I had a flash of insight upon rereading "I’m not going to encourage anyone to run for president. I’ve done that myself, and that’s something I’m not doing again."
Mitt Romney is running for President!
Read the quote. He's specifically withholding encouragement from Liz Cheney as she teases a run for President. But he's also not encouraging anyone to run. He disapproves of what Trump did to the GOP, thinks Trump will get the nomination if he runs, and thinks that if Trump does not run, the GOP will nominate some Trump-like person.
A counter-Trump voice needs to emerge and compete with Trump.
Who? And how? My hypothesis is that Romney believes that he may be the one. He's not going to declare himself to be a candidate. But he dismisses other anti-Trump possibilities as inadequate, and he awaits the call. The party will have to come to him, but isn't it obvious that he is the one person to call upon as the alternative to Trump? Experienced, vetted, mature, handsome, exalted...
Everyone else stand down. Romney stands by.
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123 comments:
If the stand down/stand by distinction sounds familiar, here's why.
Well, I've learned to never say 'never'. But to me it's just more confirmation of how thick the bubbles in which our betters live. It almost makes me want to see him run. Of course, if he did, Trump would have to run. Just to insult him. It's too tasty a target.
No one did more than Romney did to get Trump elected. His feckless 2012 campaign was the catalyst for "At least he fights!"
That would be funny, and would provide another useful opportunity to emphasize to the country-club Republican crowd that they’re not fooling anybody anymore.
Run Mitt, run!
Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney are clearly delusional. I hope DeSantis runs and I would vote for him in a primary over Trump, for reasons I’ve mention and been attacked for here previously..
However I would vote for Trump in a heartbeat over either of those two self entitled, pompous, posturing blowhards.
I especially dislike Romney because it was his “high road” 2016 campaign that gave us Obama’s second term. He lost a very winnable election because of a lack of guts that he thinks is principled behavior.
In many ways, Romney is Trump’s antithesis. Romney doesn’t know how to fight and Trump doesn’t know how to stop.
Ok, let the name calling now begin!
Will Romney abandon his Utah Senate seat to run? I say no.
Is he running for the Lincoln Project votes, because those are all he will get.
deluded
Mitt Romney-Liz Cheney vs Hunter Biden-Ghislaine Maxwell. Putting the nasty back into dynasty!
Ann!
Can Mitt win Utah?
At this point, its a good question.
I would vote for Biden first. I would rather that the evil was in the open.
A Mittens run would have all the energy and soul as Jay Inslee's last run. Jay ran on climate change and his final poll numbers were less than 1%. What's Mittens going to run on, "I'm not Donald Trump?" or "A neatly organized sock drawer in every house"? He's a dope, who won't be reelected in 2024.
75!
Mitt Romney represents the end of my days as a tribal Republican. I voted for him and truly thought he could be the man to dump Obama. Now I thank the Lord that Obama beat him (though, tbh, I think Ohio was stolen and maybe more) for it saved me from my tribal R ways. Post-Trump we see every sniveling, weaselly, hypocritical bone in this plastic man’s body. He, like McCain, like Bush, showed us in stark relief how we were supposed to loyally support the tribe but not them. He showed us “conservative” is just a word they use to earn their position as controlled opposition to the left.
After he lost to Obama I did some digging on the Romney family history and found the apple didn’t fall inches from the tree. His old man George was the exact same petty, vindictive asshole Mitt is. His treatment of Goldwater was epic in its mean-girl weakness.
So run Mitt, run. Give me a chance to atone officially for that vote I wasted in 2012.
Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us!
I kind of thought he was running, because his crew is posting so much on Facebook.
This is going to be hard on the GOP old timers.
Dear Mitt,
When your phone doesn't ring, it's me.
Romney could not even beat Trump in Utah. He has no base except among the Never Trumpers. Besides, he grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2012 campaign by refusing to say anything negative against Obama. And when Obama hit him with the “I think the 1980’s would like their foreign policy back” Romney froze on stage in front of America. Romney is just nit skilled as a politician and his brand is really tarnished by running a terrible campaign (with Paul Ryan!). My son was part of his campaign team and there was very poor strategy and decision making inside the campaign. What a horrible step back it would be for the Republican Party to return to that sorry state.
