When Mitt Romney (R-MA) spoke at the 34th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last year (“a smug demeanor and a smirk that set The Stiletto’s teeth on edge”), The Stiletto immediately pegged him as a phony. Her gut instincts proved out during the year that followed.
Romney’s inauthenticity (some would call it a “candor gap”) is the Number One reason his candidacy failed – his claim of being a “lifelong hunter” just one of many examples. Here are the other reasons:
2. McCain wanted it more. As a candidate, John McCain (R-AZ) had bottomed out on every resource that is the lifeblood of a campaign – momentum in the polls, staffers and money. Down to his last $1 million in late 2007 he had to take out a $3 million bank loan (and a life insurance policy) to keep going. He sucked it up, changed his campaign strategy and embarked on a grueling schedule of town hall meetings and stump speeches in the early primary states, taking cheap flights and staying in budget hotels. Clearly, surrender is not in this man’s vocabulary.
3. He never articulated a rationale for his candidacy. McCain is the straight-talking war-hero, who wants to win the war in Iraq and will pay for our continued engagement by eliminating earmarks and pork-barrel spending. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) is the anti-Romney – the IRS-bashing populist, who wants to protect our jobs by eliminating incentives for businesses to outsource them abroad and imposing penalties on employers hiring low-wage forged documented aliens. Voters could never get a fix on the shape-shifting Romney: He is the champion of values voters – no wait! – make that a hardnosed businessman – no wait! – make that a dispenser of government largesse – no wait! – make that the candidate who will “change” everything. The one-time venture capitalist even became a populist. Consequently, Romney did not develop a coherent message and kept reinforcing his image as a flip-flopper and a panderer on every issue that matters – especially to “true” conservatives.
4. He didn’t do that hot a job as the governor of MA. The economic turnaround Romney achieved in MA is less than impressive when one considers that the state has lagged nearly every other in job creation – 24,400 new jobs were added during his four-year tenure - and critics say the state is still struggling to recover from the 200,000 jobs lost during the 2001 recession. And even as the economy improved nationwide, unemployment remained stubbornly high in MA – 5.6 percent when Romney took office in 2002 and 5.2 percent when he left office in 2006 (at which point the national unemployment rate had fallen to 4.5 percent). And it’s also worth noting that other GOP governors have not supported his candidacy.
5. He badly underestimated – and mishandled - voters’ resistance to his belief system. That Huckabee is still in the race and Romney is not, is a testament to the deep discomfort that evangelicals - and other devout Christians – have with Mormonism. Leaving aside religious and irreligious folk alike who believe Mormonism is a bizarre cult (“magic underwear”), churchgoers were offended by certain precepts (Jesus and Satan are brothers) and practices (posthumous baptisms). Romney’s tactic was to label questions about his faith as “bigotry” (and some of it could be regarded as such) and to obfuscate on doctrinal matters, leaving it to Christopher Hitchens, of all people, to explain Mormonism to the electorate.
6. His patrician demeanor and aloofness left voters cold. Romney never seemed empathetic to the concerns of workaday voters. Huckabee, in particular, savaged Romney (second item) as the rich guy who buys a troubled company, sells off the assets and fires the employees. Romney’s business credentials - former chairman of a management-consulting firm and founder of a leveraged buyout firm – served less to inspire confidence that he could turn the faltering economy around than fear that he would protect Wall Street’s interests over Main Street’s.
Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto Blog.The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at .
The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at .
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13 users commented in " Why Romney Could Not (Maybe Can Never) Win The Presidency "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackStilletto,
Your analysis really sucks. Your claims are full of shit. I have not heard/read a worse argument for Romney’s unsuccessful bid for the nom, and I have heard hundreds.
Sorry you feel that way. The entire article was studded with links to supporting articles and analyses. Guess you did not bother to read them. So what’s YOUR explanation for why no one wanted to vote for Romney even after Rush Limbaugh’s relentless onslaught against McCain and Huckabee? It’s not enough to say The Stiletto’s analysis “sucks” - you have to offer your own presumably superior analysis.
Your article makes me laugh. You missed on Mitt. Romney never has been a phony ie his speech at CPAC this year not only showed he was a true conservative but that he placed his own ambitions behind those of what’s best for the country.
His bigger problem was the suspicion raised by his mormonism and those that tried to make him out to be an oportunist. It was simply a matter of definition rather than sincerety. He’ll be back.
By the way, if you had bothered to check, one of the defintions here in the west for being a life-long hunter is that you have used a rifle or a handgun and don’t mind killing varmints. But then I don’t suppose you really care.
Scott: The man never had a hunting license in any state he ever lived. The Stiletto got a concealed carry permit in one state she lived in, and a target permit in another state in which she lived (concealed carry being out of the question because of regulations). Worse, Romney was anti-Second Amendment when he ran for governor of MA. This man is not a hunter, but he is a Kerryeque flip-flopper and panderer. His own words - broadcast on YouTube for all to see - hung him as an insincere opportunist, not “anti-Mormon bigots.” Give it up, already.
