Although Mitt Romney’s loss in the 2012 United States presidential election gave us another four years of His High Holiness the Lightbringer Barack Obama, a lot of conservatives are now thinking we may have dodged a bullet. Three years of Romney in the Senate haven’t painted a pretty picture of what a Romney presidency might have been like.
Mittens masquerades as a man of deep principles. In reality, he’s a base political opportunist, no different from most politicians.
He’s also a guy who keeps his fellow Republicans looking over their shoulders.
Romney’s “principles” occasionally compel him to shiv other Republicans in the back. Lincoln has the story of Romney’s latest antic:
It was no surprise to me to learn that Utah’s answer to Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney (can we just call him “Liz” Romney?), refused to give [Sen. Mike] Lee his endorsement ahead of the midterms.
The Deseret News said that a campaign spokesman stated that the support included endorsements, donations, or expressions of support. The same article quoted Romney as saying, “I don’t think endorsements make any difference in a race to speak of. People in the race are my friends. I usually try and avoid situations where they’ve been friends. I may endorse and I may not, but I really haven’t given it any thought at this point.”
Mike Lee is the senior senator in Utah. An endorsement from the junior senator in the state would seem almost automatic. Lee’s opponent, however, is Evan McMullin, who is running as an independent.
McMullin, of course, was the Great White Hope of the frothing Never Trump crowd in 2016. Some future Lincoln Project types tried to sell the idea that McMullin had a chance to derail Trump. It was a convoluted dream that practically required importing ancient alchemists via time travel. Not surprisingly, the voters didn’t buy it. It’s amazing that he has backing now, given the fact that he stiffed most of the people who loaned him money in 2016.
We are all aware that Romney is no fan of President Trump. No doubt his lack of willingness to endorse Lee is because of McMullin’s Never Trumpiness. Romney is smart enough not to endorse McMullin, however. That would greatly deplete what political capital he still has with his fellow Republicans.
If the GOP should take back control of the Senate, they might want to propose a Romney-for-Manchin trade with the Dems. I’m only somewhat kidding there.
Yes, Mitt Romney is a solid vote most of the time. The problem with him is that he loves these moments where the left media fawns over him for doing something that irritates other Republicans. He relishes this kind of spotlight, which makes him completely untrustworthy. His “John McCain saves Obamacare” moment isn’t too far off.
The Republican party will never be able to accomplish anything significant until it purges what I like to call its “Romney Wing.” There is progress being made in that regard, but the wing’s namesake will eventually have to go.
Story cited here.
