Sunday, February 19, 2012

Mitt Romney's Long Haul Game Plan

Michelle Bachmann.
Rick Perry.
Herman Cain.
Newt Gingrich.
They came. They peaked. They fell.
Each tried to overtake Romney. And each failed. Yes, Gingrich is still in the race, but only barely.
Now Rick Santorum thinks he can overtake Romney by bashing the media, appealing to zealots on the right and saying things like "government should not run the public schools."
Well, there's a great article in The American Prospect that points out that Mitt Romney is in this race for the long haul. He's already fended off a quartet of challengers and almost-rans (like Sarah Palin, the supercilious sideline instigator) and he's proven that he knows how to keep his eye on the prize: the nomination and, eventually the presidency.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
Santorum’s platform is also troublesome, and his social-issues-heavy, economics-lite stump speeches may hit a wall when he challenges Romney is bigger and more moderate states. Although the Michigan primary on February 28 is being set up as a game changer, it won't be. Even if Santorum wins—and that's looking increasingly likely—the basic dynamics of the race will stay the same. While the rest of the candidates have dialed up the antics as though they were the cast of Jersey Shore, Romney is playing Survivor: Outwit, outplay, outlast. Once everyone else gets voted off the island, Romney thinks he will be the last one standing.
Click here to read the entire article.

5 comments:

Josh said...

True, though the longer the race drags out and the more potshots get thrown at him by his opponents, the more people will dislike him. That will hurt him in the general election.

This is not like the Democratic race in 2008 - both Obama and Hillary Clinton were well-liked. Romney has never been well liked the way Obama was or Reagan was or even George W. Bush was; his strengths are the perception of competence (if you believe he won't simply make the U.S. a plutocracy) and his money resources. And even if you have all the money in the world, you ultimately need to be liked as well to win elections. Romney isn't liked.

Dan Cirucci said...

If that is true, why do you suppose it is so?

Ryan said...

It's easy to dismiss the self-destructiveness of the other four that have fallen off and assume Santorum will suffer the same fate. But unlike PA in 2006, this is still a contest dominated by the base to which Santorum's statements appeal.

The "slow & steady" approach has plenty of precedent for working out, but there are times the old models get turned on their ears. Perhaps this is once such case. If you have a base that has still not galvanized around Romney, and Santorum is the last "non-Romney" standing, that could benefit him (though no one should dismiss the monetary disadvantage he faces).

Bachman and Perry ended up coming across as empty suits, Gingrich is always a time bomb, and we don't know if Cain could have had any staying power thanks to being done in (fairly or not) by the questions around fidelity.

Sean said...

It is true. And it is true because we've been led to believe by the democratic talking points that success is bad, wealth is bad, and the American Dream is bad.

This President has played the race card, the victim card, and the class warfare card every step of the way. It is what it is and it is going to divide this country even more going further. He is going to run against success (Romney), he is going to run against the American culture that doesn't coincide with his(Religious and Devout) - (Romney), and he is going to run against the values that brought this country to the forefront of the world (Hard-Work, Determination, Individualism etc...). Why? Because there are now more people that hate success, that hate religion and that hate those quintessential American Values. Ruggedness, self-esteem, hard-work, self-reliance and an individualistic approach to succeed are attributes that made America what we are and they are attributes he does not like as evidenced by his policies. This President believes that in order to succeed you need the government. We believe that you succeed in spite of the government.

Ryan said...

Speaking of "talking points," that sounds like a pot/kettle situation. Not everyone who disagrees with Romney (or Santorum or anyone else that has been in or will come to be part of the GOP field) is anti success, anti work, or whatever cliche you wish to insert.