Mitt Romney at CPAC: BREAKING -- ROMNEY TO DROP OUT
By Erick Posted in 2008 — Comments (173) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
UPDATED: Romney spokesman Kevin Madden has now confirmed that Mitt Romney will be suspending his campaign.
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In light of this, Mitt Romney's speech at CPAC takes on a whole new meaning today.
A lot of CPAC'ers are very hopeful he will be able to turn the corner and get the delegates he needs. Some so called 'experts' claim it is now a mathematical impossibility for him to do it. I'm not so sure.
But, with Byron having some of the best perception and sources in the business, we're going to pay a lot of attention to his comments. It all starts at 12:30 p.m. today.
UPDATE: Major sources are reporting that Romney will drop out and will most likely use CPAC as the forum.
LIVE FROM CPAC:
Laura Ingraham is endorsing Mitt Romney now. She's making a case for having an unapologetic conservative and for fighting to the convention. She says Reagan fighting all the way to the convention was for the good of the party.
"An obsession with endless bipartisan compromises does not keep us free," says Ingraham. The crowd applauds.
"Of all the people introducing the candidates for President, I get to introduce the conservative," Laura says. "Mitt Romney is the conservative's conservative."
MITT ROMNEY TAKES THE STAGE:
Rockstar welcome from the crowd. Thanks Laura Ingraham. Praising talk radio. "I love being introduced as the conservative's conservative. That's exactly how I feel."
Read on . . .
"I look forward to joining you many, many more times in the future."
He goes through saying he's gotten 4 million votes to McCain's 4.7 million. He says he's gotten 11 states to McCain's 13. He says McCain is doing better in delegates.
"As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than ever. I'm convinced that unless America changes course, we could be the France of the 21st century. Still a great nation, but not a super power."
People around me are saying Mitt is giving a stronger more passionate speech today than he's ever given before.
Mitt pitches a conservative culture. He quotes a scholar who says, "Culture makes all the difference."
"Dependency is drug. We've got to fight it like the drug it is." He says dependency on government is dangerous. The crowd applauds. This guy is on fire.
"The attack on faith and religion is no less relentless," he continues. He calls for a constitutional amendment on marriage "so that liberal judges cannot attack it."
Rumor circulating is that Romney will endorse McCain before the day is over.
"It is high time to lower taxes [applause] . . . to take a weed whacker to regulation and to reform entitlements. And, by the way, to stand up the the increasingly voracious union appetite in our government."
"Finally, let's consider the greatest challenging facing the world, the threat of radical jihad."
Now he points to the Clintons' cutting defense. "We were told we were getting a peace dividend. We got the dividend. We didn't get the peace."
Given Jihadists "and China, we must be rebuild our military."
"We must give the troops the proper care they deserve."
"We could take this all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like we did in 1976. . . . Today we are a nation at war and Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear with regard to Iraq -- to retreat."
"Now I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, but I agree with him that we need to do whatever it takes to win in Iraq . . . and eliminate Al Qaeda. Now if I fight on all the way to the convention, I want you to know it was a lot of fun, but I forstall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I'd make it easier for Senator Obama or Clinton to win. In this time of war I cannot let my campaign be a part of undermining the fight on terrorism."
"If this were about me, I'd go on. But this has never been about me. . . . In this time of war, I feel I have to step aside for my party and my country. I'll continue to fight for conservative principles. . . . One of the things we believe in is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face of terrorism and evil."
"It is the common task of each generation and the burden of liberty to . . . expand freedom and liberty." "To this task we are all dedicated."
And Mitt Romney exits to the right.
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Mitt Romney at CPAC: BREAKING -- ROMNEY TO DROP OUT 173 Comments (0 topical, 173 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Good grief, last time they polled, McCain topped both Hillary and Obama. NO poll has shown him behind either beyond the margin of error.
Throwing rocks at McCain just because your guy didn't win is really, really stupid. He's got an excellent chance to win.
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
...it's a simple statement of fact: He has an enormous mountain to climb.
Look: dem turnout in the primaries is 1.5x ours. dem money raising is 2.5x ours, and the GOP's #1 guy (Romney) is out. McCain doesn't have the grassroots support that Bush had nor does he have W's midas touch for raising cash.
