Poor Mitt Romney
I watched Mitt Romney on several newstalk shows this week. He’s pretty slick. He’s well spoken. If the guy had stuck to being a pro-choice, pro-gay rights guy who also happened to be a successful pro-business guy, I think he’d have a viable shot at the presidency–as a Democrat. Maybe not this year, but who knows. He’s a powerful fundraiser. He’ll raise enough money to be seen as a serious candidate until the votes start coming in. He might even do okay in Iowa and New Hampshire.
He should have stuck to what he believed and switched parties instead of trying to tack right and stay a Republican. Had he done that, he could have been a two-term governor of Massachusetts which looks better than being a one termer who had no shot at getting re-elected. He could have used the Bill Clinton strategy of walking a little to the right during his last couple of years in his last term while he was running for the presidency. Trying to do that in one term makes you look both incredibly cynical and politocally weak. You’ve got some chance, as a Democrat, at getting southern Baptist Democrats to vote for a mormon if he’s vague and ecumenical in his use of religious language. As a guy with strong ties to Massachusetts and Michigan, he wouldn’t be in a bad spot as a Democrat. John McCain and and Rudy Giuliani both have to implode for Romney to have a real shot as a Republican, though.
I can say with little fear of being proven wrong that southern Baptists will vote for a pro-gay, pro-choice Rudy Giuliani before they’ll vote for a Mormon. I’d say this is especially true for a Mormon who used to be pro-gay and pro-choice who looks like he may have taken his right wing turn just so he can be president. McCain may be the presumptive front-runner, but I would actually give the edge to Giuliani at this point. Southerners have been skeptical of McCain in his past runs. I think his hawkier than Bush stance on Iraq in recent months is a calculated attempt at trying to court southern voters. I think it’s gonna backfire. Whether it’s deserved or not, I don’t think any Republican is going to paint themselves as better on terror than Giuliani.
