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07 February 2008
Romney out? CNN is reporting that Romney's about to "suspend" his campaign. Hopefully Huckabee will fight to stay in the game, instead of joining McCain on a nightmare ticket.
I'm trying to listen to Romney's speech... damn, he's gross. So far he's already insulted France(??) and promised to fight against the values of the 1960s. He's like a cartoon conservative. (Are they all really like this?)
Now he's taking a swat at gay families, and the crowd's going wild.
I kind of thought McCain was more worried about losing a big chunk of the conservative vote (the right wing radio blowhards have been bloviating against him a lot recently), so wouldn't it be good strategy to get a guy like Huckabee (religious, southern, conservative) to run with him? Isn't that what they mean by "unifying the ticket"?
Doesn't McCain need a southern, Baptist, nationally-recognized VP to "balance the ticket"?
I understand that Romney is a much easier candidate to face in Nov. than McCain, but I also like that McCain and Huckabee both proved that it's very difficult to buy a US Presidential election.
I had a similar reaction when watching his Florida speech. He seemed oddly disconnected, a man living in a fairytale world, a 1950s that never existed even in the 1950s. There was a lot about 'when you tuck your children into bed tonight, and say your family prayers...'
That may decsribe some families, but his assumption that that's who Americans are describe a tiny minority of people. He never seemed serious about being President, because he never seemed to think about how he would lead people who are unlike him.
I'm glad he's left the race, if only so we can be spared the phrase "Washington is broken."
I think Atom Eyes has it. McCain needs to get the evangelical republicans on his side or they'll stay home. If they stay home, we'll definitely have the first woman or black president in November.
I also think Super Tuesday has shown the right wing radio blowhards do not have that much control over Republican voters. They were all foamed at the mouth over how Juan McCain was not a conservative and urging their dittoheads to vote for Romney or the Huckster and that just didn't happen in places like California and New York. Romney couldn't get conservative counties like San Diego and Orange counties (he came close there, but close doesn't count). Romney only won Shasta County (go Wolfpack and Hornets!) and Fresno County.
I'm not surprised Mitt dropped out today (after saying just yesterday he was going to wait until after Texas/Ohio next month - flip flopper!) since he it is mathmatically impossible for him to get enough delegates for the nomination with the remaining states. I was hoping he'd continue to spend tons of his own money though.
That transcript must have been given to them ahead of time... he deviated from it a couple of times. It doesn't include his mention of the U.S. becoming "...the France of the 21st century," which got a hearty round of boos from the audience.
Mitt Romney ended his presidential run Thursday, telling a conservative audience that continuing the race against rival John McCain would make it more likely Democrats would win the White House and in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.
You know, it's just slightly hopeful to me that Giuliani and Romney are both out and they were the ones with the strongest "IF THE DEMOCRATS GET IN YOU WILL DIE" message. If McCain doesn't pick up that rhetorical mantle we may actually have a semi-intelligent race this year.
I am so thrilled I won't have to hold my nose and vote for Romney.
My husband is in shock, since he's not a McCain fan. (We both liked Fred Thompson.) Meanwhile there are actually quite a few conservative Christians out there who are NOT big fans of Huckabee. Apparently a lot of homeschoolers have issues with him. And you don't want to piss off homeschoolers as they are generally pretty involved in politics and pretty vocal about it as well. And I am jaded enough to know that just because someone shares my religious beliefs does not mean they share my political opinions.
I actually like McCain and won't have a problem voting for him in the general election. And the truth is I would be pretty stunned if he did pick Huckabee as a running mate. I think it would be a stupid move.
(trivia: I called my husband on my cell phone to give him the news...as I could hear it ring on his end my house phone started ringing.
It was HIM calling ME to give ME the news.
Seeing as this is the same man that stopped at the board of elections on the way to our honeymoon in order to make sure I was registered to vote, I am not surprised.)
My Dad says that now that Romney's out, Twinkie and I should get the nomination. I'm up for the challenges (at the very least, the challenge of teaching a dog to run the country!)
I had a dream that Bob Costas and I were elected President and Vice-President (me) during a Super Bowl Half Time Show. We were only running as a lark. I think it was a vote of applause by the half time crowd only. We looked at each other in shock, like NOW WHAT?
Those who love the Costas will be sad to hear that HBO has canceled Inside the NFL after 31 years. Booooo! (I have no interest in sports shows at all, but frequently found myself drawn in by the stories on that show.)
But back to Romney....I love how Stephen Colbert always replaced images of Romney with images of Guy Smiley. I'm going to miss that.
McCain/Thompson could certainly appeal to the AARP demographic. Perhaps I am getting mired in details, but I think the Congressional elections will now have a bigger impact on the next four years moreso than who becomes president. If the right regains control of the House, Obama could well be a lame duck before he even takes the oath.
We've certainly seen a Congress and White House opposed before - in fact, some people theorize Americans feel better about that, as though they're ensuring some sort of 'balance,' though there's not a lot of difference between balancing and being mired.
But if Obama is faced with that, as others have been before, his ability to impact the legislative agenda depends entirely upon his leadership skills, identification of issues of common cause, and power to influence opinion and engender support. For me, you bring up a great point that is yet another thing to give me pause about Hillary: her election would guarantee a right-packed Congress and lots of opposition from the people who write budgets and propose law.
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