There is NOTHING about the junior senator who spent a weekend in Utah and who has done nothing while in the Senate that commends him to be president.
And Mitt's new friends in the democrat party, who have recently called him one of the "principled conservatives(TM)" will turn on him immediately. He will return to being the cancer patient-killing, greedy capitalist they hated just a few short years ago.
The left will not vote for Romney. Neither will Trump supporters. That leaves the never-Trumpers consisting of the NRO writers, the Lincoln Project grifters and a few others. I'm just not seeing a pathway to the White House for Mitt.
I generally like Romney. My only major criticism of him is that he voted to impeach President Trump about the phone conversation with the Ukrainian President.
I disagree with him also about his impeachment vote about January 6, but that vote does not make me as mad as the previous vote about that phone conversation.
Tanned, rested, ready, handsome with great hair--why not him? Well--he's a loser. Isn't that reason enough?
The party will have come to him
What party would that be?
if my choice would be between Mitt and Jo Biden, i'd stay home and cry.
Trump won the primary-election race in 2016 because he assumed the most convincing position on two issues:
1) immigration
2) US jobs being moved abroad
What is Romney's position on those two issues?
The issue that Romney seems to care most about is Trump's boorish behavior.
The GOP does have several cohorts. The single largest might well be the MAGA cult. These are the people who think Donald can do no wrong. No matter what. Their counterparts are the NeverTrumpers who think Donald can do no right. No matter what. But there are also those who lean toward the former but would prefer DeSantis because of perceived electability and similar reasons. Then still others lean toward the latter but would still vote for Donald over any plausible Democrat opponent. The path to victory for any NeverTrumper GOP primary candidate such as Cheney or Romney is nil, though Romney is certainly the more credible of the two.
Mitt's establishment Republicans are gone. Why doesn't he know that?
If Mitt ran as a third party candidate, he'd siphon votes from the Democrats.
If Romney were to get the nomination and run I would have to write myself in. And I'm perfectly aware what a terrible president I would be.
Voting for Mitt Romney for president is a mistake I will never make again, no matter who he’s running against.
It's an insiders game, isn't it.
Not a lot of difference between Crook Biden, Crook Pelosi family and Crook Hillary + sprinkle some Bush Cheney on top.
Next up: Jeb! (please clap)
I credit the Romney family for pedjt. Uncle Kieth Romney, a Utah lawyer, invented the condom in the 50s. He wrote and got the first condom law passed in the us.
A lot of Trump's wealth comes from condoms. Would he have been president without them?
So we do have one thing to thank the Romneys for.
But not for Mittens.
John LGBT+ Henry
Mitt's awful as a politician, but I see no reason to fault him for this statement. He's obviously right that the GOP wants and will get either Trump or a Trump-friendly candidate as its nominee.
I wouldn't be surprised if some insufferable never-Trump, fake conservative fool flirts with a third party run, but that will backfire. Obviously, no dems are going to vote for Cheney, Bill Kristol, Mitt, or any other ostensible "conservative." As for the idea of peeling off Republican votes, there is of course a small fraction of Republicans who hate Trump and would never vote for him -- but, by definition, they're not voting for Trump anyway, so there's no point in setting up a third party candidate to absorb those votes. To the contrary, running a never-Trump Republican as a third party HELPS Trump win by giving never-Trump Republican voters an alternative to voting for the Dem nominee.
Thanks for casting a dark shadow over my weekend, Ann.
If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.
Romney is strong on public displays of personal virtue, the sort of thing that turns into the worst sort of evil, observes Hannah Arendt.
We've seen some highly improbable Presidents of late. Most of us thought Biden would end up in a care facility before the Oval Office. And anybody who called Trump two years out please stand and accept the laurels you richly deserve.
Romney in 2024 would test this even further.
Didn't Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy have something called the Improbability Drive?
Perhaps Romney is counting on that for a means of propulsion.
Democrats sell their radicals as non radical.
I define radical, in part, as someone above the law. As someone who used his office of the VP to make themselves and their children named Hunter, rich. ... wealthy with washed American tax payer dollars funneled thru Ukrainian strong arm deals and Chinese communist kick backs.
and we are sold - by the hack press - that Biden is the middle of the road guy for us.
Romney will never make it out of the primary.
