"... a senior member of his 2012 team told me. Other Romney-ites, watching this cycle’s candidates falling short, feel a sense of vindication after all the attacks they endured after Romney's failed 2012 bid. 'These guys like Walker and Perry, they were big deals in their states, but you get them onto the national stage and it's a different story,' a former Romney adviser told me. 'It's like they were in middle school, and now they're freshmen in high school and they're getting their faces slammed in the toilets.'"
From "Romney Is Horrified by Trump — and That’s Restarting ‘Mitt 2016’ Talk" in New York Magazine.
September 2, 2015
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I like how Trump's wealth makes him immune to the donor class's influence. Why didn't we hear that in 2012 about Romney?
All is as it should be. If the othter candidates cannot take down Trump, then it is either because they are too inept (and therefore they would be toast going against Hillary's kill-squad) or because the GOP electorate knows what they know about Trump and still want to nominate him, in which case they deserve whatever comes from that.
Will it be a crash and burn come November, giving the Dems a rare third term in a row? Or will he soar like an eagle, winning the White House and governing with wisdom and decisiveness, making this country great again? That remains to be seen.
Good lord, this is getting idiotic. It's not like there's not 15 other people to choose from, a few of whom might even be better.
I am horrified by the mere thought of Project Orca 2.0. And I like Mitt personally.
But. Let's. Get. Real.
If Romney couldn't win in 2012, he doesn't deserve to ever win. Actually it was proven when he froze up facing Obama and Candy Crowley over Benghazi in the so-called "debate."
The best thing for Mitt and these other GOP rich guys to do, is to consolidate around a non-Trump candidate, jeez is that so hard? Pick Walker! Pick Rubio!
That's the only way to beat Trump.
But, to be fair, I don't think Trump is that bad. In fact, as he gets closer to an actual vote (Iowa Feb '16), you're gonna see him temper his remarks and tone and try to act more presidential. Trust me on this.
"But, to be fair, I don't think Trump is that bad. In fact, as he gets closer to an actual vote (Iowa Feb '16), you're gonna see him temper his remarks and tone and try to act more presidential. Trust me on this."
I don't know about that--if he tempers his remarks, he'd be giving up the very thing that his supporters love most about him.
'he doesn't deserve to ever win. Actually it was proven when he froze up facing Obama and Candy Crowley over Benghazi in the so-called "debate."'
Because that's what America needs in a leader in these critical times: someone with good quick comebacks.
Romney is not planning to run again, and any speculation about this is just idle talk from supporters trying to keep him in the news or media types trying to find something to talk about other than the usual "gee, why is Trump still on top of the GOP field?" and "hey, Hillary lied yet again and can't seem to figure out how to handle classified information!" stories.
As noted above, Romney's best chance was 2012 (or arguably 2008, had he made a better run in the primaries then). He's smart enough to know it'd be a huge mistake to jump in this cycle.
"Because that's what America needs in a leader in these critical times: someone with good quick comebacks"
Nah. Someone who doesn't wilt and go squishy under pressure.
Trump is not the answer to America's problems.
Mitt is not the answer to the GOP's problems with Trump, and Mitt's had multiple chances to be the answer to America's problems. He's no more viable as a potential GOP nominee than McCain, Jim Gilmore, or any member of the Bush family.
The 2016 Republican primary was supposed to be an epically strong slate capable of showing the greatness of the Republican Party. Now, donors are begging for their previous sad pathetic losing candidate to come save them from all these idiots and embarrassments. A strong majority in the primary polling is going to a group of candidates that are completely unqualified to be President. What horror!
Let me know when Mitt's ready to work for it. Then I'll consider him. He was right on all the key issues against Barack Obama, but he didn't want to do the hard work of campaigning and selling his positions to the American people.
In a nutshell, he thought all he had to do was say "I'm not Barack Obama" in 2012, and all he has to do is say "I'm not Donald Trump" in 2015. He has a great track record as a "Mr. Fixit," but that's not going to be nearly enough.
Trump at least knows what America's problems are and uses language very precisely to
Announce that they are
Our common target for the brave men he is willing to risk
Leading into battle to
neuter them.
The Mormon
aristocracy is not an
Answer to anything.
I am horrified by Romney.
If he had the best interests
of this country at heart, he should
have showed it by actually fighting
to win in 2012.
