I guess Geroge Will must support Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry or Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann or Ron Paul or Gary Johnson or Jon Huntsman, because he sure doesn’t support Mitt Romney.
Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles who is not only becoming less electable; he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate. Republican successes down the ticket will depend on the energies of the Tea Party and other conservatives, who will be deflated by a nominee whose blurry profile in caution communicates only calculated trimming.
Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor who takes his bearings from “data” (although there is precious little to support Romney’s idea that in-state college tuition for children of illegal immigrants is a powerful magnet for such immigrants) and who believes elections should be about (in Dukakis’s words) “competence,” not “ideology.” But what would President Romney competently do when not pondering ethanol subsidies that he forthrightly says should stop sometime before “forever”? Has conservatism come so far, surmounting so many obstacles, to settle, at a moment of economic crisis, for this?
I’d note that the latest Economist/YouGov Poll (pdf) has Herman Cain at 28% among likely Republican primary voters, followed by Romney at 24% and Rick Perry and Ron Paul both at nine percent. Since Herman Cain is basically a joke candidate, that means that Republicans prefer a joke to Mitt Romney. But it’s a narrow victory for comedy. Rick Perry, on the other hand, is getting less than one third of the support enjoyed by Cain.
I guess George Will is trying to turn things around, but I am going to remember what Mr. Will wrote about Romney when he’s the Republican nominee.
That’s to me the most interesting line. He makes the assumption that the Senate belongs to the GOP by right and it’s theirs to lose. This type of thinking is very characteristic of the current GOP. It got us Iraq, for one thing. Of course we will be welcomed…In any event it’s their Achilles heel. He’s sort of like Grand Moff Tarkin.
That might be the dumbest thing I’ve read here, not by Arthur Gilroy or whatever his name is. Have you ever seen partisan analysis before?
Heck, Booman’s out fantasizing about winning 80 House seats next fall. Now that’s proper ambition. People not only expect their side to win, they expect them to do very well indeed. Otherwise, why would they be partisans? Why would they be commenting in the first place?
Wow, Bazooka Joe! I get the prize!
So, you don’t think that there right has developed the assumption that they have a right to be in the majority? It’s not my own idea. There is also the assumption on the right that most of the country, for example, shares their politics. To be sure, a Frank Luntz knows that’s not the case, but all the talk about a “center-right country” when by issue nearly everything polls center-left is the point.
I probably shouldn’t respond seriously, but I have read partisan analysis before. Your objection in fact buttresses my point. So by your count both sides expect their own to win. I’ll note that my point was to win by right, but that’s not critical here. Both sides expect different outcomes so both can’t be right. We are dealing, in partisan analysis like Will’s with fantasy that is assumed to be real. The extent to which the right does this is the extent to which they’re vulnerable.
You might recall the famous “you live in the reality-based community,” comment. That was what I had in mind when I said this type of thinking is characteristic of the current GOP.
Clearly, I should have taken a little more time to clarify the ideas in my comment. Lesson learned.
Could they have finally reached the lowest common candidate denominator? …naaah. Sorry George, you lose.
Peak Wingnut Was a Lie!
Romney is white, wears dark suits, is English-speaking, makes President-sounding noises and is, at least on camera, continent. He’s a Republican.
That puts a floor under him at 43.5% of the popular vote. In a deep recession. Against a very unpopular president.
I have no idea why George Will is worried.
I have no idea why George Will is worried.
Bingo!! As Howie of DWT says, Will will vote for Mittens come next November if he is the nominee.
I don’t see why Cain is more of a joke candidate than any of the rest. I think we dismiss him too lightly. He’s no more of a joke than Bush, near as I can see, or Reagan for that matter.
Besides, when selecting an administrator, don’t we want someone familiar with the turf? For the head of the Farm Bureau we probably prefer a farmer. For the fire chief we probably want someone who’s been a firefighter. So it seems natural that for the head of this joke of a body politic we’d be tempted to install a joke.