Political Commentary

It’s A Done Deal

38 Comments

Looks like Romney is pulling out, with a speech at CPAC today. It’s probably looking pretty futile to him about now, and he probably doesn’t want to squander any more of the family fortune, at least this cycle. I think that the party is going to have to come to terms with the fact that McCain is the candidate, and at least be thankful that it is settled this early, while the Dems may go fighting all the way to Denver.

I also wonder if part of Romney’s thinking is that, if he gets out now, he can forestall a deal between McCain and Huckabee to put the latter on the ticket? If so, he is doing an immense favor to the Republican party and conservative movement. I would find it hard enough to vote for McCain. I’d find it impossible to vote for McCain-Huckabee. And I suspect that there are a lot of other people who would feel the same way. I think that McCain’s only real hope of shoring up the base at this point is to balance the ticket ideologically (and to make the appropriate conciliatory gestures at CPAC today). I think that a Fred Thompson in the number two spot would be very appealing to a lot of people, and he’d tear up whoever the Dems have as veep candidate in a debate.

[Update at 1:30 PM EST]

It’s official:

“This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters… many of you right here in this room… have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country,” Romney said.

No word about preempting Huckabee but, then, there’s no reason to say anything about it. Let’s just hope that it happens.

38 thoughts on “It’s A Done Deal”

  1. If McCain were in Romney’s position would he withdraw from the race for the good of the Party? I’m not asking to be snarky, I think it’s an open question.

  3. That was an incredibly moving speech. I have not supported Romney but he went out with a major touch of class.

  4. Looks like the Republican party is joining the Democrats. McCain-Huckabee 08.

    Good thing Rand isn’t a Republican.

  5. Why is Romney’s actions good for the Republican Party? As I see it, Romney couldn’t afford to go on and that’s what drove his decision. I think a tough fought race would lead to a better candidate than bowing out. Among other things, I find it disturbing that all but three or so (Ron Paul is still running right?) have dropped out with 41% of the possible delegates selected. That just isn’t a healthy process and it’s burned both parties in the past (remember Kerry in 2004, and G. W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000?).

  6. Dennis, you were right on target. I was not a big Romney supporter (though I did prefer him to McCain), but his speech was classy and quite moving. I was most impressed…

  7. Why is Romney’s actions good for the Republican Party?

    Anything that keeps Huckabee off the ticket is good for the Republican Party, and the country, IMO. Realistically, all that would have been accomplished by Romney staying is would be to give Huckabee leverage as a broker with his delegates.

  13. Just wanted to say that it is a stretch to say that he is spending down his “family fortune”. Although his father was an Alcoa lobbyist and CEO of AMC before he became Governor of Michigan, the vast majority of Romney’s money came from his own efforts, as CEO of Bain and Co and co-founder of Bain Capital. Anyone who founds a successful investment banking firm would be about as rich as he is. And he didn’t get it by pulling strings. He graduated from Harvard Law (cum laude) and in the top 5% of his Harvard Business School class.

  14. I’m surprised people aren’t making the seemingly obvious connection re:McCain/Huck. They’re in cahoots and have been since early on. They’ve never criticized each other, rather expressed only admiration for the other. I believe Huckabee has been promised the VP spot in exchange for doing away with Mitt AND Huck gets valuable airtime with the media and gets to prove he’s strong in the South and provides religious conservative support, which McCain can’t win without. The only question in my mind is how much longer does Huckabee hang around? If he were truly after the top spot, he would have to start laying into McCain, which he’s not going to do. If he drops out right away, he shines a light on their strategy. If he hangs on til the next round of significant contests, and then bows, he still has to lay a glove on him. I predict he will cry abject poverty soon and take the easy way out.

  15. Just wanted to say that it is a stretch to say that he is spending down his “family fortune”.

    I wasn’t referring to what he inherited. I was referring to what his family would inherit. That, to me, is his “family fortune.”

  17. Why can’t Nostradamus predict that he only needs to click the ‘submit’ button once to post?

    Come on Fred heads, give it up. I supported Fred at first too, but he was a total failure as a candidate. A McCain-Fred ticket would look like “dead and deader” compared with the dem ticket. Die-hard Fred head’s unwillingness to support the last remaining conservative (i.e. THE ONE WHO DID NOT VOTE FOR MCCAIN-FEINGOLD) was a big part of the problem. Didn’t you notice that Tancredo endorsed Romney? Geez- until you can read minds, how can you say that the guy who ran as a conservative was “pretending”. That’s just low. And as for being a faker, how many times was Romney married in the last 30 years?