Good businessman, wonderful human being,
lacking in killer instinct. The latter is
what I am looking for. Enough of McConnell-
Boehner "We can't do that. It's not polite."
I think Romney's best argument is to vote for him so we can get a conservative Justice on the Supreme Court. Someone like John Roberts.
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
Not getting fooled again. Fuck you GOP Establishment. Cave already. We all know you will eventually, so just get that part over so we can move on.
Tell us again how you really tried to do something about Planned Parenthood and the Iran Treaty, but gosh gee golly you just couldn't find the votes.
That is November after next.
Romney looks better all the time compared with the others, but he would have to run as his own man and avoid Karl Rove like the plague.
Jeez it's like all these campaign consultants, accustomed to a regular every four years of bathing in a tsunami of campaign cash, are looking at Trump's self-funded campaign and they are screaming "OMG how are we gonna get our money?"?
Once again, nonsense. Just a diversion by liberal media. Mitt isn't going to run. Read the third paragraph.
Gotta love Mitt's noblesse oblige. If he possessed a smidgen of political talent, could lie convincingly about his positions, and had some clue as to what was going on, he would be a great candidate.
I don't think Trump's popularity should somehow be interpreted to mean that the nation is clamoring for Mitt Romney.
If Mitt h ad just a bit of Trump in him, he'd be pres now.
Like Fen, I ain't voting if the Repub is a RINO or just another establishment ahole.
So, none of these can earn my vote: Kasich, Bush, Huckabee, Pataki, Perry, Rand Paul [not a Rino but might be screwy], and I may include Rubio on this list.
I believe Christie had potential at one time but he has RINO tendencies and Bridgegate ruined his credibility.
So I would vote for Trump, Carson, Fiorina, Cruz and probably Walker.
Trump has made his mark in every area of human endeavor he has found himself so far. But if he fail in his political bid, then he remain 'the apprentice' in politics.
Have we ever seen a headline "Romney is horrified by Obama"?
Mitt, while he might make a fine president, has the same problem that McCain and Dole had - they don't energize the base, they only satisfy the establishment.
I want someone to be excited over, not warm mush that I'm told is healthy for me.
Of course the democrats want Romney to run.
Blogger AJ Lynch said...
Jeez it's like all these campaign consultants, accustomed to a regular every four years of bathing in a tsunami of campaign cash, are looking at Trump's self-funded campaign and they are screaming "OMG how are we gonna get our money?"?
I wonder how long he will be self funded for.
Right now, I think a lot of the money comes from flying around and staying in hotels. Well, Trump has helicopters and jets to take care of the moving around, and he probably has a few billion hotel points to take care of the hotel stays.
But when he needs campaign offices in all 50 states?
I wish Mitt was our president today -- and I'm sure a lot of people who were ambivalent in 2012 feel that way too.
I can completely put myself in Romney's shoes in 2012 with Crowley. I watched that debate and he was screwed: He had Obama backed into a corner and suddenly Crowley says he's wrong. He pushes back, it's 2 against 1 in a debate. Maybe he should've fought back, but Obama stopped wilting when Crowley backed him up and came on the offense - It could have easily gone alot worse for Romney if he had attacked. Did he lose in his moment of victory? Yes. It was disgusting of Crowley and of Obama. That debate disgusts me.
Did he lose because of the 47% comment as well? Yes, and he deserved to lose alot of votes as a result. You should never say someone in private like that you aren't willing to say in public.
But the bottom line is the intervening years have proven Romney right - he took stances that were correct. On foreign and domestic policy.
I think he'd be a fine choice, but I'd be just as happy seeing him as a cabinet member too.
@MPH, Hell, I'd take Dubya back in a heartbeat. (Not his brother though.)
Mitt, George W -- Hell, I'd even say old Bob Dole would be light years better than what we have now.
The problem is that the Democratic Party (and a big chunk of their voters) are so far left, and so destructive of our country's heritage and values, that it's more important to prevent them from wielding power, than it is too get a genuinely Conservative president. Look what Democrats have done to some of our once great cities, Chicago, Baltimore & Detroit. Look what deBlasio is doing to NY.
Hence, while many Republicans will let you down and sell you out, they are, as a class, preferable to the Democrats who will confiscate your wealth and turn your City into Detroit or Baltimore.
