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With Endorsement Of Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio Shows He Gets It

By: tomtflorida (Diary)  |  March 30th, 2012 at 02:13 PM  | 

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rubio_father

Now that Sen. Marco Rubio has taken the bold step to endorse in the GOP presidential primary, the critics have come out in force. Given the significance of the decision, the fallout has been of equal magnitude.

With so much at stake, the emotion is understandable.

In an interview this week with the Daily Caller, the freshman Senator from Florida let it be known that Obama’s recent ‘open mic’ gaffe with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sparked his endorsement of Mitt Romney;

“It’s been weighing on my mind all week,” he said.

“I’ve never thought about this as a political calculation,” Rubio said of his endorsement. “I’m just sitting back here and watching a president that just got back from overseas — where he told the Russian president to work with him and give him space so he can be more flexible if he gets re-elected.”

“The stakes are so high. We’re not running against John F. Kennedy here,” he said.

“We have to win this election in November. We have to!” he averred. “If we don’t win this election in November — and we get four more years of Barack Obama — I don’t know what that means … But I know it ain’t good.”

This is a clear indication that Rubio gets the difference between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. And why shouldn’t he? His family has lived the experience of socialism first hand and have seen the debilitating effects it has on the human spirit.

Many in the conservative movement drone on about Romney being Obama-lite and there being no difference between the two. And the further right you go, the louder the outcry. This opinion being uttered by those who’ve lived a life of relative security, having never faced the experience of losing everything a family has spent generations building, including the ground beneath it’s feet.

It is in this light that I suggest Marco Rubio is uniquely qualified to make this judgement…

Serving as a stark reminder is a photo of Marco sitting next to his father that hangs in his Washington office – not in his private quarters, but on display out in the reception area. A conscience decision, I submit, hung there to remind all who come calling of Rubio’s heritage, so that they in turn will hold him accountable to that legacy.

Mitt Romney is a capitalist, through and through. Barack Obama? Not so much. And therein lies a profound difference that every American should be aware of and of whom Rubio decides to cast his lot with should weigh considerably.

As a tea partier, Mitt Romney has never been my first choice. Yet, there is a saying; ‘to the victor goes the spoils’. The other candidates in the race have had their chances and then some to prevail and have failed to seize the opportunity. The tea party has had the opportunity to push a candidate more to their liking forward and have also failed, for the same reason as always. An excruciating inability to coalesce around a common objective, or common candidate in this case.

The real strength of the tea party has always been the power behind it’s numbers. Thin those numbers out over a myriad of issues and/or candidates and it becomes just another voice in the wilderness.

And with a series of actions, culminating with today’s announcement that Rep. Paul Ryan will be endorsing Romney, the Republican Party is serving notice that it will do whatever is necessary to prevent a brokered convention.

Simply put, it’s over folks. It’s time to focus on the real challenge and that is defeating Barack Obama and the progressive left ideology that threatens all that has made America the greatest country in human history. An ideology of which four more years we cannot stand.

It is time to do battle. It is time to grab the weapon you have, enhance it as best you can, and commence to fighting.

Are you to count yourself among those standing shoulder to shoulder in the quest to secure the future of a country that our Founding Fathers sacrificed so dearly for on your behalf? Or are you to be but a witness calling from the sideline in this age-old struggle for self reliance that has only once in all of history seen the people emerge victorious?

Marco Rubio gets it… and I stand with Marco Rubio.

 

Cross-Posted at Florida Political Press

COMMENTS

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  • snowshooze

    Yeah… he get’s it alright.

    • jamesm

      Let me flip a coin. Oops …landed on politician!

    • elizaliza

      Rubio is really smart, and a good timer since Romney is rising in the polls against Santorum. More importantly, Obama!

  • redmymind

    They don’t trust Romney because he HAS no core . . . either conservative OR liberal. He can sure dish out those negative ads, though. Maybe he can direct some at Castro or Putin, even. I’m sure they’d be tremblin’ in fear!!!

    • habeumnominee

      What makes you think that Romney has no core? Romney has stuck with the same woman, the same church, the same company, and the same party throughout his entire adult life.

      He was a faithful conservative when he told a woman within his congregation not to get an abortion which even the woman conceded was an abortion of choice.

      He was a faithful conservative when he ran against gay marriage in 2002 against Shannon O’Brien, the pro-gay marriage candidate.

      He was a faithful conservative when he fought against human cloning (aka “stem-cell research”) and gay marriage as governor of Massachusetts.

      He was a faithful conservative when he rejected the liberals desire for a single-payer health care plan and instead endorsed a private-sector health care solution that had already been endorsed by the Heritage Foundation and Newt Gingrich.

      I have trouble understanding how you can argue that Romney has no core. I see him as a lifelong conservative that has somehow been able to get elected in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where conservative governance was lacking and badly needed when he became governor.

      • lineholder

        Which in Romney’s case is very much so the truth! He IS a moderate. Both fiscally and socially. And he does favor the same kind of progressive policy positions that left-leaning progressives favor. Like the socialized health care model he was instrumental in implementing in Mass.

        If you want to win over people who are questioning Romney at this point, then why not present evidence in his behalf as to what kinds of things he has proven to be trustworthy on? Show us what those things are!!!