If Trump stands down, because he is too old, we still don't get Romney. Romney is despised by the base. Despised for his insider Cheney Pelosi vote to impeach Trump over the Vindman was on the other line(ha!) Trump phone call. (All while Biden got away with his open corruption and bribe of "well son of a bitch... if you don't fire the prosecutor, you don't get the billion dollars")
I'd like Rand Paul, Tim Scott, or Ron Desantis.
Flush the insiders.
The corrupt powers that be only want insiders.
Romney has no chance at the Republican nomination since most Republicans consider him a traitor to the party. The Democrats aren't going to nominate him, because moderate as he is, to them he's like every Republican, a fascist. He could go 3rd party and that would be interesting, but it's hard to see how that fits in with him being drafted.
Romney is a racist who wants to put black people back in chains again. Thats what I know. Joe doesnt lie. I'd open with that one.
Who is radical in 24'?
Hillary? She will probably go in a gain.
If not Hillary? who? Kamala? Is she radial? She's dumb as a box of hammers and if she writes her own speeches and talking points - wow just wow.
Bernie? Old curmudgeon socialist Bernie? Is he radical? "Millionaires and Billionaires!" - funny Google-Youtube(D) erased all the footage of Bernie saying "millionaires and billionaires."
Which of course leads to the fact that big tech will select the nominee on the left.
Or - it could be Michelle Obama.
She would be unbeatable up against almost anyone, including Trump.
The left are trying to get Trump to run. The left love their Trump-hate. They live and breathe for their Trump-obsessed hate-racket. It feeds them. They need it. Biden is so awful -they still talk and act as if Trump is still president. The left literally cannot live without Trump. Literally. (ugh I hate that word) Literally! it's such a Biden word.
Romney had his chance and then he showed he couldn't handle a simple debate. If you can't defend yourself in a debate, then you can't defend the Constitution and the United States.
Mitt, oh Mitt. That ship has sailed. It barely made it our of the harbor when it caught fire and burned to the keel before it sank to the bottom.
Good luck assembling the your next crew, Captain.
Hunters Hooker. Of the 3 I think DeSantis is clearly the best. Not because of policy reasons. It’s because he has executive experience. I get nervous about the purely legislative path to the White House. I think they need at least 2+ years of successful Cabinet experience first or business experience like Trump. And I think the business experience should be in a company with tangible products or mass market services.
Start with that he lost in 2012. Overall, national level Democrats are not nice people. He was too nice to Obama. Obama wasn’t nice in return. So, the weakling lost an election that a tougher candidate might have won. The Democrats are in the process of destroying the country. Some are doing it because they are closet Marxists. And some, like Pelosi, Biden, etc, are in it to get filthy rich. In a year and a half, the FJB Administration has totally screwed everything up, after having blatantly stolen the election. We went from a growing economy, with immigration under control, energy independence, stable but dominant military and political position in the world, zero inflation, etc, to the mess we have now, with a collapsing economy, rampant inflation, many billions of US arms donated to the Taliban, with the federal bureaucracy out of control and the Dems in Congress spending $Trillions$ enriching themselves and their favorite constituencies in the name of fighting inflation (we all know that this last bill will crank it up more) and cargo cult junk science. And that federal bureaucracy just raided FJB’s top political enemy’s home based on nonsense legal justifications, after spending the last year and a half depriving the peaceful protesters of the stolen election of their Constitutional rights.
What’s Romney going to do about that? His vote for impeachment for non crimes says it all. He’s way too weak and outwardly nice. We are at essentially the place where Michael Corleone was, when he replaced Tom Hagen with a war time consigliere. We are faced with going to war with the left, the profiteers, the Marxists, etc, or we will give up what made this country great. A mild mannered technocrat like Romney would probably have done well if he had won in 2012. Not anymore. We want, and need, a fighter as our leader. Someone like Trump or DeSantis. Someone we can trust to lead us, and not sell us out, as is the habit of Romney’s GOPe.
Will Mitt be passing as a man this time?
Sorry, couldn't resist. Romney will be too old. He won't have any real issues. His claim to fame was as somebody who could get the economy restarted. Trump already did that better than Romney could have, and he might even be able to do it again.
