I got a bad feeling we're about to have a bait and switch....

[Rosco T.]

ok, who here thinks that Mittens and his campaign is the WORST in history? It's almost like he's TRYING to lose.

and I think he is.

I've got a bad feeling that he's gonna suck up all the hate, all the stupid and all the money from Team Obama to defend against him... and then JUST BEFORE their convention...

.. the tax returns "leak".

They're gonna be bad... REAL BAD. So bad that Mittens MUST WITHDRAW from the nomination. Throwing the convention wide open, and ANYONE will look better than Mittens, and will get their base fired up and back, get those that couldn't support Mittens, etc...

I'm not saying they are gonna have a winning candidate.. but short of a Quitta from Wassila/Batshit Bachman ticket... anyone would look better...

just a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach

[Brewinblue]

1. I think you are quite correct, but I like the thought.

He is rapidly losing the base. I think the convention will be a circus and begin the end of the GOP as we know it, which a lot of conservatives now seem to think is their best approach in the long term.

[safeinOhio]

2. As bad as he is

He is the best they've got.

[DionDem]

3. Don't worry

They tried for the last year and a half to fins a ABM ("Anyone But Mitt&quot candidate. They're stuck with him, and they know it. They're already planning for 2016.

[Pisces]

4. Ha, this is a laugh. The Republicans are stuck with Mittens. Dream about another candidate in 2016

[lib2DaBone]

5. I always thought it was gonna be Gen David Patreaus....

but Patreaus denies wanting to run...


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014187537

[nikto]

8. Better than Petraeus...

Chateau Petrus


A truly Republican beverage.









(about $900 per magnum)

[grantcart]

6. Unless the switch is for a guy whose initials are "J" and "C" and who would have difficulty

providiing a US birth certificate from the first century,

then switching a candidate at this point would be an absolute suicide pact.

Worst landslide in modern history.

[longship]

7. I don't think that's possible unless he withdraws

AFAIK, his delegates are committed. He gets the nomination on the first ballot. It's kinda a done deal.

Myself, I just hope that it's Mitt all the way. I don't think there is any way he can win.

Your concern is noted, however.

[Rosco T.]

9. I really hope I'm wrong... but...

There is just TOO much incompetence being shown in his campaign to be truly incompetent.

Worst part is, I'm not even sure he's IN on the scam. I think he's really the moran he appears to be and is being led by the nose off the cliff. When the returns 'leak' (operative word) he'll be told it's for the good of the party and he'll blindly do it.

Then Jeb rides in on the white horse to 'save them all'...

I really, really want to be wrong.

[RevStPatrick]

10. Well, I suppose we'll find out in the next 3 weeks...

I've been thinking we'll see the tax returns leaked, and that they will be bad as well.
And it would be entertaining if he withdrew.
We'll find out soon.

[SmittynMo]

19. Throw the "squirrel" off the bridge.

Watch Rmoney chase it with his tongue out!!!

Don't freak out here...... The squirrel survives, cuz he's smart.

[davidpdx]

11. The one thing I've said when people bring this up is

the change would be a logistical nightmare. They would have to overnight (pretty much) replace all the campaign material, replace commercials, buses/planes would have to have the name replaced, a new website, etc. Assuming this didn't happen before the convention, that would given them a week at best to change things over. Any longer and they would be toast.

The other thing the Democrats could capitalize on is the issue of whether the Republicans are trustworthy to nominate a candidate who is capable of being president. It would make them look like bigger idiots then they already are.

Honestly this is why I don't see them doing it.

[Rosco T.]

12. the cost would be nothing...

... "hey Sheldon, another 100 million!"

[davidpdx]

16. To superpacs yes

To the candidate no. In fact, there maybe issues with what happens to the money Romney has collected for the General Election. He can't spend it if he's not the nominee. The question is whether that would be transferable or whether they would have to give the entire amount back to the donors and they would have to donate again to the new candidate. I don't think it's as easy as you are making it out to be.

I do agree that Romney is a weak opponent.

What you are hypothetically suggesting might happen could create more of a headache then it was worth.

