Several months ago, I proposed some prognostications on the Republican primaries and who will win the nomination and the chance to match up against President Obama in November. I said that Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, would win the nomination. I feel pretty good about that prediction, but former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and former Georgia representative Newt Gingrich continue to hang in there. It appears Texas Representative Ron Paul will also continue to stay in to drive the debate. With Mr. Romney winning six of the ten states this past Tuesday, what does it mean?
Many pundits have suggested that Mr. Romney’s lackluster performance is due to Republicans not feeling completely comfortable with the former Massachusetts governor. He does have issues. His biggest stumbling block is the health care plan he passed as governor. He refuses to apologize for it, and he shouldn’t, but he should also emphasize the historic roles of the states, as opposed to the federal government. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis suggested that, “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” The idea that the states should and can be laboratories of democracy should be trumpeted by Mr. Romney.
The worst attacks by his fellow Republicans, because they are Republicans, suggest there is something wrong with his strive for and achievement of success and personal wealth. One of the basic ideas of conservatism is that all people have the right, or should, to achieve as much as their talent and abilities allow them without the government infringing or impeding. It serves as the inspiration and the goal of all people, regardless of class. Apparently, it has not stuck as much as some of Mr. Romney’s opponents would like. Yet, Mr. Romney still suffers from a host of issues.
Greatest of them all, the former governor lacks that personal touch shown with a certain amount of expertise by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. They had a way of talking “one on one” with people, even in front of a large audience. For whatever reason, Mr. Romney sounds like someone trying to connect but cannot quite bring it across. Furthermore, though shouting from the rooftop that he is a conservative, he has, as Bill Kristol once said, come across like someone using moderate-to-conservative dictionary and is mixing up his words. He has not ruled as a “strong” conservative, as Mr. Santorum and Gingrich have charged and the history of moderate Republican candidates is not stellar: Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain.
Mr. Romney will have his chance. He has a great deal of friends, a loving family from all appearances and therefore, must have something going for him. He will need to find a way to speak in a truer voice. That could quell the discomfort over how “conservative” he is.
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