    If McCain is smart he’ll offer Romney the VP to maximize the chance for victory in Nov. (He needs the base more than they want him) Romney could condition his support on taking Amnesty off the table. (quite a coup for conservatives considering they can’t get the nomination.)

  18. Might I suggest we quit using the term McCain-Arkansas Ex-Governor? (you know what I mean)

    I’d hate for the McCain staff to actually make it happen because they mistakenly think we expect it and want it.

  21. Sorry – didn’t know it was posting as it kept giving me a 500 Error instead.

    Instead of what? Timing out? That’s what “500” means.

    I’ll try to update the warning to make it even more explicit.

  23. There is a school of thought that if the GOP unites behind a single nominee sooner than Dems, it gives an advantage. I believe this is the logic that Romney is following in pulling out now “for the good of the party” as to whether or not McCain would do the same if the tables were turned… Absolutely not. There are dozens of cases where he’s turned on the party for his own glorification and NONE when he’s stood by the party, which is why I’m so reluctant to accept his plea for me to do what he would never do (ie subborn my own beliefs and well being for the “good of the party) besides the fact that I’m still not sure that supporting him is in the best interests of the GOP or the country.

  24. MarkD – did you pay any attention to the 2000 election? If so, you would know that Romney took a page out of the McCain book of class when he gracefully exited today because that is what McCain did in 2000 and it it was for the good of the party. Please further note that he even stumped for Bush after dropping from the race.

  25. I’ll echo Mr. Wingo on Romney’s exit speech.

    I was a Rudy guy. Fred was my backup choice. McCain was my show horse. Romney was a distant fourth. McCain now seems to be what we are going to have and, while far from ideal, he’ll definitely do.

    I’ve had two problems with Romney. First, he’s been all over the map on a lot of issues. I still don’t have a lot of confidence on just where he would come down on, say, guns or immigration, for example.

    McCain, dead wrong though he’s been on certain things, has rarely been a waffler. He’s rock solid on the war and guns. On immigration, he’s godawful, but I believe he can be checked sufficiently to keep the worst aspects of “comprehensive reform” from happening.

    More important than Romney’s squishiness, to me, was the opacity of his personal character. A look at his impressive resume shows a lot of accomplishments, but no important reverses. I distrust anyone in the #1 job who has never had a serious failure in his life. The Oval Office is no place to discover, for the first time, that you are, appearances to the contrary, not really the Master of the Universe. Maybe Romney is tempered steel and maybe he’s pot metal. If he’s never taken a hit, you can’t tell which.

    The timing and manner of Romney’s withdrawal from the nomination race have gone a long way toward reassuring me about both of my uncertainties. One, the war is his #1 priority. Solid. Second, he has demonstrated he can take a personal failure of consequential magnitude without being a whiny shit – unlike, say, the late Richard Nixon or either of the Clintons. Good.

    I don’t know who McCain will tap as Veep, but if it’s any of Rudy, Fred or Mitt I will happily support said ticket. Happiness is having a deep bench.

  26. Romney was the pick of the litter. Fred or Rudy would have suited, though. McCain is a joke, and Huckster is a huckster. Too bad. A lot of damage can go down between now and 2012.

  27. Romney was the pick of the litter. Fred or Rudy would have suited, though. McCain is a joke, and Huckster is a huckster. Too bad. A lot of damage can go down between now and 2012.

  28. Chaz wrote:

    What about a Romney-Thompson ticket?

    They’d be running as independents, because they won’t get the R nomination. All that would do is split the republican vote and ensure the Democrat wins.

    No. I like Thompson, I could settle for Romney, but the top priority is keeping Hillary out of the White House.

  29. More important than Romney’s squishiness, to me, was the opacity of his personal character. A look at his impressive resume shows a lot of accomplishments, but no important reverses. I distrust anyone in the #1 job who has never had a serious failure in his life.

    Are you discounting, or unaware of, his loss to Teddy Kennedy for the Senate? After which he came back and won the governorship?

  30. McCain is the lesser of the evils, although I have little faith in his ability to beat Hillary! and less faith in his ability to beat Obama.

    I mean, not only are Obama’s fans treating him like Jesus, he’s reuniting the Grateful Dead, which I presume means he’s laying hands on the corpse of Jerry Garcia and raising him from the dead.

    Next, he’ll do the loaves and fishes and Huckabee’s voters will drop their rattlesnakes and rally to him.

    In all seriousness, Obama with his youth and empty platitudes will ride a crest of media adulation right over McCain, who comes across as a cranky old man, well, because he’s a cranky old man.

    I expect McCain will choose someone younger and more conservative as his veep pick — a governor or short-time Congressman or Senator. He won’t pick Romney or Huckabee. I don’t know if it will matter.

