Mittmentum

Ambinder sez: "McCain veepstakes team: it's difficult to find another candidate who's working harder for the party than Romney right now."

Of course the problem with Romney as a VP choice is much the same as the problem with Romney as a Presidential nominee, namely that Romney's a hugely unpopular phony loathed by most Americans. Indeed, this problem is even more acute as a VP choice since all indications are that John McCain is one of the millions of Americans who despite Mitt Romney. Now as I said many times during the GOP primary, I think all indications are that Romney, despite his professed desire to "double Gitmo," would be a better president than McCain. But as a candidate, he would have been a terrible choice, all but ensuring a Democratic landslide. The VP pick can only do so much harm, but it would still be an idiotic choice.

Indeed, I think Romney's VP campaign is, on some level, just a kind of kabuki. If McCain loses in the fall, which he probably will, conservatives will engage in a bout of wishful thinking and reach the conclusion that McCain was a weak candidate who lost because he's too heterodox even though, in reality, it's hard to imagine any non-McCain figure being even remotely competitive. That will then create some kind of opening that Romney could effectively exploit were it not for the fact that everyone hates Mitt Romney.

Comments

What I look forward to in the event Romney is somehow chosen is the McCain postmortems that reveal exactly how explicit were Romney's promises of $$$ to be named VP. Maybe we can put ole Mitt away after the election, though that might be considered overkill.

Posted by Marshall | May 22, 2008 4:43 PM

Romney's a hugely unpopular phony loathed by most Americans.

The unpopular phony vote is much bigger than you seem to think.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | May 22, 2008 4:47 PM

You can dismiss it if you want, but the polls show people are even less likely to vote for a Mormon(in either capacity) than they are a black man. I still say his VP is going to be Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

Posted by Joe Klein's conscience | May 22, 2008 4:49 PM

I realize you're partially joking with this post, but surely you realize that not everybody hates Mitt Romney. And recall that being loathed by most Americans did nothing to hurt Dick Cheney's position on the ticket.

The business community -- which is breaking much more for Obama than they ever did for Kerry or Gore -- thinks very highly of Romney, and social conservatives at least appreciate his diligent pandering. His appeal to Republican voters is complementary to McCain's (who appeals to foreign policy hawks, small government conservatives, and "character" voters).

I agree, however, that the fact that McCain seems to despise Romney should be a disqualifying factor.

Posted by right | May 22, 2008 4:52 PM

I think all indications are that Romney, despite his professed desire to "double Gitmo," would be a better president than McCain.

We're not back to this foolishness again, are we? Romney would be worse than McCain on literally every issue you care to name.

There's a reason he's a phony loathed by most Americans. He's a transparent opportunist who'll say anything to get elected. What you don't seem to realize is that he'll actually do anything to get elected too, and if that involves explicitly incorporating torture as American policy, stripping away more of our civil liberties or starting a few more wars, he'll do it without a second thought.

Posted by Jinchi | May 22, 2008 4:55 PM

Where's the evidence that Mitt is so unpopular?

Posted by blah | May 22, 2008 4:55 PM

Tattoo: Boss boss! De-spite! De-spite!
Mr. Rourke: I think you mean despise my friend.
Tattoo: De-spise! De-spise!
Mr. Rourke: Smiles everyone.

Posted by joejoejoe | May 22, 2008 4:56 PM

"Where's the evidence that Mitt is so unpopular?"

HAHAHAHA
He spent gobs of money on a Republican primary that by all rights he should have won after Guiliani's implosion. Except his incredible unlikeability meant that John McCain, who movement conservatives loathe and was pretty much dead and buried, nonetheless can back from the grave to beat him.

Posted by greg | May 22, 2008 5:01 PM

Romney's a hugely unpopular phony loathed by most Americans.

That's not fair. Most Americans have never heard of Mitt Romney.

Posted by SoCalJustice | May 22, 2008 5:01 PM

I'll step forward and testify that I am an American who loathes Mitt Romney.

Posted by Jim Crozier | May 22, 2008 5:06 PM

"If McCain loses in the fall, which he probably will"

Good God, man, have you no concept of jinxing? If things go bad I'm blaming you.

Posted by hedgie | May 22, 2008 5:13 PM

Including Romney would be a tremendous idea at this juncture, shortly after the dramatic raid of the compound of a sick & twisted Mormon sect.

Posted by Reader | May 22, 2008 5:13 PM

Mitt would be a reasonably exciting choice to the conservative media elite, though ... Folks such as Hugh Hewitt and Kathryn Jean Lopez really liked Mitt's primary campaign, which really shows how hopelessly out of touch they are, IMHO, but McCain probably could use some support from the NRO "money con" wing.