Here's what the GOP needs to do right now: Cancel the primary activities *NOW* in all but name. McCain needs to name a veep (have Huck make it official) NEXT WEEK and start raising cash and hammering the democrats.
He's going to need all the runway he can get. The best tactical opportunity the GOP has is to take advantage of the fact that the dems are going to be mired in a brokered convention and will thus be distracted.
If we have any brains at all in this party, that's what we'll do.
Bob Dole was polling ahead of Bill Clinton at this point in 1996 and then the General Election happened. Dole went from talking conservative to attacking his base. His MSM allies turned on him because after all...He was the Republican nominee. When his press coverage went from glowing to totally negative the confusion of his campaign staff was palpable. His campaign flopped around like a fish fresh out of water -never setting a theme for his campaign, never sticking with an issue for more than 48 hours and he got his clock cleaned by WJC in the General.
I expectnthe same out of McCain. I drank the Party Koolaid for Dole and swore I would never do so again. I intend to stand by that vow this year if McCain is it. I'll vote for the down ticket candidates but I will leave the president blank.
To compromise with evil is to corrupt good!
Go Mike Go!!!
"Mitt, to me, was the most real guy in the entire thing."
Funny. I can't remember a time when I didn't feel the guy was lying to my face. The only candidate in this race even more disingenuous than Mitt is Hillary, and even that is a close call. I'm glad to see him go; he rubbed me the wrong way every time he got up behind a podium.
"That's just, like, your opinion man."
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
I never felt like he was lying, exactly. I just felt that he was such an empty suit he'd believe whatever I believed, and then change five seconds later.
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
My dad taught me that if a jerk calls you a jerk, take it as a complement.
I'll put that advice into practice in your case.
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
Well given the debacle in California, and from what I read at the Green Papers site, we've already dished out about 1300 delegates. That means we have about another 1000-1100 to go. You need 1191 to win. You can all do math. If Romney has something like 270 delegates (which is what CNN gives him as of noon eastern), then he needs another 900 out of the 1100 that are left out there. That's about 80% of all remaining delegates. Does anybody think that Romney has a realistic shot at effectively running the table?
The "experts" who say it is mathematically impossible are probably wrong. I'm still not sure that the delegate allocations from Tuesday are finalized, so that itself means people shouldn't be shooting their mouths off. As noted, the CNN numbers would make it possible to come back, but the math would seem to be highly improbable. A very different story.
That said, the math doesn't look good in even the rosiest of scenarios for Romney. He could have fewer delegates than he is being given credit for - certainly the CNN total includes their own estimation of how caucus delegates will fall out down the line (where they aren't pledged - states like MN, CO, even IA, where the actual commitment doesn't come until later in they process at state conventions), and we don't know the exact contours from Tuesday. It could be that he is mathematically out. But even if that's not true, it certainly can't be fun crunching numbers at Romney HQ.
THERE ARE BETWEEN 1100 and 1200 REPUBLICAN DELEGATES. PLEASE I'M GETTING TIRED OF CORRECTING THIS. THE DEMS HAVE OVER 2000 WE DO NOT!!!!
Sorry. Rough day.
The Republicans need 1100 and something to win, the Dems need 2000 and something to win, but there are over 2000 total Republican delegates out there.
So don't yell about it. Please check your sources. There are 2390 R delegates and you need 1191 to win.
If there were only 1200, then McCain's 730 would have already won the nomination.
You have the number needed to win, not the total number of delegates.
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Donate to the Rs in Close Senate Races through Slatecard
But McCain is winning the larger group of armchair Republicans, people who don't get involved, don't want to get involved, and wear it like a badge of honor. These voters are much more susceptible to the MSM, where they get most of their news.
Primaries give this group of Republicans a larger voice. California is a good example of this phenomena. Leading up to the primary, pundits were saying how strong Romney was in the Republican party in California. They were polling likely voters. Likely voters tend to be more activist and the ground troops for the party.
McCain is not even trying to convince grassroots Republicans to vote for him. He is appealing to Republicans who vote once every two years and think that is all they need to do. Romney was winning the people who work for the party. However, there is a lot more armchair Republicans.
We grassroots Republicans can only hope McCain will govern from his past record and not on the mumbo jumbo he is spouting now.
Shouldn't our focus be to stop McCain from reaching 1191?
