RIEHL: “Why I Am Endorsing Romney Now”
Sent to us by reader LISARC. This is great commentary from Riehl World View:
Why I Am Endorsing Romney Now - Obama A Strong Second Choice
Romney has realized the base sees him as the consensus candidate, flaws and all. He spoke as an outsider crashing the gate. That’s precisely what the Republican Party needs in the Fall, especially given a decade or two of dissembling conservatism and corrupt DC pols. Romney has proved to be the most analytical, yet nimble campaigner in a bizarre primary year. His campaign has displayed a competence unmatched by any other, despite how various state-wide votes, often counting on moderates and all but Northeastern liberals, turned out. Such competence was not the case with McCain. He bankrupted his campaign early. Why should we trust him to not do the same with the nation?
More than any other candidate, Romney has displayed a determination to win while playing politics; yet, stopping short of slinging mud, or outright lies. After Florida, John McCain cannot say the same. Does character no longer matter to conservatives? Have we come to that? If so, I’ll pass.
Mitt Romney’s family life and moral grounding epitomize traditional Republican values. There is no media-whoring maverick in his past. Since when has being loved by the media, or being a contrarian - a maverick - figured into anyone’s conservative bona fides? It hasn’t and it never will; that alone should tell you much.
My first choice for President in 2008 is Mitt Romney and my second choice is Barack Obama. And that would not be an anti-McCain vote. Like Romney, Obama is a man of vision and character and electing the first black president would ultimately do more to pry away black and other minority voters from a decadent American liberalism, than would anything else.
Certainly it would do more in that regard than anything any Conservative could hope to say - media darling, or not. One could no longer make the argument that America is racist, or unfair. Not when a black man has risen to the highest office in the land. And he will have done it without the need for some futuristic utopia which the Left insists we need. He would be a self-made man and his own worst enemy when arguing for a socialist-like, or welfare state. Also, multiculturalism cannot ultimately exist within a nation in which all races are seen as one. Has that not always been a conservative value and vision? I would assert it has.
My long-term goal is and will always be the furtherance of solid conservative principles that no more require modernization, than the Constitution itself. And I vote for people and to win. Right now, there are two people worthy of my support in this race. Both decisions would represent my belief in conservative principles and a forwarding of the Movement’s agenda, long-term.
Mitt Romney is the only candidate on the Republican side capable of truly uniting the base and going on to win in the Fall. I support him for his competence, class and, yes, his consistency over a life well led, much of it not on the public dime, or planning and plotting inside a failed Washington as to how he, but not genuinely conservative principles, can move ahead.
I strongly encourage my conservative friends and colleagues to rally behind Mitt Romney for the very hard fight just up ahead. We are fighting an establishment just as short-sighted, as it has been corrupt.
Whether it’s helping to raise money, make phone calls, or get out the vote, Mitt Romney as the last man standing anyone can honestly call a loyal conservative needs our help. Win, or lose in the Fall, if Romney doesn’t get our support and the Republican nod, conservatives will be left homeless under McCain. No president has not reverted to being himself once in office. The Party will be over, as it were. And as we don’t support government subsidies, a boot-strap re-building on our own will cost conservatism much. Yet, we must prepare for that eventuality, too - should it emerge. That fate for conservatives and the Republican Party can be avoided. It is not too late.
For now, we must pursue victory and we must do it behind the one candidate who best typifies our cause. And that’s why I am supporting Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, not as a front-runner - as an establishment crony like a Governor Crist might do - but now when he and Reagan conservatism need our help the most.
In short, society can, should and will move on. Laugh if you will, but we do need change. And the Republican Party needs it as much as anyone else. The choice the Republican establishment now has to make, is - do conservatives move forward with them, or without?
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 am
Vic, there is something palpable happening in the grassroots, that is bringing major momentum to Romney at the right time. Whether or not this new surge of support for Romney comes too late will only be determined on Tuesday. However with the endorsements Romney is rounding up from Sean Hannity, Mark (the Great One) Levin, and Rick Santorum (big endorsement) and others, I think that Tuesday’s results will indeed be very surprising. This is a battle for the GOP and conservatives have clearly made their minds up as to who they are now supporting.
Their minds were made up with the help of the thought of John McCain winning the nomination. McCain has poked conservatives too many times in the eye and for him to be a step away from the nomination was a bit too much for some Reagan Republicans. It may very well be this fact that finally has allowed conservatives to overlook Romney’s flip flops or recent conversions to conservative orthodoxy and to throw their support to him. Look for Romney to do well in Missouri, Illinois, California, and across the South as conservatives rally to him this weekend.
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 am
To all who read these blogs, PLEASE get online and send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper telling them why you endorse Mitt Romney. Be polite and only state facts. McCain bashing might make us feel a little better, but it will only polarize others. You can also take some of the endorsement letters you have seen on this blog and print them out so you can use them as a guide. You can do so much good with a few minutes of writing. Also please consider taking a few hours and joining the call at home program. It is a proven tool to help Mitt win this nomination! We must not allow Mitt to go down without all of us fighting the good fight beside him!!