to win some primaries first.

And for that he'll need to win some red states.

Fat bloody chance.

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 2:12PM

Wall Street & The Ruling Elites Are Setting Us Up For Their RINO-CINO Frontman, Mittens Romney.

Follow The Campaign Money Trail.

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 2:27PM

The ruling elites didn't force the tea party to back weak candidates like Bachmann and Perry and Cain. When Romney gets the nomination you can thank the tea party for putting up such weak candidates and then being so fickle about their support.

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 4:44PM

For Starters, The Tea Party will Expose Romney on TARP & RomneyCare & Global Warming & Crony Capitalism Campaign Donations, While Social Conservatives Will Expose Romney On Abortion & Gay Issues, Others Will Expose His Little Chain Saw Al History At Bain.

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

martin j smith| 10.17.11 @ 3:13PM

Trolls they are fakers full of crap. R
omney2012 and well Clint I am aware of and Mal-Content-Good moniker. But who says Romney is Conservative other than he ?

Mal_Content| 10.17.11 @ 3:42PM

"But who says Romney is Conservative other than he ?"

This should be said until blue in the face.

Romney2012| 10.17.11 @ 4:29PM

Romney is the only one saying Romney is a conservative. He's a moderate Republican.

You're either going to have to go with a moderate who is a competent campaigner and who can take a big chunk of the moderate vote away from Obama, or someone like Perry or Cain or Bachmann who is more ideologically pure but can't even hold onto tea party support for three weeks in a row no matter how hard they pander much less win the moderate vote in the general election.

Mal_Content| 10.17.11 @ 4:42PM

"You're either going to have to go with a..."

No, friend. I'm not going to have to do anything.

I'm going to vote my conscience and principles. You can keep your lesser-of-two-evils mentality and I will sleep well knowing I didn't compromise and vote RINO.

Teflon93| 10.17.11 @ 8:43PM

Yeah, that playbook was identical to the one played in 2008.

How'd it turn out?

Clint| 10.17.11 @ 4:47PM

I' ll Match My Registered Republican And Conservative Tea Party Voting Record against Yours Any day, Israel Firster Smith.

Put Up Or Shut Up, Smith.

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

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