Comments Posted By Caustic Conservative
Displaying 1 To 1 Of 1 Comments
Hoping for a brokered convention? Wake up. Stop wallowing in your misery. I am a Fred supporter who has moved on.
Look. You need to realize that there is more at stake here than just the presidency. There are tons of important House and Senate races that will probably determine who has control of those chambers the next two years (well at least the House) and a brokered convention is the worst possible scenario.
Operatives need to be re-employed and activists need to hit the ground running. Campaign messages need to be crafted and implemented as soon as the Democratic nominee is known. Fundraising needs to begin in earnest. None of this happens until fall if someone doesn't take the nomination by the throat early this spring. You might not be handing the election to the Democrats, but you will kill any chance of getting the House back this year by draining important resources into the Presidential race.
The makeup of the House is crucial, because Dems are at record low approval and this is the GOP's last best chance to take it back before redistricting in 2011. The 2010 offseason election is not as high profile, and there will be no Presidential candidate to help out down the ticket. The time to move on the HofR is now, before Dems redistrict the GOP into impotence after 2010. And it is a ripe situation, right now, for Romney.
Look, I loved Fred's candidacy, and Romney was a distant second choice, but if we head into summer with people focused mainly on the economy, no GOP candidate makes as credible a case as he can. If he can tie all three legs of the conservative stool with a little realistic immigration reform and a dash of earmark elimination into a "contract with America" style campaign that down-ticket candidates can sign onto, the Dems in the HofR are ripe for the plucking.
If there is another dramatic terror attack, the same could apply to McCain or Giuliani.
This President is going to need some sort of mandate to begin his term--something no President has had since Reagan in 1980. (Bill Clinton won only a plurality thanks to Perot, Bush I was extending Reagan's legacy, and Bush II had the whole "Florida thing" working against him in 2000.)
Taking back the House would be a very important morale builder for the GOP and it's activists, and provide the needed boost for growth oriented policies to be put into place starting next January. But the candidate at the top has to be able to get GOP candidates for lesser offices to ride those coattails. John McCain can't do it. At all. Rudy might be able to, but in an environment where economic unease is of the greatest importance in the minds of voters, Romney is the best choice.
Don't take your ball and go home, or worse, hope for a brokered convention. You know, deep down, that there is a bigger picture here. Time to stop moping and get back in the game. There's Democrats out there just waiting to be bludgeoned. Electorally. Pick the next best guy and move on.
Comment Posted By Caustic Conservative On 25.01.2008 @ 01:39
