Can Romney appeal to blue collar populists?

[Farage]

it's sure that romney and huckabee don't share the same electorate, but is it possible for romney to carry the populist vote against obama, who doesn't appeal to them?

[JSojourner]

You forgot the third option...

Palin winning the college-age frat boy horn dogs.

[tmthforu94]

Option 2

[Farage]

but i'm doubting though cause romney can look like an elitist to the joe the average...
In the other hand huckabee could look like a redneck to the suburban conservative ...

So how can romney improve his image and look more 'popular' and 'populist'?

[JJones]

Depends on the region. Romney would absolutely win blue collar conservatives in the NE, Rust Belt and the coast. Huckabee in the South. Midwest could go either way. Huckabee will have serious issues competing outside of the South and a few midwestern states.

[pbrower2a]

it's sure that romney and huckabee don't share the same electorate, but is it possible for romney to carry the populist vote against obama, who doesn't appeal to them?

Obama couldn't win the populist vote fast enough; he put his efforts into Suburbia.  He went where he was three points ahead or behind and quit going where he was ten points ahead. He thus threw away chances to pick off states like Kentucky and Arkansas but went for Indiana and North Carolina instead.

In 2012 Obama runs successfully on his record or fails in an effort to run from his record. Nothing could be simpler.

I expect Huckabee to win the Clinton-but-not-Obama vote of 2008 in 2012, but I don't expect the same from Romney. Clinton victories in 1992 and 1996 show that people in the Midwest, Northeast, and West Coast states can vote for a southern moderate populist -- but the 2000 and 2004 elections show that they will not vote for a Southern right-wing elitist.

[Stranger in a strange land]

The latter, because the former is basically impossible outside of the South. Romney on the other hand could actually be a strong candidate depending on where things are in three years.

[Farage]

well but huckabee can appeal to reagan democrats.
I bet he can appeal to ohio,indiana,appalachia,pennsylvannia,wisconsin,iowa and also to the western latinos who are populist and socially conservative

[JJones]

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Mormon faith has been widely discussed as he has started campaigning in earnest. Twenty-four percent of Americans say they would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate, although 72% say they would.

Do we think that for blue collar populists, the number would be higher or lower than 24%?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/26611/some-americans-reluctant-vote-mormon-72yearold-presidential-candidates.aspx

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Neither of those options are going to happen. Romney and Huckabee are both terrible candidates who will not appeal outside their own very narrow bases.

[cindywho2212]

Neither of those options are going to happen. Romney and Huckabee are both terrible candidates who will not appeal outside their own very narrow bases.

My opinon is that they, Romney/Huckabee would be the perfect ticket in 2012. Both togather could, in my opinion, win the "blue collar" and the rest.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Neither of those options are going to happen. Romney and Huckabee are both terrible candidates who will not appeal outside their own very narrow bases.

My opinon is that they, Romney/Huckabee would be the perfect ticket in 2012. Both togather could, in my opinion, win the "blue collar" and the rest.

I think Obama already has the socialist market cornered. Having zero conservatives on the GOP ticket would be a mistake.

[pbrower2a]

Depends on the region. Romney would absolutely win blue collar conservatives in the NE, Rust Belt and the coast. Huckabee in the South. Midwest could go either way. Huckabee will have serious issues competing outside of the South and a few midwestern states.

Or, in essence, the "Archie Bunker vote"?

Are there enough blue-collar conservatives? I doubt that many voted for Obama when John McCain, a genuine war hero, was available. Romney would surely win white-collar conservatives... but until the corporate culture changes to something more benign we are likely to see much antipathy toward tycoons and executives (and of course their selfish special interests) well beyond 2012.

The mass layoffs and tyrannical management of Corporate America soiled an essential part of the GOP -- the part that can supply money but comparatively few votes. Corporate America used to offer a sort of covenant with white-collar workers: that one could hold a job as long as one met expectations and the company remained solvent. Blue-collar workers, who were frequently laid off in hard times, had no such deal and relied upon labor unions. White-collar workers could be badly paid, but they at least had some security of employment. Now they are treated just like assembly-line workers.

Needless to say, labor-management relations in the United States of America, even between management and white-collar workers, is often dreadful. Employees generally distrust employers in the private sector outside of sure-thing professional practices.

   

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

well but huckabee can appeal to reagan democrats.
I bet he can appeal to ohio,indiana,appalachia,pennsylvannia,wisconsin,iowa and also to the western latinos who are populist and socially conservative

The problem for Republicans is no longer winning Reagan Democrats. There problem is in the White Middle Class Suburbia. The reason the Republicans lost PA despite winning several Western Counties that used to go Dem while the GOP won by 10 points is that decline in places like Montgomery and Bucks counties in PA, Oakland in MI, and the counties surronding many other big cities.

