Mitt Romney should have been inaugurated President of the United States of America today.
Really!
He should have been!
Instead, we now have President Barak Obama. Don’t get me wrong. I wish the new President well. I will treat him with the respect due to his office. (Unlike those who opposed and maligned President Bush.) I acknowledge that he is the duly elected President of the United States, and will treat him with graciousness.
However, I don’t agree with him much. Politically, I will have to oppose him when I feel that his policies will hurt, rather than help, our nation. In particular I am afraid of new policies that will restrict our liberties, and bind our economy. Taxation will increase. Hard work and ingenuity will be punished, rather than rewarded. Our medical system could deteriorate into socialized medicine. I worry about Obama’s cut and run approach to national security, rather than confronting our enemies head on.
The Bogey-Man of Global Warming will restrict energy production, and increase our energy costs. It will handcuff our ability to produce and complete in the global marketplace. At the same time, nations that don’t restrict their activities based on the feigned evils of global warming, will be able to grow their economies unfettered, which will be a competitive disadvantage for the United States. More and more jobs will go overseas as a result.
Mitt Romney gets all this. Barak Obama does not.
I wanted Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee during this past election campaign. However, perhaps in the long-run, it was best that he was not. Given the “October Surprise” of the economic meltdown in September and October of 2008, it would have been extremely difficult for any Republican to have won the election. When you combine the effects of the economic meltdown, with the hatred toward President Bush, and the unpopularity of the war in Iraq – you end up with a near Perfect Storm that would have made a republican victory in the presidential election nearly impossible.
Let’s face it. John McCain was a weak candidate. His campaign was not well run. Better to have McCain be a Sacrificial Lamb and go down to defeat, rather than have a promising up and coming candidate (like Mitt Romney) get tainted with a lost general election campaign.
Although Mitt is coy about whether or not he would run again in 2012 or 2016, at least the opportunity of running again is open to him. Had he been the nominee, and lost, the chances of running a successful campaign again in the future would have been greatly diminished.
No one was more disappointed than me on February 7, 2008, when Mitt Romney announced that he was suspending his campaign. The “Super Tuesday” elections had taken place a couple of days before. Mitt hadn’t fared as well as he had hoped. He had won several states, including Michigan. However he had lost Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina – despite putting a lot of time and resources into those states. John McCain and Mike Huckabee combined together in cultish fashion to deprive Romney of a victory in West Virginia. Latent anti-Mormon Bigotry also played a key role as to why Mitt didn’t do better than he might have.
By pulling out of the race as early as he did, I believe Mitt left the door open to himself to run again, should that be his wish. He is positioning himself well now, with his Free and Strong America PAC. He uses the PAC to give him opportunities to stay involved in political issues, and in supporting other Republican candidates. If he can help get other republicans elected to Governorships, and as congressmen and Senators, then he will forge loyalties with these important leaders.
Mitt is also frequently featured on national media outlets, such as Fox News, and in writing articles for major national news publications. These media appearances help him to stay in the public eye. His wise and sensible commentary will be borne out as the next couple of years progress.
This course is not unprecedented. Ronald Regan had unsuccessful attempts at winning the Republican Nomination before he finally was able to win. Reagan wrote articles, and gave many speeches outlining his policy direction, long before he won the nomination. Like Reagan, Mitt Romney might be able to make a comeback. Hopefully the Democrats won’t wreck the country until he does! -- But that might be what it takes before people will wake up and return to conservative principles.
In the meantime, hold onto your hats (and your wallets for that matter!) -- We’re in for a wild ride the next 4-8 years.