      • redmymind

        I guess ignorance is bliss after all! If Romney’s your guy, great! Hope the brain-washing lasts well after Obama soundly beats him. And then what? . . . Uh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h . . . LOL!

    • elizaliza

      Sorry, but why is your families perspective relevant here? I happen to know North Koreans and NOTHING what they have there resembles ANYthing we have here.

  • http://www.timothy-bladel.com/ center77

    between him and Obama. Yes, there is a whole lot of distance between where Romney says he is today, and who he was only a while back.

    Start with healthcare, we all know that Romney was proud of his work with Kennedy. He only says he is against in nationally because it serves his purpose.

    How about energy: Romney is known to have said high gas prices are just fact of life, and something that is needed so we can work on green energy, in fact, like it is with Healthcare, it is with Energy, some of Romney’s people are now Obama’s people.

    Taxes, well Romney was forced to go to the right on taxes, but he started out with the class warfare argument. 200,000 or more, those people have to pay.

    Romney is a businessperson, but that does not for sure make for a great president, Carter was a businessperson, so was both Bush’s.

    I understand that Romney is probably different than Obama in some ways, but those are likely to be the ways Bush is different than Obama. If Romney wins, and ends up being look as Bush was when he left office, I wonder if Americans will ever believe conservatives again. I worry about Obama winning again, but I also worry about what it means to have Romney as the leader of the Party. Just when we get the party moving to the right, it will be led by the establishment once again. That is what worries me, not what Rubio does, he has a right to fall in line. I will not look at him the same way, but I also did not look at him the same way after he played politics with the instate tuition issue. He could have defended something he fought for, but instead got scared of the voters.
    I am also not too keen on how Romney has won this thing. The establishment has played their hand brilliantly. Romney has lied his way through the whole process, and has shown conservatives that he disdains them. I just don

    • jamesm

      “Just like with Obama, people are making Romney into what they want him to be, and that is also scary.”

      A record only really matters is you are Santorum or Gingrich to some Romney supporters. Some Romney people are hoping.he is a moderate. Any conservative that says Romney’s record is conservative is spouting propaganda.. .His record is clearly liberal in many instances, These so called consevatives have drank the kool aid. I have yet to see any convincing diary that Romney will govern as a conservative. Hope and a couple bucks will buy you a cup of coffee.

  • dajeeps

    I have to say I am disappointed, but it is what it is. I accept it with a bit of a heavy heart, but Romney has made certain pledges that, if he carries through with them, the country will be a better place than it is now. It may not end up as the free market utopia I was looking for, but it will be better than teetering on the brink of financial Armageddon.

    Here is what Bernanke had to say about our financial health last year:

    “By definition, the unsustainable trajectories of deficits and debt that the CBO outlines cannot actually happen, because creditors would never be willing to lend to a government with debt, relative to national income, that is rising without limit. One way or the other, fiscal adjustments sufficient to stabilize the federal budget must occur at some point. The question is whether these adjustments will take place through a careful and deliberative process that weighs priorities and gives people adequate time to adjust to changes in government programs or tax policies, or whether the needed fiscal adjustments will come as a rapid and painful response to a looming or actual fiscal crisis.

    “Sustained high rates of government borrowing would both drain funds away from private investment and increase our debt to foreigners, with adverse long-run effects on U.S. output, incomes, and standards of living. Moreover, diminishing investor confidence that deficits will be brought under control would ultimately lead to sharply rising interest rates on government debt and, potentially, to broader financial turmoil. In a vicious circle, high and rising interest rates would cause debt-service payments on the federal debt to grow even faster, resulting in further increases in the debt-to-GDP ratio and making fiscal adjustment all the more difficult. ”

    If we don’t do something, and fast, we will end up in a situation where the spending & debt is slowing the economy, and keeps getting worse because the economy is slowing… a huge vicious cycle like Greece. And Obama, et al, aren’t interested in doing anything about it other than helping the economy over the cliff (again) by taxing the crap out of productive.

    Obama and his Democrat cohorts who do not give a darn about it have to go! There’s simply no compromising with that.

    • xymbaline

      Your whole arguments rests on the hope, “but Romney has made certain pledges that, if he carries through with them, the country will be a better place than it is now.”

      If wishes were fishes ….

      The chance of Romney following through on these statements, and *only* these statements and completely repudiating 98% of his other statements as well as his record is, well, something that only National Review woud seriously consider.

      For the rest of us, not so much.

      A vote for Romney is a vote for Obama.

  • briteness

    Mitt Romney is assuredly not the man we want to lead America. Using phrases like “gets it” only underscores the capitulation of thought and principle that is behind his ascent. I will not stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a phony like Romney. Better to let America hit a wall, then people will wake up. I absolutely believe this, and will fight against Romney full-throttle until the general election.

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      You’d best find another website to join then. We don’t take kindly to Obama lovers here.

      • Xasteius

        no text

        • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

          So that’s why I’m asking.

      • habeumnominee

        Just ban him and move on.

        • xymbaline

          The nominating process is more 50% over and Romney doesn’t have 50% of the delegates. 10 million Republicans have voted and only 4 million have voted for Mitt “The Hitman” Romney.

