Even conservatives desperate to beat Obama may now be concluding that Romney is no more “electable” than his primary opponents or a brokered convention nominee.
Mitt’s thickheaded comment on the “very poor” appalled right wing pundits like Andrew C. McCarthy:
While arming the Left with a luscious sound bite with which to caricature him as a callous vulture capitalist, Romney simultaneously stokes the Right’s fear that he is really a man of the Left – or, at least, a man without a core, who doesn’t get that the welfare state is not the solution but the problem.
And Stephen F. Hayes:
[Romney] seemed to consign the poor to a station in life. He suggested that society has done its duty because of the fact that “we have a safety net.” In so doing, Romney seemed utterly unaware of a long strain of conservative thought on the morality of capitalism…. oblivious to the argument – central to the conservative movement – that free markets allow the poor to transcend their position, that poverty is not destiny.
Disaffected conservatives could still throw their support to a candidate with big ideas (Newt), a Christian heart (Santorum), a cult following (Paul) or a convention-picked nominee with no primary baggage.
Unwilling to concede, some republicans may be hoping to deprive Mitt of a first-ballot victory, enabling conservative “insiders” to draft a candidate such as Mitch Daniels, Sarah Palin or Chris Christie.
Maybe republicans are getting ready to throw the idea of “electability” out the window.
Opting instead for a “1964 moment:” (That’s when Barry Goldwater is said to have given birth to the modern republican party, while losing 44 states to Lyndon Johnson.)
Take it from me republicans, electability is over-rated (both Dukakis in ’88 and Kerry in ’04 turned out to be real duds after the convention).
Democrat, meanwhile, should enjoy the spectacle of an inept republican front-runner.
As we eagerly await Mitt’s next gaffe.