I'm semi new to this part of the process because I've always voted so late in the primaries that I didn't need to know delegate allocation. I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but if I understand this right:
1)Romney keeps his Delegates, as will Huckabee. That comes out to be 1-78 for Huck plus 240 for Romney or 448 that McCain doesn't have plus another 16 four Paul or 464.
2)There are 2380 total delegates still outstanding. The nominee needs to pull 1191 to win the nomination. or the opposition needs 1190 delegates combined to deny the nomination to McCain.
I'm not well enough versed about how the delegates are allocated in the various states but here's my thought. It's a big bill but If Huckabee can pull out TX, NC, NM, VA, and a few other states like LA, Kentucky Maryland etc. Conservatives might be able to deny the nomination to McCain.
Huckabee would not have enough to win either so we could go to a brokered convention and bring forth a consensus candidate and leave the convention united against the Democrats.
3)
To compromise with evil is to corrupt good!
Go Mike Go!!!
Man, I've not been involved with very many primaries, but this is the most depressing I've ever seen.
This isn't how I would have had it go, but things could be much worse. A brutal knife fight on the Democrat side and plenty of time to get behind our nominee isn't a worst case scenario for us.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Huckabee would be even worse than McCain. I have great distaste for McCain, but I will vote for him to keep the dems from winning... unless, he picks Huckabee for VP. I will not vote for someone who is barely conservative at all who pairs up with someone who is even more to the left than he.
How on earth did it all come to this?
I miss Fred.
Fighting for conservatism one day at a time.
And endorse McCain. There was some speculation that this is where he would do it... though usually this kind of thing would have been leaked by now.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
http://thepage.time.com/2008/02/07/sources-romney-to-quit-race/
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
I hope it comes with a McCain endorsement. I think that's a good possibility... there would be no point in withholding it at this point.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Sure there would. After McCain lied continually about him. I would endorse Huckabee if I were McCain. Throw my delegates his way. That might make a viable second candidate to McCain.
In order to provide an alternative to McCain. It's just not physically posible with current technology...
What do you think this is? Futurama?
"Guns don't kill people...
"...But they sure help!"
-Paul Giamatti, Shoot 'Em Up
Romney called Huck "unelectable" not more than a few days ago. Why would he want to support an unelectable "tax-and-spend" guy (his words again) over McCain? The only reason for Romney to endorse Huckabee over McCain is out of a personal fit of pique and spite. And while that might endear him to you, it would not endear him to the larger electorate.
He's angling to come back and try again at some point - why shoot himself in the foot now?
This is somewhat of a minor point because either way he is out of the race. But by "suspending" it means the delegates he has won continue to represent him up until the convention. They can be released in return for concessions for example on the GOP Platform.
though not literally impossible.
Time to endorse and go home (and hope McCain has enough good sense to find a role for him in his administration).
CNN is simuilcasting
I can't belive this until I hear it myself...
X-Angel
Number one he doesn't have much power to sway anyone. The real hatred of McCain is beyond Romney he was simply a product of it rather than an engineer of it. So I don't see why anyone thinks Romney has to endorse McCain. He is really irrelevant.
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I am a Positivist Pastafarian for the alliteration alone.
In Colorado I had a record caucus turn out. Most of the people there were not necessarily Romney supporters. No one stood up and tried to convince us to vote for Romney. Instead, there was an overwhelming dislike of McCain. Romney's support was a reaction to McCain's inability to connect with the grassroots Republicans. That's not the kind of support that wins elections.
Will McCain do anything to help bring grassroots Republicans into his camp? He hasn't yet.
I hope you are wrong, I am sure there is some truth in the statement.
But, McCain is our only hope in stopping the Obama / Clinton liberal machine from capturing POTUS and sinking this country down a liberal hole.
Good overall protection against knives in the back.
Thompson, Romney, Giuliani, Hunter, Brownback, McCain, Huckabee.
Drink Good Beer
FDT's Principles
Except I'd switch up Clinton and Huckabee.
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
That was Hugh Hewitt's head exploding! Hopefully Romney will endorse McCain and try to unify the party against the Dems, guess we will know in an hour or so.
He wrote this yesterday.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
And Lord knows I am no fan of Hugh.
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Disclaimer: I am a member of a state-wide executive committee that is affiliated with Governor Mike Huckabee's campaign for the GOP presidential nomination
Did 1 thing right. He was so far from objective that it was gross. He was a Romneybot whose time is now over.
