Despite Mitt Romney’s supposed economic credentials, McCain must resist the temptation to put him on his ticket as the republican candidate for Vice President.
There have been murmurings about the possibility of Mitt Romney joining the McCain bid for the white house as the republican VP nominee, a fact McCain has himself acknowledged. Given the former Massachusetts governor’s storied success as a businessman, and with economic concerns becoming increasingly crucial for Americans, McCain could well be tempted to entertain putting Romney on his ticket. It would be a big mistake.
There are three reasons why Mitt Romney would make a poor choice for Senator McCain as running mate. Firstly, Romney’s focus would clearly be on the 2012 election, and it would be seen to be so. Secondly, the two candidate’s genuine dislike for each other was too evident during the republican primary campaign season for their union to appear credible to voters. Thirdly, Romney’s tendency to promise the earth to whoever was prepared to vote for him during his primary campaign gives him a credibility deficit that would be too easily exploited by McCain’s democrat opponent in the fall.
Romney’s apparent interest in becoming McCain’s VP is political opportunism−a direct path to the Republican nomination for a shot at the White House in 2012. Romney’s record of pandering to voters makes this fact all too evident. He is interested in his own political ambitions and not in the interests of the country. This would not serve a one-term McCain administration particularly well, nor would it please voters looking for a candidate genuinely focused on fixing America’s economic woes.
Given McCain and Romney’s very public spats during the republican primary debates and the negativity with which each campaign targeted each other, a McCain/Romney presidential bid would be difficult for the public to swallow. This is not to suggest voters are naïve enough to hope for a president and vice-president that are genuine friends and allies. However, political rivalry−which best describes most president/vice-president relationships−is a different kind of relationship to active distaste. Governor Romney is to Senator McCain everything that is wrong with politics. He is the style to McCain’s substance, the conservative’s everyman to McCain’s commitment to making good policy.
Some might argue this makes for a perfect political union. Where McCain can be trusted to make the right decisions for America, Romney can help sell it. The problem with this view is that part of McCain’s appeal in the first place is his reputation−justified or otherwise−for being far more interested in good policy than good politics. His support for the surge in Iraq is the best example of this. Adding Romney to his ticket would undo this hard-won reputation, which, in combination with the lack of a genuine Reagan republican, was what got McCain the party’s nomination. Among core McCain supporters, and evidently among core republican voters (given their reluctance to embrace Mitt Romney during the primaries), Romney riding the straight talk express would be a bit too much of a stretch of the imagination, and juicy political fodder for the democrats.
Thirdly, among independent and even some republican voters, Romney suffers a severe credibility problem. This is his own doing. He flip-flopped on almost every moral issue to arise during the campaign, lied about his past, (his hunting credentials, and the ‘figure of speech’ debacle surrounding his father’s non-participation in a Martin Luther King Jnr. march being prime examples), and promised the simply unfathomable to any voter prepared to listen.
Promising Michigan voters to bring automobile industry jobs back from abroad was a particularly sharp assault on the intelligence of the average republican voter. In his efforts to portray himself as a so-called Regan republican, Romney cut a figure of the type of opportunistic politician voters have tired so much of. He treated republican voters as if they were far less sophisticated than they turned out to be, and he paid the political price. It is difficult to see voters looking past those efforts.
Despite having marketable economic credentials, Romney would be an enormous political liability for McCain, and he is simply not sophisticated enough to help McCain take northeastern independents away from either Clinton or Obama−the only bloc for which he would be worth considering as the VP nominee. Romney’s posturing for VP makes sense given the economy’s emergence as the most important issue to American voters. McCain, however, should trust his instincts and select a running mate he at least has some degree of respect for.
There have been murmurings about the possibility of Mitt Romney joining the McCain bid for the white house as the republican VP nominee, a fact McCain has himself acknowledged. Given the former Massachusetts governor’s storied success as a businessman, and with economic concerns becoming increasingly crucial for Americans, McCain could well be tempted to entertain putting Romney on his ticket. It would be a big mistake.
There are three reasons why Mitt Romney would make a poor choice for Senator McCain as running mate. Firstly, Romney’s focus would clearly be on the 2012 election, and it would be seen to be so. Secondly, the two candidate’s genuine dislike for each other was too evident during the republican primary campaign season for their union to appear credible to voters. Thirdly, Romney’s tendency to promise the earth to whoever was prepared to vote for him during his primary campaign gives him a credibility deficit that would be too easily exploited by McCain’s democrat opponent in the fall.
Romney’s apparent interest in becoming McCain’s VP is political opportunism−a direct path to the Republican nomination for a shot at the White House in 2012. Romney’s record of pandering to voters makes this fact all too evident. He is interested in his own political ambitions and not in the interests of the country. This would not serve a one-term McCain administration particularly well, nor would it please voters looking for a candidate genuinely focused on fixing America’s economic woes.
Given McCain and Romney’s very public spats during the republican primary debates and the negativity with which each campaign targeted each other, a McCain/Romney presidential bid would be difficult for the public to swallow. This is not to suggest voters are naïve enough to hope for a president and vice-president that are genuine friends and allies. However, political rivalry−which best describes most president/vice-president relationships−is a different kind of relationship to active distaste. Governor Romney is to Senator McCain everything that is wrong with politics. He is the style to McCain’s substance, the conservative’s everyman to McCain’s commitment to making good policy.
Some might argue this makes for a perfect political union. Where McCain can be trusted to make the right decisions for America, Romney can help sell it. The problem with this view is that part of McCain’s appeal in the first place is his reputation−justified or otherwise−for being far more interested in good policy than good politics. His support for the surge in Iraq is the best example of this. Adding Romney to his ticket would undo this hard-won reputation, which, in combination with the lack of a genuine Reagan republican, was what got McCain the party’s nomination. Among core McCain supporters, and evidently among core republican voters (given their reluctance to embrace Mitt Romney during the primaries), Romney riding the straight talk express would be a bit too much of a stretch of the imagination, and juicy political fodder for the democrats.
Thirdly, among independent and even some republican voters, Romney suffers a severe credibility problem. This is his own doing. He flip-flopped on almost every moral issue to arise during the campaign, lied about his past, (his hunting credentials, and the ‘figure of speech’ debacle surrounding his father’s non-participation in a Martin Luther King Jnr. march being prime examples), and promised the simply unfathomable to any voter prepared to listen.
Promising Michigan voters to bring automobile industry jobs back from abroad was a particularly sharp assault on the intelligence of the average republican voter. In his efforts to portray himself as a so-called Regan republican, Romney cut a figure of the type of opportunistic politician voters have tired so much of. He treated republican voters as if they were far less sophisticated than they turned out to be, and he paid the political price. It is difficult to see voters looking past those efforts.
Despite having marketable economic credentials, Romney would be an enormous political liability for McCain, and he is simply not sophisticated enough to help McCain take northeastern independents away from either Clinton or Obama−the only bloc for which he would be worth considering as the VP nominee. Romney’s posturing for VP makes sense given the economy’s emergence as the most important issue to American voters. McCain, however, should trust his instincts and select a running mate he at least has some degree of respect for.
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