The clear winner was Romney. It is not hard to see why. In the polls he is either leading or neck and neck with the leader in every early state. He is a known quantity because of his run four years ago and it is clearly the man to beat in the Republican primary.
So, let me give you a little background on him. He is one of the few serious candidates for president this time around that I have not met, but that is not because he doesn't get around. He was born in Michigan to a businessman, and later popular Governor (likely Michigan could be in play if he is the nominee). He is Mormon so in the middle of his time in college he went on his Mission. (I am jealous of this part) His Mission was France for two years. Also he was a counter protester against the hippies. Anyway, he then finished college, got his BA and JD, and went into business.
He didn't really get into politics until in 1994 he challenged Ted Kennedy and ran for the Massachusetts senate seat. He lost, but that (and the fact that he ran the 2002 Olympics) allowed him to launch a strong campaign for Governor in 2002. He didn't run again. But he did decide that he wanted to be president so he ran for the Republican nomination in 2008 and he is now running again.
Now THE GOOD.
- He is running on the full Republican platform.
- He has the name recognition to get elected.
- He doesn't have personal baggage.
THE BAD
- He's record in Massachusetts is really bad if care about big government, ending abortion, or protecting traditional marriage.
- He ran to the left of Kennedy when he ran for Senate.
- He probably will not be able to beat Obama.*
- There are rumors that he has a glass ceiling for non-Mormons.
- He has changed his positions quite a bit when he decided to run for president.**
THE ROMNEY:
In the end, I like what he is saying now, even though his record is horrible, I trust him enough to think that he will do what he says and at least not go against conservative principles. If he were to win the nomination, I would support him.
What do you think? Would you vote for Romney?
-Jeremiah Lorrig
*I don't think he can win because I know a lot of conservatives who say that they will never vote for him (based on his record) even if it meant voting third party. I don't know if this would necessarily hold when people are faced with another Obama term, but I can say this: they will not work hard for him. Even if they vote for him, they will not be out there telling their friends to vote. When the base is dead, you may put on a “good effort” but it will be like McCain all over again. No one really wants him, so no one works to make it happen.
**I like how he has changed and want to welcome everyone to my side of things.
His father was George W. Romney, governor of Michigan. The Wikipedia entry has some family background that may be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Romney
ReplyDeleteE. Thanks! He is an interesting guy. And Wikipeia is great. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed, and somewhat bewildered, at your trust in him in light of his big government record. But then again, I tend to be critical and wary of every politician I don't know personally (which is pretty much all of them).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I couldn't in good conscience vote for him if there was another choice, even a shade utter. However, should it come down to a Romney/Obama showdown, I'd have to pick the "lesser of evils", assuming of course that Romney will indeed be at least "less bad" than Obama.
Terribly sad that our country has come to the place where there is no longer a clear choice between good and bad candidates- it has become a "who's worse? Ok don't vote for them" kind of election process.
Lady21, I hope you don't think I'm walking in blind. As you can see in THE BAD, I don't pull any punches regarding his record. It truly is bad. But he has taken very specific positions in the campaign that I don't think he can back out of without losing all face. So, I think the fact that people have been holding his feet to the fire is good. And if he is the Republican nominee everyone will need to be willing to remind him of his promises.
ReplyDeleteI attended a private dinner two years ago where Mr. Romney spoke briefly. If first impressions count for anything, I could not shake my overall feeling that I could not trust this guy, despite wanting to very badly for the sake of our politics. Considering his rather unimpressive political record I find his persistence in trying to be president extremely self-serving. I did not walk away from him thinking "This man wants to help America". I want to elect a public servant, not advance someone's career.
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