Stilleto,
I live in the west, have never had a hunting license and consider myself pro 2nd amendment and a life long hunter. When I was a kid I used to hunt pheasants and rabbits all the time. As an adult I go pheasant hunting once a year at at private pheasant hunting resort and therefore do not need a license. Mitt Romney is much the same. He hunted rabbits and other “small game” not requiring a license as a youth (very common in Idaho where his cousins lived) and has on occasion hunted in private hunts as an adult as well.
Pure and simple, the reason Mitt Romney is not the Republican nominee is because he is Mormon. Mike Huckabee won Iowa because the evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for the preacher and against the Mormon. The south has always had deep anti-mormon tendencies (I should know, I served a Mormon mission there in the late 80’s). Romney won in places that are not afraid of Mormons: Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Maine, North Dakota and Michigan. Notice a pattern here. All north of the Mason-Dixon line. The south has gotten over it’s anti-black bigotry (evidence Obama) but has not yet overcome it’s anti-Mormon bigotry. Mike Huckabee’s own oficial website was littered with anti-Mormon hate speech in the comments sections (the non reporting of this is somewhat curious to me by the way)and he did nothing to stop it or remove the comments.
Mitt Romney is pro-life, supports the second amendment, is strong on the war, on illegal imagration, supports lower taxes, and a federal marriage amendment. He is the perfect Rebublican candidate….if only he were baptist.
>Mitt Romney is pro-life, supports the second amendment, is strong on the war, on illegal imagration, supports lower taxes, and a federal marriage amendment. He is the perfect Rebublican candidate….if only he were baptist
Which Mitt Romney are you talking about? The Mitt Romney who campaigned on a pro-choice, anti-Second Amendment, pro-gay marriage platform in MA? Plus, the ecoonomy there is still lagging, and his universal healthcare program is turning out to be as big a boondoggle as the Big Dig.
If you think being an evangelical/Baptist minister is going to help Huckabee outside his natural constituency, you’re dreaming. Huckabee faces the same hurdles that Romney faced. Richard Cohen of the WaPo has already written several editorials criticizing Huckabee for not believing in evolution.
Romney was far from the perfect Republican - none of the candidates were perfect. But with the notable exception of Romney (and to a much lesser degree Huckabee) McCain, Giuliani, Hunter, Brownback, etc. stayed on message without flip flopping and pandering, so even though you disagreed with a candidate on one or more issues, at least you knew what you were getting. Romney kept changing his message on a weekly basis.
Face facts: Some people did not vote for him because he is a Mormon. But most people did not vote for him because he was a lousy candidate.
You are either ignorant of the facts or you are lying. Mitt Romney never was for gay marriage. He said he would be a strong advocate for gay rights back in 1994 when gay marriage was not even on the radar. He is for traditional marriage and against discrimnation of gays…the two are not mutually exclusive.
As to the 2nd amendment, again he believes much as I do: Every citizen has the right to keep arms, however every citizen does not have a right to cop killer bullets and assault weapons whose sole purpose is to kill people. You can be for some gun laws and still support the 2nd amendment. He did change his views on abortion. He admitted he was wrong and has been solidly on the side of life ever since. All of these supposed flip-flops are his record today against his record 4-12 years ago.
You say the other candidates did not flip-flop? McCain was against the tax cuts before he was for them. He was for McCain Kennedy, now he says he has seen the light and we need to build a fence 1st. Guiliani was for partial birth abortion and then changed his position. He supported a sanctuary city, now says we need to toughen up on imigration.
I am facing the facts. The south did not vote for Mitt because of his religion. That is the fact. Mitt won in the states that either knew him, Mass, Maine, Mich, or were not afraid of Mormonism (the west) and he lost in the south.
Romney did not change his message, the media highlighted every tiny, minute discrepency and called it a flip flop while completely ignoring the changes is other candidates positions. I did not say Mitt would have won if he were a baptist preacher like Huckabee, he would have won had he been an ordinary baptist. Those are the facts.
Your misstatements are too numerous for me to deal with. So THe Stiletto will just deal with a couple of them randomly and call it a day.
Ed Koch instituted the sanctuary city policy, and successive mayors left it in place. Giulinani, to his credit, rounded up criminal illegals which his predecessor, Dinikins, did not do.
McCain said - with some justificatioon - that this country has never cut taxes during a time of war. The result was that Rumsfeld fought the war on the cheap and we were spinning our wheels until the “surge” which was nothing more than getting the number of troops into Iraq that should have been there in the first place. Now that the economy is faltering - new set of circumstances to which McCain has to react - he correctly notes that raising taxes on people and businesses would hamoper recovery. As for immigration, you could call it a flip flop or you can call it listening to the base.
If your state had a primary or caucus when Romney was still in the race and you
had a chance to vote for him, bully for you. The Stiletto’s preferred candidate had dropped out by the time her state got to vote so she went with her Number Two choice. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. Stop your boo-hooing.
“Stop your boo-hooing.”?
No boo-hooing whatsoever. I was simply responding to and refuting your claim.
“His own words - broadcast on YouTube for all to see - hung him as an insincere opportunist, not “anti-Mormon bigots.” Give it up, already.”