MARCU$

Posted by MARCU$ | May 22, 2008 5:13 PM

I think Josh Marshall put it best: "It's too bad Mitt Romney sucks so much."

Posted by Jake H. | May 22, 2008 5:18 PM

I doubt very much it will be Romney. But if the Dems screw up badly enough in the Florida/Michigan negotiations, I'd never say never.

Posted by Option 8 | May 22, 2008 5:22 PM

Nobody knew they hated Dick Cheney in 2000 (in the mass vote calculus, anyway). 2004 was another story.

Posted by dbt | May 22, 2008 5:25 PM

You're really going heavy on the italics today, Matt.

Posted by goethean | May 22, 2008 5:26 PM

I'm surprised McCain isn't seriously considering a female candidate. That might allow him to suck up a bunch of Hilary dead-enders.

Posted by vanya | May 22, 2008 5:28 PM

Most of my Mormon relatives were unenthusiastic about Mitt, even at they height of his popularity (such as it was). The one uncle who was a fan is a Democrat. (A conservative Utah Democrat, but still.)

Posted by Bave Dee | May 22, 2008 5:33 PM

The important question is, if you were to invent a drink called a "Double Gitmo" what would it be? I'm thinking:

2 shots of Rum
3 ounces of lime juice
Dash of bitters

1. Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes
2. Shake well
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
4. Garnish with an orange peel

Of course, I know nothing about cocktails, so this might be terrible. Then again, is a Double Gitmo supposed to taste good?

Posted by JB | May 22, 2008 5:37 PM

McCain should offer Hillary the Veepspot, and run as the unified and renovated establishment against Obama-Wright nutters-who-denied-HRC-her-due.

Posted by otto | May 22, 2008 5:40 PM

Romney might make McCain competitive in Michigan or even Massachusetts, where Obama has mysteriously underpolled recently. He helps McCain with two of his biggest problems: fundraising and lack of economic expertise.

Posted by badger | May 22, 2008 5:49 PM

Everyone but Michiganders hates Mitt Romney. Therein lies the danger.

Posted by Josh E. | May 22, 2008 5:54 PM

JB,

One more thing on the Double Gitmo drink:

5. Strap down person on table and cover their face with a cloth.
6. Pour Double Gitmo on cloth and let seep into mouth and nasal passages.
7. Repeat as necessary...

Posted by Bob Oso | May 22, 2008 5:55 PM

You know, I don't pretend to understand the mind of the Republican voter, but in a way I can see how Romney might fit in there. It feels like there's a pattern of them being young and wholesome-looking and relatively unknown, and some don't seem at all to have been chosen on the basis of looking ready to assume the presidency if necessary (Agnew, Quayle). It's almost the opposite.

Which sort of makes me wonder about what a VP does on a Republican ticket. I think of the Democratic tickets I've experienced as selling themselves as a team, whereas the Republican nominee tends to be present himself more singularly. If the more conservative Republicans believe in authority while the Democrats love teamwork, I wonder if a feckless, bland, pathetic yes-man as VP doesn't somehow enhance the ticket by elevating the presidential candidate's stature in comparison. He telegraphs to the voters: "Look how impressive our candidate is! It's almost like he's the dad and his running-mate is his naive son who has a lot to learn from the old man before he can fill his shoes!"

I know you're thinking, "What about Dick Cheney?" Well, think about it: Cheney took this strategy to a whole new level by letting his running-mate have the top of the ticket so the voters could see that even if he was Vice President there could be no doubt about who wore the pants in that White House.

Charlie Crist? Way too threatening. I mean, he's governor of a state eleventy times bigger than the one McCain is just Senator of! Bobby Jindal? Well...it's just...I'm not sure the voters are ready. Bring on Mitt Romney, the only applicant contemptible enough to make John McCain look like the Great White Father by failing in every way to measure up to him.

Posted by professordarkheart | May 22, 2008 6:01 PM

Romney and Hillary might make a really good third party team. Two candidates that cannot understand while people don't like them, after all they spend all their time telling everone what they want to hear.

Posted by John Rove | May 22, 2008 6:23 PM

Matt: "If McCain loses in the fall, which he probably will..."

Based on what evidence? Polls that are six months away from the election? Polls based on the fact that there isn't an Iran war going on - YET? Polls based on the fact that nobody in the Dem party is doing anything to gut McCain on his "war hero" crap? Polls based on the lack of an outcome with the Clinton "sabotage Obama's election chances" campaign?

I'm predicting McCain will win the election because a war with Iran will start and he will get a "war bounce" while Obama (and/or Clinton) will be unable to distinguish himself from McCain on the issue. That and the likelihood that Clinton will sabotage Obama's campaign all the way to the election, let alone the Democratic convention.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | May 22, 2008 6:52 PM

Matt, you're completely off-base on this one. As a liberal, I am frightened to my core by a McCain-Romney ticket. There's no way Obama could take on such a seasoned and skilled political team. Our electoral chances would be doomed, DOOMED!

