And so it will be Bush v. Clinton in 2016*

Mitt Romney tells supporters he will not run for president in 2016

In the meantime, like tween girls at a slumber party, we can discuss our dream dates.

* Having Bush as the likely Republican nominee now will be both the greatest motivation for Hillary to get off her ass and declare and for the Democrats to subsequently consolidate behind her.

* To argue it will actually be Walker v. Clinton in 2016 you have to explain why both Jeb and his money will migrate to Walker.

He read the tea leaves...

...and he doesn't even drink tea. Romney from 2007:



On the other hand, we have Joe Biden's, uh, "prophecy" from 2010:



If Mitt Romney was President, do you think he'd be fundraising and golfing at a time like this?

H/T IJ Review.

Catholics for Romney/Ryan Message

Top Ten Reasons To Dislike Mitt Romney

A friend of mine who is a priest, and who has a very good sense of humor (as all good priests do) sent me this:

Top Ten Reasons To Dislike Mitt Romney

1. Drop-dead, collar-ad handsome with gracious, statesmanlike aura.  Looks like every central casting's #1 choice for Commander-in-Chief.

2. Been married to ONE woman his entire life, and has been faithful to her,  including through her bouts with breast cancer and MS.

3. No scandals or skeletons in his closet. How boring is that?

4. Can't speak in a fake, southern, "black preacher" voice when necessary.

5. Highly intelligent. Graduated cum laude from both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School...and by the way, his academic records are NOT sealed.

6. Doesn't smoke or drink alcohol, and has never done drugs, not even in the counter-culture age when he went to college. Too square for today's America?

7. Represents an America of "yesterday", where people believed in God, went to Church, didn't screw around, worked hard, and became a SUCCESS!

8. Has a family of five great sons....and none of them have police records or are in drug rehab.  But of course, they were raised by a stay-at-home mom, and that "choice" deserves America's scorn.

9. Oh yes.....he's a MORMON. We need to be very afraid of that very strange religion that teaches its members to be clean-living, patriotic, fiscally conservative, charitable, self-reliant, and honest.

10. And one more point.....pundits say because of his wealth, he can't relate to ordinary Americans.  I guess that's because he made that money HIMSELF.....as opposed to marrying it or inheriting it from Dad.

[Paid for by Internet Data Farming Robots. Not sponsored by any candidate or candidate's committee.]

And now for something completely friggin' awesome

Marching toward victory

Stanley K on debate #2. Excerpt:

The core dynamic here is that Romney has proven himself to be a perfectly acceptable alternative to Obama. The silly portrayal of Romney in all those negative ads has been exploded. Obama’s inevitability is gone. The underlying state of the country, which is not at all good, has become the issue. All of that is bad for Obama and very good for Romney.>

That was a great debate!

Caption contest, or something.

MITT ROMNEY RELEASES WEEKLY PODCAST ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FAILED ECONOMIC RECORD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2012

Boston, MA - Mitt Romney today released his weekly podcast on President Obama's failed economic record and broken promises. The podcast is available each week on mittromney.com.

To Listen To Mitt Romney's Weekly Podcast, Click Here: http://mi.tt/OZkKSv

Hello, this is Mitt Romney.

And this week, Democrats met in Charlotte to re-nominate Barack Obama for President. They tried to recapture the spirit of 2008, when then-candidate Obama stood in front of Greek columns and made a lot of promises about how he'd make life better for Americans.

He was elected, but things did not get better. Under President Obama, we've endured the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.

This week, after another Democrat convention filled with nice words and a lot of promises, Friday's jobs report once again brought this administration back down to earth. The unemployment rate has now been above 8 percent for 43 straight months.

Nearly 47 million Americans are on food stamps - an all-time record high, and 15 million more Americans than when President Obama took office.

Nearly 60 percent of the jobs that have been created after the recession was officially over are low-wage jobs, and they pay less than $14 an hour.

And our national debt recently reached a staggering $16 trillion, an increase of almost $6 trillion under President Obama.

Americans are hurting, they're paying a heavy toll for these years of drift and disappointment, trying hard to hang on for a brighter day. But when we looked to Charlotte this week for signs of hope from the party in power, what did we see?

We saw a party completely out of ideas. We didn't hear one new idea for throwing a lifeline to the struggling middle class. Instead, we heard a stubborn defense of policies that haven't worked.

We saw a president who once promised to unite us, double-down on the politics of fear and division. Four years ago, he said, "If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from." That was Candidate Obama describing the strategy that is now at the heart of President Obama's campaign.

A couple days ago, the President was asked to grade his economic performance.

Words like "disappointing" and "dismal" come to mind. But instead, he chose "incomplete" - because that's the best he can do as he asks the American people for a second term.

