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In Wake of McCain, Sanford, Ensign: Grassroots Republicans Like Mitt Over Palin
Republicans get hungry fast. Having just digested the lack of leadership in the GOP, mainstream Republicans appear to be coming out of denial. The shock and awe of the election of President Obama, unease over Senator McCain, the leadership of Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich has all come fast. But the Sanford and Ensign stories have woken Republicans up.
The bruises are still sore for a Grand Old Party which has come to be seen by a huge new millennial generation as simply, "Old", but Main Street Republicans are starting to stir.
In discussions with Republican men and women, something has replaced the head shaking of a few weeks ago. The have a reply now. And it has nothing to do with Sarah Palin saying if she runs she can beat Obama. It has nothing to do with her at all.
The word is this: Mitt. Tried and true in 2008, getting comfy like the baseball "mitt."
He's running a quiet campaign, the underground kind the national press is not supposed to notice, but reminding voters he is in the hunt. Romney is living largely out of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
Republicans have more than a little buyers remorse about having nominated Senator McCain.
"If Mitt had been there when the economy went down last year, we'd be in a much better position," or some variation, is what Republicans are echoing now.
What kept him from the support he needed to get that nomination? Indecision. Republican loyalists acknowledge that while they liked his family values, they were concerned about how the country would react to a Mormon candidate.
"I like his values and couldn't care less what religion he is," says a mother in her 40's. "But it's true, I didn't know how it would play in the South and in other places. Now that seems like a small thing."
Having elected an African American President, many Republican voters are wondering if they let the perfect become the enemy of the good when they passed Romney over. Romney's campaign for president was better executed than McCain's, for sure. But McCain was a known entity, a choice made when foreign policy seemed like the main event.
Many of the Republicans who support Romney now liked him in 2008 but talked themselves out of it.
They weren't ready for him; he couldn't close the deal with them. But in a shrinking field, he now seems the elder statesman. He knows it too: not talking about the sensational stories of late. Waiting out the silly season.
If you listen early and hard, you can hear what a party wants. In New Hampshire, Republicans are looking at an opportunity they haven't seen in a long time. A wide open Senate seat as Sen. Gregg exits, an open house seat as Rep. Paul Hodes runs for Gregg's seat, and a seat Republicans feel they can pick up in Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's district.
Add to that the recent passage of gay marriage in New Hampshire, legalization of medical marijuana, and economic pain that is only getting worse as companies let go of hundreds of workers at at time, and you have Republicans seeing red.
New Hampshire is a really good focus group of 1.3 million people for whom politics is never farfrom their thinking. Take that idea national, and you can get an early read on what Republicans around the country are starting to feel. They smell vulnerable Democrats. In New Hampshire, that's enough to start to organize. And it may provide some clues to the feelings of voters elsewhere too.
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You know I dont get why Huffpost put these things in the Obama section when it has nothing really to do with Obama.
It doesnt belong here.
I agree. I am reading this from the Gay Marriage section...and it mentions it once in there. Is that all it takes for it to get tagged in the Big News section?
The fascination with Sarah Palin continues. A governor..(GOVERNOR!) who readily admits she cant name one, (ONE!) freakin newspaper she reads on a daily basis. Who only last year got her passport, who couldnt answer the question "what is the role of the Vice-President" and a woman who took 6 years to get her degree from the University of Idaho in Broadcast Journalism(for gods sake). A woman who preaches "abstinence" for teens and then sends her 18 year old, unwed Mother-Daughter out to preach "abstinence" as well (do as I say-not as I do). Is still viewed by many as the leader of the Republican Party and a Presidential front runner in 2012!!!!
UNF*CKIN BELIEVEABLE!!!!
Proof positive of the "dumbing" down of the american electorate.
Romney would be a much easier candidtate for Dems to defeat than Palin. He spent 90 million running in 08 and only won states he lived in. His business acumen consists of breaking up American companies and shipping jobs overseas. His idea of patriotism is to equate his 5 healthy sons driving his campaign bus with our troops fighting in Iraq.
The 2008 GOP field was weak. Three of the 4 top contenders (McCain, Guliani, Thompson) married their mistresses. Guliani was so inept he spent 56 million and won one delegate. And still Romney could not break through. The GOP doesn't trust him, especially on cultural issues; he flipped once on abortion and they fear he may flip back.
The GOP went with the moderate (McCain) and they lost (just as they did with Dole in 96 and Bush41 in 92.
Only when they go with hard core ideologues who get the talking points right (Bush43, Reagan) do they win.
Red meat is what they want and Palin is a proven hunter. Watch out!
Can you imagine how different things would be if Mitt Romney were currently our president. I can. The stock market would never have dropped below 10,000. GM and Chrysler would have already been thru bankruptcy and would be back on the rise, we wouldn't be talking about "Crap and Trade", there would be no attempted Government takeover of our health care system and the same gender attracted military personnel would remain in the closet. President Romney would have been working to limit Government instead of destroying the United States of America. I am praying for Romney in 2012.