As to the question, yes Romney can win Blue Collar Reagan Dems. Hucks appeals outside the Evans were limited, even among Socially conservative Catholics in the Midwest and Northeast.

[pbrower2a]

well but huckabee can appeal to reagan democrats.
I bet he can appeal to ohio,indiana,appalachia,pennsylvannia,wisconsin,iowa and also to the western latinos who are populist and socially conservative

He can't. Reagan's appeal was genuinely national. Reagan had no specific ties to any region that precluded support elsewhere. Huckabee is a Southern right-wing populist with much cultural baggage. He can win in the cultural Backwoods of America, which does include western Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, and of course other parts of Appalachia-Ozarkia.  That's impressive territory because it extends from about Dallas to near Albany... but it misses America's largest cities near the region (Rochester, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Charlotte, Cleveland,  Columbus (OH), Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, and Houston.  Atlanta is on the fringe, and Memphis is liberal enough (it is Deep South, not Appalachian) that if it were grafted onto Mississippi it would flip Mississippi.  Appalachia-Ozarkia will definitely be Huckabee country just as it was Clinton country. Surrounding cities aren't Huckabee country.   

[Saxwsylvania]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Maybe.

[Farage]

Neither of those options are going to happen. Romney and Huckabee are both terrible candidates who will not appeal outside their own very narrow bases.

My opinon is that they, Romney/Huckabee would be the perfect ticket in 2012. Both togather could, in my opinion, win the "blue collar" and the rest.

I agree 100 pc but could this happen?

[Farage]

but you musn't forget that huckabee is the most popular republican among blacks and that he could win 20 pc of them if it wasn't of obama.

he's hardline on immigration but he has the ability to connect with latinos and has a lot in common: socialy conservative,fiscal conservative and populist

[cindywho2212]

Neither of those options are going to happen. Romney and Hackable are both terrible candidates who will not appeal outside their own very narrow bases.

My opinion is that they, Romney/Huckabee would be the perfect ticket in 2012. Both together could, in my opinion, win the "blue collar" and the rest.

I agree 100 pc but could this happen?

Obama/Biden won. So this can happen. Obama came out of no where, and Biden has his foot in his mouth most of the time, so I believe this ticket can win. Romney/Huckabee in 2012!!! Romney is more of a leader and has more experience in business, the economy, and Huckabee with the social issues.

[pbrower2a]

but you musn't forget that huckabee is the most popular republican among blacks and that he could win 20 pc of them if it wasn't of obama.

Which is like saying that the Mercedes-Benz is the favorite car of poor people. Completely irrelevant to the reality that poor people who must have cars generally resort to elderly vehicles from tote-the-note lots -- overpriced cars with mechanical problems and an implicit 30% interest rate.   

Barring the unthinkable, Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee. He will not be exposed to be some white fellow who darkened his skin and had plastic surgery to look black.

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Any improvement in economic conditions will vindicate Obama's economic program. We will be more patient in 2012 than in 2009. Socially conservative? The GOP can't win on the old anti-abortion, "God in the public schools", respond-barbarically-against-crooks, show-the-Flag mantra. Fiscal conservatism? Consider that young Hispanics have been the ones most likely to get burned with the meltdown of the real estate bubble and that those with responsible jobs have loads of student debt. Deflation burns debtors badly.

Populist? Obama can turn that on if he must, and he will outdo Huckabee if things should get tight in 2012. His style of populism will win in enough places, and Illinois-style liberal populism will succeed behind the Blue Firewall while Huckabee's populism works inside the Red Firewall.

Mike Huckabee is too regional in his support. He can no more win in New England, the Great Lakes region (except perhaps Indiana) than Obama can win Alabama or Oklahoma.

To beat Barack Obama, the GOP will need a candidate who has no particular regional ties, who can seem a moderate while being true to conservatism, and exude optimism about the prospects of an America with greater inequality yet more prosperity. Ronald Reagan was all that -- and he is no longer available.   

[Farage]

well i made a mistake! latinos are social con or moderate and fiscal populist, moderate or even liberal.
But they have more in common with huckabee than with obama that's my point ...

[pbrower2a]

well i made a mistake! latinos are social con or moderate and fiscal populist, moderate or even liberal.
But they have more in common with huckabee than with obama that's my point ...

...But not with the (Protestant) Religious Right. Anti-intellectualism turns off people who recognize schooling as the only viable preparation for economic assimilation. About the only area in which Latinos are more politically conservative than whites is on law and order -- probably because they are more likely to work in jobs in which exposure to robbery is a genuine threat.

[Хahar 🤔]

well but huckabee can appeal to reagan democrats.
I bet he can appeal to ohio,indiana,appalachia,pennsylvannia,wisconsin,iowa and also to the western latinos who are populist and socially conservative

Uh, that's where the Mondale Democrats were.