          The time to stop this machine is now, and some of us feel pretty strongly about those of you nancyboys who are delighted in rolling over and giving in to your new master.

          • habeumnominee

            Sorry, chump. Your guy ain’t gonna win.

            You can vote for whomever you want in the primary as long as you remember that the biggest threat to conservativism in the short term is the prospect of another 4 years of Obamanomics. Obama is sending jobs overseas by shoving socialistic health care down the throats of hard-working Americans who want to get Obama and the rest of the government off of their backs.

  • deVere

    As for Romney, he’s just much better than Obama. It’s hard to think of any Republican who isn’t.

    • xymbaline

      “Well, he’s better than Obama. Isn’t he?”

      • deVere

        nt

  • krish

    just like Rick Santorum had to say he had to “go along to get along.”. Rubio should have waited till the end of the primaries before throwing his weight behind Republican nominee. He chose a moderate at best & liberal most other times.

    By doing it early, he will have to do his “mea culpa” when he is running for POTUS – there was no need to support MA liberal – only way anybody can justify supporting this MA fraud is that he is Republican & going against a socialist….

    • habeumnominee

      No one but Romney has a chance at becoming the nominee. Romney is neither a liberal nor a fraud. Only a liberal troll would accuse him of being either.

      Romney governed Massachusetts as a conservative. He is a conservative today and that is the quality that I consider non-negotiable in a Republican nominee. I live in the present, not the past.

      • snowshooze

        We get it.

        • habeumnominee

          Santorum said as much. I’m sure you agree with him on that point, right?

          • snowshooze

            No reason to get your panties in a bunch over it though.
            You really know how to hurt a guy.
            —sniff—

          • garfieldjl

            Saying that something to the effect of liking Obama better than Romney would be lieing, and I tend to be an honest person. Honesty tends to come with being on the Autistic Spectrum, to the point that we can actually tick people off.

            I honestly don’t like Obama at all nor do I trust him as far as I could throw the Empire State Building one handed, problem for Mitt is that I don’t like him either and wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw the Empire State Building with two hands. Since I wouldn’t be able to budge the Empire State Building whether using 1 hand or 2 hands, I think you now understand the situation.

          • snowshooze

            Obama makes my blood boil.
            Romney is disgusting, slimy, sticky…he isn’t even as good as imitation plastic.
            Dead fish have more character, and jellyfish have more spine.
            In case you were wondering…
            I don’t think too highly of Willard, ” Yes, my name is really Mitt ”
            Gee… he can’t even be honest about his name.

          • EyeofMitt

            Before everyone jumps down my throat — I am just trying to get a better picture of what was written above –
            “Honesty tends to come with being on the Autistic Spectrum, to the point that we can actually tick people off.”

          • garfieldjl

            I wasn’t diagnosed until Freshman year of College.

            Mostly it’s just my social skills that affected, I can’t stand noises at certain frequencies. People usually can’t figure out I’m on the Specturm until I tell them, they just think I’m a little odd.

            I’ve had to really learn to pick up figures of speech, and have difficulty reading people’s body language, it’s a lot easier for me to pick up the cues when they are on TV though, not as much to be distracted by. Another thing is I’ve learned never to take what people say for granted always do your own research.

            Since politics is a big interest for me due to everything going on at the moment, I’ve watched pretty much every debate from start to finish. I’ve been doing my own research, etc.

            With the economy being what it is, it’s extremely hard to find a job relating to my field, I had been taking classes to stay current, but tuition got upped which ended the idea of getting a Masters (not going to go into debt when I don’t know what I’m doing especially with this economy).

            Anyways, the fact that I’ve done a lot of research behind the candidates, and paid attention to all of this, is why I have such an issue with Romney.

            I know a lot of people on the Spectrum lean Democrat thinking that Conservatives somehow are out to get them because people on the spectrum can be rather gullable especially by authority figures when they are younger, I was rather lucky not to fall into that trap. Then there are those that are cynics and rather paranoid because of how often they have been betrayed by people they thought they could trust. I’m kinda in the middle, I know there are good people out there and bad. I actually have a harder time trusting liberals, particularly when some have advocated “Cure Autism Now” like we have some sort a disease and we don’t.

            I really view that Liberals are trying to use minorities as useful idiots to get votes.

            I don’t exactly care for the Democrat party in general, and that view has been reinforced with the shannigans of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, I was looking forward to Obama being kicked out of office in 2012. However, lately the Republican establishment has done some things I find extremely troubling, particularly with the Romney campaign support, even though Romney is blatently dishonest with people.

            I’m sorry but when I say I think Romney is very similar to Obama, I’m not doing so out of anger (and yeah Romney has angered me a lot with his tactics), I don’t hate Romney, I’m quite honestly saying it because based on what I’ve read about Romney and comparing his record as Governor to Obama’s record as President, they are scarily similar.

            Romney was also apparently a big spender in the state of Massachusetts, however he was limited by the fact state law required them to have a balanced budget.

            With runaway spending the only one that has a record of balancing the books on a national basis, is Newt Gingrich. It wasn’t required by Federal Law.