So, in the primaries, I'm honestly trying to find the best candidate, (leaning Walker or Rubio, right now) but in the General election, I will gladly and proudly vote for Trump, Carson or Fiorino, against that she-devil, Hillary and her leftist minions.
Jesus Fucking Christ, no, no, no!
False Grackle
"Trump is not the answer to America's problems."
Trump IS INDEED the answer to America's problems in one major respect. He doesn't take any crap and he doesn't traffic in political correctness, and when confronted with either or both of those by the media or by his critics, he gets right back in their faces and gives it back every bit as good as he gets, if not better. Does anybody seriously believe that the democrat party and MSM tag team are going to treat the next Republican president any differently than they treated Bush? That they're going to somehow be nicer or more respectful? That they're going to stop telling outrageous and vicious lies and otherwise doing everything they can legally or illegally to undermine him or her? The fact is they've been treating every Republican president the same since Nixon, out to "get" them, always playing the "gotcha" scandal game, looking for ways to hound them from office. I contend the only Republican candidate who can and will stand up to this, who will get back in their faces and give it right back to them, and the only one who can break that cycle that's been going on since Nixon is Trump.
"Actually it was proven when he froze up facing Obama and Candy Crowley over Benghazi in the so-called "debate."
It's called "good manners:" which is a rarity in American politics. I would vote for Romney in a second but I don't think he will get in unless the convention deadlocks, which could happen.
I don't see him "running" for the nomination. I do see him responding to an appeal like he did with the Salt Lake City winter Olympics a few years ago. He is supremely competent and was treated very unfairly by people who assert that Trump's leftist comments don't mean a thing.
I don;t know if Trump will implode or even go on and be a decent president. I like Walker and Carly better.
The Obama / Romney Debate was an example of the left fixing the scales so they always tilt left.
Obama has richly rewarded the members of his "Top and Bottom" coalition. There is growing anger about it but it remains to be seen if it can be handled without violence. I still think 2012 was the last chance to get out of the death spiral without violence but maybe I'm wrong.
I don't think Richard Fernandez thinks so.
“It’s an unanticipated consequence of Barack Obama’s presidency: his immobilization of the anti-war legions, the way his election immediately neutered the zealots who, if a Republican were in office, would be marching against drone strikes and mass surveillance and war in Afghanistan and air war in Libya, Syria, Iraq and proxy war in Yemen.” To raise these subjects might bring up the question of whether the administration made a fundamental strategic mistake.
There’s no outrage because the media, our bipartisan political establishment, and indeed the American people themselves are unwilling to face the scope of the challenge the Islamic State presents. To uproot it we would have to send U.S. ground forces to Iraq in large numbers, not just special forces operating in tandem with unrestricted air support. We would have to retake and hold ground lost in the years since we departed Iraq, and we would have to commit to remaining in Iraq and Syria for a long time. To deal a blow to radical Islam that would deter recruitment, stop the bandwagon effect, and secure America from attack by militants and their fellow-travelers would require a military and economic commitment the United States, least of all our president, is simply not prepared to make.
The administration probably blundered, but as Continetti seems not to realize, we are in a special situation where the administration’s mistakes don’t matter. We live in a special world without acknowledged consequences. The withdrawal is a done deal; something that is too late to change now. Policies as outcomes of power don’t matter, only the brute fact of it does.
We are probably beyond saving.
The problem is not in the stars, Crowley, or Romney, McCain, or the Clown Car.
You know where it is.
Buy bullets. Lots of bullets. And liquor. Lots of liquor.
people are missing one of the biggest draws Trump has. I'll come right out and say i don't want Trump as president. But if he burns the GOPe to the ground it will be worth it. I am sick and tired of the GOPe selling out. Just look at the Iran deal. "Well we can't stop it now, they got 34 votes" You know how you could have stopped it? By not voting for the Corker bill. As soon as that POS passed I KNEW the fix was in for Iran. We have a 2 party system. One party is rushing head long with arms outstretched for communism and socialism. The other party is walking sedately. My wife was pulling for Trump from the get go. I pointed out that he wasn't a conservative. She pointed out that neither were any of the GOPe. She always was the smart one.
Fuck the GOPe, Fuck Mitch McConnel, Fuck John Boehner, Karl Rove, etc. Also fuck Rubio (who was my guy till he pulled that gang of eight shit), fuck Walker who turned into A establishment shill, fuck Cruz.