President Obama is hoping you'll let him advance with an "incomplete." But on November 6th, Americans should hold him accountable. I'm asking you to vote for the ticket that's offering real solutions for the middle class, with a plan to create 12 million jobs over the next four years.

A weak economy and unprecedented debt may be the best President Obama can do - but it is not the best America can do. I commit to you that I will be the president this moment demands. Join our cause, and help us deliver a better future for all Americans this November.

I'm Mitt Romney, and thanks for listening.

 

Mother's Day with the Romneys

I don't know, these people seem to be in touch with my life experience. No patronage appointments here.

Moonage Daydream, Part II

Newt Gingrich is our man! Go Newt!!!!

NEVER MIND the $10,000 he once offered to Texas Governor Rick Perry. Mitt Romney’s best bet to win the Republican presidential nomination is Newt Gingrich’s ego.

Since Iowa, Gingrich and Rick Santorum have been fighting for the right to take on Romney as the one and only true conservative in the 2012 contest. The trouble is, they are still fighting each other.

As of Tuesday, it’s a tougher case than ever for Gingrich to make. He has only two primary victories, one in South Carolina and one in his home state of Georgia. What’s his rationale for staying in the race after losing to Santorum in Alabama and Mississippi? If the cause is conservatism, there is none. But if the cause is Gingrich, that’s a different story. As long as Gingrich looks in the mirror and sees a serious presidential candidate with Secret Service protection instead of an entertaining speaker on the banquet circuit, he will continue to divide primary voters to Romney’s advantage.

Keep going, Newt! I mean, at this point you have more than twice as many delegates as Ron Paul and John Huntsman COMBINED! The campaign will make it to the moon in no time.

Just for the record

Today will mark the third time which I have unsubscribed from one of Rick Santorum's email blast lists. It doesn't really bother me too much, and I understand what is going on. He is buying my name and email address from different organizations (Weekly Standard, Ohio Republican Party, NRCC, etc.) and he doesn't have enough funds to hire someone to perform simply de-duplication services. No doubt this is the mark of a truly true true conservative who is so conservative that he is running an underfunded campaign.

In other election news....

Romney Endorses McCain

From the Hill.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Thursday endorsed John McCain, his one-time rival for the Republican nomination, praising the Arizona senator’s position on national security.

Romney’s endorsement follows a trend of Republican leaders coalescing around McCain, who by all counts appears to be the presumptive nominee.

The former governor was perhaps McCain’s most bitter foe in the primaries as the two battled fiercely in the early states, especially Florida. The former governor repeatedly questioned the senator's conservative credentials, and their last debate together was anything but friendly.

Breaking news: Mitt Romney Withdraws from Republican Primary Race

After a dismal showing on Super Tuesday in which chief rival, Sen. John McCain R-Ariz., staked out to a seemingly insurmountable lead, Romney withdrew despite the fact he dominated the race in fundraising, capturing more than twice the funds that McCain has collected.

Ramble inspired by Laura's monologue

I was just listening to Laura Ingraham's monologue. Right before she said "I gotta get to Starbucks" she was talking about Huckabee's wins in the South and about how he appeals to people because he speaks their language. His simple sentences like "Let's abolish the IRS" are worth millions of dollars in targeted ads. Then she "but-monkeyed" to point out that a lot of people didn't know about the negative ad that the Huckabee Campaign showed to the press in Iowa when he decided not to air it, thereby simultaneously showing it anyway to some people, getting credit for not showing it and saving a pile of money he doesn't have to spend on ads.

Here's my reaction to that. It was sneaky for sure, but it was Judo move entirely enabled by the opponent. This is why these guys are in politics. If Romney had never run a negative ad against Huckabee, would it have been news for Huck to go negative against him? But the fact is at that point Romney had spent big bucks running scads of "Governor Huckabee is a good guy BUT" ads in Iowa. Romney enabled the story and made what Huck did seem more defensive, less offensive.

It reminds me of something from earlier in the campaign. I remember anti-Giuliani people complaining about how Rudy was trying to "leverage 9/11" for his campaign because, as Mayor, he helped see his city through the horrendous crisis and aftermath. I kept hearing in my head the implied remark "...as if that's a big deal...." I think that's another instance of enablement, this time by the hesitancy of media outlets to show 9/11 images since they evoke undesirable reactions such as righteous anger, so-called "Islamophobia" and voting for Bush. The fact is that sensible Americans think 9/11 is a big deal, that it changed America and that it continues to be a reality worthy of discussion regardless of whether or not they like Rudy G's beliefs on other issues.

Remember Rush Limbaugh's famous "Hey, I am equal time"? Well, that can be applied within many different sectors of the marketplace of ideas. Rush was the Elvis of conservative talk -- he has enormous talent, but he showed up on the scene when there was nothing like him. Monoliths are easy to chop at. That's the danger of representing a narrow point of view. (Side note to Rush Limbaugh: I hate to tell you, Rush, but you succeeded because you were a maverick. Don't become a monolith.)