            On a seperate note apparently Mark Levin isn’t impressed by the endorsements.
            http://www.therightscoop.com/mark-levin-paul-ryan-says-to-rally-around-romney-but-why-should-i-just-because-he-said-so/

      • westcoastpatriette

        Unless you’re a Romneybot who thinks Romney is entitled to be anointed as the next in line. Why don’t you tone it down, now? You are doing nothing but irritating those of us who think for ourselves.

        • lapert

          The deluded who still think the primaries aren’t over – funny how they are the same deluded folks who thought Perry was somehow staying in.

          Yeah, they are clearly over. Irritating those of you who don’t really think is the exact right thing to be doing.

          • garfieldjl

            While I didn’t think Perry could win the general, I could still respect the man and his supporters.

            You bashing Perry’s supporters whom think he genuinely would be a better President, isn’t helping your candidate (which I’m guessing is Romney), in fact you’re doing nothing but ticking them off.

            Instead of tearing down everyone else, how about you give us reasons for supporting Romney? Don’t give us the vote against Obama song and dance, cause you’re only talking about we need to vote against Obama, not a reason to vote FOR Romney based on Romney’s merits.

            As a Gingrich supporter, I’ve seen Perry supporters, Cain Supporters, Santorum Supporters, etc. give reasons for why people should vote FOR their candidates. I have yet to see Romney supporters do that for this entire primary.

          • lapert

            I’m bashing the subset of Perry’s supporters who didn’t know when to let go and move on – just like I’m bashing other candidates supporters who don’t know when to let go and move on.

            The emotional attachment to individual politicians is best left to the left.

            I could give you reasons to vote for Romney, but you have heard them all before and clearly don’t care. And at this point, it is irrelevant – your choice in November is Romney or Obama, if you don’t think not voting for Obama is reason enough than you are helpless.

          • Flagstaff

            are here, here, here, and here, and in the associated links within the website.

            If you haven’t seen others mention them, you haven’t looked for them. There is really much more negative commenting here than any positive comments about any of them.

            All the candidates have good points. Some that set Romney apart are that he’s done it before (oh, right, that’s his ‘bio,’ and nobody cares about prior experience), and he seems to know how to run a campaign.

            You can look up the websites of the other guys very easily, too. There you will find what they think is important. Why look for it anywhere else? You want contrary opinions about them all? Go to the Dem sites, or tune in CNN. I’m sure you’ll find plenty there.

          • westcoastpatriette

            ruff, ruff

          • lapert

            But you go on with your little delusions, I’m sure they make you feel better in that empty life of yours.

          • xymbaline

            lapert is the master.

          • lapert

            I owe my mastery to the easy material you empty minded give me

          • Scope

            the only thing you have done since you’ve been here is attack and attack and attack the posters here. With your “advanced degrees” you still have not figured out how to converse, or communicate with those you are engaged with in conversation or debate. You have used every liberal method in the books to promote your mostly ridiculing points. That is what liberals do, so I can only surmise you are a liberal. You appear to support Romney, but for all your advanced degrees, you have never ever once posted anything close to a rational reason why you support him. Get off your high horse before you fall off it, and the higher the horse the harder the fall.

          • lapert

            I converse just fine with the people who are worth it. But it is a waste of time with you whiners – you are just for my amusement.

            Why don’t you go back to reading your truther ‘articles’ to make you feel better about your inane conspiracies. You are irrelevant to anything that approaches debate, or that impacts actual elections in the real world, your only small use is for the mild amusement you provide me. So dance truther dance.

          • Scope

            fine with many people here at RedState leper. In fact you’ve mostly been ignored, truth be told. Most here in these parts don’t like those that think they are the smartest person in the room. Carry on with your delusions though.

          • lapert

            There is someone here carrying on with delusions – but sorry to disappoint you, it isn’t me. You live in a very small part of Red State and your handful of compatriots all suffer from the same delusions – and will all probably be gone within the year as you get bored of emotional disappointment and faux conservatism that you sue as a crutch for whatever is tugging at you. You actually probably feel more comfortable in truther worlds where the conspiracies you force yourself to believe to fit your delusional worldview won’t be challenged.

            But, whatever gets you through the night.

          • habeumnominee

            Scope doesn’t like people who act smarter than s/he is.

            Try to include a phonetic pronunciation of any word that has over 4 letters in it. That way s/he doesn’t sound like an idiot at the bar tonight explaining what s/he got all flustered about at RS today.

        • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

          Mitt will win in WI going away. Last month he was even with Santorum, last week he was up by eight, today by 10. In PA, Santorum was up by double digits a month ago, last week it was two and the race hasn’t really started there yet and won’t heat up until WI is done. Mitt’s got a better than even chance to carry PA.

          He’ll have well over the 1,144 required by the convention and there’s nothing anybody is going to do about it. And, all the blather about what a “great May” the Sweater Boy” is going to have will melt away in the face of reality.

          I’m personally sad that Mitch Daniels chose his wife over the nomination, he’s easily the best we’ve got. Rick Perry is a close second, but he was a really, really lousy candidate. I liked boring old TPaw too. Oh well.