[madinmaryland]

13. Unless KKKarl Rove has someone already lined up, then the replacement

would have a mountain the size of Everest to climb to catch up to President Obama. Fundraising, staffing, etc.

[brooklynite]

14. No, no, no, no, no, no

Some people REALLY don't consider the implications of a Presidential candidate dropping out...

First, the message in the media (yes, even that "corporate" media everyone hates), will be "chaos reigns; Republican campaign collapses". Hardly a good starting point.

Second, if the nominees drops out, there's no easy way to "anoint" a replacement. Are the Ron Paul delegates going to go along the leadership's choice? How about the Rick Santorum supporters? After all, they slogged through the Primaries, why pick a newcomer with no campaign experience?

Third, the new candidate cannot take the old candidate's money under the FEC rules. Which means they have two months to collect the money that Romney spent two years raising.

Now, taking all that into account, and the strong likelihood of a loss in any event, where are you going to find a serious contender to fill Mitt's shoes? Anyone who plans to run in 2016 won't want to taint their reputation with a landslide loss, and if you're looking for a someone to take a bullet for the team, why not stick with Mittens?

[area51]

20. +1 n/t

[Generic Brad]

15. And...that would be bad thing...because?

[Major Hogwash]

17. How would that help the GOP party?? Bush isn't going to their convention, neither is Darth Vader.

Nobody is going to be there that is important.
Sister Sarah isn't going to speak.
Newt isn't going to speak.
Howdy Doody isn't even going to show up!

Instead they are recycling crappy stump speeches from old, worn out, has-beens like McCain, Huckabuck, and Condi Rice.
You'd think they could find 3 other better, more convincing liars, but they can't get any other people to sell their souls so cheap that they would lie their asses off saying that the Republicans are the "family values" party.

Not anymore.

The revolution won't be televised.
It will be on YouTube.

[SmittynMo]

18. I completely understand your concern here, but

the idiots on the far right are totally behind him. For what reason I do not know. Stupid is as stupid does. This guy makes Bush look good. They'll stick with him to the end.

[yellowcanine]

21. Not going to happen. I give you 1992 when the same thing was happening to G.H.W. Bush.

Only difference was Bush was the incumbent President, not the challenger. But the trend was the same. The campaign was going nowhere but down. Wingnuts were screaming about having an "open convention" to dump Bush in favor of someone else - Pat Buchanan, perhaps. Yes. That Pat. But instead, Buchanan got to make a red meat speech at the convention, further sealing Bush's fate, and Bush got renominated and went on to lose in an EV landslide.

[HeiressofBickworth]

22. I've thought so since the beginning of Romney's campaign

He's the one sticking his neck out, giving the Dems a bag full of gaffs, bad policy, and general idiocy. Romney is out there, believing he is fulfilling the Mormon White Horse prophesy while the magicians behind the screen know that things aren't going well. He will NEVER release his tax returns. At some point, I think the Mrs. will have "a relapse" of MS and he will have an honorable way to withdraw. So who will be trotted out as THE candidate? Many possibilities, but I've been thinking Jeb Bush. It will be hard (and more expensive) to run against him because there won't be that bag full of gaffs, bad policy and general idiocy from which to draw.

[NYC Liberal]

23. Never, ever going to happen. It would be disastrous for the GOP,

even more so that keeping Romney is. Changing candidates mid-game at the convention would be tantamount to a surrender of the election. The new, un-"elected" candidate would have no credibility and there would be a revolt from the GOP voters who had no voice in the selection.

Now, I wouldn't mind that and so in some ways I really do hope it happens. But it's not going to because they are not that stupid.

People were saying the exact same things in 2008 about what a terrible candidate McCain was and how he would be replaced by Jeb Bush at the convention. Then he chose Palin and after a week tons of people here were insisting she would be replaced within another week or two. Never happened, because of what I described above.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

24. I wanna see the fist fights and furniture throwing!! And duels!

No matter what happens, the Ron Paul delegates that took over several state conventions are not going to sit down and shut up.

My parents told me about fistfights and walkouts at the State Democratic Convention in 1958. They were trying to get Henry B. Gonzalez nominated for Governor.