Oh puhleeze another lying, denying conservative. The republicans ruined this country and you think Mitt Romney would have been great? It is incredible the amount of denial of what the republicans did to this country for the past 8 years. And you are praying for Mitt Romney another multi-millionaire who can't relate to your poor arse. Holy moley.
Delusion in the GOP runs deep. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Hmmmm. A millionaire hundreds of times over who would naturally be in bed with corporate america, shipped jobs overseas, who flip flopped on almost every social policy he had in MA when he was governor just to snuggle up to the GOP base when he ran for the republican nomination, who is a cardboard cut out with no discernible positions except he wants to be president and he would look good in the portrait? Oh yeah--he would be the CEO president, you know--like George Bush was.
Wow! No wonder the GOP is a wasteland.
Romney was no great Governor of Massachusetts. I doubt he would have the ability to lead the US government either. His grand plan of making working poor people buy health care in Massachusetts is failing to insure everyone. Those who who are so poor they qualify for the state sponsored plan just saw their mental health coverage evaporate this month, because the state has lost so much revenue it can't fully fund the Romney's original health care plan. He tried to run the state like a business, but didn't seem to realize that the state is not like a for profit enterprise.
And of course he fought to repeal the Goodridge decision with the VoteOnMarriage.org attempt to put same sex marriage rights up for a vote on whether or not to amend our Constitution to allow that discrimination. Fortunately our new governor made it into office in time to help lobby the legislature to squash that amendment, with the help of newly elected pro-gay representatives and senators.
I hope all the libs keep pretending in their mind that Palin can't win. How could any lib possibly know? Can't carry 20% of the vote? Please! McCain wouldn't have even come close without her. Poll after poll shows this to be true, but it's all the better for us that the libs live in The Fantasy World of The One.
Sarah, is that you?
Also--McCain did NOT come close. He lost by almost 200 electoral votes.
Thanks Sarah!
Mitt was the only one that talked about rebuilding America's economy so I think that would give him an edge. It would sure beat Palin's constant personal life drivel and hearing her talk about how great she is.
Wow. What a pro-Mittens diatribe. Sounds like somebody has a crush.
Hi Jennifer, Keep on telling yourself that over and over again and maybe just maybe you can talk yourself into believing it. Na, I don't think so.
Latest poll numbers..
The Pew Research Center 6/24/09
Palin Remains VERY Popular with Republicans
Fav Unfav
Sarah Palin 73 17
Mitt Romeny 57 18
Newt Gingrich 55 22
Michael Steele 28 14
And Palin continues to be overwhelmingly popular with key parts of the GOP base – white evangelical Republicans (84% favorable) and conservative Republicans (80% favorable).
Kanas Straw Poll
President -- 2012
Sarah Palin: 76
Mike Huckabee: 54
Mitt Romney: 52
Bobby Jindal: 19
Ron Paul: 9
http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/19070
Why do you thing all the hating on Palin by the Romney-McCain losers.
You people just don't get it, all Gov. Palin has to do is campaign one week in the low 48 and she will bring in millions and the poll numbers will improve.
Bring it all on. If and its a big if, if Gov. Palin decides to run she will get the nominee for the republican party.
What you've got there is basically a popularity contest based entirely on over stimulated emotion. When things get serious, people are going to see the whole Palin drama show played over and over and over again all over the internet. They will be reminded about the crazy drama this woman creates and they will RUN from her. She just wears people out. What is it about her that makes you cling so? Can't you feel like a winner without her? If she wasn't so dam.n hot you would be ambivalent.
I don't see her as all that much in looks. I see too much creepiness in her face.
Nah. Sensible people are going to get tired of her constant attempts to get attention on anything trivial. It really gets old having to be around someone who has to be the center of attention 24/7. They are already having second thoughts about how she treated her own staffers. They weren't good enough to pray with her. She's too phony to get real.
I think Palin will be the 2012 nominee. And I don't think she gets attention on trivial things. A mom defending her kids, defending her womb, defending her way of life is a power ful image.
The more people criticize her essential nature as a fertile, fecund woman, the more sympathy she will get.
"And it has nothing to do with Sarah Palin saying if she runs she can beat Obama. It has nothing to do with her at all."
...actually she did not say this. That was a headline, the actual statement was about running (as in jogging) that she would beat Obama because she thinks she has more stamina.
I believe when Sarah Palin said if she runs she will beat Obama as in jogging, not winning a presidential election.
Yeah, that's the context she said it in, but anyone who knows snarky Sarah knows exactly what she MEANT.
Having watched and listened to this oversized ego since last summer, I'm not fooled one bit.
The conservative, evangelicals are too prejudiced against Mormons to go for Romney. Look at how he ran in the South in the primaries.
