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Turn out the lights, the party’s over.

By: barleycorn (Diary)  |  January 11th, 2012 at 12:55 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Barring one more bizarre reversal of fortune this election cycle, Mitt Romney will be the presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 2012. The 2012 cycle should spawn a record setting number of books about a nominating contest. It has truly been one for the history books.

I never believed it would happen but my eyes and ears contradict my heart and brain. With the failure of an alternative candidate to sustain a surge beyond the vetting stage, Romney is the proverbial last guy standing.

While I would love for Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry to ignite in South Carolina and amaze us all, I don’t think it will happen. I urge all right thinking conservatives to begin to face the fact of a Romney – Obama contest this year, and I trust they will realize and fulfill their responsibility to do the right thing.

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  • acat

    This is where the long break, the long opportunity to reflect between Florida and Super Tuesday *might* help.

    If.

    If Conservatives can get motivated. If the Tea Parties are still able to effect change.

    If there are enough Republicans who say “I don’t want Willard” to out-vote those Republicans who say “I want to say I voted for the winner!”. (do not underestimate the appeal of backing a winner earlier than your neighbors…)

    I’m not giving up hope that someone better than Romney can win this thing.

    Mew

    * ‘s a movie reference. If you don’t get it, Google or Bing might help.

    • aesthete

      nt

  • trelane

    …though I’m pretty much resigned to a Mitt victory at this point. Really thought Newt could steal it away, but the conservative field is too fragmented. By the time the anti-Romneys consolidate they will all be irrelevent. Mitt is better than President Zero, but I doubt he can win.

    • pttx333

      Rick Perry all the way! It is not in my nature to throw up my hands and follow the herd off the cliff, so I will stay with my principles/convictions and keep on keepin’ on with my choice.

  • hls87

    Is it taking a revolver off stage and doing away with oneself? Because as between that and voting for Romney, I’m leaning toward the revolver. No Romney, no how, no way, not ever.

    • acat
      • hls87

        For some time I’ve been saying that arable land and ammo are the only sensible investment vehicles just now. Unfortunately, neither one is much use without skills I don’t have.

        It’s time to learn.

    • barleycorn

      None of our intra-party squabbles count for diddly if BHO gets four more years.

      I’m not asking anyone to abandon their candidate. I just want people to start considering what happens if Romney wins the nomination. That’s is why I wrote “I urge all right thinking conservatives to begin to face the fact of a Romney

      • hls87

        The goal isn’t getting rid of Obama. He’s just a bit player in one of history’s greatest dramas. The goal is to drive the bipartisan progressive establishment out of power. You can’t do that by replacing a Democrat progressive with a Republican progressive. If Romney (or Gingrich, or Santorum, or Huntsman) wins the Republican nomination those of us who understand that society can’t function much longer with a government striving to take care of us all won’t have a dog in the general election fight.

        You have to win the conference championship or you don’t go to the Super Bowl. Defeating Obama would be nice, but you never get a shot at him unless you can nominate an anti-progressive candidate. Unfortunately, it would seem that we can’t do that. Most voters aren’t ready to embrace a post -progressive future. The progressive order will collapse anyway, but we won’t have a chance to choose something more benign. Life, it turns out, is tragedy not farce.

  • http://www.changeforrickperry.org louisianapatriette

    This is a depressing place today. Politics ain’t for the weak and it looks like Scope, pttx333, romansdaughter, myself, texastaxpayer, and a few others are the only ones still willing to face the front lines.

    Bryan Fischer has a new article today titled, “If GOP Does Not Coalesce Around Rick Perry, It’s 4 More Years of Obama.” And he’s right. If Romney is defending himself for his Bain stuff by comparing himself to Obama, the general election is going to be the biggest disaster this Republic has ever seen. Fischer believes that if Romney’s the nominee there will be a 3rd party candidate (he thinks it’ll be Ron Paul; I’m more inclined to think it’ll be Donald Trump) and he ends his article with this harrowing paragraph:

    “The odds of Perry getting a second wind may be astronomical, but those are the odds social conservatives face. There is no other alternative. This is not an endorsement, just an observation: it

    • jakeofalltrades

      hmm

      • http://www.changeforrickperry.org louisianapatriette

        What are you talking about, Jake?

        • jakeofalltrades

          n//t

          • http://www.changeforrickperry.org louisianapatriette

            Thanks for clarifying.

          • jakeofalltrades

            I know an ally when I see her. You make me proud to support Perry.

          • barleycorn

            I announced my support for Newt Gingrich on December 5th.

            http://www.redstate.com/barleycorn/2011/12/05/a-lot-more-conservative-than-mitt-romney/

            Try to keep up.

          • texastaxpayer

            I have ordered an authentic samurai sword, saki and I am learning the customs for ritual seppuku. Is that satisfactory???

          • barleycorn

            There is a group here that has clearly lost touch with reality.

            Rick Perry is toast.

            I like the guy but he just got 0.7 PERCENT of the vote in New Hampshire.

            To put that in perspective, Rick Santorum finished FIFTH but still got 13 TIMES as many votes as Rick Perry.

