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Mitt Romney, A Conservative's First "Second Choice" Candidate
01/11/12 21:01, by OGRE / (Jeff), Categories: News, Background, In real life, On the web, Politics, Stimulus Spending, Elections 
For all the reasons to vote for Mitt Romney; none seems more notable than the fact that Mitt Romney is not Barack Obama. Still there are plenty of reasons to question Romney's credentials when it comes to core beliefs. Take the individual mandate in Massachusetts for example; Romney said that those decisions should be made by states and not the federal government. I take further issue with it. I think that no government entity should ever have the right to mandate that you purchase something, by virtue of your existence. That's a pretty serious conflict with conservative beliefs. That's a pretty troubling position. Does this mean that Romney believes that health care is a right? Romney sounds more like a moderate at best. Quite a while back I did a post on Moderates. I explained in great detail how it's hard to get behind someone who doesn't really stand for anything. If Romney has conservative core beliefs, why didn't he stand up for these beliefs when he was governor of Massachusetts? Why would he stand for them now?
The real problem lies in the fact that the Republican field has no conservative candidate in the race. That's not to say that there aren't any conservatives in the party; it's just that none of them stepped up this time around.
Mitt has a really big hurtle to get over, it's not looking more conservative than Obama, it's being conservative enough to get voters out. If Romney wins the general election it won't be because of his positive stance and message; it will be because of negative sentiment for Obama. Remember the stump speech that Romney gave in New Hampshire. There was little mention of what he would do other than to undo what Obama has done. While that is not a bad position to have, it seems a little narrow to me. We'll have to see if he expands on this.
Conservatives are more likely to vote for someone when they know where that person stands. This knowledge includes actions not just stated positions. Romney has to be able to convince the conservative electorate that he's not just full of hot air. But hey, he's not Obama right? That's got to count for something.
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4 comments
Romney is working his way to the head of my list. Yes, I would like someone less moderate, but the other candidates are mostly being horses asses. I am so disappointed in Gingrich acting the whiny baby in all this. Romney's endorsements by Bolton and Christie are a help. Romney can help himself by pulling out 5 must do's for the economy that are easy to understand. Then he can get a really good VP choice like Paul Ryan or the like. See my post on his Vulture Capitalism being an asset at mamabincranky.com. You are right that he can't just run against Obama. He must have some positive reason to vote for him. Also, if the house stay Republican, and the Senate goes Republican, they can keep check on Romney's moderate leanings. Haven't heard from you in awhile, so I thought I would post to your stuff.
Hey, it's been a while! My wife and I were moving into a house we just purchased. It took me a while to find the time to set my computers up again. But now I'm back at it! :) 
I just have this sinking feeling that Obama is going to be re-elected. Let's face it, the GOP field sucks. And we shouldn't forget taking the Senate and making further gains in the House, those are as important as the White House. Brian,This is true; if the current groups stay in the Senate and the House we won't be much better off. It all depends on how well voters pay attention, and how many times they actually buy Obama's excuses. It's amazing to me how someone who was so big on change, had all the ideas and promised so much, can be endlessly excused for inaction when it comes to failure.
I feel like asking Obama, "If you would have known that Bush messed things up to the extent that you say he did. Would you have still run for office? Or, at least, would you have promised less?" Remember Obama identified what he considered to be problems and proposed solutions, which were for the most part implemented. Now the results are in. I just don't think he can keep up this dance anymore. People, I think, sense that something is wrong and don't think that Obama can fix it.
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