During the Republican primaries the Republican Establishment shoved Mitt Romney down Conservative’s throats. They claimed Mitt Romney could win in Democratic areas and would be an unstoppable electoral force. Many, like me, warned that he has a mixed electoral record (1-1) and that he was no Juggernaut. Rick Santorum, who many Economic Conservatives found repulsive and a throwback to Papa and Baby Bush style Progressivism, was his last opponent. Many backed Romney as a last resort to prevent the Santorum debacle.
Then once winning the nomination Romney went all in on economic Conservatism. He picked Paul Ryan over Establishment loser Bob Portman. This signaled that he was running as a Fiscal/Economic Conservative. Unfortunately, after the Convention he stopped campaigning hard and now is on auto-pilot. He has underestimated the hold Obama has on the American people. Romney thought that a bad economy would be enough to win and so far that is not the case. Yet the Conservative base has stuck by Romney. Now in a twist of irony, it is the very same Establishment that promoted Romney as the best candidate ever that are now running away from him.
One of the most interesting aspects of the 2012 election is how the tea party movement has proven more politically mature than the center-right’s self-styled elites, and those who spent much of the Republican primary season chiding swathes of people for being insufficiently pragmatic have turned out to be far more childish than the conservative base.
For the past several weeks, Mitt Romney has been surrounded by critics from the DC-Manhattan elite who’ve denounced him for a lackluster, unfocused campaign, teeing off on Team Romney in the wake of the 47 percent comments for a number of issues—but mostly, in my read, from failing to take their advice. Romney’s defenders, meanwhile, have been many of the same individuals who spent the primary season torching him in effigy as the encapsulation of everything they hate about the Republican ruling class. For months the elites bashed the base for failing to suck it up and see the big picture, to line up for Romney and come on in for the big win. But they got their wish!
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Like it or not, the money and opinion elites on the center-right own Romney’s failure from the perspective of the base—they need him to win. And the reality is that if Romney loses, it will have little if anything to do with Paul Ryan’s big ideas, tactical choices, or elite misgivings—and far more to do with the simple fact that Romney is still disliked by most voters. Romney’s ceiling is much lower than other candidates because of this, and he’s never shown the political ability to overcome it by changing people’s opinions. That is a rare skill: the only presidential candidate in the modern era to come back from being upside down in favorability ratings to win was Bill Clinton. Romney is no Clinton.
Make no mistake, the GOP elites now realize that Mitt Romney was not the great candidate they envisioned. They claimed Mitt Romney would put Democratic states into play. This has not occurred and once again, as in every election since 1992, it is the GOP that is on the defensive. Seeing they were wrong, the GOP elites are attacking Romney relentlessly. They don’t want to be blamed if he loses.
The Conservative base has stood by Romney in his darkest hour. They have not abandoned him, nor are they even willing to admit his mistakes. The base has been loyal to Romney because they know he is the only chance of defeating Obama. They refuse to give up the fight and are doing their best to push Romney over the finish line. Unfortunately, Romney is showing no fight and is intimidated by Obama and the press. This is out of the control of Conservatives. But at least we are not abandoning ship like the RINOs.
Make no mistake about it, if Mitt Romney loses they Republican Establishment will blame Conservatives. They will claim we pushed Mitt Romney too far to the right. But these are the same people claiming that Mitt Romney being a Moderate would make him electorally invincible. They will claim for 2016 that we need Jeb Bush or Chris Christie. But don’t fall for that trap. If we lose, the blame should squarely be on the Establishment. They sold us a flawed candidate and now they don’t want any part of it. The GOP Elites are cowards and should stick by their man. Conservatives are sticking by Romney and that is the irony of this election.
