Try as some might to deprecate it, there’s no denying that Mitt Romney’s smashing victory in the New Hampshire primary has firmly established him as the all-but inevitable Republican presidential nominee. The final tally raised Romney’s total of the vote to nearly 40 percent in a five-man race in the state and a 17-point margin of victory over his nearest competitor. Even more important, New Hampshire’s results re-emphasized the fact that there is no single viable conservative alternative to Romney. That puts him in an even stronger position than expected to romp to another victory next week in South Carolina.
That leaves disgruntled conservatives with a difficult decision. Though no one expects Romney’s opponents to roll over for him with so many states left to vote, the vicious attacks on Romney’s business career from Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have done as much to discredit them as the former head of Bain Capital. The spectacle of conservatives trying to sound like Occupy Wall Street protesters in order to smear Romney hasn’t hurt him so much as it has made them look ridiculous, especially when it is increasingly obvious that Romney is the only Republican running who can beat President Obama. In the coming weeks, conservatives must decide whether their unhappiness with Romney is enough to cause them to abandon their principles and to aid Democratic attacks on the man who will almost certainly be their party’s standard-bearer in November.
While Romney has struggled at times to articulate a coherent defense of capitalism, he found his voice last night during his victory speech when he noted that President Obama and “desperate Republicans” were trying “to put free enterprise on trial.” His declaration that he has faith in the people, not government, was exactly the message he needs to emphasize the rest of the campaign. Even more to the point, by making this election about defending the private sector against Obama’s belief in big government, he can reassure conservatives that despite his faults and his difficulty in connecting with ordinary voters, he is clearly on their side of the great issues facing the nation.
During the next week and a half, Gingrich and Perry will be launching their last-ditch effort to convince Tea Partiers and social conservatives that Romney can be stopped. But if they continue with their hypocritical trashing of his business record, all they will accomplish is to destroy what is left of their own tattered reputations. Rick Santorum has wisely stayed out of that scrum and is hoping to galvanize the support of social conservatives to stay in contention. But his disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire may have dissipated the momentum he got from his strong performance in Iowa. Moreover, with well-funded conservative foes in Gingrich and Perry going all out in South Carolina, it’s hard to see how Santorum emerges from the pack to beat Romney.
While we can expect to hear more about Romney’s flaws, the rest of this primary season will primarily be about conservatives learning to make their peace with him. Though he has a long way to go before his nomination is secured, sooner or later his party’s right-wing activists are going to have to realize that if they want to defeat Obama, he is their only hope.
Go Mitt go! Congrats on a victory across the demographic spectrum!
The stupidity of the Republican elite knows no bounds. To nominate a venture capitalist after the wall street fiasco of 4 years ago is utterly moronic.As for making peace, no – I don't think so. I will never again support a RINO Republican. If that means 4 more years of Obama until the Tea Party can find a constitutional conservative standard bearer – then so be it. The more important races have now become those for the House and Senate with more Tea Party folks who will block whoever is President. Why? Because Romney will move left as he has in the past, returning to his true convictions which he has held most of his adult life. For anyone to believe the "baloney" that he is somehow a born again conservative is nonsense.
But wait. I thought you guys had your standard bearer in Ron Paul. Are you suggesting he's not pure enough or are you admitting that there will never be someone acceptable to you. Either way, it's a sad and unrealistic way to live. Look around you. All human beings are RINOs or DINOs or INBETWEENOs. We live in a state of merely trying to live by our principles and values. We fail. And we bugger on.
Well, if you normally vote Republican but sit this election out because you don't like Romney, then it's the same thing as a vote for Barack Obama because it's a vote that his opponent won't get. n nYou and others like you need to ask yourselves "What do I find least objectionable, Mitt Romney as president or four more years of Barack Obama?" I would submit that ANYTHING is better than another four years of Barack Obama!!!! n nDon't be an idiot.
And Obama is what I promise you that you will get if you sell out the GOP for Romney. n nGet a spine! n n(If you read your post yourself, it is missing something called "True Grit", a.k.a. integrity.) n nIf I had a white glove, I would slap you with it.
I would cut my hand off before I would vote for Nit Mit….
