I continue to remain mostly neutral as regards the Republican primary. But some things deserve to be pointed out. Rudy's bizarre move at the NRA convention, taking a cell phone call from his wife, is just another example of how he manages to screw up relations with important elements of the Republican base. It's also unclear if he's going to be able to keep from looking somewhat like Hillary in a general election. He hasn't done nearly as well as Romney in mitigating past liberal stances that come with being a northeastern pol. I remain unconvinced he can gin up enough support from the base and provide a distinctly different alternative to Hillary, who is going to have a monster of a political machine behind her.
Fred's start has been more Thud, than Bam and that's something he can't afford. Bad fund raising numbers aren't going to help. He polls well in places he hasn't been - a President that does not make.
Romney may be the only guy with the desire, energy, experience and organization to beat Hillary head to head. He won the recent Michigan straw poll. It'll be interesting to watch and see if his expected early wins create enough momentum into Super Tuesday.
I saw one criticism of Romney that said he'd do or say anything to win. Well, duh! You think you get to be the leader of the free world by not wanting it more than anything else? Fred seems to think so. I doubt it. I like Romney's record of competence in both the private and public sectors. And when it comes to beating Hillary, the Right better have a candidate who wants it badly and is nimble on his feet.
I recently went through all the polls at Real Clear Politics. You have to understand Romney is pursuing a more traditional approach, focusing on early states and not national polls, which are mostly BS right now, anyway. If Mitt starts to catch fire, and I think he could, he is going to be hard to beat. More important, he alone may have what it takes to beat Hillary. And I care a great deal about that. I do not want to wake up to Hillary and a Democrat Congress come next year, even if it might open the door to Republican control of Congress in 2010.
These are important times and a Clinton II is not right for America. As for Rudy versus Mitt, call it the more you see factor. The more people get to see of Mitt the more they seem to like him. Rudy, not so much. And the people are going to have to see a lot of the Republican nominee if he is to beat Hillary in 2008. She isn't going to be easy to beat.
"I continue to remain mostly neutral as regards the Republican primary."
Truth is it's because they are all horribly flawed candidates. Mitt is a bigger flip flopper than Kerry could ever dream of being and just wait till we form a 529 called "DogsagainstMitt" in direct protest of his putting the family dog on the roof for trips...that's quality executive decision making right there.
Posted by: TheSpartan | Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 04:36 PM
Don't forget the Newt factor.
Posted by: Jay | Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 05:48 PM
"the Newt factor"
I hope I can forget it - he's un-electable. Smart guy, good conservative - but about as polarizing as Hillary and sometimes with all the tact of Ron Paul.
Posted by: Dan Riehl | Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 09:43 PM
The Rudy phone call thing bombed, but at least he had the courage to address the NRA convention in person. Romney sent a video. McCann was solid, again. (I'm starting to get a tad freaked out, j/k).
Posted by: tally | Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 11:31 PM
I don't know; right now I'm for a Newt/Hill battle. Let's put up a real conservative at least; fight it out. If ideas mean anything at all, why are we even considering a New York lawyer and a Massachusetts socialistic health care provider? If you say ideas don't mean all that much in elections, why even bother to call ourselves conservatives?
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Monday, September 24, 2007 at 10:06 AM