Mitt doesn't really fit into the world of government and politics. He was a numbers guy, and they often don't understand people very well. He likes to play the voice of conscience and integrity, but he doesn't seem to have much vision or any idea of the common good. It's all a private drama of him and his supposedly unsullied conscience.
Mitt Romney is running for President!
LOL!Good one.
Romney is running for president!
Could be. The Romney way is to manipulate the party powers behind the scenes, he is a top down sort of guy. That is how he managed his nomination last time he ran. If you have the personal appeal of a bag of hair gel, that is how to do it. ORCA!
LOL. Romney is 75 has derangement syndrome. I would just stay home if he ran on the R side. I do not think he stand any more chance than Cheney though. He has the same delusions as John McCain and Cheney - in thinking that the sweetness an support they get from the left when they attack Rs will carry over in a general election.
If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.
But he'd have to get the nomination. I don't think he could do it.
"the entire middle" is about 20% of voters. 40% will vote for the Dem candidate no matter who it is. As a third party candidate, perhaps Mitt could get the middle and even maybe pull some percentage from the right, giving the Dems the win. So basically, Mitt could act as spoiler of a 2nd Trump term. Would he do that?
Even an egoist like Mittens knows his chances of being nominated again are zero. Of course, Republicans voters *are* incredibly stupid, and many probably think Romney is "severely conservative" and even supports Trump. And in 2024, Mittens could lie and throw 'em some "campaign rhetoric" and they'd be like "Golly, I guess I was wrong about Mitt. He's super conservative!"
Incredibly, a poll showed that 1/2 of McCain voters in the 2008 South Carolina primary thought he was "tough" or "very tough" on border security and illegal immigration. Just "build the dang fence!" and the rubes bought it.
Running for president is a way for Mittens to avoid losing his Utah Senate race. So I say: just do it.
Running for president is a way for Mittens to avoid losing his Utah Senate race. So I say: just do it.
The one sure fire hands down winner Nikki Haley will be endorsed by Trump in September.
The one sure fire hands down winner Nikki Haley will be endorsed by Trump in September.
Among knowledgable Conservative Republicans NO ONE wants Mitt Romney. Hello? Mitt romeny was happy when Biden was elected. He called Biden a "Good man" a month ago in the atlantic magazine and sneered at other Republicans who attacked him.
He attacked Trump in 2015/2016 as a racist/bigot. Refused to support him, and called for him to drop in Oct 2016, and give the Presidency to Hillary.
How is Romney "in the middle"? Not being Trump and not being a Democrat, doesn't mean you're "In the middle". Romney voted for Biden's radical picks for AG, DHS, and SCOTUS. He's "crossed the aisle" and supported some of Biden's big spending bills. He's NOT IN THE MIDDLE.
Romney's an open borders "free trade" globalist. Socially liberal. A big spender. A warmonger. Marched for BLM and said zip about the riots. And wants to help big business. He's the dream candidate of Mike Bloomberg, Zuckerprick and Bill Gates. That's not "in the middle"
Mitt Romney does have executive hair. And a smooth manner. And a big good looking family. Style over substance.
’If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.’
If? Look at the craptastic bill they just passed. Pure insanity.
And Romney would lose a significant portion of the right. I’d write in Nick Saban.
Mitt Romney could have been Alcibiades. Instead, he is Mitt Romney.
Jefferson's Revenge said: "I hope DeSantis runs and I would vote for him in a primary over Trump"
DeSantis seems to know how to wield power. Donald Trump does not.
The minute a Florida Soros prosecutor said he wouldn't enforce the laws, DeSantis fired his ass. Publicly. He practically perp-walked the guy. That guy is now suing, but he's no longer a prosecutor. He might ultimately prevail. Doesn't matter. The process is the punishment if the punishment cannot be the punishment.
Trump should have fired thousands of people on Day One of his Presidency. Every person any previous President hired that you don't personally know should be fired (of the ones you can fire), starting with every single political appointee in the State Department, followed closely by the Department of Justice, then on down through the organization. Fire them day one. Don't care about the claimed chaos the media will invent, the people will get along just fine. Reagan fired the air traffic controllers. He also fired every single US federal prosecutor if I remember correctly. You will find thousands of regular Americans clamoring for those jobs the minute you open them up.
It took months for Trump to get up the gumption to fire James Comey. Look where that got him.