If you want to listen to what passes for objectivity, watch CNN and listen to NPR.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
He's been very clear the entire time about supporting the winner, whoever that is. And he's not some neophyte that's never sat through a primary where his guy didn't win.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Assuming he does drop out, which doesn't make sense but we'll see.
Thompson hasn't endorsed anyone, Romney could just fade into the background.
The people that McCain needs will not be swayed by Mitt Romney's endorsement.
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I am a Positivist Pastafarian for the alliteration alone.
Thompson didn't endorse anyone because there was no clear winner when he dropped out. There is now.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
1. party unity
2. obama
3. hillary
4. establishing good will with conservatives and the next GOP administration...
just to name a few.
I anticipate Thompson's endorsement coming soon.
a large chunk of Romney's support was from the anti-McCain folks who were supporting him because he was the only viable non-McCain canidate left.
I reluctantly supported him because he wasn't McCain. But that's over. Now I have to support McCain. What other choice do I have? We have a nominee. We need to get behind him and help him beat Hillary or Obama.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
I'd sooner support Ron Paul. Huck can't win anyway, so even if I thought he was just the dreamiest (and he isn't... he is much worse than McCain) what, exactly, would be the point?
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Establishing good will with conservatives by endorsing McCain. That's laughable. Romney will use this forum to solidify his conservatives credentials. McCain can't win. Romney the conservative candidate in 1212. It's the smart move.
to Sen. Thompson's message on this being the battle for the heart of the Republican party - i.e. the return to the complete conservative message and 'First Principles' - I would be very surprised if Thompson endorsed McCain seeing McCain does not accept the entire conservative platform nor has he made it an issue to support it's message. I have seen various reports during different stages of the campaign stating he would endorse McCain, all of which have been proven false. I do not expect him to change that.
--roxer
Now that the Republican race has been decided if your state Dem party is dumb enough to have an open primary, vote Hillary. I'd much prefer her as the opposition than Obama.
We all need to get our heads around this. McCain isn't great, but come on people. The alternative is either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. It's time for a kernel of pragmatism.
but he is our guy now. Go Big Mac!
"I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."
John Paul Jones (letter to M. Le Ray de Chaumont,16 Nov.1778)
My platitude is bigger than your platitude: I'm an American first.
No, I'm a Christian first, a Human second, a Man third, an American fourth, a Southerner fifth, a North Carolinian sixth, ... no wait, mix up five and six. Also tied at six I'm a coffee drinker.
absentee
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
I'm a Christian and an American before both.
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
So many dogs are cute and cuddly. Or even downright majestic and beautiful.
Clinton ranks right up there with the flag girls at the bar:
"Put a flag over her face and..."
"Guns don't kill people...
"...But they sure help!"
-Paul Giamatti, Shoot 'Em Up
Amen to that.
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
is obviously just an entertainer. Classy. I'm a lot more likely to fall in line behind McCain now if a*****es like you don't keep drawing my attention to the kind of company I'll be keeping there.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
With all respect of course, I'm as mad as you are.
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
But we have to suck it up for four years while we wait for Bobby Jindal. I'd rather suck it up with 4 years of McCain than 8 years of "Her".
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
Don't do that again.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
I think Radio Conservatives are, like me. Intellectually honest first, Principle Conservatives Second, and Republican as long as the Republican Party remains Conservative. McCain won't get my vote any more than the Republican Party got my vote in 2006 because of their profligate spending.
One other thing, throwing out the Hiilary/Obama Bogey Man will work on me and those like me as effectively as the Pelosi/Reid Bogey Man did in 2006 which means not at all!
To compromise with evil is to corrupt good!
Go Mike Go!!!
If Romney does endorse McCain, then McCain owes him an apology over the timetable ads. Frankly, he owes him an apology anyway, but an endorsement would be a good face-saving excuse.
Bull. He made comments that at least gave reasonable people to question if he supported them or not. Was it obvious that's what he meant? No, but it wasn't obvious it wasn't either. And on issues like that, ambiguity is not enough.
It's that limbo that he had pulled his entire campaign that made so many people, myself included, who once liked him, to turn on him.
"I ain't never votin' fo no Democrat so long as I draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
Thompson, Romney, Giuliani, Hunter, Brownback, McCain, Huckabee.
