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HELP US MITT ROMNEY, YR OUR ONLY HOPE!
Nov. 18th, 2015 09:49 am[Unnecessary political horseplay from Team Frog Chief Executive Hack Lucky Bensonhurst]
We’re now less than a year away from POTUS 2016, and Donald Trump and Ben Carson still aren’t doomed.
Not yet. But rumor has it that some players in the GOP Establishment are so worried about this – and annoyed with Jeb! Bush for failing to steal their thunder (or indeed anyone else’s) – that they’re trying to convince Mitt Romney to get in the ring.
There’s even a Draft Mitt website.
To be clear, the Draft Mitt contingent isn't a very big one. Also, Mitt is believed to be still not interested. Even if he was, he may have already doomed his chances by crediting RomneyCare as the genesis for Obamacare. He’s already walked that back, but the Angry Tea Party people who are driving the Trump/Carson campaigns are probably not going to forget that.
Let’s remember too that the Tea Party didn’t want Mitt the first time, and are reasonably sure he’s the reason Obama is still POTUS – which is why they’re pushing for someone hardcore and non-establishment in the first place. If Jeb! isn’t exactly setting Tea Party Central on fire, it’s hard to believe Mitt could do better.
What’s interesting is that none of this used to matter. The Establishment is accustomed to the traditional campaign model of weeding out the fringe outsiders and eventually rallying behind a candidate who can play the middle. As has been pointed out elsewhere on this blog, conservatives only account for a third of the US voting population. That means you can’t win the White House without playing to the middle.
That’s the tradition. But the Tea Party forces aren’t interested in the middle. They’re interested in ideological purity. And they’ve been burned before by trusting a moderate to defeat Obama. They have clout, and they have expectations, and the Establishment is not meeting them, and they’re pissed off about that.
Just ask John Boehner.
It’s hard to feel sorry for the Establishment Boys – they’ve cheerfully exploited both the general fear and loathing after 9/11 and the Tea Party movement (and its official news channel, Fox News) since its inception, and now they’re losing control of the clown car.
Also, the current dithering may be overblown. Trump is a great demagogue, but it’s still hard to believe that voters will channel their anti-establishment anger all the way to the RNC convention. And there are indications that Trump’s schtick is finally starting to wear a tad thin. On the other hand, it seems there's nothing wrong with Trump's campaign that an appearance on SNL can't fix.
You may now take a moment to ponder the notion that SNL appearances improve yr chances of being Leader Of The Free World.
Maybe that’s where Jeb! has gone wrong. Maybe that’s how Mitt Romney can save the day.
But maybe not. Nate Silver makes a good case here that – aside from the fact that latecomers historically don’t fare well in POTUS elections – there are very limited scenarios in which Mitt could make a meaningful difference, all of which depend on just why Trump and Carson are still leading. And the one where Mitt is most likely to succeed is also the least plausible, statistically.
Stay tuned, Jim.
L. Bensonhurst
We’re now less than a year away from POTUS 2016, and Donald Trump and Ben Carson still aren’t doomed.
Not yet. But rumor has it that some players in the GOP Establishment are so worried about this – and annoyed with Jeb! Bush for failing to steal their thunder (or indeed anyone else’s) – that they’re trying to convince Mitt Romney to get in the ring.
There’s even a Draft Mitt website.
To be clear, the Draft Mitt contingent isn't a very big one. Also, Mitt is believed to be still not interested. Even if he was, he may have already doomed his chances by crediting RomneyCare as the genesis for Obamacare. He’s already walked that back, but the Angry Tea Party people who are driving the Trump/Carson campaigns are probably not going to forget that.
Let’s remember too that the Tea Party didn’t want Mitt the first time, and are reasonably sure he’s the reason Obama is still POTUS – which is why they’re pushing for someone hardcore and non-establishment in the first place. If Jeb! isn’t exactly setting Tea Party Central on fire, it’s hard to believe Mitt could do better.
What’s interesting is that none of this used to matter. The Establishment is accustomed to the traditional campaign model of weeding out the fringe outsiders and eventually rallying behind a candidate who can play the middle. As has been pointed out elsewhere on this blog, conservatives only account for a third of the US voting population. That means you can’t win the White House without playing to the middle.
That’s the tradition. But the Tea Party forces aren’t interested in the middle. They’re interested in ideological purity. And they’ve been burned before by trusting a moderate to defeat Obama. They have clout, and they have expectations, and the Establishment is not meeting them, and they’re pissed off about that.
Just ask John Boehner.
It’s hard to feel sorry for the Establishment Boys – they’ve cheerfully exploited both the general fear and loathing after 9/11 and the Tea Party movement (and its official news channel, Fox News) since its inception, and now they’re losing control of the clown car.
Also, the current dithering may be overblown. Trump is a great demagogue, but it’s still hard to believe that voters will channel their anti-establishment anger all the way to the RNC convention. And there are indications that Trump’s schtick is finally starting to wear a tad thin. On the other hand, it seems there's nothing wrong with Trump's campaign that an appearance on SNL can't fix.
You may now take a moment to ponder the notion that SNL appearances improve yr chances of being Leader Of The Free World.
Maybe that’s where Jeb! has gone wrong. Maybe that’s how Mitt Romney can save the day.
But maybe not. Nate Silver makes a good case here that – aside from the fact that latecomers historically don’t fare well in POTUS elections – there are very limited scenarios in which Mitt could make a meaningful difference, all of which depend on just why Trump and Carson are still leading. And the one where Mitt is most likely to succeed is also the least plausible, statistically.
Stay tuned, Jim.
L. Bensonhurst
