A Vote For Romney Is…

A Vote For Romney Is…

By: Chad Stenzel


If you’re scoring at home, it’s 0-4. That would be Mitt Romney’s record in contested states where his father was not a 3-term governor. By any measure, that can’t inspire a lot of confidence at Camp Willard. The guess here is when the filing deadline arrives Thursday (and not a minute before), the former governor of Massachusetts will admit to plugging more than $30,000,000 of his own money into this race. Keep in mind, that number will be reflective through 2007 only. He undoubtedly frittered away much more of his hard-earned fortune once the votes started coming in. While Romney is gloriously wealthy, he’s not Ross Perot-crazy-throw a few thousand dollars on the fire because it’s getting chilly in here-wealthy. At this point, the aspirant has probably waved goodbye to 15% of his net worth. I’m starting to get the feeling I get watching Deal or No Deal when some poor sap turns down 100 grand from the banker because they “just know” they have the winning case. Predictably, they go bust and walk away with a couple hundred bucks and the home version of the game.

Now for the really bad news. He can’t win. Despite outspending opponents at every turn by rates of ten and twenty to one; when Mitt Romney presents himself as a candidate to the republican electorate; they listen, take measure and find him wanting. The rural mid-westerners, the northeastern neighbors, the good folks of Dixie, and the melting pot that makes up the Sunshine state, all took a long look and said, “No thanks.” The “path to victory” you always hear campaigns trumpet, simply doesn’t exist. And all the chirping the Clear Channel cheerleaders can muster won’t create one.

Since 1968 the track to republican victory has been found south of the Mason-Dixon line. For Romney, this almost derails his campaign before it gets out of the station. In South Carolina Mitt spent money like a drunken sailor and got doubled up by TWO competitors. The Bible Belt won’t buy what Romney’s selling no matter who’s vouching for him. His record flies in the face of the values those voters hold dear. Romney had troubling stances as a Massachusetts politician with regard to abortion, gun control, government mandated health care and stem-cell research. But wait, there’s more! Now we know, long before a disembodied voice was whispering sweet nothings in his ear at opportune times, Mitt was writing love letters to the Log Cabin Republicans. In a 1994 correspondence in which he vowed to do more for their cause than Ted Kennedy had, he wrote the following in reference to Bill Clinton’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell military policy:

“I believe that the Clinton compromise was a step in the right direction. I am also convinced that it is the first in a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nations military.”

That plays well in Soho and Hollywood but I wouldn’t recommend the governor includes that in his stump speech in Georgia. To be sure, the South is in play, just not for Mitt. Mike Huckabee looks very solid in several of the southern Super Tuesday states and his chief rival appears to be John McCain. So where can Romney win?

Romney’s past centrist (to be kind) positions should help him in the northeast and west coast. Unfortunately, those areas are in McCain’s wheelhouse. The Manhattan elites and the left coast libs simply adore Mac. (As much as they can adore someone with an R next to their name) While that won’t buy him a cup of coffee in November, (no matter what he says) it will garner him the lion’s share of the delegates that come from those regions. So, again, where can Romney win?

He has already shown us. Mitt Romney, the picture-perfect, well-heeled, establishment candidate with countless hours of free advertising emanating from radios every day; can pick off a couple of rustbelt states with terrible economies and a few more in the mountain west where high Mormon populations will push him over the top. (Yes Virginia, there is a candidate counting on identity politics.) That showing won’t get him a good seat on the floor in St. Paul, much less the nomination. So, John McCain is a good choice, right?

Wrong. The senator from Arizona has made a cottage industry out of thumbing his nose at conservative principles. You don’t get cameos in big budget movies because you unwaveringly toe the conservative line. Remember Jesse Helms in Lethal Weapon 2? Neither do I. Senator McCain, for all his faults, is a leader. It’s his name on the campaign finance disaster that curtails free speech and gave rise to such beauties as moveon.org and America Coming Together. It’s his name on the amnesty bill that might as well read, “Come here illegally, stay out of trouble, enjoy the good life and just don’t tell everyone back home the deal we’ve got. OK?” It’s his name on the 2004 anti-Gun Show bill that sought to close off private sales and further the registration of guns and gun owners. Yes, Senator McCain is a leader. Unfortunately, he leads in the wrong direction too often.

McCain has a history of attacking evangelicals and their values. In 2000 he infamously referred to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as “agents of intolerance”. Here’s what he had to say about abortion in 1999, “In the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force “X” number of women in America to undergo illegal and dangerous operations.” You can infer he has no problem with “X” number of unborn babies being slaughtered every year. That doesn’t sound like the candidate real conservatives should coalesce around. Don’t fret. There is hope.

Give Hope a (second) chance. Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas, is the only man that can defeat Senator McCain and capture the nomination for conservatism. He served more than 10 years as his state’s Top Dog (or should that be razorback?) and improved the states infrastructure, raised the national education rank from 49th to 8th , passed the first broad-based tax cut in the state’s history and turned an inherited $200,000,000 deficit into an $800,000,000 surplus. He took on the Clinton political machine four times and beat them soundly, despite having the deck heavily stacked against him. Governor Huckabee is the only candidate in the race who has consistently stood for life, traditional marriage, and the second amendment. Closing the IRS is at the heart of the governor’s economic policy. His border security plan has received rave reviews from the founder of The Minutemen and U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter. It’s true he hails from the same hometown as Bill Clinton. (To be fair, Clinton moved to Hot Springs when he was young, but “The man from Hot Springs” didn’t sound right in a campaign commercial. Although, it certainly would have been a more apropos foreshadow of things to come.) This man from Hope is offering just that to voters all across the country.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll hear the main stream media pushing the Senator from the southwest as the new “inevitable” candidate. This, of course, is hilarious since, as of this writing, seven of the fifty states that make up this union have voted. The rest of us still have work to do. My only caution is, use your vote wisely. Because, a fair reading of the facts shows; despite all his money; despite his thousands of ads; despite the incessant exhorting, distorting and record-contorting by those on talk radio. A vote for Romney is…a vote for McCain.