FDT's Principles
i can see many beers tossed back trying to do the best mccain, "my friends" impersonation.
and the mccain fans better be buying for the rest of us having to go out and sell this used ford of a candidate that we got.
President Hillary Rodham Clinton
as he is now in what is probably a concession speech... it would be McCain giving this speech.
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
no disrespect intended, but my ears work fine thank you.
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
The McCainiacs are being as classless as ever. Lets not imitate them by being bitter when someone is complimenting Romney's speech.
Great speech, great delivery. He needs to keep this face on for the next few years if he wants to try again.
His record was about as conservative as it gets in Massachusetts. McCain is from Arizona, he pushed the party left. Romney always pushed the party right.
mandated health care, mccain/kennedy "reasonable", sanctuary cities,
and, distanced himself from reagan/bush years...
I'm not debating this anymore because its stupid, but for the TENTH time, the people of Massachusetts wanted universal health, the yare liberal, but Mitt fought and gave us the most conservative kind. He was Governor, he was not responsible for sacntuary cities. That was all smears and lies. Mit Romney was slandered to death.
Besides the healthcare issue which Romney has touted as a good solution for Massachusetts given the state of things there, you and others continually throw out the dug up soundbites of decades past. It really, really, lacks substance, lacks class, lacks respect, and lacks decency.
Mitt, should he continue to remain in public service, will wield a tough fight for conservative values and principles. But I wonder whether anything he does will ever be enough to overcome his 1994 rhetoric or his somehow failing to turn Massachusetts into the reddest state in the union during his term.
He used some, gasp, non-conservative rhetoric while campaigning for office in the bluest state in the nation. He was publicly pro-choice back then. He deployed the most conservative record of government that Massachusetts has ever seen, and one that any conservative with half a scintilla of objectivity ought to be proud of.
I understand how some have been slow to trust him, but for Pete's sake, let's drop the missives about his pre-Massachusetts election year rhetoric and his out of context remarks about immigration plans already.
The man is out of the race. I don't think he can hurt you now. In contrast, we are left to hold the water for a man who has consistently spurned the conservative movement, not only in sharply spoken words and rhetoric but in deed, both in election years and out. Perhaps we can go to work trying to deal with that rather than continuing to hem and haw over what Mitt said way back when and over the bonafides of his health care plan.
Without Romney, there is no chance for a brokered convention and therefore Huckabee is mathematically eliminated. Even if Huckabee gets 100% of the remaining delegates, he can't win.
Oh, he'll be out soon. He might delay as long as he feels he must to make it seem like he wasn't just in to be McCain's delegate-count henchman against Romney. But that's all it has been for a while now.
My greatest regret is that McCain will depress GOP turnout so far that we may well lose both houses by supermajorities now. And there's no longer any way to stop it.
If there's a country left in 2012, at least we'll be the side that gets to run against the incumbent. Sigh. It is indeed small consolation.
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"Put your faith in God. I know *I'm* going to..."
-Taniwha
my candidate, but this is very classy of him. Give me a Mitt Romney who spends some time toiling in the conservative vinyards, (Sec. Treasury?) rather than parachuting into them and build up your street cred with conservative voters as much as with conservative pundits, and he could certainly have a bright future ahead of him.
Thanks Mitt for your service to the country, to the process of electing a new president by keeping us on track on the important issues.
Finally thanks for not dragging this out and causing money to be spent & wasted when we need to rally behind the front runner and spend our money & resources on defeating the liberal democratic machine which will nominate Obama for POTUS and either Hillary of Edwards as VP.
If McCain is smart, he needs conservatives to come home. One way to do that is to have Romney on the ticket. He has earned it.
Romney shouldnt accept. He will damage his brand to be asscociated with McCain espcecially considering McCain will most likley get whipped in the general
Romney's support was an anti-McCain base. Many grassroots conservatives were supporting Thompson. Romney's strength was in his attempt to convince people he was conservative. Thompson didn't have to do that. Thompson would give McCain strength in the south where he needs it.
McCain is already fighting the charge that he is too old for POTUS, he needs a younger VP like Mitt or Duncan Hunter or ??
Mitt is a very good speaker so he would be the logical choice.
He would make a great VP. However, I don't think he can. How does Romney add to the ticket? Most of his support was anti-McCain. There are others who can deliver more.