Mitt Romney wouldn't fire anyone. He'd serve as US royalty enjoying the pomp and circumstance and certainly, he'd be reaching across the aisle to give every Democrat within arms reach a hand job.
So does that mean he intends to not start off a campaign by admitting that he sees half the country as lazy urchins seeking a hand-out, as he did in 2012? My how that revealing little sneer crashed and burned. Worse than Hillary’s 2016 take on Deplorables.
I doubt he’s learned his lesson, though. He probably still sees most people as socio-economically beneath him, and just hides his contempt for them better under that incredibly slick and polite way he has of presenting himself. It’s still the same Republican philosophy that Trump for all his faults at least broke away from. Amazing how few Republicans understand that.
So does that mean he intends to not start off a campaign by admitting that he sees half the country as lazy urchins seeking a hand-out, as he did in 2012? My how that revealing little sneer crashed and burned. Worse than Hillary’s 2016 take on Deplorables.
I doubt he’s learned his lesson, though. He probably still sees most people as socio-economically beneath him, and just hides his contempt for them better under that incredibly slick and polite way he has of presenting himself. It’s still the same Republican philosophy that Trump for all his faults at least broke away from. Amazing how few Republicans understand that.
’Mitt Romney could have been Alcibiades.’
I’m rooting for Lysander.
What rcocean said above. I donated to Mitt in 2012 and it was money thrown away. I've met him and his wife and they are nice people. That's it. His surrender to Obama in the debates was enough for me.
what Bruce Hayden said.
Althouse said...If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle
What do you mean "If the Democrats go radical"? How much further can they go? Romney is noting more of an extension of the Democrat Party.
Romney is arrogant, and simply craves attention. He's milquetoast. He'll NEVER get the GOP nomination over Trump or DeSantis. He's got as much chance as Mike Pence. I could see him running as a third party spoiler candidate, but the question is, where does he siphon off votes? Which side does he hurt?
Althouse is probably right. A Trump derangement syndrome candidate will emerge from the GOP establishment. But that candidate will have no base.
Remember Romney's fake Pierre Delecto twitter profile that he used to praise himself? Weird dude. Trump and MAGA supporters will have a field day with Mr. Delecto.
Another run would give Mr. Delecto the fawning admiration he longs for. Everyone on Morning Joe would hang on his words. The Lincoln Project pedophiles would praise him. Bill Kristol and Charlie Sykes could pretend they didn't sell their souls.
The poll numbers would be humiliating for Pierre. Especially if DeSantis jumps in the race and takes on Trump. It's kind of sad when you see someone flailing and struggling for relevancy, even if you would like to see them fall into the abyss.
How about a Pierre Delecto and Carlos Danger ticket? That would be epic.
Ann Althouse said...
If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.
This. None of these politicians, including Romney, are stupid. They know from their own polling data that there is no path to victory for his ilk in the Republican primaries. But he may see a way, if the Dems nominate an AOC-type and Trump is the GOP candidate, to finesse a path to electoral college victory. Especially if he is shrewd in his VP pick, which rarely matters but it could here.
We live in interesting times.
Empty suit egomaniac.
I will vote for Biden before I vote for Romney...
'If the Democrats go radical in ‘24...'
If???
They haven't gone radical yet???
Romney is a jerk. I'm sorry I bought his T-shirt, I'm sorry I voted for him.
He has no chance in the GOP, but he could be a Democrat,
I watched that presidential campaign documentary AA's son recommended in his film series. Mitt's self-awareness, and his family's, came through. No way that 75 year old is contemplating a run in 24.
Buckwheat. You are absolutely correct. I would vote for Trump if DeSantis did not run and I would hope that he would be more decisive the second time around. But I think DeSantis is both more electable and will be more effective.
I will also say that DeSantis has more guts than Trump. He opened up Florida in the face of the media accusing him of killing millions. He did this while Trump was still kowtowing to Fauci and scarf girl. History proved DeDantis correct but if he had been wrong his career would have been over.
I think the Trump raid was to goad him into running because I think DeSantis is who they fear. They know they can beat Trump. Even with the D cheating Trump could have won with a smarter campaign. Plus, his ego cost the Rs the Senate by screwing up GA.
God help us!