          We’re down to real life, it’s time to get over it and move on and do everything possible to defeat Obama. There is no scenario that he’s better than Romney. He’s run the country by executive order and parliamentary trickery, without a budget, for almost four years. Four more and we’ll have a Supreme Court and Appellate Courts that Joe Stalin could be proud of, and I’m not ever sure God could conceive of what Obama could do with Executive Orders in the next four.

          • westcoastpatriette

            To each his own. And you are free to speak for yourself. But it ain’t over til it’s over as far as I am concerned. And nobody is gonna “make” me like or help Romney or anyone else by badgering me or telling me to get over it.

          • lapert

            Seeing as all the good your help did for you previous preferred candidates I think Romney will do just fine without you.

            Which means it is fine to badger you about your denial until you are able to get over it.

          • zachv

            It’s pretty obvious. Polls are saying it and the pols are saying it.

            … “badger you about it” … hehe, punny of you lapert.

          • Xasteius

            I honestly like the contested primary. If nothing else, it beats the GOP nominee into a condition to take on the One, and it forces Romney to the right.

            BTW, everyone knows Truman lost against Dewey.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            is going to be stopped?

            And who is talking about “liking” him. I hated McCain with unbridled passion and voted for him and contributed. It’s not about friendship, it’s about getting Obama out of the White House.

            And you really do need to get the hell over it. This is politics.

          • clintonformccain

            Rick Satorum announces today that he will drop out of the race when Romney gets to 1144 delegates.

            What a guy!

          • EyeofMitt

            Right WCP? It is because she doesn’t WANT to get over it. If she were on the left — she would be one of those super-far left wackos who wouldn’t even vote for Obama because he shook a Republicans hand once. Or maybe like a Lyndon LaRouche supporter. You get the picture. Political eccentricity.

          • Tbone

            Ya just keep lingering around stinkin’ up the place. Why don’t you Romneybots just leave posters like WCP alone? Does it really matter to you what she thinks or who she supports? Are you so insecure in the total lack of excitement about Mitt the Twit that you have to fight every battle?

            Look, Sparky, your crap candidate has managed to buy himself a run at President. For the sake of the Country, like everyone who is not a Democrat koolaid drinker I hope he wins but it will be a relief if he does, not a celebration.

          • westcoastpatriette

            These Mittbotts are really weird. They all seem to operate like Romney. Can’t develop healthy relationships with people so they try to smear, bully or buy them. No wonder they are such avid Romney lovers. They all seem to have major character disorders that prevent them from fitting in with normal people.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            any of you have a path to Mitt not being the nominee?

            1. C4M, he’ll more likely drop after PA.
            2. EoM, you’re a long standing idiot.
            3. T – You’ve not managed to contribute anything since you’ve been here, that post is no different.
            4. WCP, I wasn’t being snarky, I’m serious. I don’t like Mitt, I don’t trust Mitt. If it were up to me he wouldn’t be the nominee, but it ain’t. But, I come back to the bottom line, is there some magic plan that denies him the nomination?

          • Xasteius

            I hate it when mbecker’s right….

          • acat

            Let’s assume those old Hot Air polls from late 2011 were right … Romney was about 25% of the voters’ first choice, but over 60% of the voters’ second choice.

            What that means is, if Gingrich drops out and endorses Santorum, 60% of his supporters’ second choice is still Romney ..

            This also means if Santorum drops out and endorses Gingrich, it’s even worse .. because right now Santorum has more supporters.

            The number may not be 60%, but again, that’s what the Hot Air polling showed. Even if we assume it’s very off and only something like 30% of support from Gingrich or Santorum flows to Romney instead of to the last remaining not-Romney it’s unclear that the result disproves Becker.

            And I hate that he’s right too.

            Mew

          • lineholder

            I have no doubt in my mind that we’ve crossed the point of no return in this electoral season.

            What really rubs me the wrong way is….it’s obvious that many of us do have valid and legitimate questions about Romney, mostly based on a lack of trust issue. I don’t understand why some of his more vocal supporters aren’t willing to be honest in acknowledging that this is valid and then try to present an argument in Romney’s behalf showing to what extent the man may be trustworthy.

            For crying out loud, I don’t like the man. I sure as the dickens don’t blindly trust him either. But even for me, I’ve been thinking about taking the initiative on this one, reviewing his record to find anything that supports to what extent he is trustworthy, relate that to what I have learned about the kinds of issues that Conservatives in general do tend to have, and write my own cotton-picking diary about why he DESERVES our support…and I mean actively supporting him, not just pulling the level in November.

            I’m not sure that it can even be done. But the fact that someone who DOES NOT support the man is having to consider taking this approach rather than one of his avid supporters…doesn’t that seem way out in left field to you?

          • garfieldjl

            Santorum folks, keep fighting tooth and nail for Santorum and don’t give up, just don’t pick a fight with Newt supporters.

            Newt supporters if you can’t stand Santorum and would break Romney if Newt were out of this, just keep voting for Newt, keep supporting Newt. If you are a nobody but Newt Supporter, keep voting Newt. If you’re leaning to Santorum but aren’t convinced yet, go ahead and go to Santorum but keep backing Newt financially if you can and make it clear you want these two on the same ticket if asked.

