Friday, January 20, 2012

Mitt Romney Ain't Gonna Cut It....Will Mitch Daniels Join The Fray?

I've already stated my reasons - on numerous occasions - why Newt Gingrich couldn't, and shouldn't, get the Republican nod.  Rick Santorum is another guy who never really governed anything, s more closely associated  with social issues than economic/security issues, and excites no one besides the religious right.  Ron Paul is a joke, Rick Perry wasn't but became one, and thankfully we're rid of the thoroughly obnoxious Jon Huntsman, who will likely run again - as a Democrat - in 2016.

Leaving us with...Mitt Romney.  Oh my God. With it all on line, this is the best we got? A 5-18 pitcher in the political equivalent of the 7th game of the World Series?

Mitt is a technocrat, when we need a bulldozer.  He's cautious when we need reckless abandon and bold new thinking.  He's moderate when we need a toe-the-line conservative.  Our system must be broken down and rebuilt as a smaller, more efficient, less intrusive one, not tinkered with to extract an extra 0.01% of savings and productivity.

But that's what you'll get with a technocrat.  And with a moderate, who is so scared by the bullshit headlines he reads in the mainstream media that he says exactly what the Left wants to hear:

"And [President Obama]'s going to say the economy is getting better," Romney said. "Thank heavens it's getting better. It's getting better not because of him, it's in spite of him and what he's done."

hey Mitt - In what way, shape or form is the economy getting better?  Because unemployment is down due to people quitting the workforce and going on the permanent f*cking dole, British-style?  Jim Geraghty lays out the doom and gloom:

More than 13 million individuals are out of work—and millions more are stuck in part-time jobs—as the unemployment rate remains high at 8.5 percent. In 2011, wages didn’t keep up with inflation, prompting many consumers to dip into savings and, more recently, to step up borrowing. The housing market, which has weighed on the economic recovery, has much ground to regain. A Commerce Department report Thursday showed that home construction fell 4.1 percent in December, capping what one forecaster called one of the “worst years on record” for the home-building industry.

Oh, and there's this:

Gasoline prices have been climbing. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. rose to $3.45 this week, increasing for the fourth straight week.


Geraghty entitles his post Next Week, Obama Will Try Fiddling. But he won't be alone. He'll have Mitt Romney and the Republicans there with him, blowing on jugs, slapping their knees, and tapping their toes, while we all burn in the fire Obama ignited and the Republicans cannot see.


Is there an option? The Weekly Standard claims to have a draft of Mitch Daniel's State of the Union rebuttal, in which he will announce the possibility of (re)entering the fray:

The candidates for the Republican nomination are my friends. I like and admire them. But I must say I’ve increasingly come to share the doubt that any of them would be likely to win, or would be likely to govern successfully.

So I want to announce tonight that I am open to reconsidering my decision not to seek the presidency in 2012. I have not wanted to run, for family reasons among others. I have hoped someone else would prove up to the task. But my family and I have now decided that country must come first. I am considering joining the race.

If I run, I will be a reluctant candidate, in the sense that I did not plan on seeking this position. But let me assure you of this: if I do run, I will not run a reluctant campaign. I will run full out. I will compete in those primaries where I can still get on the ballot, I will go all out to win at the convention where the nomination will likely be decided, and I will take the fight to President Obama in the fall. If I run, I will run to win—because this country deserves leadership that will fundamentally remodel our government and restore our nation.


At this point, why not? It ain't fair to Iowa, but they can't even count ballots right. 47 states still need to have their say...

This could be a little joke, or a nudge, from Bill Kristol, author of the piece.  But his point, like Casey Stengel's, is valid:  Can't anyone here play this game?  And if not, can we get some guys who can?

No comments: