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Could Mitt Romney have won...
... as a democrat? Being in favor of gay rights and abortion
rights scarcely counts against a candidate in the democratic party, so
he would not have had to damage himself with so obvious a pair of
pandering flip-flops. The Democratic party is less beholden to
evangelical Protestants who view their presidential vote as some sort
of choice of a national pastor, so his departures from orthodox
Christianity would have been less important among us. Meanwhile,
he would have been able to run as the only candidate to actually bring
universal health coverage to a population of real voters.
Is there something I am missing (I admit that I know nothing about him
prior to his entry into the presidential race), or did he just choose
the wrong party to run for the presidency. Is there something
about him that would have torpedoed his chances in our party?
Comments (3)
No, nor would he have attempted such a run. He is simply too transparent as a manufactured product to resonate with voters on either side of the proverbial fence.
It makes me wonder just who the guy beat to be Governor of MA? And how bad a campaigner that opponent was...
February 22, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Would he really have been (or have been perceived to be) so "manufactured" though if he had not reversed himself on so many issues? I guess that it seems to me that a lot of his problems came from the complete reversals, which would not have been necessary if he had run as a democrat.
February 22, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been wondering that myself.
I have no doubt he would have been able to win a governorship in either party, but I'm not sure he would have been able to pull off the Presidency.
I think he would have been nailed as a weak flip-flopper (i.e. a "typical Democrat"), and the Republicans would have driven home the fact that Mormons are not "real Christians".
Another question is whether he might have done better had he been governor of a state other than Massachusetts, burial ground of Presidential candidates. I think if his main achievement was something liberals are more likely to be proud of, he would have performed better if he had built up support for it in a more conservative state.
If he were a Democrat from Missouri, let's say, he might indeed have been a winner.
February 22, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
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