A red state positive analysis on Mr. Romney. |
http://davegop.redstate.c…3/16/223412/168
This red state article analyzes Dick Morris’s prediction that Hillary Clinton will be President in 2008. The article gives a glowing review of Mr. Romney though, and here it is here.
In the midst of all the hype, Morris mistakenly fails to take seriously one of the most formidable of the ‘08 field, relegating him to a one-line dismissal in his column.
I am referring, of course, to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Morris seems to think Romney will be too much of a flip-flopper by ‘08 to win the nod.
Note that Morris does not speculate on the result of the general election in the event of the Romney nomination. Morris is nothing if he’s not a master of spin; he’s invested a lot in the draft Condi movement and an admission regarding the strength of Romney would blow a major hole in his theory.
Morris has been around the political block enough times to know that changing issue positions over time is as old as politics itself and rarely serves as a political death knell. This is especially true in Romney’s case. Romney is at least as skilled a communicator as Morris’ former protege and White House occupant, Bill Clinton. Romney’s speaking style is extremely persuasive and the man is quite astute at selling ideas. Any flip-flops that will exist by the time Iowa rolls around will be an eternity in the past in the mind of the average American voter and will easily be neutralized by Romney’s stellar delivery.
If Morris had delivered an intellectually honest assessment of the situation, he would’ve noted the contrast that the American people will observe between Romney and Hillary. The former is a political version of John Roberts: a good, decent family man with excellent credentials, a clear command of policy and process, a very sharp and very obvious intellect, and a demeanor that will fondly remind voters of a father figure in a 1950s sitcom.
His opponent? A cynical, battle-weary war-horse, a veteran of a scandal-tainted administration, a patronizing tut-tutter, and a woman who reminds every male voter of at least one former significant other with whom things weren’t always stellar.
Romney would have to work for his victory against the Clintons, but no doubt he’d get it. Running Romney against Hillary would produce a sea of red lined by two blue coasts. It wouldn’t be a 50 state blowout, but Mitt could get up to 40, and his victory would probably look a lot like Bush 41’s win over Dukakis in 1988.
Morris may be a smart guy, but if he thinks there isn’t a single potential GOP candidate who can both win the nomination as well as the general in 2008, he’s simply incorrect. There is at least one candidate who at present can do both. And his name is Mitt Romney.
