I met a moron tonight.

[Keystone Phil]

Yes, I met a moron tonight. A nice guy, don't get me wrong (though a total know-it-all but we'll get to that later) but someone that was just moronic on at least one major issue: why Mitt Romney lost the Presidential election. I figured you guys would appreciate this. And please read it. I think you'll get a kick out of it.

So I attended a fundraiser for our local party tonight. I got to talking to a fellow young Republican who was introduced to me by a mutual friend. Inevitably, we started talking about the direction of the party in general. He started off about how there are two distinct groups within our party: conservatives and Republicans. Now never mind the fact he didn't correctly label ideological factions and just plain ignorant for thinking that being a Republican and being a conservative are mutually exclusive. Let's let those slide. He proudly identified himself as a Republican; a Northeast establishment Rockefeller Republican. Talked about all the money he donates and almost literally mapped out his political future. I knew it was going to get good once he mentioned he was a Rockefeller type though. I, of course, told him that I consider myself a standard American conservative Republican on social, economic and foreign policy issues and mentioned that Santorum is one of my political heroes. He began to physically twitch.

So we got on the subject of the Presidential race and why Romney lost (he started that, not me). He said it was solely because of Rick Santorum; because Rick Santorum pushed Mitt "so far to the right on social issues, people were never going to vote for Romney." Now, I think the blaming the loss on the Presidential primary is justification for one big eye roll but I'm used to my moderate to liberal Republican friends trotting it out. I argue my point but pretty much let it go. What I couldn't let go was this gem: when I asked if he really thought it was just because of Santorum pushing him to the "far right" and not because of the 47% comments, "Corporations are people" and Mitt being an aloof super wealthy Republican stereotype, he doubled down. He claimed polling proves that the 47% remarks weren't even a blip on the radar! When I asked what specific far right comment Romney was "forced" to make during the primaries that cost him later, he conveniently couldn't remember one but claimed the people didn't have to know of a specific quote: "They just knew." They just knew that but were supposedly un-phased by the very well covered 47% remarks!

But these are the people my party is supposed to listen to when considering how to move forward. They have the answers. "The 47% comments didn't even show up in polling" but he's going to lecture social conservatives about winning...

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Huh. Not much I can comment on but concur with your statements. Had I been there, I might've said something like "Would you ever hear Rick Santorum saying the 47% thing?" or something to that effect, though it looks like the 47% comment didn't even have any negative connotations to that guy.

[anvi]

Well, FWIW, on what it sounds like this guy was suggesting was the supposed irrelevance of the 47% comment and the notion that Santorum was somehow solely responsible for pushing Romney too far right to win the general, I'm with you, Phil.  

[Keystone Phil]

though it looks like the 47% comment didn't even have any negative connotations to that guy.

None at all! He literally said those comments weren't even a blip on the radar. Actual. Literal. Quote.

[Lief 🗽]

Mitt Romney fans are very, very strange people. They should be pitied.

[Keystone Phil]

Mitt Romney fans are very, very strange people. They should be pitied.

Oh, definitely. I also got the classic, Winfield-esque lines from him about how he truly believed Mitt Romney was the man for these times like Lincoln was for the Civil War, Franklin [Roosevelt] was for WWII and Kennedy was for the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Romney lost, he said he didn't feel badly for himself or for our party; he was truly depressed for our country.

[Paul Kemp]

Mitt Romney fans are very, very strange people. They should be pitied.

Oh, definitely. I also got the classic, Winfield-esque lines from him about how he truly believed Mitt Romney was the man for these times like Lincoln was for the Civil War, Franklin [Roosevelt] was for WWII and Kennedy was for the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Romney lost, he said he didn't feel badly for himself or for our party; he was truly depressed for our country.

Stop.

[Keystone Phil]

Mitt Romney fans are very, very strange people. They should be pitied.

Oh, definitely. I also got the classic, Winfield-esque lines from him about how he truly believed Mitt Romney was the man for these times like Lincoln was for the Civil War, Franklin [Roosevelt] was for WWII and Kennedy was for the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Romney lost, he said he didn't feel badly for himself or for our party; he was truly depressed for our country.

Stop.

It was really said.

[memphis]

It's still better analysis than Torie's working class whites piece. Phil, do you believe Santorum would have won any states Romney lost had he been the nominee?

