Redstate

And accurate, to boot.

Look, I'm not saying some evangelicals don't have a problem with his being Mormon. But that's a broad brush you're holding. My parents are evangelicals in GA & they voted Huckabee today because (1) they think there's a truth telling problem with BOTH Romney and McCain & Huckabee is better on that scale, and (2) Romney comes across as way too polished & aloof. The demographics of the South aren't just evangelical. They also tend to be more working class as well. And Romney automatically has a credibility problem with folks like that. The slick hair & Massachusetts connection seem to be overlooked as a problem for Romney in Alabama, GA, etc. Huckabee doesn't have that problem at all. And to the extent McCain has that problem his military service offsets it.

that is his problem... conservatives see through the intellectual dishonesty...

They appear to have more integrity than Romney...

Romney should have run as the moderate he painted himself as in the northeast.

Romney should have run as the moderate he painted himself as in the northeast.

He didn't need to run as a "moderate", he needed to run as a right-of-center problem solver. He would have gotten a lot more support. Heck, I seriously considered supporting him in early 2007.

It wasn't till he started campaigning that I turned on him. I don't think the man has a single belief other then in himself.

John Bolton for President
"FEAR THE 'STACH!!!"

he just did not seem genuine to me or most other conservative voters. With his coffers he could have overcome the problems Rudy and Thompson had.

He needs to bow out gracefully and build upon his conservative rhetoric...

I could support Romney... just not now--while he is unproven. He needs to work with conservative wonks and develop new policies like Reagan.

He didn't seem genuine because he's not. He's the most plastic politician this side of John Edwards.

I could have supported Romney the business executive. Not the "Mitt the super conservative" among "sellouts" whose supposed reasons for being "sellout" are because they took positions he took less then two years ago.

John Bolton for President
"FEAR THE 'STACH!!!"

There no working class folks in Wyoming, Nevada, Maine, Montana or North Dakota. Do a little traveling. Some rough folks live in those parts.

and I'd put my travels up against yours. I get out plenty for a southern boy thanks.

There are also few evangelicals in those states of course, but rather folks who tend to have a skeptical view of people who wear faith on their sleeves. They tend to distrust evangelicals at least as much - probably a little more - than southern evangelicals distrust a Mormon. That's all I'm saying. If Romney weren't so plastic & slick but just as Mormon he'd have done much better in the South. My point is just that it's the car salesman quality that hurt him in the south as much as the LDS thing.

But that doesn't make it less real. And it also doesn't make the many other reasons for people souring on Mitt real, either.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

As much as it was how Mitt made his money. There are many people out there that have been victims of business rationalization. You toss in that too perfect facade of his and it will grate on people.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

I just meant that anybody who did base their vote on that, I'd have no trouble calling that bigotry.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

Not so good with primaries that require broader appeal as opposed to dollars and organization.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

No point in his (or anybody else) withholding his endorsement... it's not like there's anybody else out there to give it to.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman

If he stays in now, the only thing he does is keep up some small risk of a brokered convention, in which case we get stuck with VP Huckabee. McCain as the nominee is terrifying. Already having Huckabee lined up as our next candidate- even more terrifying.

So who is in the lead? McCain has lengthened his lead, Romney has won very little (although he could gain a lot of ground in CA), and if it comes to McCain-Huck, it's hard to see how Huck wins.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

You can't beat somebody with nobody

Except that McCain is winning, despite having no relevant job experience.

and if it comes to McCain-Huck, it's hard to see how Huck wins.

Agreed. If Romney can't win from second place then it is not easy to see how Huckabee can win from a poor third. Among the other people who can't win are Ron Paul and Alan Keyes.

Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net

International Editor of