Trump as Pres. Trey Gowdy as Att. Gen. Carly Fiorina as VP, Carson as Sur. Gen., Alan West as Sec of State. Walter Williams as Sec of Treas.
But....but.... Doesn't Bob Dole still have seniority? And then John McCain?
Carnifex -
Carson as Surgeon General? WTF? He could be consequential, and you want him to tell people to stop smoking?
Carson is the Anti-Obama. He can spread the message that slavery was ended by white people dying, and because of that, black people in America have a 70+ year life expectancy, instead of about 40 years in Africa. He can point out to blacks that if they study in school and stop shooting each other, their lives will improve. He can point out that "acting white" can give you a better life and a way out of despair. He could be used to help undo the rabble-rousing that Obama has done which is causing it to be open season on law enforcement officers.
He should be Ambassador to Black America.
But not Surgeon General, unless that post is tasked with dismantling Obamacare until there is not one brick stacked upon another, and then he should salt the ground, just in case.
And I agree with you about Rubio. He went to Washington with principles, and fell for Chuck Freaking Schumer's blandishments. Crikey. When I was in my 40's, I would have been able to see through Schumer. But Rubio went to the Dark Side after a couple of boat rides with the Prince of Darkness. Schit.
Carnifex -
Why fuck Cruz? I think he might be a better senator than Preznit, but I'd like him best of all on the Supreme Court.
Don't be a Trump chump
America 4.0 is Over.
There is NO ONE on the Right willing to fight to start America 5.0.
Walker, at best, will give us America 4.1, buggy and fucked and the same shit with anew icon or two.
Trump is Linux. Make it what it needs to be.
I am Laslo.
Trump is a classic demagogue. He might turn out alright. Or maybe not. Who knows? Hillary! is a demonstrated dishonest, corrupt, conniving, incompetent, unlikable, unempathetic, hustling, woman smearing, POS liar.
The fact that these two are our front runners means something. Let me go check the stars.
If Jeb Bush drops out, then much of the anti-establishment rage that grips Republican voters will dissipate and voters will rally around a candidate less awful than Jeb! (and Trump).
"It's like [Walker and Perry] were in middle school, and now they're freshmen in high school and they're getting their faces slammed in the toilets."
That's such an extraordinarily "middle school" thing for an anonymous "former Romney adviser" to say!
We truly have an incredibly craven, contemptible political class.
Have you no decency?
Must you force your selfish, arrogant, egotism on us yet again?? All of which is wholly undeserved?
the
f***
away!
That's what we need in the white house. The guy who designed and implemented obamacare.
It is time for the DC parasite class to be detached from the host. If it isn't done in the election it will happen later. With fire.
Romney & Ryan couldnt even carry their own states. What's going to be diffrent this time around? The Republican party needs to just die. Maybe something better will rise from their ashes. As it stands now, they cant win a national election.
Mitt gets the heebie-jeebies when he sees anyone not named Romney running for President.
The Republican party needs to just die.
The control the house and senate and it has only been six years since there was a Republican President.
I think there is more wishful thinking here than reality.
there are always suckups in the party telling a guy he oughta run..it's a nice conversaton starter, and it makes you look good. who knows, maybe it'll pan out. for the suckup that is
What Achilles said at 11:59PM.
And in the end, Hilary! wins (in a electoral college) landslide. After two years of ovreach, sleaze, and scandal the GOPe wins big in ensuing low turnout off midterms. GOPe leadership in the house and senate accomplish nothing for the next two years. Hilary! is re-elected. Lather rinse repeat. This why the GOPe needs to die. They cant mount any real opposition and they cant win a national election.
Rand Paul [not a Rino but might be screwy)
Paul is the only one currently suing the Federal Government on behalf of American expats to be able to use their money in the countries in which they live. He's the only one (running) who stood up to the NSA for spying on Americans. Rubio and Bush both believe that giving the government more power to look into your private conversations is a good thing.
Paul is the only one in DC willing to fight for individual liberty.
I do like Fiorina's style, and I think Trump is playing a brilliant game right now. Paul won't win, but he's the only close to promising the type of limited government that most of the commenters here think they believe in.
He should've campaigned the first time.
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