Mittens should be the founder of Idiots 'R' Us. Detestable creature with zero self-awareness.
@buckwheathikes : Trump's job in the 1st 4 years was not to fire everybody. That solves nothing if you don't first wake Americans the hell up. THAT was his job and he did it where no one else would have or could have. We had to have a political outsider do it and there's only 1. He was and is IT.
’If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.
So Mitt is going to withstand attacks from the right AND the left?
He’s still Cancer Mitt the dog hater from the last campaign.
Trump, as of yet, hasn’t even given him a nickname.
As noted, Romney is 75. His age is just beginning to show in his face and without that face he's nobody.
Not only did Mittens not stand up to Obama in the debates, he couldn't even find the backbone to stand up to that lying obnoxious moderator. Losers deserve to lose.
The RINOs are sunk now, the jig is up. The process of expulsion is well underway. Let's not forget, RINOs have one horn, just like unicorns, so we can all think of Mitt as a kind of well-groomed, preppie Morman unicorn as we wave goodbye to his Royal Extinct Uselessness.
i voted for that low energy bum once, i will vote against him the next time. you hear that RNC?
Blogger Joe Smith said...
'If the Democrats go radical in ‘24...'
If???
They haven't gone radical yet???
Exactly. Maybe after they start arresting all Republican voters ?
Althouse said...If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.
That was a very revealing comment by the hostess. She apparently does not consider CRT, climate change, ending fossil fuels, open borders and 18% inflation (by 1980 standards) to be radical.
Wilbur: if Romney runs as some kind of TR third-party candidate and cobbles together some kind of electoral college win, the blue states will immediately do a 180 on their “fake electors!!!!” dogma and have their legislatures submit electors for the Dem candidate. And/or Harris will just toss Romney’s electoral votes behind the Senate chair. These people don’t actually believe the slogans they spout.
JSM
Romney is the only candidate for president in my adult life who I actually thought would do a good job. But part of why we ended up with Trump is that Romney was a decent, experienced, moderate candidate, and "Malarkey" Biden squawked that he wanted to reintroduce slavery, Obama claimed he wanted to push grandma off a cliff, Harry Reid made up a bunch of lies about his taxes, and the press claimed he abused dogs and whipped up a bit of anti-Mormon hatred on the side for good measure. And that nonsense worked.
There's zero reason to think Romney could be a successful candidate today. We all know the anti-Romney playbook; we all know it would be even more vicious and unhinged today; and we all know Romney is too gentlemanly to fight back. And that's leaving aside all the ways that Romney Republicanism has been supplanted by a very different Trump Republicanism, significantly more skeptical of immigration, free trade, and corporate power.
If he thinks he has a chance, he's only slightly less delusional than Larry Hogan.
"Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle."
Althouse and the half dozen left in the "middle."
For the majority of regular GOPers, the chance to vote against Mittens would add motivation, as if any were needed.
Of course, the notion that there is a "middle" with substance is itself a delusion. What's the "middle" position on the Inflation Reduction Act? What's the "middle" position on the Iran deal? What's the "middle" position on systemic racism and CRT in the schools? And so on.
If you're right, his arrogance is exceeded only by his lack of self awareness. Romney's primary would look like Cheney's.
These old TDS diehards will give the country to Marxist Democrats.
I'd vote for Mitt if he had a penis.
"How about a Pierre Delecto and Carlos Danger ticket? That would be epic."
bwahaha.
If the Democrats go radical in ‘24 ...
The Dems will nominate their version of Mitt Romney - Governor Hair Gel (aka Gavin Newsome).
It will be DeSantis vs. Newsome. The question is whether Romney will support DeSantis.
Mitt Romney is running for President!
LOL!Good one.
I want to expand on that. If Romney enters the primary he knows, you know, we know, and everybody knows there is 0% chance he wins. If he enters he has some other goal in mind than the presidency. He would be running for some other reason. Probably to hurt Trump in some way. I'd assume that would be Cheney's only motive too.
Trump upset the applecart, and the stakeholders in how the government works for its own advantage went batshit crazy. First one through the wall is always going to get bloody.
Prof is dry and wry this morning.
Mitt is old, lacks fire in the belly, and is a Mormon.
That last will drive away voters left and right even if he could cobble together a campaign as a third party nominee, which IMO he can't and won't.