Mitt Romney is not the Republican nominee because of anti-Mormon bigotry in the south, pure and simple. Yes, some repubs did not like him for one reason or another but the facts remain the same. Southern voters do not trust Mormons, just ask them. They even stated in exit polls that they thought Mitt was the better candidate but they voted for Huckabee because he “shared their values.” That is simply code for “we don’t like the Mormon.”
Have a nice night.
Considering that something like 9 out of 10 Mormons voted for Romney in Nevada and Utah, one might accuse them of anti-evangelical/Baptist bigotry. Unless, they were just voting for “one of their own,” whereas Huckabee supporters voting for “one of their own” are bigots. Be careful when you’re pointing fingers.
Plus, even though you don’t agree with The Stiletto’s analysis of why Romney did not catch on, the voters did.
Nice try,
Mormons don’t have a 150 year history of persecuting and hating Evangelicals. You could not find one anti-Evangelical post on Mitt’s site I could find literally hundreds on Huckabee’s. Even you could not resist linking to the ‘magic underwear” post. Nice. Mormons did vote for one of their own. Evangelicals voted against the Mormon. Again I point you to exit polls (sorry I don’t have the link) in Iowa that showed Evangelicals thought Mitt was the better candidate but voted for Huckabee anyway. Thousands of emails went out warning the electorate about the dangers of voting for a Mormon. Bill Keller in Florida said a voter for Mitt was a vote for Satan. I close with the same point as last time. Some voters did not like his policy changes and his positions. The majority of souther voters did not like his religion.
One more point,
Mormons cannot be accused of anti-Evangelica/Baptist bigotry because we have voted overwhelmingly for them in the past. President Bush has some of his highest polling numbers in Utah. Utah has also elected non-mormons to state wide positions in the past. Not ONE southern state has EVER elected a practicing Mormon to a state wide position. This is a stunning fact I know but it is true. The evidence of anti-Mormon bigotry in the south is one of the most under-reported events in this election cycle.
1) Al Mohler, the prominent Christian radio host, “agonized” over whether he could ever in good conscience vote for a Mormon.
2) James Dobson could not endorse McCain and Guiliani because of their views. He could not endorse Romney because of his religion. Pure and simple.
3) In the South Carolina state house, a McCain supported sent out emails and letters to thousands warning about the “Mormon Candidate.”
4) In Iowa, voters acknowledged that Romney was the better candidate but they voted for Huckabee anyway.
5) Bill Keller called a vote for Romney a vote for Satan, and not ONE SINGLE PROMINENT EVANGELICAL LEADER called him on it.
6) Time and time again pastors, preachers and ministers organized their congregations not to support a candidate but to rally against Romney.
The voters did not agree with your analysis. The voters in the south voted against Romney not for someone else. The voters everywhere else voted on the issues. That is why McCain won some (mostly liberal states), Romney won some (mostly conservative states) and Huckabee won some (mostly souther states). And because of this we are going to end up with either John McCain or a Democrat as President.
Lets face it, Mitt Romney didn’t make it because of the anti-Mormon bias. The other reason is because of the liberal Main Stream Media and their favorite son, McCain. They could only write nice things about McCain and deragatory ones about Mitt Romney.
In his private and public life, none of the other candidates even came close to his record.
1. Look at Mitt’s family. His wife, brother, sister, and 5 children were campaigning for him. His sons put their own lives on hold to campaign for him.
2. Mitt didn’t dump his wife after he learned she had Multiple Sclerosis, unlike McCain who dumped his first wife after her auto accident.
3. The point I am making is that the people who know him best, really look up to him and respect him. I have not heard any close friend or acquaintance slam him.
4. Mitt Romney is first a businessman and second a politician. As a result he looks at things differently. In the business world, the CEO represents the shareholders. Likewise his view is to represent the constituents. The flip flop is not so much that he doesn’t have a position, but it is more that he listens to the constituents.
5. Look at his success in business. He has helped many companies grow and become successful. Of course not all turn out. I have been at companies where the CEO’s have lied to the venture community just to get funding. The venture community later finds out it was just a scam and then have to let people go.
6. Mitt ran one of the most successful Olympics ever.
7. He was successful in balancing the budget in Massachusetts.
8. He established the first Health Care program in the Nation.
9. He is extremely organized. He ran the most organized campaigns. Even the liberal media had to give him credit for that. You didn’t see the turnover like in some of the other campaigns.
10. Where is the mud on Mitt Romney? Where are his skeletons? Since there wasn’t any, the Main Stream Media had to point out the only thing they could - his Mormon religion. They masked it with “Flip Flop.”
What Mitt Romney really wanted to do was to fix the economy, restore hope to America, fix our health care system, balance the budget, reduce the trade deficit by leveling the playing field, and restore jobs to America.
However along the way he had to play the political game and pander to the Southern Republicans.
Instead of slamming Mitt Romney, why don’t you write an article stating that due to the myopic Southern Republicans who won’t vote for anyone that does not go to their same church, they lost out on the best candidate.
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