Yes, I’m serious.
Why is Mitt Romney even in the running, when healthcare played such an important role in the mid-term elections as noted by Rasmussen:
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of those who voted in today’s elections nationwide favor repeal of the national health care bill passed by congressional Democrats in March, including 48% who Strongly Favor it.
Rasmussen Reports telephone surveying nationwide after the polls closed found that 40% are opposed to repeal, with 32% who Strongly Oppose it.
This mirrors what we have found every week in surveys since March.
Romney, as most know, is the one-term governor of Massachusetts and the creator of RomneyCare. With two Massachusetts’s miracles for the state, a trifecta may be a tall order when presented on the national stage for the presidency–especially when Republican Senator Scott Brown, also from MA, has some questionable leanings.
But, then again, maybe not.
Quinnipiac released its latest poll showing Romney, ahead of former Governor Mike Huckabee, and edging out President Obama in 2012:
In trial heats for 2012, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney receives 45 percent to 44 percent for Obama, while the president gets 46 percent to 44 percent for Mr. Huckabee. Matched against Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a virtual unknown to most voters, the president leads 45 – 36 percent.
Romney and Obama do matchup well, but maybe on the same side of the aisle as Romney is quite RINOish. In addition to their love of government-run healthcare, Obama and Romney do have some other public relations commonality; they play to the ignorance of the people by capitalizing on their popularity.
Democrat Tom Daschle, as seen in this PBS interview, explained Obama’s situation for 2008 the presidential run:
Why the 2008 window for Obama?
I think the window is important for a couple of reasons. One, it was an open opportunity — that is, he wasn’t running against an incumbent; and secondly, because the longer he’s in Washington, the more history he has, and the more history he has, the more he’s going to be explaining his votes and his actions and his statements and his positions that undermine his message. His message is one of change, his message is one of new direction, and it’s harder to do that after you’ve been in Washington for a long time.
Daschle is correct. Romney was elected governor after his popular role as CEO of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics, but did not seek a second term as MA governor under the guise that everyone expected him to run for president. But, really, could his dropping approval ratings as governor have played a larger role in that decision not to seek a second term. An incumbent loss would have been a PR disaster for Romney and would have crushed any hope of a presidential run. And Obama, well, we are watching the unraveling of a radical left-wing presidency that continues to govern against the will of the people.
Entering into the 2012 relentless campaign season, both have records on healthcare and the tea partiers are not going to let Romney forget, Obama just got mauled in the mid-terms, but on the other hand will the “general” voting public remember come 2012? Romney’s slick PR campaign, which he can afford, sanitizes his political persona.
Self-righteous and ideological politicians tend to bank their power hopes on the gullibility and short memories of the electorate. Romney’s history on taxes and, well, RomneyCare should immediately disqualify him from the 2012 Republican nod as should his zeal to be president. President Eisenhower once said, “Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.” Those words ring true today, don’t they?
Editor’s Note: The use of a photo of Mitt Romney speaking at Heritage Foundation was deliberate. Conservative activists don’t fully understand the role that Heritage played in passing RomneyCare in Massachusetts. Nor do they understand fully that Heritage was a pioneer of the “individual mandate” provision that was incorporated into Obamacare.
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