That has an awful ring of jihadi bellicosity. I truly hope you don't mean that. Mitt was not my first choice. I had high hopes for Perry, then Gingrich at different points. But reasonable people need to consider why these guys have literally disintegrated before our eyes, and seem to have no problem putting their own emotional needs above everything else. The good news is, the free market is rejecting the adolescents. Maybe there really is some secret tensile ingredient in Romney, because I have to say he is winning me over, slowly and surely. n nGod knows, it is a complete mystery why any soul would willingly take on the challenge of cleaning up the current mess. But Romney very clearly is itching to throw himself into the task. God bless him, and the least I can do is stop griping from the peanut gallery.
…keep drinking the Rino kool aid….whats the differance between Mitt and Barry…Nothing….America, you are lost….and if Mit Nit takes the Nomanation….good riddance…she will get what she and the rinos deserve….USSA…..
gosh, that sentiment 'we'll get what we deserve' seems to belie hostility that has nothing to do with the current election. Maybe you heard a Jeremiah Wright clip and got confused… it happens.
You know, I've discovered that nothing is as reliable an indicator that I'm talking to an idiot as when they start throwing around the term "RINO" and start claiming that Romney "has been forced down our throats by the establishment". n nYou people are all morons. Nobody from the "establishment" was holding a gun to the head of any of the 39% of New Hampshire voters who voted for Romney last night. n nIt's high time you sloped-foreheaded, knuckle-dragging ultra-right wing loons accept the fact that you do NOT control the Republican Party, no matter how much you like to think that you do!
I heart Dan Ramsey. He says what I am thinking, without the bad language.
Eric: n nI'm sending the knife to you via FedEx. Please make sure to cut off your non-voting hand as you will need to utilize your good hand to vote for Mitt come November.
…I would rather write in Paulzie….
Well this lead is backasswards. Conservatives must make peace with Romney? How about Romney, 1 man, make peace with the millions of people who claim he is a RINO? I mean the facts are there for any to see. It is Romney who needs to move. He needs to tell us his healthcare program, now a documented failure, was a mistake. He has to start detailing ways to pair back the obese Federal Government and get it out of our lives. If not, he is just another in a long line of statist politicians bent on expanding government control over every aspect of our individual, personal lives.
“The spectacle of conservatives trying to sound like Occupy Wall Street protesters in order to smear Romney hasnu2019t hurt him so much as it has made them look ridiculous especially when it is increasingly obvious that Romney is the only Republican running who can beat President Obama.”r nr nTwo things to point out in this Tobin quote: 1]Why continue to follow the Marxist propaganda labeling all right of raw Marxism Ideology as Conservatives? It should be obvious from both Romney opponents past records, if not by these attacks alone, that neither are Conservatives. 2] You may be correct that the Socialist Romney may be the only candidate running for the GOP nomination that can have any chance of beating the DNC Marxist Obama; but, that does imply our Constitutional Republic is over and Conservatives must accept that fact and move on…really!
Romney is the only one that stands a chance of beating Obama and last he got the votes of the tea parties. Neither Paul or Huntsman can beat Obama. I will vote for Romney . We conservatives need to focus or attention of getting a truly conservative congress so that Romney can't cut deals with the progressives.
What did Bain and Mitt Romney do? They created jobs and it lost jobs; they hired people and fired people, they made money and lost money. Free Market capitalists make things happen to provide goods and services we want and need, move the economy forward, called "progress" in the best sense of the word. Defend free market, not attack it. n nMitt Romney is a person of high personal integrity and great ability. I think he is vulnerable on a number of issues but this may force him (and us) to explain what Venture capitalists do and why they are providing real value to the economy. n nI am not sure that Mitt Romney is willing, temperamentally, to challenge the TRILLIONs in Entitlement. He seems timid. We can only hope that God continues to shed his grace on America. n nWhile a squishy conservative at best, Mitt Romney has run a flawless campaign and built a base. That is impressive. Let us hope he will be as successful with turning our country from the fiscal iceberg ahead. Captain Edward John Smith was decent, smart and every experienced and the Titanic did sink and all went down as will we if we do not address Debt Deficit and Entitlements. n n
You have it backwards. Romney will have to make peace with us by moving to the right and staying there. Also – winning in NH is one thing. SC is a whole different animal. Then we'll see if the "all-BUTT inevitable Republican presidential nominee" talk holds water.
