Talk Elections

Months ago, I thought I wanted him to win as he'd be a decent alternative without being too conservative.  I've since come to see the guy as scum.  A robotic politician with no human emotion or curiosity.

On paper, he's a good candidate for me, but I feel nothing short of joy at evidence of him failing in these primaries.

I'd wager $10,000 that you're far, far from alone.

Honestly, I like him less than many politicians I disagree with more (and not just because he's a tougher opponent for Obama).  He's just so phony and opportunistic.   

No. I actually admire him, and think he has the potential to best the best President this country has seen since Reagan.

He comes off as a guy who sees every political office as another job opportunity, and will say literally what ever it takes during the interview to get that job.  So yes, I have grown to despise him for that reason.

I've despised him for years.

I always come to hate our candidates more during the primary season, because of all the pandering to the worst elements of our party. Based on Romney's record I would probably still vote for him and hope he was just trying to trick the primary voters.

No, I have always disliked Mutt Rhymney.

For quite some time, but the Gingrich is that much worse. He really is a hideous parody of a human being in so many ways. Even 4 more years of the One doesn't sound nearly as terrifying by comparison.

I actually don't mind him, to be honest.

Same here.

He reminds me somewhat of John Kerry.  Someone who the base of the party is ambivalent to, but who will undoubtedly be championed due to the dislike of the current President.  If Romney wins the nomination the GOP base will quickly change tune and go after Obama. 

Are you telling us you actually bought this crap before?

But that's the thing. A lot of Dems in '04 were ambivalent to Kerry, but visceral dislike was pretty rare, as I recall.

Yes, I used to think he was acceptable but he's been a transparent phony about pretty much everything. I don't think he believes a single thing coming out of his mouth.

I know what you mean. The guy is a total butthole. The only respect that I have for him is that he's the type of douche that you need to be to make a lot of money and get a lot of tail. :p

Seriously, its no coincidence that he is very wealthy and before he met his wife, he was probably getting laid more opebo....without having to pay!



Probably, but we haven't seen Mitt windsurfing or skiing yet.

That's a very big part of it. My opinion of Romney had been in steady decline since his 2008 run, but with the juxtaposition of Gingrich he's starting to seem a lot less terrible. What a great state our nation's politics are in...

Yeah, he's one of my least favorite people. I'm really looking forward to watching him give his concession speech.

Never liked him in the first place

My god, I'm agreeing with Lief. Surely the end is nigh.

I don't like him at all, but compared to the rest of the field he's at least marginally acceptable.


Yeah, Gingrich is such a grotesque person that Romney looks like the greatest guy in the world in comparison.

I've come to dislike him more than I did originally, but he's the second-least worst choice.

I have no doubt that Mitt is one of the more appealing and qualified of the moderate candidates standing for President. I just don't want to nominate a moderate.

Newt is another qualified moderate candidate. On a personal level, he isn't as likeable as Mitt, but, is stronger rhetorically. "Go get a job right after you take a bath!" was classic! Again, I wish Newt would stop trying to pass himself off as a "conservative."

Well, sure, I'm a sensible, middle-of-the-road, straight-shooting moderate voice of reason.

     I've almost forgotten that Romney was even running. It's been pretty obvious for a while that he is going nowhere.

I've shifted from Mitt's not a bad guy to why is he even running? Looks too wishy washy and solely out for personal gain.

I always forget that there are people in this world who treat broad descriptors of political ideologies as religions with long and involved creeds that they refuse to explain to anyone.

Back in 2008 I thought I was going to like Mitt. I thought he was a moderate technocrat pragmatist. I liked what he did in MA and was open to voting for him, until he became Mitt 2.0 and essentially pretended that Governor Mitt didn't exist. I don't like Mitt 3.0 any better. At this point I really have no idea what the real Mitt is. I wonder if he knows anymore.

Mitt is working on his Reagan aura, so of course the government gophers despise him. Imagine how much they'll hate him after eight years of success in the White House.

This. I was definitely drawn to Governor Romney's record and background, but dislike the pandering/flip flopping that has gone on since then. I still like Mitt, but his campaigning for the two presidential runs has taken his stock down a few notches in my book.

If you look at it objectively, Romney is pretty much following the '76/'80 Reagan playbook to a tee. The difference between then and now is the 24/7 news cycle. Sometimes a guy's gotta say and do certain things to get nominated and elected.

Yeah, but the difference is that Reagan didn't at one point consider himself to be a moderate like Romney did. (At least, as far as I know.) He always considered himself a conservative, while Romney changed to one when he started running for President.

Presumably you're talking about when Reagan was a Republican- he was a New Deal Dem until the early '50s, as we all know.

Right, I was referring to the changes from when he was Governor of California to when he was running for President.

No. After listening to all the other folks in the race, I think Mitt's penchant for changing his minds is nothing. After hearing some of the things Gingrich (fire janitors and hire 9 year olds) and Perry (attack on religion), the hullaballoo over Mitt's bet seems overplayed. He used to be a moderate. Big whoop. He's going to make a fine President.

He's a spineless coward. But I was never a big Mitt fan. Except when he signed the health care law in MA.

I am not so sure. If you look at Reagan's position on certain issues within the context of the times (i.e., '60s/'70s), a case could be made that he was on the left on abortion and gay rights during his time as Governor, or at least one could argue that he was further left on those issues than Mitt Romney was in the '90s. And, like somebody else pointed out, Reagan was a New Deal Democrat for a large portion of his adult life. Funny enough, Romney takes flak for being an independent during approximately the same years in his life that Reagan spent being a Democrat (i.e., their 20s/30s/early 40s).

More than anything, it just goes to show you had absurdly partisan both parties have become the past few decades. This hardline case for ideological purity is probably part of the reason why the country's political institutions are so messed up right now.

What was your definition of "extremist" again?

I don't know the details, but I gather that it includes people who sincerely believe that the Jews are waging a War against Christmas.