Most important, we certainly can't let the GOP knos how frightened we truly are by the prospect of a this electoral juggernaut.

Posted by ArtB | May 22, 2008 6:55 PM

Matt, you're completely off-base on this one. As a liberal, I am frightened to my core by a McCain-Romney ticket. There's no way Obama could take on such a seasoned and skilled political team. Our electoral chances would be doomed, DOOMED!

Most importantly, we certainly can't let the GOP knos how frightened we truly are by the prospect of this electoral juggernaut. Otherwise, they'd be liable to make it their ticket. And that would AWFUL.

Posted by ArtB | May 22, 2008 6:56 PM

There's a reason he's a phony loathed by most Americans. He's a transparent opportunist who'll say anything to get elected. What you don't seem to realize is that he'll actually do anything to get elected too, and if that involves explicitly incorporating torture as American policy, stripping away more of our civil liberties or starting a few more wars, he'll do it without a second thought.
Posted by Jinchi | May 22, 2008 4:55 PM

Well, since he can't explicitly incorporate torture as American policy, strip away more of our civil liberties, or start a few more wars until after he's elected, it's unlikely he will be able to do these things to get elected.

Posted by Eric | May 22, 2008 7:53 PM

Indeed, I think Romney's VP campaign is, on some level, just a kind of kabuki.

then

...everyone hates Mitt Romney.

Because everybody hates Mitt Romney, which he must understand by now, doesn't that make the VP spot under McCain all the more attractive to him? The only way he can possibly get in the Oval Office is on the coattails of more popular and aged candidate who might pass away while in office?

Posted by zsx | May 22, 2008 8:11 PM

Indeed, I think Romney's VP campaign is, on some level, just a kind of kabuki.

then

...everyone hates Mitt Romney.

Because everybody hates Mitt Romney, which he must understand by now, doesn't that make the VP spot under McCain all the more attractive to him? The only way he can possibly get in the Oval Office is on the coattails of more popular and aged candidate who might pass away while in office?

Posted by zsx | May 22, 2008 8:12 PM

Bob, I was thinking of making Step #3 "Strain into the lungs of the detainee", but figured that it would be best not to leave a paper trail. Misuses of the Double Gitmo are the responsibility of a few bad apples, not the mixologists who formulated the drink in the first place.

Posted by JB | May 22, 2008 8:39 PM

Otto,

While a McCain-Clinton ticket might seem like a good idea if you think of it as Republicans plus half of the democrats, but upon furthur inspection you would realize, it would be a stupid idea for McCain. First, Hillary is loathed by the Republicans, they might be playing nice so that they can get a easier general election candidate, but in all realty McCain and Hillary are probaly the two most loathed people by the conservative community. I think Hillary running as a republican would a.) shore up Obama's democratic support in the party, except a few of those over 50 feminists who will stick by Hillary through thick and thin. b.) Drive many McCain, conservative leaning independents straight into Obama's camp. c.) Turn off a huge chunk of McCains base to either a third party candidate or just to stay home.

Hillary is just not a good candidate for either party. Her positives in the primary are actually either negatives or can be remedied pretty easily. Postive 1: The Clinton last name. Probably the biggest reason that Clinton is doing so well is name recognition and loyalty to Bill Clinton. Postive 2: She is a woman. While this a huge positive and there are a lot of people who like to see a woman president (including me) that advantage can be negative.

In the general election postive one is actually a negative, because cross over voters loathe Hillary Clinton and the Clinton name. And postive 2 can be remedied by a much better female candidate (i.e. McCaskill, Napolitino, Sebelius).

Posted by Robinson Eaton | May 22, 2008 8:45 PM

I sure hope that's the conclusion the GOP arrives at because I'd love Obama v. Romney in 2012

That's got Reagan v. Mondale written all over it, except this time Utah gets to play the role of Minnesota.

Posted by Richardson | May 23, 2008 11:08 AM

Like Nixon

Everybody hated Nixon, too, but by 1968, his party didn't have anyone else to turn to but the 1960 loser, "now you won't have anyone to kick around", Richard Nixon. It turned out to be a good year for an amoral opportunist whom everyone hated. The only downside for their party was that eventually the amoral opportunism got completely out of hand, and showed them that he actually deserved the hatred by hiring goons to conduct criminal operations. In the even longer run, though, his Southern Strategy has been the key to their continued success, even if it is the strongest proof yet that he really, really deserves the hatred.

Posted by Glen Tomkins | May 24, 2008 1:23 AM