That's interesting, because you can see the differences between NH and SC. Which means you can also see that electability across the whole nation is important, really crucial actually. n nBetween you and me, I think it's quite possible Mitt Romney is far more conservative, not less so, than he thinks it prudent to project.
Gingrich and Perry just lost another supporter. I will not vote for either one because they bely their conservative and capitalism credentials with the vicious, anti-capitalism ads against Mitt. They just gave BHO a possible huge win because the Dems will use their words in campaign ads. Big, Big disappointment.
Um, they were already planning this if you cared to read at all. They were planning it as an October surprise. Memes are memes and they are strong. The Dems meme is so entrenched that class warfare and Obama are the fact on the ground you have to deal with. So think about it. You are about to support a candidate who feeds into the liberal meme, a meme that no GOP candidate or standard bearer seems to be able to bust open. Romney was dead due to Bain long before any primary candidate brought it to our attention. The silver lining is that maybe, just maybe, this will wake some people up and not just hand the nomination to McCain part Duex. The Dems already have a huge win. They are banking on Mitt taking the nomination and have plenty of fodder – including Bain – and have for months. And according to Axlerod , we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Vote for Romney and kiss the Presidency goodbye. That's all I can say.
I don’t “have” to do anything, least of all vote for a RINO shoved down our throats by the Establishment. And guess what, I’m not going to vote for Romney. If we’re going to have four more years of liberalism, let it be under the Democrats not under a Republican liberal masquerading as a conservative.
Contentions says that conservatives must knuckle under to Romney and the establishment.r nr nConservatives respond: “Nuts!!”
Nuts is a good word for any conservative who cannot choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
The problem that most conservatives, and many moderates, have with Romney, is that while he says all the right things, he comes off as incredibly insincere about it. If I actually believed him I'd be doing cartwheels right now, since he is saying all the things I agree with and would like to see in the next four years (and beyond). The problem is, I think, that once he secures the nomination, and /or wins the presidency, he is going to "revert" to what he really is – a flaming liberal in Obama mode. nSo the question is whether Obama will implement Obama's policies after 2013, and appoint Obama's judges to the SCOTUS; or whether Romney will implement Obama's policies, and appoint Obama's judges to SCOTUS, using the Republican brand.
Love all the haters who would cede another 4 years, trilions in debt, and Supreme Court nominations to Obama right now for another chance at a conservative purity test in 2016. This is about Obama v. Mitt (or anyone really). You'd rather sit home in protest and allow the most left President in history continue to circumvent a myriad of laws? You'd just take your balls and go home because some talking head told you that Mitt isn't conservative enough to govern?? I understand that Mitt will have to earn some trust, but he'll never get the opportunity if the self anointed real conservatives out there decide they won't even take the chance. What do you do if you're faced with the same decision in 2016 of someone not being conservative enough? What then? Sit it out again? I don't care if it was another Democrat running against him. I'd vote for them. Obama deserves us exercising our constitutional right to judge his performance. God willing, in 4 years, if you don't like what Mitt has done, judge his performance then.
Despite the pitiful childishness exhibited by many on the extreme right (They remind me of the spoiled litte rich kid who always threatened to take his new football and go home if he couldn’t play quarterback.), in time 99.9% of them will make peace with Romney and will vote for him on election day.
As much as they might wish that a fellow uber-conservative wingnut was running instead of Romney, in the end their hatred of Barack Obama will override all other considerations.
I think you're right that most will pull the right lever in the end. But within hours of Romney's inauguration they will begin opposing his every move, ginning up conspiracies, etc. etc. Some of the old guard who are still alive and agitating today (Viguerie is one) began undermining St. Ronald of Reagan within a year's time. But they have the you-know-whats to use Reagan as their patron saint and pretend they supported his every move. Look it up. There are some names among these posers which might surprise you. They are professional malcontents and they never seem to run out of dupes.
Conservatives have to do nothing. Romney had better understand that if he wants to win, he must quit being a RINO and start talking about dismantling the nanny state.