    There is a clear line between McCain and the two Democrats on the war and on spending reform (where he’s better than Bush by far, unless you’re a K Street pimp). On social issues the differences are nugatory — and that does include guns. I expect the 2nd Amendment groups will not endorse in this race, although a McCain presidency is probably worse for them than Obama or Clinton (the Dems would draw Republican opposition. McCain won’t).

    The war against Islamic terrorism is the one big issue of our day, and I will be supporting Sen. McCain for that reason alone, although I certainly welcome his strong attitude on spending. If either of those two issues matters to you, you’d be well advised to back Mac.

    Supporting the lesser of evils usually means that less evil gets done in the end; that’s why we ultimately quit bitching and do it. All the candidates have deep flaws — you pick from the menu, so do your best.

    On the plus side, the nation has survived extremely bad governance before. I personally survived Carter in the Army (despite his best efforts). The Republic is more resilient than doomsayers ever think.

  32. I would love to see Romney as veep, but from a political perspective, what does he bring to the ticket? Look for Romney to balance out the ticket with someone young, conservative and southern. FL-gov Crist or Sen-SC Lindsay Graham, for example.

  33. I would imagine Romney is chuckling about Huckabee’s loss of leverage after what happened in WV.

    McCain-Huckabee is not attractive. Fred as VP. I agree with Rand the VP debates will be fun to watch.

  34. I’d like to see McCain get Condi Rice as his Veep. It nullifies the gender issue and splits the black vote.

  35. The notion that Fred Thompson as a running mate would help the Republicans’ chances at winning the White House gave me a good laugh. Do you think getting the VP slot on the ticket would wake him up or something?

  36. The reduction in Huckabee’s “broker” status was one of my first thoughts when I heard that Romney was dropping out. It’s hard for me to think that McCain would pick him, given some of the loopy foreign policy statements he’s made. I don’t like McCain’s friend Lindsay Graham, either.

    I do like the “team of rivals” approach Lincoln took, which has been mentioned elsewhere. McCain could have several conservatives in his administration. The trick would be to get him to listen to their advice before he made up his mind and had to defend his honor by sticking to a “seat-of-the-pants” decision.

  37. In theory, I’d love a McCain-Thompson ticket. (I voted for Fred in the primaries, even though he was no longer running by Super Tuesday… Massachusetts didn’t bother printing up new ballots.)

    But let’s get real, folks. Fred is 66 (and looks older); McCain is 71 (and looks older). If McCain picks Thompson, I give the pundits five minutes before the ticket is branded “old and olderer”. (A bald guy and a man with a comb-over? I wish such things were unimportant in choosing our next President, but they’re not.)

    So who else? Rudy Giuliani is younger than Thompson (64), but not much. Mitt Romney would be a strong pick, I think; he racked up quite a few delegates before he dropped out. Joe Lieberman intrigues me… although he’s Thompson’s age, even if he doesn’t look it.

    I’d love to see a McCain-Condoleezza ticket, if only for what it would do to the Democrats. But I doubt she’s thinking of such things, or being thought of that way. (And her performance as Secretary of State has seriously underwhelmed me; sorry.)

    McCain has a shot, I believe, particularly if he goes up ahainst Hillary. (Quite aside from the large number of people who will vote for Anybody But Hillary, there are some important intangibles here. McCain can laugh at himself; Hillary can’t. Americans like that.)

    So. Sen. McCain, please pick someone young… someone Americans can imagine taking over for you as necessary. You might not believe that the average American thinks much about the XXVth Amendment… but we do.

    respectfully,
    Daniel in Brookline

  38. Disclaimer: I’m not an American etc. but there’s so many good comments I can’t help myself.

    hexan wrote:
    “I’d like to see McCain get Condi Rice as his Veep. It nullifies the gender issue and splits the black vote.”

    I (still) like them but Rice or Powell probably wouldn’t do much good right now and it would feel too much like yet another Bush term for far too many. I still like Rudy and Fred and Romney has grown on me but while parts of their policies ought to be adapted by McCain I don’t think they add all that much as a VP (unless one wants to prepare them for future presidencies).

    I suggest bringing out the big guns. I suggest laughing the whole youth thing straight in the face. I suggest ridiculing the “race issues”. I suggest rock solid character. I suggest filling out McCain’s admitted weakness on economics etc.

    I suggest Thomas Sowell for VP!

    Old & older? Nah, it’s old & wiser! ^_^

    Not only is Chuck Norris after me because I talked about Huckabee’s fairies now I’ll have to hide from Stallone as well cause I just sorta called McCain stupid… ;>_>

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