No one could have predicted that choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate and embracing his granny-starving budget plan would hurt Mitt Romney with seniors:
New polling by Reuters/Ipsos indicates that during the past two weeks – since just after the Democratic National Convention – support for Romney among Americans age 60 and older has crumbled, from a 20-point lead over Democratic President Barack Obama to less than 4 points.
Romney’s double-digit advantages among older voters on the issues of healthcare and Medicare – the nation’s health insurance program for those over 65 and the disabled – also have evaporated, and Obama has begun to build an advantage in both areas.
No one likes Mitt Romney. And that’s what you should say to people you meet who express the intent to vote for him.
“What!? Are you kidding? No one likes Mitt Romney.”
“If you want to go down in history as some kind of strange weirdo who actually did like Mitt Romney, that’s your business, but I wouldn’t wish that on your grandchildren.”
This isn’t like admitting that you voted for Dukakis or Mondale. Most Democrats have no regrets about those votes. Most Democrats feel that history vindicated those votes. This is like voting for David Hasselhoff. Or Dan Quayle. Or Sarah Palin. No one is ultimately going to want to admit that they supported jackasses like that.
Maybe you could talk to the people who supported John Edwards over Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They can tell you how it feels to have supported a charlatan four years down the line.
When it’s all over, no one will want to admit that they supported Mitt Romney. Not even a little bit.
The Republicans will airbrush him out of their history much more thoroughly than they’ve airbrushed out George W. Bush. And the reason is that George W. Bush brought them victory, twice, and that is still worth something. Just look at the federal courts if you need proof.
Romney has won no lasting allegiance or appreciation from any faction of the Republican Party, and he will be discarded like a pathogen.