As far as Thompson is concerned. Cheney was no spring chicken either.
JC Watts is a good choice.
McCain can shore up his support with grassroots Republicans by selecting a strong conservative. Then he can go on his merry way convincing independents to vote for him.
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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.
But even I, have my limits.
I will not vote for McCain if Romney is anyway associated with the campaign.
Romney is unacceptable.
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We're all in the same boat, fellas.
But our shenanigans are cheeky and fun.
His shenanigans are cruel and tragic.
Which wouldn't make them shenanigans, at all, really.
-Evil shenanigans!
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
I still can't quite wrap my head around the bizarro world in which pro-choice, pro gay-rights, anti-gun Mitt Romney is some sort of conservative hero but okay, I accept that given the particular atmosphere of the 2008 nominating process and the particular set of candidates he was up against, his handlers were able to pull it off. But considering that the field of VP candidates extends to all of politics rather than just his primary opponents, he can certainly do a *lot* *lot* *lot* better on the conservative front than Mitt Romney. Toss in the fact that they hate each other and he just becomes the worst choice imaginable.
-exits
And look on the bright side, in 8 years you will have been conservative for 16 times longer than today!
The guy is dropping out, and you can't muster enough honor to keep your mouth closed. You are no class all the way.
If you want Romney voters to think that getting behind McCain now means associating with a bunch of a**holes, keep talking.
You are even worse. Cut the cursing, cut the name calling. Don't hold yourself to a higher standard than you are holding others.
As you can see from my signature, I'm down to my #6 guy. Trashing someone that I supported who has since dropped out of the race is not the way you will eventually gain my suppport. This is especially true if you do it on the day that my preferred candidate dropped out.
Thompson, Romney, Giuliani, Hunter, Brownback, McCain, Huckabee.
Drink Good Beer
FDT's Principles
shake his hand and wish him luck.
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
So are you going to stop posting after today since you won't have Mitt Romney to kick around any more?
Mitt Romney has more class in his pinky fingernail than you have in your entire body.
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Finrod's First Law of Bandwidth:
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it takes the bandwidth of ten thousand.
...3 weeks, 6 days.
Huh. Who'd have thunk?
I voted early in the Florida primary. Find out who and why.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
A Paleo-Conservative who's always on the warpath.
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
One of my hot button issues is the danger of dependency on government. The link in my "signature" below is to a little story about the Price of Free Corn.
With the Democrats, building dependency on government is a goal. The benevolent government as the caring parent is a recurring theme in all that they do. This can be traced back to the passage of Social Security by FDR, maybe farther. Where once people depending on their own extended families, their churches, and their neighbors, the cry is now for government action.
You can't afford the price of free corn.
that says instead of relying on government programs people should replace that with a reliance on extended families, churches, and neighbors.
Well we can already see how well that works by looking at countries that are so poor that the government can't help them that much even if it was completely run by liberals and wanted to.
So how well DO folks in third world countries do compared to folks in the US and Europe? Not too well.
Don't for a minute think I'm suggesting that EVERYONE rely on the government. Obviously if everyone did then the system wouldn't work at all, afterall someone's gotta pay the taxes that pay for the programs. But to suggest that families and churches could take the place of say social security, medicare and FEMA is pretty ridiculous and only bred from a mind so against taxation that you'll make up all sorts of stories to make any and all government programs look bad thus, in minds like this at least, removing any justification for their existence and the taxation that enables their existence.
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We're all in the same boat, fellas.
But our shenanigans are cheeky and fun.
His shenanigans are cruel and tragic.
Which wouldn't make them shenanigans, at all, really.
-Evil shenanigans!
Mitt was not my choice and I found him grating. However, he redeemed many of his campaign missteps by exiting the race in a timely and graceful fashion. If he were to seek higher office at a future date, I'd certainly not rule him out automatically.
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
Now if I fight on all the way to the convention, I want you to know it was a lot of fun, but I forstall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I'd make it easier for Senator Obama or Clinton to win.
If McCain loses, the words above will be remembered as Romney being a good man in the face of battle.
And, who knows, perhaps it will be enough for McCain to make him the VP.
