Is Conservatism Doomed In 2012?

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I won’t lie. I’m starting to despair. I’m starting to believe Republicans are going to be stuck with anyone but Mitt as their 2012 nominee. The one Republican who appears to have no standards will be our standard bearer.

My favorite candidates opted out of running a long time ago. After seriously considering a run for the White House, reliable conservative, Mike Pence decided to run for Governor of Indiana, instead. And Paul Ryan is staying put in his leadership position on the House Budget Committee. Ryan had captured my attention in a big way during the ObamaCare debates, and shortly after the bill was passed. He was the man conservatives looked to for answers and assurances that the damage could be undone – and the wonkish and appealing conservative delivered. Paul Ryan for President!, I said in March of 2010. As the Republican field was taking shape in the Spring of 2010,I was optimistic in the face of gloomy predictions. No, We Are Not Sunk In 2012, I said.

Sure, Gingrich has baggage that would hurt him with women, Cain has no experience in government, people aren’t interested in a social conservative like Rick Santorum at a time of fiscal crisis…. Perry leaves me cold, and Johnson ….eh . Love Palin, but the left will crucify her. Someone better like Ryan or Pence will come through, I thought…

Eventually I even flirted with the idea of a Chris Christie run, only because the man is such a bulldog. I may not agree with him on all of the issues, but you have to respect a guy who is not only willing to fight entrenched liberal interests, but has the ability to persuasively explain every blow he makes to the status quo..

Conservatives have flirted with Donald Trump, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain…anyone but Romney.

All the flavors of the month are souring, now, leaving only one still unspoilt – – the one who has been avoiding the media’s lethal gaze as fervently as conservatives avoid him. How is it that Romney is even a frontrunner? Just because he has the most money?

You want to read something really depressing? Read Eric Erickson’s take on the 2012 election: Mitt Romney as the Nominee: Conservatism Dies and Barack Obama Wins.

Why Mitt Romney Will Not Beat Barack Obama

You’d think that given the economy, jobs, and the present angst about the direction of the country that the GOP would have an easy path to victory. You would be wrong.

You forget the electoral college. The vote is coming down to a handful of states and Barack Obama still maintains the advantage of incumbency and not terribly terrible polling in those swing states.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is a man devoid of any principles other than getting himself elected. As much as the American public does not like Barack Obama, they loath a man so fueled with ambition that he will say or do anything to get himself elected. Mitt Romney is that man.

I’ve been reading the 200 pages of single spaced opposition research from the John McCain campaign on Mitt Romney. There is no issue I can find on which Mitt Romney has not taken both sides. He is neither liberal nor conservative. He is simply unprincipled. The man has no core beliefs other than in himself. You want him to be tough? He’ll be tough. You want him to be sensitive? He’ll be sensitive. You want him to be for killing the unborn? He’ll go all in on abortion rights until he wants to run for an office where it is not in his advantage.

Along the way, he’ll drop lots of coin to grease the skids for himself. Mitt Romney is the silly putty of politicians — press on him real hard and he’ll take on whatever image you press into him until the next group starts pressing.

Republican billionaires have a fantastic track record of getting Republican opinion leaders to support them and an even better track record at losing elections. Mitt Romney will be no different.

To beat Barack Obama, a candidate must paint a bold contrast with the Democrats on their policies. When Mitt Romney tries, Barack Obama will be able to show that just the other day Mitt Romney held exactly the opposite position as the one he holds today.

Voters may not like Barack Obama, but by the time Obama is done with Romney they will not trust Mitt Romney. And voters would rather the guy they don’t like than they guy they don’t trust.

Erickson made one small miscalculation there….I – and I’m guessing most conservatives – don’t like or trust Obama. I’m not sure the country can survive another year of him, let alone  another four years of him. I think we could survive a Romney. I may not trust him, but I don’t dislike him. And I don’t question his love for this country like I do Obama’s. There are millions like me who will hold their noses and vote for Romney without hesitation. No, Obama cannot win with the sorry numbers he has, now.

I understand his bitterness, but if Romney ends up being the nominee, Erickson will need to join the conservatives he’s now preemptively deriding for rallying around our disappointing nominee. Conservatism won’t die just because it had to make a bitter choice. It will live on to fight another day.

9 thoughts on “Is Conservatism Doomed In 2012?”

  1. Deb,

    I agree that there are enormous problems ahead for Republicans. I, too, have intellectually flirted with Christie, Bachmann, Cain, and Perry. I, too, despair of Romney. But I have always liked Newt. He has 10-20 I.Q. points on any other prospective nominees, and phenomenal experience. His “baggage” – well, he has become a Catholic and attends Mass regularly at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C. where he is liked. With respect to women voters, he might well have to make a public confession of past errors, persuade people he has asked God for forgiveness, and all but the most rabidly left women might open their minds to him. Those women would not vote for a Republican under any circumstances. So, consider Newt some more!

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  3. I take some comfort in knowing ANYONE will be better than Obama. I have never been able to understand why I don’t like Romney – except there is something about him I do no trust. Gingrich is a consummate politician – too good in fact. All politicians must find compromise and he seems to understand that small steps forward are preferable to sliding backwards. I probably give Newt more credit than most. Anything good that happened during the Clinton years is more attributable to Newt than Clinton. If the courts had not struck down term limits and line item veto I do not think we would be in the verge of economic disaster today. These elements of the ‘contract with America’ brought us closer to a balanced budget than seems possible in todays political climate. Newt was also victim of a overwhelming campaign to destroy his reputation by character assassination. As we see with the treatment given Cain it is very easy to stir up the mob. Facts are not important only perception. Same method of innuendo that is in play to bring Cain down was used against Gingrich. Only fault I see in Gingrich is that he truly is the smartest guy in the room and everyone knows that. Of course, these are only my opinions.

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  4. Here’s one problem: Liberals and Democrats (some overlap there) have the social networks tied up – they use them as though they were born with them. Many were.

    Conservatives and Republicans (some overlap, too) are still using rotary dial phones (“Dad, what’s that?”) and Rolodexes.

    If we could get our message out they way the other side does, we wouldn’t have nearly as many of those young hooligans occupying here and there.

    The other question, of course, is why the heck does Erickson figure that Romney is a slam-dunk, Bob’s your uncle, shoo-in? (Or is that “shoe-in”?)

    If Obama’s boys thought Romney was a real threat, they’d be going after him instead of Cain.

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  5. “If Obama’s boys thought Romney was a real threat, they’d be going after him instead of Cain.”

    Exactly right, freedomactionnow. As it is, they can wait until after the convention to crucify him.

    Why the heck would Repubs nominate that snake anyway? If we wanted a socialist, go with the gusto and re-elect Duh-1! If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. The only difference I see between Mitt and Mutt is the speed with which Mutt will take us down the utopian primrose path. Mitt’s just a bit slower is all.

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  6. So do we give up on Cain? The left scum beat on Sarah until she gave in, or somthing to that tune, they got their way in the end. Now they are doing similar stuff to Cain, and we are about to give in again?? No Way In Hell. This has got to stop, and I say the buck stops at Herman cain. He is not giving up, neither should ANY of us! Honestly, at this point, I couldnt give a rats ass WHAT Cain did, or did not do. The man will do a great job of pulling this country out of the bottomless pit we are sinking into. We need to stand by him, no matter what trumped up or made up charge the marxists label him with. The buck stops here right now!

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  7. I still have issues with most of them. Now that Cain is being crucified for what are probably non existent things, I am in a quandary. Newt could become a sleeper in this, perhaps. But I saw that Cain is still ahead in the polls. Gonna be a tough year, I do believe.

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