            Objective is to deprive Romney of delegates and get 1144 delegates when Santorum and Gingrich delegates are added together.

            Then we let the candidates decide who is on top of the ticket (personally I’d like Gingrich on top because we could have the debates on Pay-per-view, people want to see Gingrich tie the teleprompter into knots and watch the Obama shill posing as a moderator reduced to tears), people really don’t want to see that happen to Biden it would generate sympathy.

            Gingrich gives Santorum cover from the contraceptive garbage, because as VP Santorum wouldn’t have the power to do anything the left is screaming about. Santorum gives Gingrich cover, saying that he believes in forgiveness and is there to keep Gingrich on track. Santorum could beat Biden badly in a debate (so could Perry for that matter).

            We’re not going to have the money edge, so we need candidates that can give someone trouble even when being outspent. That means Gingrich and Santorum are better suited to fight Obama.

            While I would rather see Gingrich/Perry, Gingrich/Cain, or Gingrich/Palin, I am willing for a Gingrich/Santorum or Santorum/Gingrich ticket. I’m a little iffy with Santorum on top because of the obvious mismatch between Gingrich verses Biden. Newtzilla verses absent-minded Biden would not be pretty.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            “Newt supporters”, Ummm, that would be a smaller number than Ron Paul supporters at this point. Newt will not win another delegate. He’s just making noise now.

            You’re gonna let the candidates figure out who’s on top? Heh.

          • garfieldjl

            Seriously, though the question I’m wondering about whom is the least likely to get support from the other guy’s group of supporters in the general.

            McCain didn’t generate this animosity in 2008, if people knew what they know about Obama now, McCain would win in a landslide.

            Romney has managed to alienate a lot of Conservatives to the point they have serious reservations voting for him in the general election.

            Btw, when I asked someone to show me a good reason why to vote for Romney, they gave me a list and I picked one thing at random and found that item wasn’t true in under 30 seconds of research, got called away and came back and that’s why it took so long to post my reply in that response.

            Someone picked another point given and found that was a load of garbage too. Wouldn’t surprise me if every single point to support Romney could be refuted.

            How about you give us reasons why we should vote for Romney, rather than trying to demoralize and anger social conservatives?

          • lapert

            Where is the poll that shows Newt is going to get another delegate, let alone win enough primaries to be on the RNC ballot?

            Ok, maybe you can find a poll to support everything.

            As to your ‘concern’. 98% of the GOP supporters of any of the candidates will vote for the eventual winner in November (excluding the Paul supporters who won’r be voting anyway). The other 2% aren’t really Republicans anyway – the true RINOs.

          • westcoastpatriette

            it’s more just a fascination with peoples’ need to try to make people “get in line” now, shut up, accept the inevitable and find a way to like Romney. Everything in me is repelled by that and you telling me to get over it doesn’t faze me in the least or motivate me in any way.

            Why can’t you just let people alone and let them draw their own conclusions and live by the dictates of their own conscience? You are convinced Romney is it. And you may be right. But he ain’t, yet, is he? It ain’t over til’ the fat lady sings in my book and I am not interested in trying to show you or anyone else how Mitt could still lose. So, go ahead and call me a jackass or an idiot while I yawn. :)

          • acat

            Given the crappiness of the candidate being thrust upon us, we’re gonna need all the time we can get, both to learn the lines we’re gonna have to parrot, and to get over the extreme nausea we feel …

            I’ll just mention that I don’t want you to end up as a PUMA... They may have meant well, but as a movement, they had no effect whatsoever on Obama.

            We’re going to need to do better….

            Mew

          • westcoastpatriette

            and that link didn’t help. I get what you are saying. And I am sure that is the crux of becker’s sense of urgency here….that we cannot waste any more time bickering over the inevitable. Some of us need more time I guess.

            Too bad Mitt doesn’t have a little more finesse. He could help matters a great deal if he would just make a few changes right now. Such as admit Romneycare was a mistake. And maybe acknowledge that he has done a lousy job of convincing the base of the party that he can be trusted. And maybe apologizing for the slanderous way he has carpet bombed others throughout the campaign. All of those gestures would actually help people such as myself to overcome all the nausea we feel toward him right now.

          • Scope

            stood for Political Unity My Ass. The PUMAS were totally down with Hillary Clinton. They thought she was very unfairly treated. They went all in for Plain, when Hillary was gone. It seems that they were gender biased, even though they are a men’s gay right’s group.

          • lapert

            A handful of internet ‘activists’ who though Clinton was an anti-establishment candidate being held back by the Democratic leadership – A handful of internet ‘activists’ who think Gingrich or Santorum are anti-establishment candidates being held back by Republican leadership,

            In both cases they were foolish, show(ed) a complete lack of understanding what the establishment is or how the nominating process worked, in both they vow(ed) they would wreak havoc for the establishment candidates and in both cases they are completely irrelevant to the actual election.

          • habeumnominee

            But I found a way to like the guy. He wasn’t my first, second, or third choice.

            I was hoping that “anyone but McCain” would be the nominee.

            I got McCain as my nominee and I voted for him. I even tried to sell my friend’s on why they should vote for McCain as opposed to “the Rookie”.