I am ashamed to admit I have a certain amount of cynical satisfaction seeing Romney drop out.
in his Romney obit.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
Between Harry, Teddy, and Kerry, etc, toss in more than a few moderate Republicans, and freed from party caucus pressures, you will see a new John McCain. Or maybe much more of the old McCain. The choice in November is now officially glum and the phrase "me too Republicans" will gain new currency.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
The move was a classy one - but - i must note that I did not like the invoking of Reagan in 1976. Mitt Romney is NOT Reagan.
I also have problems with Ingram calling Romney a conservatives conservative. FAIL.
I echo Jeff Emanuel's comments in the hot section above.
Mitt has a lot of work to do to not just prove he is a conservative - but to focus on actual policy discussion.
For the last few weeks all we have heard is why NOT to vote for McCain or Huckabee.
We never, ever heard about why we should vote for Romney or his policies. EPIC FAIL.
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We're all in the same boat, fellas.
But our shenanigans are cheeky and fun.
His shenanigans are cruel and tragic.
Which wouldn't make them shenanigans, at all, really.
-Evil shenanigans!
But when he drops out isn't the occasion for you to bring up all your bile. You sound bitter, too, but you don't have any excuse for it.
I think Romney dropping out brings back the aggrivation I felt when he stole Thompson votes (yeah yeah yeah, I know) and Thompson had to drop out. I was actually happy that Romney did well here in MN. In my city Paul did almost as well as McCain.
And though I would agree that Romney's record hurt him badly, I personally think there was no greater voice for conservative principles in this race. The conservative movement needs men like Romney who can communicate conservative principles to America and to the world in a possitive and energetic way. I know this is what drew me to Romney after Thompson withdrew.
Many here have talked about trust recently. What I don't understand is how can anyone trust McCain. Sure his voting record in the Senate is mainly conservative, but when push comes to shove McCain is always siding with the Democratic Party not the Republican Party. How is it that this just gets overlooked by all the folks who talk about trust and then tell me I should support the Republican party in November whoever the nominee is. Let me see if I get this I'm supposed to support the party at all cost for a candidate who doesn't! That ship don't float with me!
All the moderates in the party should be happy now that their guy is the choosen one, but if McCain is going to get my vote in November it's going to cost him. He's going to have to load up his ticket and his administration with a lot of strong conservatives. He likes to play hard ball. I think it's time that strong conservatives play a little hard ball too and start demanding this from McCain. Sorry, it's just politics and that's the price you pay when you stab your party in the back multiple times.
Thanks, Mitt. We know it was the right thing to do.
Romney needs to look elsewhere besides the executive branch...maybe he needs to look at a senate seat somewhere.
"The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."
- Karl von Clausewitz
And I'm proud to have given you my vote in the first primary where I was eligible to vote in. You're a good man Mitt-Romney/Jindal in 2016!
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
once again, we just can't neutralize political expediency and get a less than competent choice.
Seriously, it can fit most of the people running this year, and all of the people in the past who have run, ever thought of running and those who even became elected (and not limiting this to one party either!).
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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.
Glad I suspended the urge to donate to Romney last night, that would have been almost as good as giving to Fred 7 days before he dropped out. For me its on to next time. The need for nose holding is several months away, time will tell.
"Cowards cut and run, Marines never do"
It depends on the result this time.
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
Mitthead for McCain/Rudy or insert conservative not named Huckabee here in 08
Have we seen this kind of resolve, class and courage from any of the other candidates? Not in my view.
Irrespective of the pundits, haters and other dissonant voices Mitt will remain a solid candidate. He is a good family man, honest, economically savy and committed to pursuing core conservative values despite past transgressions. The willingness to do so, despite an active role in politics is often a liberating force. In that regard, I look forward to his leadership remember that latter word, a few years from now.
We now have the chance to see from afar who remains committed to the movement. Will it be the "irregular" forces that seem to exist more and more outside the increasingly connatural political palisade or someone sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue? I am not hopeful or certain it is the latter and would only conclude the four year term of this next President will dictate not only our future fealty to the Constitution and societal values, but will presage either an enduring fate as a socialist globalist minion or leading capitalist democracy.
Whatever the outcome, conservatism will not lie in disarray or vitiate it's principles to make our philosophy more palatable for detractors. We will continue to build on the basis of common agreements and principles, realizing success is not a sprint, but product of a slow, deliberate walk.
