Posts
Mitt Gets the George Will Vote – But Maybe Not George Q.
Public
This Forum has
frequently commented on the fact that the general election is Mitt Romney’s
to lose. Mr. Obama will never ever
inspire enough votes for himself to win, but Mitt Romney may well inspire
enough votes against Mitt Romney so that Mr. Obama can win.
Mitt has spent the summer thus far trying to do just that, and with his
selection of Paul Ryan he takes another step in that direction.
Washington Post
columnist George Will, who likes to think of himself as a quiet
intellectual but is in fact just another cheerleader for the Republican party
gracing the pages of the WP has
it just right (unknowingly and inadvertently) with respect to the Ryan
pick. First he praises Mr. Romney for
opposing the wind energy subsidy in Iowa
(where of course there are no major wind energy projects). Really, that’s the best he can do in trying
to find Mr. Romney’s conservative bona fides.
But then Mr. Will
goes on to make this very telling statement. And he is so ignorant of the reality of
politics that what he thinks is a positive is really a negative.
And just a few days
after Romney got the wind subsidy right, nearly half of the 11 Republican
senators on the Finance Committee got it wrong, voting to extend it. So even
before choosing
Ryan, Romney was siding with what might, with a nod to Howard Dean, be
called the Republican wing of the Republican Party.
That’s right, Mr. Romney has solidified his vote from
the Republican members of the Republican party.
But the problem that Mr. Romney, and Mr. Obama have is not getting the
votes from their respective party members.
It is getting the votes from the non party members, the cross-overs and
the independents. Mr. Ryan will do
nothing for Mr. Romney in that regard.
So the enthusiasm that is seen in the pick is great on both side. Republicans are overjoyed that an extreme
Republican was selected, and Democrats are overjoyed that an extreme Republican
was selected.
Keep at it Mr. Romney
and you may well accomplish something this Forum and others thought was not
possible, which is elect Mr. Obama to a second term. As for Mr. Ryan, can you say 'Stephanie Miller's dad"? (Look it up political junkies)
I struggle to name a single feasible Romney VP pick who would NOT be considered part of "the Republican wing of the Republican party." Moderate Republican politicians are a dying breed, if any still exist. By picking any name-brand Republican, Romney ends up with an extreme Republican. I find it hard to conceive of a way Romney could not appease the George Wills of the world with his choice, unless he picked an utter non-entity or a Democrat.
ReplyDeleteIn that regard, perhaps Romney chose Ryan because he is relatively inoffensive. Ryan is purely associated with fiscal policy, which is not generally well understood. He is not known for his positions on social/wedge issues. He is bland, and stands for bland concepts like reducing the deficit and cutting taxes.
Maybe Romney figured that Ryan will, at worst, scare fewer independents away than the other options. In other words, he will be a neutral rather than a negative like Palin.
That's the best I can do, because Will and like-minded commentators are being disingenuous by crediting Romney for picking a "true Conservative" rather than some other, unnamed option. There was no other option, anyone he picked would be a true Conservative. And if Romney thinks Ryan won't trigger a negative reaction, he hasn't put two and two together. Most Americans hate Congress and Ryan IS Congress.
Take it easy TDPE. I listen to Stephanie every morning and Mr. Ryan could only be so lucky as to have one of his offspring grow up to share Staphanie's political views and sexual orientation to boot! Otherwise, as usual, you are right on everything else. Keep it up. Gawd only knows that down here in the sweltering deep south, the sound of voices of reason like you, can only be found online!
ReplyDelete