“I’ll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA.” ~Mitt Romney
It reminds me of one of the sparkling gems from his announcement speech:
That is the path that has been taken by much of Europe. It is called the welfare state. It has led to high unemployment and anemic job growth. It is not the path to prosperity and leadership.
“Empty suit” doesn’t begin to describe this candidate.
I don’t have a “beef” against the content, but it is so elementary that it hardly needs to be said. If you had watched the video of it you would see how he states this truism with such enthusiasm, as if he was telling us something no one else had thought of.
Ashish George says: I don’t think the model of the European welfare state is so obviously unappealing. The Scandinavian countries, for example, seem to combine a generous welfare state with a good degree of economic freedom. For example, in a recent ranking done by The Economist (reported in the September 1-September 7 issue), the magazine said Denmark was likely to provide the best business environment in the world over the next five years.
Indeed, some libertarians are very excited about Denmark. Part Danish, I can appreciate this.
I suppose my point is that bashing the welfare state is just the sort of unimaginative, rote response that I would expect from someone who doesn’t fully understand conservative views but wants desperately to be accepted as “one of us.” It’s like liberals talking about how much they believe in God–they’re trying too hard, and it comes off as an act. Romney’s entire campaign is just such an act.
I can see what you mean about Romney being somewhat of an “empty suit,” but I’m not so concerned.
No, Romney unfortunately isn’t an ISI conservative. You hear very little paleo or crunchy comments from him. And his records on social issues suggests a willingness to bend to his current electorate.
That being said, I don’t think conservatives are in a position to make a lot of demands in 2008. I’m not as concerned with finding an ideologically perfect candidate (who would be unelectable right now anyway) as I am with finding someone who is both competent and not a (leftist) wacko.
You can argue he has too little experience in politics, but when it comes down to it, Romney, I think, offers the best option of returning our government to an efficient, principled, and working condition without sacrificing it to the whims of, God forbid, a Hillary, Obama, or Giuliani.
Romney-Huckabee for ’08.
P.S. – I should add that I don’t mean to imply policy positions are irrelevant this election cycle – our country faces major and important crossroads, but when it comes to the fine print, we can’t get picky as conservatives.
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Well that first one was sort of banal but what’s your beef against the other?