[Keystone Phil]

Phil, do you believe Santorum would have won any states Romney lost had he been the nominee?

I believe he could have. I think Santorum personally plays better in quite a few but that's not the point here. The point is that saying the primaries were the sole reason Romney's loss is lunacy and saying Romney's personal weaknesses/gaffes were a total non-factor is out-of-this-world bizarre.

[DC Al Fine]

Let's let those slide. He proudly identified himself as a Republican; a Northeast establishment Rockefeller Republican. Talked about all the money he donates and almost literally mapped out his political future.

One of those guys... Ugh

[RogueBeaver]

Here's what Santorum thinks about this topic: Romney took a 53-centric instead of a 100-centric approach. Or as Cruz put it recently, "you can build that." Otherwise I agree with Phil and Al.

[tmthforu94]

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Here's what Santorum thinks about this topic: Romney took a 53-centric instead of a 100-centric approach. Or as Cruz put it recently, "you can build that." Otherwise I agree with Phil and Al.

To be fair, Mitt Romney got the vote of some unemployed bums. Such as Mitt Romney.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I think almost anyone could have run a better campaign than Mitt did in the general election, including Rick, and that should have been obvious from how he did in the primaries.  He won by massively outspending his opponents, and whenever he didn't, he was in trouble.

That said, it's difficult to see how Rick could have won, though I think at the very least he would have kept Florida in the GOP column and had a decent shot at picking up Ohio and Virginia.  But that only gets one up to 266 and he's not really a great match for any of the next tier of states.  Maybe Iowa, but he have had to really work at it to have even a small shot, and avoided getting diverted into the socon trap.

[Smash255]

I think almost anyone could have run a better campaign than Mitt did in the general election, including Rick, and that should have been obvious from how he did in the primaries.  He won by massively outspending his opponents, and whenever he didn't, he was in trouble.

That said, it's difficult to see how Rick could have won, though I think at the very least he would have kept Florida in the GOP column and had a decent shot at picking up Ohio and Virginia.  But that only gets one up to 266 and he's not really a great match for any of the next tier of states.  Maybe Iowa, but he have had to really work at it to have even a small shot, and avoided getting diverted into the socon trap.

Rick would have had little chance of picking up Ohio, and no chance whatsoever ay Virginia.  The NOVA numbers would have been off the charts brutal with Santorum as the nominee.

As far as Santorum being the sole reason, of course that is an absurd remark.  The 47% remark comment obviously hurt as well.  However, there is no question the Primaries pulled Romney to the right and it hurt him with the center in November.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Romney lost because he was Romney, and Santorum would have been crushed in the same manner because he was Santorum or Paul would have lost because he was Paul.

[memphis]

Romney did extremely well in Palm Beach and the SW coast, something Santorum couldn't have done. No way would he have won Florida. That's like saying Howard Dean could have won in 2004 by carrying OH.

[Bacon King]

Phil this sounds like you met someone with the mentality of a typical atlas forumite, irl

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Let's let those slide. He proudly identified himself as a Republican; a Northeast establishment Rockefeller Republican. Talked about all the money he donates and almost literally mapped out his political future.

What the hell is Oldiesfreak doing in PA?

[tpfkaw]

The frothmeister would've been the second-worst candidate for the general after "open marriage."  He sounds downright unhinged when discussing social issues or especially foreign policy, and the "war on women" charge would've stuck to him much better than it did to Romney, especially since he would've likely doubled down on Akin as he did IRL.

[King]

I like to think of Romney fanboys the same way I think of myself liking terrible TV shows and movies as a little kid.  They are naive to the human resources buzzword-dropping nice guy parlor tricks of dopes like Romney, so they don't get that it was cringe-inducing and eye-rolling to see Mitt try and work the room.  God bless 'em for being inspired by his blandness, though.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Mitt Romney fans are very, very strange people. They should be pitied.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

So in other words you met Winfield. Gotcha.

[Keystone Phil]

Phil this sounds like you met someone with the mentality of a typical atlas forumite, irl

Bingo but a typical Atlas Romney fanatic to be specific.

Not surprising that the usual suspects took this opportunity to talk about how poorly they think Santorum would have done (which is irrelevant to the discussion). They just can't help themselves.