Mitt Romney was a moderate Governor of a liberal state. On of the most liberal states in the nation. He could have reshaped the Bush Republican Party back into a national party if he had the imagination to do so. Instead he chose to wage the last campaign and go into other peoples turf. It was bad for his career, bad for his party and ended any Presidential hopes he could ever have.
What we have now is a "gimme" election, with John McCain and Caribou Barbie running as a meaner version of Bush/Cheney.
It could have been different.
In California, where I live and work, the old school Republicans became Bush Republicans, corporate welfare, cynical, dirty and mean. They held sway for quite a while until an implosion over issues like Prop 187, a virulent anti Latino proposition and Enron, a deregulation masteropiece. The only way they could get back into power was to have Arnold Blackplowman run as a fiscal conservative, social moderate. He did not preach hate against gays, drug addicts and minorities but only hate toward the poor. No one admits to being poor so it is the perfect scapegoat.
While I don't support Arnold's policies, I don't hate him with the fire of a thousand suns either. The state has returned to sanity and the far right wing that celebrated Sarah Palin and her litter this week have been marginalized. We now fight over money and not who is bumping genitals with whom. So Arnold cuts funding to the blind and raises taxes on the poor but it is better than what came before and gets us closer to an actual middle.
Mitt Romney could have run as that kind of candidate. Romney has never cared about abortion or gay marriage, he only cares about keeping corporate interests greased. He would have been the true maverick. If he had run as a fiscal conservative and social moderate who sought accountability in government and cared more about competence than ideology then he would not have won the nomination...yet. He would have lost but would have provided a real alternative to the fear based party that currently runs this crowd. He would have become a darling of the press and pundits.
He would have come in a strong second, the convention would have been lively, McCain would go on to lose badly and Mitt would have stood astride a new Republican party, free of the Bushes that have run it into the ground over the last thirty years.
Democracy needs lively debate in order to get the best ideas. Compromise from true liberals (both of them) and true conservatives (none of them) would be the best thing for this nation. It would mean serious discussion about the problems of the future and an end to the scapegoating of people who support freedom.
That didn't happen and Mitt Romney has only himself to blame.
Why do I care? I don't really, the coming landslide couldn't happen to a nicer group of folks. They and their bigoted ilk will be completely repudiated by the "uppity" Obama and his doofus friend. Ironic, more than a little funny and deserved.
But I can't help thinking that it would be better for the country if there was a LOYAL opposition to keep us honest as we begin a generation of rule.
Mon Apr 09, 2012 at 12:22 PM PT: I wrote this four years ago and now I like it even more. Ceptin there are typing errors and what not.