2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumI'm fine with Romney being the GOP nominee
I know the conventional wisdom is that he is the toughest to beat. But I don't necessarily buy that. He is a very weak 'front runner'. He 'won' his homestate where he invested $3 million by 3-points over RICK SANTORUM! of all people. The more people see him they don't like him. He is robotic and unlikeable. He oozes the 1% and when he tries to identify with 'regular people' he comes across as the phony he is. He has taken every position possible on every single major issue which has given him the image of a flip flopper. What he considers his strong point-his business background--will haunt him because of all the people he threw out of work. Overall, he seems priviledged and unfeeling. Furthermore, he has (overall) done worse in this campaign than he did in 2008. He doesn't have a lot of STRONG support among the rank & file of the GOP (tea partiers and the evangelical christians). He has shown little success thus far in a key region of the country--the midwest losing in Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota and winning his home state of Michigan by an underwhelming margin.
If this is the guy they want to nominate, I say bring it on.
Renew Deal
(81,843 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)He's being nominated because he appears the most reasonable of a group of deeply unreasonable fanatics. He's also the money guy, and that's the real Republican platform anyway, faux populism and culture war nonsense being nothing more than their forty year old strategy of riling up the lowest elements of society.
But he doesn't strike me as a strong opponent for an incumbent President.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)The 'Rmoney's the biggest threat' meme has hit a brick wall.
Weaksauce indeed.
GodlessBiker
(6,314 posts)won't be as energized to vote like they would be if frothy mix is the nominee.
mucifer
(23,466 posts)They might be willing to vote for Thurston.
PRETZEL
(3,245 posts)both Rmoney and Sanatorium are rapidly alienating independants while at the same time energizing our base. That isn't a good combination for them.
nevergiveup
(4,755 posts)and make him a formidable candidate. They will do their best but they don't have much to work with.
emulatorloo
(44,057 posts)Romney will still be a dud, though
bowens43
(16,064 posts)no matter how much they dislike romney like dislike the black guy more....
He is the only one of the bunch that people will as reasonable. You have to keep in mind that at this point, the vast majority of americans are paying absolutely no attention to politics. They will start paying attention a few weeks before the election. Romney is likable, has good hair and looks presidential
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)They hate Obama but they can't bring themselves to vote for Romney, so they stay home. This scenario is probably more likely with the more strident religious fanatics, particularly in the South. I grew up there and believe that a good deal of these voters do not believe that Mormons are Christians, and even if they are, they are the *wrong* kinds of Christians.
dragonlady
(3,577 posts)I'm convinced that what he did to that dog will lose him millions of votes a Republican might otherwise have received.
Carla in Sequim
(228 posts)Every time I hear the name of that poor dog, I run and grab my Beagle and hug her.
Yeah, Romney is fine with me. Bring it on.
yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)Those dang uppity leftist California Redwoods have had their day in the sun. It is time to celebrate trees of the right height.
Cosmocat
(14,558 posts)He is a viable candidate, and the media WILL prop him up and start chipping at BO.
LOTS of time between now and then, so who knows.
But, if the economy stays on its sluglike recovery and there are not domestic terrorist events, BO should get it done.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)that's all. I think the drawn out race is actually hurting, not helping him, as it did with Obama. The difference? The guy is disliked. The more this goes on, the more is "likeability" numbers are affected.
He will inevitably be the nominee, but I don't think that Super Tuesday is going to settle things if he can't win at least 1 or 2 of the southern states.
Yavin4
(35,411 posts)down the ticket. With Mitt as their nominee, they're just not going to be as motivated to vote.
SWTORFanatic
(385 posts)other nutjobs would get more than 10% of independents - Romney has an outside shot at winning because he can actually get independents. And the rabid base would vote for him... hell, they'd even vote for Jimmy Carter over "the black guy".
That said, barring a major October Surprise (planned or unplanned) or personal scandal I think Obama wins.
Bruce Wayne
(692 posts)I don't have a lot of faith in Democratic marketing discipline. This race will be closer than you think... particularly if the Euro takes a nosedive or the situation between Iran and Israel gets out of hand.
marlakay
(11,424 posts)if he is the one.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)But the Republicans are too stupid to see that and knocked him out early.
stillers4ever
(33 posts)The Repubs will nominate Romney even though they don't like him. They think he can draw those crucial "moderate" independent votes.
Newt is a known scumbag, and even the Republican Party isn't stupid enough to run him against Obama. Think about the contrast of Obama's marriage and family life up against Newts adulterous ways and explain to me how he can be the shining beacon of morality that the R's want to sell themselves as...lol.
Then there is Santorum. Someone needs to tell him that he's running for POTUS, not Pope.
And he has the nerve to describe himself as "courageous"...classic.
I actually like Ron Paul. He is the only one who wants to stop the USA from being in an eternal state of war with one nation or another. But, alas, no one is listening. America is drunk on war, to paraphrase Sherman.
So...it will be Romney. At the end of the day, I don't think he can create a compelling arguement that he is the answer to Americas' problems.