I don't know where you've been, but I follow Mitt's FB page (and did so for other candidates too) and his statements have been consistent about setting us on the right path, freeing people from the yolk of government, leaving our children a better future, repealing Obamacare, etc… I know trust is an issue, but if it is him versus Obama, Mitt is the only one saying he'll move away from the nanny/regulatory state. What Obama is promising is a double-dog dare to jump off the cliff.
To put it in perspective for this GOP establishment hack pundit.r nr nMitt has 14 delegates out of 1500 or so more to go.r nPaul is right on his heals with 10.r nr nWe have a long way to go before you establishment hacks can coronate your boy….. It will be an election for the history books. The democrats empty suit vs. the republican empty suit…. and the rest of us get borked no matter who wins… how awesome is America?
BTW–If you ever want me to consider subscribing to Commentary again, I will need to know that you are not simply hawking for Romney. n nThere should be no reason to moderate my last comment other than a certain acute sensitivity to criticism.
I will publish the deleted comment in parts to see what was so objectionable to Commentary: n n……………… nTobin, n nLet me reply to you very simply: n nNuts! n n-…………………. n n
……. nIf the GOP votes for pro-Abortion Romney, they will do it without social conservatives such as myself. I view you, Tobin, and your ilks as traitors to the Regean coalition. n…..
…….. nAs easily as you find it to throw me overboard after years of loyalty, while you and Bush [ word for "not loyal"] us at every opportunity–remember Souter, I do–I and my loyal American band will throw you Rockefeller, self-center, moralless, [that purple pill-taking] , adult diaper wearing, vermin out! n…….. n n
……… nAnd the rest of your dirty ilk as well. You have my word on it. (At least, my word still means something; yours does not.) n n n n……… n n nSo there it is. The machine does not like the trade name for that purple pill hawked by that lovable, but failing in every sense of the conservative word, Dole. n n n nOh, this is toooo much touchiness.
I am a free market conservative. I would vote for my blind, deaf, 14 year old dog that has forgotten where to pee over Obama. n nI do not need Romney to parrot the platforms of Perry, Gingrich, Paul, or Santorum for me to vote for him. n nI just need him to convince me that he is going to be a pro private sector growth, limited government, and common sense foreign policy president. That would be such a huge improvement over Obama that he would get 60% of the vote if he could convince the country of this and why it would be the best course of action.
Dittos to the comment above about no longer doing what the pundits tell us to do. To paraphrase Reagan, I did not leave the GOP, the GOP left me. n
I agree. Before any conservative can consider supporting Romney, he must agree to two non-negotiable demands. He must promise and swear that there will be no tax increases, otherwise, his statement that he can work with Democrats means he will agree to increase them. He must promise to appoint conservatives to The Supreme Court and the federal bench as more "David Souters" will not solve any problems. Short of that, there is no point in voting for him as a RINO who increases taxes, as Bush 41 did, and appoints liberals to the courts wil be a disaster. One can imagine what the 2014 and 2016 elections would look like. But then all this is academic anyways, as his "I enjoy firing people…" statement is a perfect bumper sticker slogan and a gold mine for the Democrats. Get ready for four more yars of Obama.
You're probably going to a better place for f#$&ing us all over. My grandkids living in a destroyed America will be sure to remember that it was people like Scott Hammond who decided to nobly not vote so that Obama could win. I'm sure that halo that you are wearing will match nicely the chains of the state that will be wrapped around your wrists. n nWas my point made?
Romney is a progressive, just slightly to the right of Obama. We have been voting for the least progressive candidate all our lives and look where that has us. Any vote for Romney is telling the GOP that they can keep putting progressives out there, and we will keep voting for them. We need a dramatic change toward fiscal conservatism, and everyone knows, Romney just isn't it. Will not be voting for Mittons.
…Dittos….
Then there's only one word for you and everyone who thinks like you. Loser. In every sense of the word.
This is incredibly short-sighted thinking. In the American system, not voting for a Republican is voting for a Democrat. You're essentially saying that because you fear that Romney may raise taxes or choose Court appointees that you dislike, you are not going to prevent the coming to power of someone that will definitely raise taxes and choose appointees you dislike.
….Mitt wins…EVERYBODY loses…..