            At this point Perry is barely more credible than Buddy Roemer whom he edged out for 6th place.

          • acat

            Seriously, Perry was never going to do well in New Hampshire, and he knew it. I suspect he also knew he wasn’t going to do well in Iowa, after all he snubbed the Iowa GOP pretty hard on Ames Day, and he opposes ethanol subsidies.

            Further, since you did announce your support for Gingrich last year, why write this diary now? Seems to me Newt stands to gain if Perry lowers his banner, no?

            Mew

          • barleycorn

            I expect more discernment from you. Bad kitty.

            No where in this diary have I advocated that Rick Perry should “lower his banner”. This diary was/is not about urging any candidate to get out nor is it an attempt to siphon supporters from one candidate to another.

            What this diary does is ask my fellow conservatives, who view a Romney nomination with as much horror as I do, to start to come to terms with the likelihood of that undesirable result.

            I still support Newt Gingrich and I sent him a pretty good chunk of money last week. I hope he blows the doors off in SC and Fla, but what I now see happening is the coalescing of support around Romney.

            When reality bites it’s still reality.

          • acat

            Beware the Perry-bots
            barleycorn (Diary) Wednesday, January 11th at 10:41PM EST (link)

            There is a group here that has clearly lost touch with reality.

            Rick Perry is toast.

            While you’re technically correct and never indicated Perry should quit, it’s difficult to interpret this as anything other than a (rather poorly written) request that Perry-bots (I prefer the term PerryKrishnas) find someone else to support.

            As you’re an acknowledged Newt guy, and as you have been since December, and as Gingrich stands to benefit from PerryKrishnas “re-joining reality”, my point is not whether you are correct about Perry being toast, rather it’s that your argument appears to be made on merits other than the stated ones.

            I’d suggest making an appointment with your eye specialist. My vision is fine.

            Mew

          • jakeofalltrades

            nt

    • trevorb

      like to think that Perry could come up with a come-from-behind victory, but at this point, I’ll support him, but I find it unlikely that he’s going to win the election.

    • pttx333

      given up so very soon must not have been true supporters from the beginning. Hon, if there’s nothing else to be said about dyed-in-the-wool Perry supporters, it is that we are true blue to our beliefs! And that is a HUGE plus in the grand scheme of things.

      • trevorb

        he’ll be far more appealing in 2016 after Obama gets a second term and continues to run our country into the ground. I just don’t think Romney will be able to defeat him; remember what happened in 2008.

    • deVere

      nt

    • avgjo

      I notice that your list prominently included ladies. Sadly, much of the courage on our side is now concentrated in the females. that’s a comment that reflects poorly on the men, not the women.

      I notice your comment about what you’ll tell your grandkids. I won’t take such a dark view. I remember that the Founders, with far less in the way of resources, knowledge and numbers than we have, changed the world. I also remember that the Soviet Revolutionaries did the same thing. Small groups of people have changed history, both for good and for evil.

      what is lacking on our side is unity of purpose and of mind. Look at the petty squabbles just on this site over candidates, and it’s no wonder we can’t beat the dims. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the left is organized and unified, if nothing else. And look at the progress they’ve made. The radical left represents a small portion of the country. Again, small groups…

      I think the unity of purpose is the worst part. The Founders pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor – and remember, in their day, honor was something men died for on a daily basis (duels, anyone?)

      I don’t know you and I won’t presume to answer this question for you, so ask yourself: are you willing to give everything to Liberty’s cause, like the Founders did, and like so many generations of Americans before us did? I don’t know how many people today are really, truly willing to do so. How many are will determine if we stay a free country or not.

      • http://www.changeforrickperry.org louisianapatriette

        And I think we can still change this election for the better. I’m not giving up, certainly! I hope my comment conveyed that. My comment about my future children and grandchildren was directed to the idea that IF things don’t go the way I hope (namely, if we don’t elect a strong conservative and instead settle for Socialist-lite, in which case I truly fear Obama will get another 4 years) at least I’ll have no regrets.

        I agree, unity of purpose is greatly needed in this country. And what makes it doubly difficult is, you’ve got to find the proper balance between that and “settling.” What I’m trying to say is, if we agreed with barleycorn and said, “OK, we’re all resigned to Romney as nominee”….well, we’d be in unity. But would it be right? That’s the question. Sometimes you just gotta draw a line in the sand for conscience’s sake and NOT “go with the flow.”

        Not only is unity lacking, though–so is honor and true conviction. Our culture is so drenched in pragmatism that we don’t know what it is to stand up for something and hold onto it tenaciously because we know in our heart of hearts that it’s good and right.

        Anyway, those are my thoughts. Thanks for your encouraging words. Since the Tea Party seems to have lost it’s way I’ll try to remember other small groups who fought evil and won. I’m thinking the Texans in 1836, the Pilgrims, the French Resistance in World War II, the Reformers in the 1600′s…so many examples all throughout history!

        • http://www.changeforrickperry.org louisianapatriette

          That’s my “oops moment” for the day. I could never run for President ;)