Ten Things Romney Has Going for Him

Romney has a number of things going for him.

·         First, he has an opponent who made promises he didn’t keep … on the economy, foreign policy and domestic policy. 

·         Second, he has an opponent who isn’t very bright, as is evident by his policies.  Obama’s mind is filled with ideological bumper stickers; his ideas are like deeply rutted paths that always veer to the Left.  On the debate stage Obama is a small man-child who can sneak in an insult like a raised middle finger but his campaigns have been against opponents who were disarmed.

·         Third, the primaries have demonstrated that Romney has the killer instinct.  He’s determined to win.   He faced a series of challengers and defeated them with a relentless campaign.  There is not an accusation that Team Obama can throw at him that he has not already answered.

·         Fourth, Romney is smart.  He attended Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously.  It’s evident by the fact that he made a fortune while still relatively young.  It’s evident by the fact that he can focus on economic issues and bat away distractions like the media’s calls to denounce Trump. 

·         Fifth, he’s tireless.  Obama may have attended more fund raisers than all of his opponents combined, but those endless rounds of golf, those numerous vacations, are a tell; Obama’s not a hard worker.  Romney has been campaigning non-stop for a year.  If you count his run for the nomination in 2008, he’s been campaigning for over four years.  He’s the Energizer Bunny of activity.  When it comes to campaigning he will grind Obama down. 

·         Sixth, he has a wife who’s smart, articulate, and has always loved her country.    Ann Romney is the polar opposite of Michelle Obama, an angry, hard-left ideologue who animates both her supporters and her opponents.

·         Seventh, he’s not afraid to lead.  John Hinderaker said it well: Nothing discourages activists more than getting out front of a candidate who, it later turns out, isn’t willing to do what it takes to win. A number of Republicans of recent years could be said to fit that description, most recently John McCain. But not Mitt Romney.  One of the keys to McCain’s loss is his willingness to try to curry favor with the press by denouncing people who said harsh things about Obama.  It never got the press on his side and dismayed his supporters.

·         Seventh, he’s not into unilateral disarmament.  When his rallies started getting heckled by Obama supporters, he told the press: “If the president wants to send his supporters to my rally, we’ll show him that we have the same capacity as he does.”  So when Axelrod gave speech in Boston, a hundred Romney supporters showed up to drown out part of his comments.

·         Eight, he’s got lots of money and knows lots of people who have even more than he has.  This election season is going to run though billions of dollars, by the candidates, the parties and outside groups.  Mitt Romney and his supporters could well outspend the Obama campaign which early on promised to raise a billion dollars.   A lot of Obama financial heavy-weights are sitting on their wallets and Obama’s opponent are motivated to end his regime.

·         Ninth, the media no longer dominate the conversation.  As an example, CNN’s audience has dropped 50% in the last year.  The press is now out of the closet as unpaid volunteers for the Left.  An increasing number of people are getting their news from the Internet and Conservatives have shown an amazing ability using media such as Twitter to ridicule Team Obama and turn their attacks back against them. 

·         Tenth, Mitt Romney is attracting the Conservative base without pandering.  A large part of the Tea Party movement was for anyone but Mitt – viewing him as non-ideological and a manager at heart when they wanted an ideological advocate who would turn Washington upside down.  But now that he has the nomination, they are joining the Romney bandwagon.  He’s not called them names (remember McCain referring to them as Hobbits?).  He also has the good fortune of Obama turning farther to the Left as the campaign unfolds, on the issues of gay marriage, religious freedom and anti-capitalism. 

Six months ago I believed that the election would be essentially about Barack Obama vs. a generic Republican, and that the generic Republican would win as the country voted against Obama.   Now I’m pleased and surprised to see genuine enthusiasm on the Right for Mitt Romney.  Who knew?