It's much too soon IMO to speculate about '24. There's a good chance that the election apparatus will be so queered this year that it won't matter much any more--and I don't rule out assassination of Trump, DeSantis, and/or others that threaten the DS Blob: if the Red Wave happens (and the Rs shouldn't get cocky) then rubouts become more likely; if the Ds hold off the change in November, they can afford to spare famous critics for their utility as hate fetishes.
Met Mitt and his wife when they were flogging a family cookbook in SLC in the wake of his 2012 wipeout. Pleasant man, shook some hands, there to show the family flag.
Think he was really there to test the water with the LDS establishment; at one time it was rumored that he was going to be part of a purported Joseph Smith prophecy that the Mormon elders would step forward in end times a "save" the US Constitution, i.e., the so-called White Horse Prophecy.
I agree with Narr about 2024. Including about assassination of GOP candidates. The Democrats are far past "radical" and are into stuff that was called "conspiracy" a few years ago.
and he awaits the call
I wouldn't be sitting by the phone, Pierre.
My how that revealing little sneer crashed and burned.
Bullshit. Anybody who had a problem with him telling the truth in that instance wasn't going to vote for him anyway.
“If the Democrats go radical in ‘24, Romney could meet the needs of the entire middle.”
Yes, what we need is a normal, stable, polite president that will be kind and unite us all. And who won’t make mean tweets.
Mitt can probably run a large organization, but he's not the leader that he may think he his. Plus, never trust anyone who's been running for president since they were born.
“Bullshit. Anybody who had a problem with him telling the truth in that instance wasn't going to vote for him anyway.‘
Ha ha. I call bullshit on the bullshit! Double-bullshit. It was much the same demographic in PA, OH, MI that soured on Hillary who would have soured on Romney for calling them ne’er do wells, deplorables, marginalized coal miners and unemployed auto workers, etc. It’s all the same thing. A small part of the country that relies on government to prop up mining or a poorly-run auto industry, CMS and/or food stamps to supplement their poverty wages doled out at the nation’s largest private-sector employer: Walmart.
Half the country doesn’t live that way - (though far too many do} - but more than half can recognize the injustice in it. Romney and Hillary sneered at these folks. Trump did not. At least in 2016 he didn’t.
The Republican party’s problem is that they’re going to have to figure out whether they’re serious about pushing Americans further into poverty or uplifting them. Their party-line vote on the current bill, where they rejected an end to unaffordable insulin that Canadians have no problem obtaining tells you that they’d rather impoverish Americans and subsidize pharma - as just one example. And for a drug whose initial patent the “inventor” already sold to the public for $1 decades ago!
What if he ran as a centrist Democrat? The dem list of candidates is incredibly weak. I wouldn't put it past him.
Vote Minehead! You Know He's Right!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWIyVRNAxCg
I, too, shall ready myself to run for President as I await the Party's recognition of my genius, worth, and necessity.
We all know the anti-Romney playbook
The same playbook Kennedy ran against him in 1994. IIRC, Romney was ahead in the polls when the campaign started and he was run over and crushed. I voted for him in 2012, but thought he would lose because he sucks at politics. He can't connect, and he is always calculating, you can practically see the gears turning in his head.
Mitt Romney won't run for president again, but he certainly epitomizes Trump's assessment of the Republican field: a bunch of damned pushovers. Trump started his run as a lark, then realized there was no competition. Nobody believes a word these guys say! Hell, they don't believe what they say.
I don't want Donald Trump to run again, but I don't want another pushover who sprays out bullshit and worries more about being loved in Washington than he does about the country.
Romney didn't have any issues last time and he won't have any next time. His message was familiar in Massachusetts politics, "Vote For Him, He's Better Than You." I think somebody said that about Elliot Richardson or Endicott Peabody, but it also applies to John Kerry and William Weld, as well as Romney. Not that they really were better, but they certainly thought they were -- and entitled, too.
Romney rolled over and surrendered to Candy Crowley. He’s spineless against the media which is Trump’s strength.
I would vote for Candy Crowley before I'd vote for Romney. She had the guts to tell her lie, while Romney didn't have the guts to tell the truth.
