tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post635715629262843626..comments2023-10-24T09:06:30.200-04:00Comments on No More Mister Nice Blog: Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-56890964545060115862012-02-28T18:57:39.818-05:002012-02-28T18:57:39.818-05:00I don't think he'll have a reason to drop ...I don't think he'll have a reason to drop out. I've just been arguing that if the party thought he had to, he'd comply, because he's a compliant kind of guy.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-86815138457279926472012-02-28T18:49:47.683-05:002012-02-28T18:49:47.683-05:00@steve - sorry! Damn these speed reading classes I...@steve - sorry! Damn these speed reading classes I've been taking on the cheap. I'm still largely a skeptic on Romney bowing out, but reasonable people can disagree.Greg Haohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01805996565667458046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-90988167065877280502012-02-28T18:41:07.840-05:002012-02-28T18:41:07.840-05:00You keep trying to convince me that the voters che...You keep trying to convince me that the voters cherish the process, and sorry, but I just don't believe that. The Republican Party may be a movement, but the important thing to remember for the purposes of this argument is that the Republican Party is <i>a bunch of spoiled brats.</i> They want what they want. That means they want someone who makes them feel starbursts -- however that happens.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-1043706030289688722012-02-28T18:30:42.454-05:002012-02-28T18:30:42.454-05:00Bush and Cheney came from the Establishment and th...<i>Bush and Cheney came from the Establishment and the base loved them (at least through 2004), because Bush and Cheney made the baser</i> feel good. <i>That's all that matters.</i><br /><br />Yes, old chap, but Bush/Cheney <i>went through the process</i>, didn't they? We know that Bush/Cheney ultimately got the nod through heredity and connections and money, but the folks in the sticks at least had the opportunity to <i>pull the lever</i>, didn't they? Pulling the lever makes you <i>feel good</i> (particularly if you are voting against some vague maverick like McCain). Going through all this trouble, just to have some Washington insider proclaim that the eventual choice isn't good enough and they are going to throw the nod to somebody who wasn't even in the race, that doesn't make you <i>feel good</i>. And you can be sure that Romney will play up all the possible angles of resentment that he can with all his remaining cash. Screw your UN Ambassadorship. I didn't kiss all those babies to be loan officer to Botswana. This is <i>my</i> turn.<br /><br />The Republican Party is not a <i>dictatorship</i>. The Republican Party is a <i>movement</i>. One ignores this at one's peril.ploeghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10248826561069733693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-8063752936898760502012-02-28T18:05:58.347-05:002012-02-28T18:05:58.347-05:00I don't think the base gives a crap where the ...I don't think the base gives a crap where the candidate came from. Bush and Cheney came from the Establishment and the base loved them (at least through 2004), because Bush and Cheney made the baser <i>feel good.</i> That's all that matters.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-49138833646761733802012-02-28T17:47:39.264-05:002012-02-28T17:47:39.264-05:00I think the crazy base is suspicious of brokering ...<i>I think the crazy base is suspicious of brokering only because base voters think that's going to result in a nominee who (by their lights) is as much of a RINO as Romney or more so.</i><br /><br />Well, are they not right? Even if the Smoke-Filled Room churns out a candidate that is calculated to appeal to the crazy base, the crazy base will know that the candidate is beholden solely to the folks in the SFR, and the crazy base would be rightly suspicious about what concessions the candidate made to the folks in the SFR. That's rather different from getting a candidate that you had a say in nominating, however imperfect the process of expressing your say might be. <br /><br />Might I also add that this might have a bearing on how people outside the party might look upon the SFR nominee, that the swing vote might see the SFR nominee as something less than fully legitimate?ploeghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10248826561069733693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-5226259857735658972012-02-28T16:33:54.417-05:002012-02-28T16:33:54.417-05:00Well, I did answer it -- a prestige gig (Fed chair...Well, I did answer it -- a prestige gig (Fed chairmanship?) and/or maybe something for the kids. <br /><br />Everyone has his price, and Romney seems to be a person whose price wouldn't be particularly high, if he really felt that the entire power structure, not just a couple of has-been '90s wingnuts on a hot streak, was against him.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-34715062153716215372012-02-28T16:11:16.334-05:002012-02-28T16:11:16.334-05:00Steve, but you never answered Marshall's quest...Steve, but you never answered Marshall's question. What can the party offer Romney at this point to buy his acquiescence? <br /><br />I'm sure he believes that he just needs to survive the nomination process.Greg Haohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01805996565667458046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-89192552792831253382012-02-28T15:59:05.194-05:002012-02-28T15:59:05.194-05:00The rank and file might not respect the candidate ...<i>The rank and file might not respect the candidate that will eventually come out of the process (Romney), and they might not like the process itself so much, but they respect the process at least so much to prefer it to some smoke-filled room in Tampa.</i><br /><br />I know what the polls say, but I think the crazy base is suspicious of brokering only because base voters think that's going to result in a nominee who (by their lights) is as much of a RINO as Romney or more so.<br /><br />I really think the base would absolutely prefer a smoke-filled room picking Christie to a primary season nominating Romney. I don't think these people really care how the nominee is arrived at -- they just want a soul mate as a nominee, by any means necessary.Steve M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11963290427258439242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3856837.post-77976574388938003472012-02-28T15:43:22.786-05:002012-02-28T15:43:22.786-05:00I think if the entire party machinery genuinely un...<i>I think if the entire party machinery genuinely united and made it clear to Romney that it was time for him to go</i><br /><br />This seems an unlikely axiom. From all I can see, the impetus for a mulligan on the nomination process is all coming from the money people. The rank and file will revolt if the money people pull a stunt like this. <br /><br />It's not a matter of what candidate is picked by the money people. The rank and file might not respect the candidate that will eventually come out of the process (Romney), and they might not like the process itself so much, but they respect the process at least so much to prefer it to some smoke-filled room in Tampa. It'll be those Washington insiders screwing over the majority all over again.ploeghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10248826561069733693noreply@blogger.com