Where I'm going with this. Here's my beef: I think Mitt Romney would be an OK President. He's convinced me that he would be better than either Democrat. But how is he going to beat either of them? Neither one remotely resembles Shannon O'Brien (whoever that is) and both have bigger warchests than bargain basement Mike. He is an bumbling campaigner, and an inferior politician. Kudos to him for making piles of money, but it seems like needs to get the memo that it doesn't help to level the playing field when you can't play the game. He still doesn't like to mention the war, thank you Rich Lowry, completely omitting references to the war on Jihad in his first victory speech which sounded like it was being delivered by a Progressive Populist with a pinch of Reagan. His recent Santorum robo-calls were really just an anti-McCain sandwich with his name inserted at the top and bottom like two pieces of white bread. He still has not answered the question "Who is Mitt Romney?" Jennifer Rubin pointed out a few days back on her blog on Commentary Mag (which BTW is completely down currently or else I'd link it) that he recently sounded like Dole crying after George I smacked him in NH back in '88. The failure to be gracious in defeat marked the end of the Dole campaign.

I'll end with this WSJ piece which sums up my thoughts; here's their conclusion:

John McCain's difficulties in selling himself to GOP voters reflect his many liberal lurches over the years -- from taxes to free speech, prescription drugs and global warming cap and trade. Republicans have a pretty good sense of where he might betray them. Yet few doubt that on other issues -- national security, spending -- Mr. McCain will stick to his principles no matter the opinion polls. If Mr. Romney loses to Senator McCain, the cause will be his failure to persuade voters that he has any convictions at all.

UPDATE: The Commentary Magazine site is back up. Here's the Jennifer Rubin post I mentioned.

Thompson Braintrust Joins Romney

More on Thompson/Romney.

Mitt Romney: Crunchy Conservative

Whodathunkit.

Would-be-president Mitt Romney starts every morning with a bowl of granola with oats, honey, sesame seeds and almonds. Every other morning he jogs three miles. "And then at the end of the day," Romney tells Jay Leno on tonight's "Tonight Show" on NBC, "just to really relax, I take off a dark suit like this and put on a light one."

I read this another piece in People, I think, in the dentist's office the other day about what one single "rabbit's foot" item each of the major candidates carries around with them. Most of them seemed to be made up (Huckabee has a Bible, natch, because he was a preacher, John McCain has a wrist-band from a soldier killed in the War on Terror since he's a veteran, Hillary has her cell phone since she's a woman and has to chat with her friends, etc.) although they probably were actual items reported by the campaigns.

Romney's was the most curious: a Dora the Explorer cereal bowl to remind him of his 11 grand-children. I don't think it mentioned what kind of cereal it was, however. The Romney team probably hadn't done the calculation yet on whether to let the word out that Romney was a Crunchy Conservative.

McCain Wins NH Primary

Story.

I guess kicking ass still beats executive "To Do" lists among the "Live Free or Die" folks.

Michael Medved on Distorting Huckabee's Victory

This is from Medved's latest Townhall.com commentary.

Predictably enough, most media commentators have totally misinterpreted the nature of Mike Huckabee's big win in the Iowa GOP caucuses. Conventional wisdom says that he swept to victory based on overwhelming support from Evangelicals, but conventional wisdom is flat-out wrong.

According to the exit polls used by major news networks, a majority of voters who described themselves as "evangelical" or "born again" Christians actually voted against Huckabee--with 54 percent splitting their support among Romney, McCain, Thompson and Ron Paul. Yes, Huckabee's 46 percent of Evangelicals was a strong showing, but it was directly comparable to his 40 percent of women, or 40 percent of all voters under the age of 30, or 41 percent of those earning less than $30,000 a year. His powerful appeal to females, the young and the poor make him a different kind of Republican, who connects with voting blocs the GOP needs to win back. He's hardly the one-dimensional religious candidate that we see in the media caricature.

I think this is important to note this because the media has been so focused on the religious aspect of the Republican candidates, and I don't think it's because these chatterboxes are genuinely interested in distinctions in Christology and moral theology. Instead I would suggest that it's all to make the Republican's look like panderers to the scary Christians in the guts of this country which they like to caricature as mouth-breathing bumpkin brigades. Huckabee is routinely described as a former Baptist minister, but he was in government for 12 years, longer than he was in church ministry! Contrast this with Edwards, a 1-term Senator who is never referred to as a "Former Ambulance Chaser". Mitt Romney is referred to as a Mormon constantly and does anyone care if he doesn't knock on your door during dinner? Meanwhile we're still dying to find out the exact denomination of Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton.