C-Poll

The latest C-Poll is closed. You can read all about it here!

June 24, 2009

Romney redux?

Just five months into the Obama administration, and National Review has already resumed beating the drums for Mitt Romney.

Rich Lowry today:

If Republicans want a presidential candidate who lives clean and whose family hasn't been involved in tabloid scandals, it might soon be Mitt Romney by process of elimination.

Lowry appears to be lumping Sarah Palin in with those who should be disqualified because of ‘tabloid scandals’. It apparently doesn’t matter that virtually all of the so-called scandals are the result of a concerted, ongoing smear campaign by Democrat operatives (silently cheered on by some of her potential opponents).

The Palin family’s one “legitimate” scandal, daughter Bristol’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy, has been handled by the family in a way that has left Sarah’s popularity largely intact within the conservative base. Again, it’s the left’s unrelenting smear campaign that is keeping this in the news at all.

As for Romney…

He talked a good talk in the 2008 primaries, but I had trouble reconciling his campaign rhetoric with one inescapable truth:

This is a man who was acceptable to the majority of voters in Massachusetts, one of our country’s most left-leaning states.

My 2008 favorite (Fred Thompson) was eliminated early in the primary season, and I was prepared to reluctantly pull the lever for Romney as the next best candidate, but the nagging doubts stayed my hand. I ended up voting for Fred anyway, since he was still on the ballot. I might have supported Romney in the general election, but in the primaries I couldn’t get past the impression that he was coming across as an opportunist.

Regardless… Romney still has a lot to prove in order to earn my vote (assuming he runs again). If Palin runs – without being bloodied too much by the smear campaigns – Mitt can pretty much forget about my vote in the primary.



UPDATE: Well, at least John McCain appears to be accepting the inevitable:

3 comments:

Lindsay said...

I love Romney. He may be an opportunist, but think about it. His previous profession...consultant for failing companies on how to succeed. After the crap Obama and Congress are putting through Congress (Write your Senators to vote AGAINST the Cap & Trade Bill on Friday), we need someone to take us out of this.

I always liked Romney, and I'd love it if he ran. I voted for him in the primary, and I would definitely vote again!

Pending some scandal.

Tim said...

Lindsay, what do you think about his universal healthcare initiative from when he was governor?

Wendell said...

I don't trust Romney. His conservative credentials are just too squishy for my taste and seem like a conversion for the sake of winning office. Simply put, a real conservative should not have been able to win in Mass. If he is willing to change his stripes that quickly, I can't trust him to become president.

As for Sarah, I have a feeling that all these trumped up ethics charges will eventually wear her down, or cast enough doubt in the minds of the American people, that they won't vote for her. After all, look at the hatchet job done on her surrounding the Katie Couric interview.

I would vote for her in a minute, but I have my doubts I will get a chance to.

One thing I have decided is that I will no longer vote for someone who is, or I reasonably expect to be a RINO. The Republican party has lost my confidence and my votes. Each candidate will have to prove himself to a strict standard of morality and conservative principles. I will not vote for the lesser of two evils anymore.