          • Tbone

            and as hard as you have tried to sound smart, why is it you have been unable to become a front pager if you have been such a valuable contributor?

      • SoFiMil

        First and foremost, because he’s not one. He may not be a liberal (you have to have a core to be one of those), but at best he’s a moderate.

      • SoFiMil

        .

        • garfieldjl

          I’m sick of Romney supporters calling people anti-mormon bigots, they are about as annoying as Obamabots calling people racists.

          Only thing I’m concerned about is should we stoop to their level, not that they don’t deserve it, but should we stoop to their level?

          • SoFiMil

            Sorry.

  • zachv

    Why in such a hurry to declare victory? Xasteius (Diary) Sunday, April 1st at 4:43PM EDT

    The first debate was schedule on May 5th, 2011! It’s been almost a YEAR.

    The question is why aren’t DONE with this already! It does not take this long to find a nominee, nor has it been at all healthy to drain the Republican field’s money and political capital for months on end.

    We need to start focusing on the Democrats, pronto. Every day this baloney continues adds more weariness to volunteers, doners, campaign staff and to the candidate. Ever the while Obama has been building a nationwide political machine with absolutely no scrutiny or criticism., because a sizable chunk of the Republican base can’t see past the end of their nose into the general election.

    We are going to get creamed if this continues any longer. The Republican candidate needs to lay the groundwork for this November. God help us if this continues to the convention.

    • snowshooze

      Otherwise, yoi’d be having parties after every debate, every primary and rushing off for the next big win and loving every minute.
      But it ain’t like that, is it.
      You know that Democrat you got could implode at any second.
      Why save it for the General?

      Hey, if Mutt was any good, he wouldn’t need you to defend him.
      Ok.. time to act Presidential and ignore Santorum, start picking on the sitting duck and hope it works.
      Better tell Mitt he is going to have to earn every stinking vote the hard way. Honestly.
      Because in the General… that is what it is going to take.

      • zachv

        … with respect to the difference between healthy debate and being on a personal warpath against Romney.

        • xymbaline

          No brains, no arguement, no class.

          • habeumnominee

            Classy.

      • Scope

        a segment on Fox, of all places, and the topic was “Romney needs a makeover.” The panel was some R Rep, Pat Cadell (the only fair and balanced Democrat on Fox), and Doug Shoen. The biggest point they made was that he is not connecting with the voters, and that he is falling far behind Obama in head to head polling, that he is bleeding Independents, and that his unfavoribility ratings are getting higher rather than lower. The general consensus was that Romney is telling everyone that he can fix the economy, but he hasn’t told anyone how he will accomplish that. There is still a high felling of mistrust, and that he just hasn’t been very personable with those at town halls. He comes across as an elitist.

        They brought up the fact that Obama has already set up something like 18 offices, with paid staffers in Fla. They said that when Iowa was over, Romney packed up and left, and the location was taken over by the Obama campaign, and that Romney just left the state, and left no campaign staff in place there. So much goes for Romney having such a great organization. It appears that he is spending all of his money carpet bombing his opponents, rather than keeping any organization in place as the frontrunner in the various states. I’ve also read that Obama has already spent more money setting up his GOTV organization than all of the R candidates combined.

        • snowshooze

          I could speculate all day on the ramifications of those actions.
          There is only one reason that he would do that that is above board, and a thousand that are far less than honorable.
          So, do you really think…that Romney thinks… Florida is a done deal and he has it all sewed up?
          Otherwise… not good.

      • habeumnominee

        He has fought against bigotry, ignorance, jealousy, snarking by the nattering nay-bobs, an all-out campaign by RedState to distort every comment he’s every made and to impute liberalness to Romney as a means of explaining why Romney went from being the conservative’s choice in 2008 to becoming “too liberal” in 2012 (despite the fact that Romney did not hold elective office during those years and has been a conservative longer than some of his detractors have been voters).

        If any Republican has ever earned the right to be the nominee, it is Romney. Both President Bush’s had it easy compared to Romney.

        It is time for the party to come together and unite behind its nominee.

        Rubio gets it. Ross Johnson gets it. Mitch McConnell gets it. Even Rush Limbaugh is starting to get it.

        Obama must be sent back to Chicago this year.

        • snowshooze

          And the rest, aw heck… ne just bought those fair and square.
          I bet they just love it over at GOP headquarters that Mitt can self-fund so much of this, an’ they getta keep all that money for themselves, new cars, more employees and buildings… instead of actually having to put it into supporting a candidate, of all things!

        • deVere

          And now perhaps he’s short of campaign cash, hence the organized camapign to end the nomination contest before it is really over.

          If bad comes to worse Mitt may have to spend his own money on the primary campaign, and then who knows … he may even have to delay construction on the new beach house.

          Life can be cruel, even to Mitt.

  • zachv

    Obama has already set up something like 18 offices … Obama has already spent more money setting up his GOTV organization

    We need to start matching the Obama machine toe-to-toe! We’ve beaten our heads brainless with the bickering over Santorum and Romney.

    How is the Republican candidate going to be able to bring in people to run his offices and set up the GOTV framework when we’re all PO’ed at each other still? Even worse if it goes til Tampa, FL.

