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Monday, April 04, 2016

The Republicans' Open Convention

I am a Cruz supporter. Cruz has been working to close the nomination deal. Either he does, or he doesn't. That's his problem.

It isn't "unfair" if he doesn't manage it.

Same with Trump, Kasich or anyone else. Everyone knew how things worked going in, or should have. Everyone certainly had time to find out how things worked over the last year. There's nothing unfair going on - this is how the process works. It's not news. Whichever candidate gets nominated is the one who is able to close the nomination deal.

You can complain about the GOP backroom establishment all you want. That won't change the facts. Everyone knew the facts going in. This is life. Conservatives don't whine about how badly life treats them, or how things are unfair. The world doesn't owe us anything, nor does the process owe any of the candidates anything. The process is the process; it is a well-known process.

That is all.

3 comments:

Tom Van Dyke said...

With this new open primary BS, the concept of "party" is muddled. Why should the GOP's nominee be selected by independents and crossover Dems who probably won't vote Republican unless it's Trump?

Let them start their own party instead of screwing up mine.

Of course all of this wouldn't be so tough to swallow if Trump weren't ignorant, swinish, and so lacking a coherent political philosophy. It would be great to have someone bringing so many new votes to the GOP. Unfortunately, the price is chasing away even more.

Fat Man said...

I hope and pray that we can avoid the catastrophe of a Trump nomination. But, if Trump is not nominated, I am not sure we are out of the woods. I happen to agree with Cruz on most issues, but I think he is a brittle and not very likable personality. Further he is young and inexperienced. Obama has proved to me that the president must be in his 50s or older, and must have executive experience. Kasich is not impressive (I am an Ohioan and I have meet him personally) and would not be a good candidate.

The convention should therefore nominate someone else. In the quest to find names of some one other than those three, I reviewed the last Republican nominating campaigns of 1996, 2000, 2008, and 2012. I also reviewed the dropouts from this years process.

I do not know if there is anyone on the Republican side, not involved in electoral politics, who would make a suitable candidate. Once upon a time Colin Powell's name was bruited about. But, he is now 79. My wife is a huge Condoleezza Rice fan, but she has expressly disclaimed interest in electoral politics.

On the basis of my review my conclusion is that the Republican Party should nominate Mitt Romney as its candidate. I think his experience and demeanor fit him better for the Presidency than anyone who has run for the office recently. I know that there will be many and fierce objections to this idea, but I hope you think it over carefully.

The first objection will be that he lost the last election. I believe that he did not lose because he was a bad candidate, or because he did anything wrong. I think he lost because the Obama coalition held together, and that coalition will not be turning out to vote for the old white person that Democrats will nominate. Trump might have scared them into voting Democrat, but, I don't think Mitt scares anyone.

Further more, I do not think that there is a rule that having lost an election once, a candidate cannot win on a subsequent try. Yes, Adlai Stevenson lost twice to Eisenhower, and William Jennings Bryan lost three times. But, Nixon lost in 1960, and won in 1968 and 1972, and Grover Cleveland lost as an incumbent, and came back and won at the next election.

The second objection will be that he is a RINO. That maybe true, but compared to Trump he is Mr. Conservative. The fact is that the conservatives have not had a majority of the votes in this Republican nominating process, or in any previous one since 1980.

Besides, if Hillary is nominated the issue will be honesty, not ideology, and if it is Bernie, centrism will be a valuable asset.

My final pitch is that if Mitt is nominated the entire country will breathe an enormous sigh of relief which will blow him into the White House, because they will not be forced to choose between a felon and a clown.

Here is my proposed campaign slogan for Mitt: "Right Then. Right Now."

Tom Van Dyke said...

Mitt works for me, ala Dole in 1996. Avoid disaster, keep control of Congress.

Kasich works for the same reason. Not scary.