"Nec Aspera Terrent"
bene ambula et redambula
Contributor to The Minority Report
I never supported Romeny. However, I thought that having Mitt stay in until the convention would have been a good thing. It seemed to me that the longer he stayed in the race, the more he would have driven McCain to the right - as McCain had to do when the party base/spokespoeple had someone more conservative to rally behind (and whether or not Mitt was truly more conservative, the mere fact he was perceived that way by many was a catalyst for the McCain-better-appease-the-base movement).
Without Romney, McCain might never have seen the need to show up at CPAC. His speech today should be telling whether, without a serious challenger, he'll feel the need to solidify/clarify his conservative credentials, or wether he'll immediately lurch back into the middle.
Romney, though I wasn't originally planning on voting for you had you made it to my state's primary, you did a pretty honorable in this campaign, and I think that the Republican party owes you gratitude for running. I hope you find some way to continue to serve the party and perhaps to put your more newly-found beliefs into action so that people like me might not have pause to wonder next time around.
Supreme Court justices from NARAL's board of directors, the haters like Rush, Sean, Ann, and Laura can console themselves with their "purity".
You can't afford the price of free corn.
"Supreme Court justices from NARAL's board of directors, the haters like Rush, Sean, Ann, and Laura can console themselves with their "purity"."
Haters? Spoken like a Democrat OCBill.
Is this the way we can expect you and you boss to unite our party?
Put away the Koolaid...I Ain't Buying!
To compromise with evil is to corrupt good!
Go Mike Go!!!
You might wanna take time and read what a quality person Mitt is. If he rubs you wrong the way, you should go look in the mirror and ask why a great family man, business man, and patriot irks you so.
His speech today was remarkable and Reaganesque!!!!!!!!
"To believe in nothing is to believe in everything, to believe in everything is to believe in nothing."
Mitt is a nice guy. I wasn't for him originally because I doubted his conservatism. I switched to him when it was McCain or him because I knew without a shadow McCain was no conservative. At least with Mitt there was hope. Also did I mention Mitt was a nice guy.
I'm not offended by the McCainiacs above who are badmouthing Mitt. Talking bad about other republicans who chose to vote for him. I think they fit well with their candidate. A candidate who badmouths conservatives whenever he gets the chance.
I think Huckabees a real nice guy too. I could vote for Huck but may switch and vote in the dem primary instead. I'll pick the person most likely to beat McCain.
I prefer Hillary over Obama policy-wise (because I think Obama really believes his liberalism while Hillary is purely out for power). I figure she'll cave to the republicans more often in the congress.
Mitt was right when he called it a two man race.
Go ahead, make your jokes, Mr. Jokey... Joke-maker. But let me hit you with some knowledge. Quit now.
-White Goodman
Something that hasn't been said about McCain and is screaming to be said:
Those of you who want us to support McCain now and vote for him in the General are asking us to endorse:
1) McCain Feindold.
2)"Comprehensive", (Read amnesty) Immigration reform.
3)The Senate's right to filibuster conservative judges.
4)Closing Guantanamo.
5)Giving our sworn enemies rights in our court systems equal to citizens under our constitution
6)His past statements in opposition to the Bush tax cuts saying it was a gift to the rich.
6) his opposition to drilling for our own oil in anwar and off sure forcing us to buy it from our enemies
7)His wholesale buying of the global warming hoax and his stated intention to restrict American cooperations and leaving China, India, etc. to keep a competitive edge bacause they won't sign on to it.
7)His insistance that we Molly Coddle terrorists who have specific knowledge of Al Queda's intention to attack American assets
and on and on.
I will not endorse his anti conservative behavior by allowing him to occupy the whitehouse and act like the RINO he is with my endorsement.
PERIOD!
To compromise with evil is to corrupt good!
Go Mike Go!!!
In response to #6 (the first one):
Mike Huckabee does the very same
1. Vote for the guy who they work with as opposed to the guy who laid them off
2. can relate to Walmart Republicans as opposed to Wallstreet Republicans.
Fighting for conservatism one day at a time.
Mitt, to me, was the most real guy in the entire thing. I'm sad to see him go if this is the case.
The best thing we can do is make sure that the dems don't hit the high 50's in the Senate at this point. No matter what he says today, McCain isn't going to bring out the energy he'll need to overcome Hillary!/Obama. The fundraising tale of the tape is proof enough on that one.