Mitt Romney said on a conference call this morning that he would not run for president next year.
Romney is a good man, and I think I would like more about a Romney presidency than I would dislike. But he’s not strong in this field of candidates. I do wish he’d stayed in long enough to tie up Bush a bit. Romney’s departure will likely accelerate the coalescence of “the establishment” around Bush.
Thing is, “the establishment” GOP hasn’t won out of the chute since 2000, and that was by a hair’s width, if you’ll recall. Jeb Bush can’t win even a vaguely competitive general election. His last name alone is at least a 5-point penalty.
The successful Republican candidate will be a small-government conservative with grown-up and sensible ideas on foreign policy. These are the arenas in which Obama has done the gravest damage; consequently, I think little else matters. Right now, of those who could plausibly win, I think that candidate is either Scott Walker or Ted Cruz, with Rick Perry and/or Marco Rubio on the bubble.
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Glad Romney’s out. The more I learn about Walker, the more I like him. Wonder what the MSM will do to try & sully his image?
He has no college degree. Easy to hit him on that, but I question how much longevity it will have. Will people care? Doesn’t bother me.
I’ll also add that Walker hasn’t said much about foreign policy yet, but what he has said I can generally support.
Oh, and his wife is 12 years older than he is. I could see people acting ugly about that.
That they haven’t started hitting him on these “issues” means that they don’t see him as a threat yet. It’s coming.
Part of why I’m excited about that starting in earnest, though, is that he’s already survived a serious and sustained offensive from the national Liberal Hate Machine. If there were anything serious to club him with, I’d think he’d have been clubbed with it already. Instead he’s the only U.S. governor to ever win a recall election.
So bring on “you didn’t finish college” and “wow dude, your wife’s old.”
I think a Cruz/Rubio ticket would make heads explode, but in a fun way.
I’m glad Romney is out too – just because I don’t think he could win.