    • Scope

      are finding out that Romney isn’t as well organized as he is reported to be. You can spin it all you want that this has to wrap up soon, so our candidate can fight Obama, and my argument is that Romney isn’t the one to save the Republican party from itself. Romney himself is the rpoblem. Those pushing the crap about his inevitability should have been considered long before he was annointed, and as Carville said long ago, if Romney was a Democrat, and was doing so badly, the Democrats would have had another candidate lined up to jump in to save the party. Unfortunately, the stupid party elders would have none of that. So we are so screwed with the next in line it’s pathetic.

      The point was that Romney has such a great organization and the money to win the WH, yet we are finding out that that just isn’t so. Shouldn’t the “frontrunner” have kept his campaign structure in place in all the states to have the effort to fight Obama? rather than spending his wad on carpet bombing his opponents? And, he still is not getting er done.

      • rightlane1111

        I really mean this. Four more years of Obama cannot be considered by anyone that loves this country. If it means that we have to write letters to Editors, try to convince people on the street, blog on major internet sites..you name it…we need to do it.

        I, like you, am not a fan of Romney…but I would rather gamble than just pull out the gun and shoot our country in its heart. This election, more than any other, is all about our future. Things will be really tough…but we have to hang together and get this ship righted.

        You and I both know, by the actions of the elite Republicans, that a brokered convention seem unlikely. We needed a stronger candidate, a candidate that is the exact polar opposite of Obama concerning his record…we had that..it’s gone. So..I’ll work for the country…it might seem like Romney…but it will be for the country and a vote AGAINST OBAMA. I’m hoping that is how Florida, Ohio and Virginia feel also…I pray.

      • habeumnominee

        You just don’t get it, do you?

        You seem to find a way to find flaws in the guy who beat every single one of the “not-Romney” candidates one after another even after a smear campaign that had not just traces but gobs of bigotry in it.

        Romney is well-organized enough to steer his way to becoming the first non-Protestant the GOP has ever nominated. He has cleaned up in states like Ohio, Michigan, and Florida where a lot of hate and vitriol was directed at him.

        The reason why he has not done better in the Southern states is obvious: he’s not considered a Christian by many voters despite his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ. If Romney had been a Baptist, a Methodist, a Lutheran, a Catholic, or a member of the Assemblies of God, he would have swept every primary and caucus this year.

        • garfieldjl

          The fact Romney is arrogant enough to think we will just blindly follow his commands and not think for ourselves, and that’s what it seriously sounds like, is no different from Obama.

          I have yet to get one good reason to actually vote for him, and the last person that tried to present reasons had a slight problem, the reasons they gave weren’t real they were a farce.

          If you’re suggesting I should blindly pull the lever for the “Massachusetts Moderate etch-a-sketch” you really don’t get it.

          On the one hand:
          From a tactical standpoint, I’m hoping the Supreme Court strikes all of Obamacare, cause I don’t trust Romney to try to repeal Obamacare at all.

          From a tactical standpoint, pitting a liberal against Obama blatent stupidity, is the Republican establishment trying to get Obama re-elected? Cause that’s what it looks like to me.

          From a tactical and strategic standpoint, if we don’t get a conservative or a center-right person to be the nominee, and Romney is a liberal (he’d only be a moderate or Conservative in San Francisco and Massachusetts), then we’re better off with someone from the opposite party having the WH, and focus our effort on the Senate and on keeping the House. At least we have a chance if plain on partisanship to stop Obama in his tracks.

          It is a lot easier for Republicans to fight to block Supreme Court Justice picks made by a Democrat, than it is to block a pick from a Republican President.

          Romney is more likely to pick people like another Ginsberg or Kagen than he is to pick someone like Thomas or Alito.

          On the Other hand:
          Then we have on the flipside an obviously power hungry radical Democrat that wants to wreck this country. He behaves like he thinks he’s a king and I’m scared to death of what else he might try.

          Fast and Furious will probably look minor compared to what Obama may pull next.

          In summary:

          So I’m left with a conundrum. Who would be more destructive to this country as President? Romney or Obama?

          I really don’t want a nominee that I have to ask myself the above question. I also think that I’m not the only one asking themselves the above question which I will repeat:
          Who would be more destructive to this country as President? Romney or Obama?

          If it was Gingrich or Santorum the question would be silly. Gingrich and Santorum would be reversing Obama’s policies, doing their best to appoint conservatives to the bench, etc. Obama would be destructive to the country, Gingrich or Santorum would fight fix our country.

          I just don’t know where Romney stands, plus as someone whom has had 3 dogs, the fact that Romney put his on top of his car for a cross country trip, I don’t really care if the dog was in a “crate.” That was downright dangerous for the dog and in my opinion rather cruel.

          Whenever we take a pet with us on a trip, the pet will be in the car with us, not in the trunk, not in a cartop carrier.

          I could see Obama be just as abusive to the dog they have in the White House.

          Anyone that could be that cruel to their own pet in my view doesn’t deserve to be President. That goes for both Romney and Obama.

    • littlehouse18

      Do they really need to have a nominee chosen first?