I'm a conservative, since reading "Conscience of a Conservative" in 1960 (before that, I thought I was a liberal because in Latin "libertas" means freedom -- I was 17).
My first Presidential vote was for Goldwater, and you know how that went. But when I voted for Nixon in'68, Bush 41, and Bush 43, I found that my candidate was the winner. And compared with the Democrat candidate in those elections, my candidates were preferable.
I believe that the 2012 election was winnable by the Republicans. Obama was vulnerable on bread-and-butter issues, but Romney threw it away. The Rebublicans nominating Romney for Preident in 2024 would be effectively conceding the election to the Democrat candidate (whoever).
I'm not a Trump uber alles voter. I think Trump's objectives were right. But he didn't have political experience and skills or the ability to defeat the permanent government or recruit the right staff to help him do so. And he hasn't demonstrated in his post-presidency that he's learned the right lessons. My ideal ticket would be DeSantis-Abbott, suppoted by Trump.
I wake up screaming. I dreamt Romney was running for POTUS.
Peg C at 11:25---+1
Amadeus 48
Be of good cheer. The Dems are going to promote him as the 'reasonable and moderate' Repub. choice for president and the rest of us are going to laugh like hell and let the Dems waste their money.
With Mitt we even lose the "they're corrupt" argument, because his son is one of the four politicians' sons, along with Hunter, on a Ukrainian oil and gas company board. Mitt's corrupt.
If Mr. Romney and the eGOP think that the voters will support him running for President in 2024, then the Republican party is dead. He failed in 2012 and has shown nothing in the intervening years that would encourage anyone to vote for him on the national level. If he was to be the GOP candidate, then the Democrat candidate, no matter who it is, will win in a massive landslide.
But that is probably what the eGOP wants as they really do not want to be charge and responsible. They wish to maintain the appearance of opposition to the progressive agenda while doing nothing substantive to stop it. They really just want to keep the grift going and grab as much of the money flowing around DC as they can.
Plus go to all the cool parties.
I wonder which party he would choose to run in. And whether Liz Cheney would be his VP choice.
He isn't running. His wife said that if he ran for President again, he would be the first divorced Mormon to do so.
I held my nose and voted for Romney in 2012, simply because... Obama. But he's a vapid, blow-dried empty suit who has succumbed to the attractions of "Strange New respect" that defeated Republicans start receiving whenever they throw the current Republican under the bus in the news media. Also a perfect exemplar of the "T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII" Paleo-con branch of the party.
If he were to get the Republican nod in 2024, It would break my 30+ year streak of voting straight Republican.
I'm tired of having to hold my nose when I vote Republican. Bush Sr. Dole, Bush Jr., McCain, Romney, Trump. Although Trump grew on me, simply because he fought back.
Recent January 6 video shows Proud Boys members willingly helping a Capitol Police officer get ten officers out of the capitol. They are there to help. Not burning, not looting. Helping.
Trump was correct with his verbiage.
I'd vote for Mitt for President. I've voted against him in Utah for Senator, and this was preTrump nonsense. What hard-nosed Republicans need to understand is that just because he's not right for their brand of conservativism or their state doesn't mean he isn't a good choice to unite (as much as possible) the country and lead the executive branch of the US government. People who decry craven politicians on the left, get rewarded with more craven leftist politicians when they support Trumpist policies. Yes, the leftists are without principles, all the more reason to elect so-called squishes who can get support of center.
Quoting althouse.blogspot.com:
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I'm skeptical! This premise has Obama's people and establishment Republicans on the same page!
... but the base, the Republican base is not jazzed. Turnout is obviously gonna be crucial....
His point — which he's been making elsewhere on the program — is that Romney isn't a good conservative, and the GOP establishment, which lacks confidence in real conservatism, is pushing Romney. The establishment thinks that's the way to win, but in fact, according to Limbaugh, it's staunch Reaganesque conservatism that wins for Republicans. You need to jazz up the base and pump up turnout. Oddly, in this monologue, the Obama White House understands what the GOP establishment doesn't — that Romney won't inspire enthusiasm.
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/white-house-knows-that-if-republican.html
MIttens can take his binders full of women and shove them up his RINO rear. If he is nominee I will not vote.
Mittens can take his binders full of women and shove them up his RINO rear. if he is the nominee I will not vote
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