Exciting Senate Possibility

[Alexander Hamilton]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/08/26/romney_for_senate.html

August 26, 2009

Romney for Senate?
Peter Roff looks at the possibility Mitt Romney could seek the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat in a special election.

"Such an announcement would likely be embraced immediately by the Republicans, who would like almost nothing more than to deny Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada his new, hard-won, 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority. As a self-funding candidate who has already been elected once statewide, Romney has nearly 100 percent name ID. And, in an environment where President Obama seems to be dragging the Democrats down, he would be a serious threat to the Democratic hegemony in Massachusetts's congressional delegation. Meaning Romney likely would win."

"If he did, Romney would then have a platform to actually introduce legislation modeled on the proposals he put forward as a presidential candidate in 2008 and planned to put forward in 2012. No guesswork. No empty rhetoric. Real ideas, on the Senate floor, that could be evaluated, debated, and perhaps even voted on."

Would love this.

[Alexander Hamilton]

I can just see this being the new "flip-flopper" in 2012.  "Well, Mitt Romney wanted to run for races in California, Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts!  What a carpetbagger!"  And just like last time, it's all media speculation, not Romney's own actions.

No, he did actually change his legal residence. I remember when it happened. I just can't remember which state it was. I think New Hampshire is right.

It was NH. I think he sold his MA home though.

[Alexander Hamilton]

Romney is a fool not to run.  He has no chance of winning, but so what?  The point wouldn't be to win, it would be to sieze the stage as the nation's great advocate for conservative values with the guts to finance his own doomed campaign for the Senate seat of the liberal lion, Ted Kennedy.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Romney to prove to the doubters that he is truly dedicated to what we believe in.  He should run, and he should run an entirely positive campaign based on ideas.  He will lose, but if he loses with valor he will earn my respect and the respect of many others.  He would show his conversions were real and that he is willing to take risks to defend them.

The knock on Romney is that he cares about winning, not ideas.  He could end that talk by running a campaign with no chance of winning solely because it gave him a high profile stage to talk about ideas and an opportunity to change a few minds.

I personally love this assessment. Good introspective analysis.