By the way, hate to tell you folks this, but you Democrats sound like the Triumphalist sounding Hugh Hewitt did after he penned his book about turning America red after the 2002 elections.
Now that the nation's currency is being turned into Monopoly Money, to the point that the dollar won't soon be able to buy two little plastic hotels on Marvin Gardens, let's see how long the "Permanent Democratic Majority" lasts.
Two years ago, I sat down after the '06 elections with a political consultant friend of mine. Both of us predicted the D's would overreach. You have not disappointed us.
And yet the Republicans have not disappointed you either?
The Republicans are irrelevant. I don't think they'ill pick up any new seat in New Hampshire;hopefully will lose one. Possibly if there were another relevant major party some voters would go there, but I don't believe much of anyone will see the Republicans as relevant.
I don't pretend to know whether Republicans will more likely nominate Romney or Palin or whomever. I'm just curious about your claim that Democrats are "over-reaching." It seems to me that Obama has been compromising to a fault. I'm wondering, though, if you thought that the Bush-era Republican party was "over-reaching" when:
-- It started a trillion dollar war with Iraq. (Which is especially disconcerting since recently released British documents show that Bush was planning to start the war regardless of UN inspections or any other stated justification.)
-- Gave no-bid contracts to Halliburton--wasting huge amounts of taxpayer money as a favor Cheney did for his old employer.
-- Rolled back a century of financial regulations that were established after the Great Depression specifically to avoid another one.
-- Spent $350 billion dollars on a bank bailout that has not helped the economy. What it did do was effectively nationalize the banking industry (exactly the "socialist" policy for which Republicans now criticize Obama).
-- Illegally wiretapped everyone.
-- Legalized torture (i.e., broke international law under Geneva Conventions).
-- Withdrew or dismantled from countless national and international environmental treaties.
-- Nominated two extremely right-wing Supreme Court Justices.
-- Consolidated power in the Executive Branch of government while limiting accountability (e.g., Cheney cannot be investigated because he is not part of the executive branch...or the legislative branch.)
-- Instituted and normalized "extraordinary extradition."
The list goes on...
And pray tell us section9 what has the republican party done for this country especially the past 8 years? Please tell us about all the monopoly money they spent on two wars, please tell us about the blind eye they turned toward any thing regulatory, please tell us about their winning diplomatic strategy, please, please tell us. Amnesia runs throughout the republican party of nothing.
And pray tell us section9 what has the republican party done for this country especially the past 8 years?
Thanks Ms. Donohue! This article couldn't come at a worse time for the Mittens.
As a died-in-the-wool Palin supporter, it's great to see the Huffington Post throw its support behind the Mittens.
This is like the Kiss of Death from Don Barzini for Mitt among Movement Conservatives out in the country. We know that Mittens is a fake and a Plastic Man, and have known this ever since he ran as a liberal against Teddy Kennedy for that senate seat back in the Nineties.
We also know that it was Mitt's people on the McCain Campaign that were responsible for a lot of the risible leaking that has come out against Palin. Not nice. We remember that kind of thing, and you'll find Mitt's "Free and Strong PAC" full of McCain's weasels.
You people on the HuffPo haven't spoken to a rank and file Republican in probably ten years. The Republicans you do speak to are probably D.C. Beltway types who couldn't beat Himmler in an election for Mayor of Haifa.
Please stop trying to tell us what we want. You have no idea.
Et tu, Brutus....don't tell us who we want or what we think of your side of the shrinking aisle.
We don't want any "sanctimonious / can't keep up with the morals of my party" person in control...any time or anywhere.
Again...et tu, Brutus...
Section 9,
As a dyed in the wool Palin supporter she may carry and somewhat less than 20% of a national vote. She won't win the Presidency; I don't imagine she would survive a Republican primary. She isn't smart enough, not good enough and by golly, you betcha we don't like her.
Funny you can see all the fake and phony in Mitt, but you are blinded by those same traits in Palin. You only see what you want to see. Fake or not, Mitt is not a drama queen.
If things continue for the GOP the way they are now, I think Mitt has a chance to at least win the primary. I don't think he could beat Obama, but he could at least win the primary. Who else does the GOP have right now to pin their hopes to? Who else who isn't tabloid fodder right now? Now that we have our first black president, the GOP will have to accept more of a variety in their candidates, including mormons.
Way too early to know who will run. things are changing pretty fast, and not in a good way ! It does promise to be interesting though.
This article is laughable. If you do a simple search on sites and forums supporting Mitt you'll find it is far less, if any, than what you'll find under Sarah Palin. Moving on, the Left write articles like these just to start up more infighting within the GOP. It's a silly tired game.
No what is a sillly tired game is the claim that Sarah would even carry 20% in a national election. Can't win that way unless you commit massive voter fraud......I guess the Republican organization for that would be NUTS, not ACORN.
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