The Myth of Mitt Romney's Electability

At www.townhall.com John Hawkins, a blogger and editor of Rightwing news, attacks the myth going around GOP circles that Mitt Romney is electable and therefore should be the nominee of the Republican Party. Hawkins points out that Romney had an unimpressive record as governor of Massachusetts and left office with an approval rating in the thirties. Hawkins asks what a Republican who's not conservative and can't even carry his own state brings to the table for GOP primary voters.

Here's Hawkins' 7 Reasons Romney's electability is a myth.

Number 1--People just don't like Mitt. If the entire GOP primary process has been centered around voters trying to find an alternative to Mitt Romney. Maybe there is a message there. Hawkins refutes the idea that moderates and independents will support Romney if they think conservatives hate him. I agree it doesn't work that way. But more importantly, people of all political opinions simply don't like Mitt. Take the first little flap about the Obama campaign suggesting Romney was weird, then we have the very awkward months of Romney trying to be a retail politician and acting like a robot, then we have morphed into Mitt the Liar, the stunning ability he has shown to lie--almost about anything. But the bottom line is that--yes--people don't like him. And Hawkins claims that this will dampen enthusiasm for his candidacy.

Number 2--He's Proven Political Loser. Romney left office the 48th most popular governor in America and would have lost if he ran again in 2006. He failed to capture the GOP nomination in 2008, losing a stunning number of primaries. Despite enormous financial and organizational advantages this time, he is still struggling. "Choosing Romney as the GOP nominee after running up his sort of track record would be like promotin a first baseman hitting .225 in AAA to the majors."

Number 3--Running weak in the southern states. Hawkins points out that Barack Obama won Virginia, North Carolina and Florida last time and is targeting them this time. Romney would be less likely than either Gingrich or Perry to carry any of these states. In 2008, for example, McCain and Huckabee dominated Romney in the southern primaries. Mitt didn't win a southern primary and wasn't competitive in North Carolina and Virginia. This year because of the rules fiasco Romney looks like he will win the Virginia primary by default. Hawkins says that losing those states in a close race would hand Obama the presidency.

Number 4--His advantages disappear in a general election. Hawkins is right when he says that Romney should be lapping the entire Republican field by 50 points already because he has been running for the President longer than anyone, he has more money and a better organization. The party establishment and the Beltway media are firmly in his corner. This explains why everyone else has been savaged by the media while Romney, like John McCain before him, has been allowed to skate through the primaries without receiving serious scrutiny.

Then--presto--in the general election every one of these things disappears. Obama will be the more experienced candidate in the race, will have more money and have a better organization than Mitt. Romney then will become the target of the Beltway pundits and the media.

Hawkins asks if you took all the advantages away from Romney, he'd be fighting with Jon Huntsman to stay out of last place. What happens when all the pillars that barely kept him propped up in Second Place are suddenly removed?

5. Bain Capital:Romney has not paid the price of getting wealthy with an equity fund. In the Republican primary, raw capitalism and the free market are virtues. But in the day of Occupy Wall Street and the prospects of Obama running a populist campaign Romney is a tailor made villain. Hawkins points out the obvious about Romney gutting companies and throwing Americans out of work. But he throws a nice curveball in. Bain Capital was rescued by a federal bailout of $10 million and Romney and others made $4 million off the deal. Hawkins basically supports Romney's work at Bain Capital but says it will end up either a very small asset or a large liability, depending on who defines it.

6. The Mormon Factor : Hawkins tries to handle this sensitively. But this is not the old Kennedy Catholic issue. Americans always believed Catholics were Christians, despite antagonism to their precepts and their hierarchy. A vast number of Americans believe Mormonism is a false religion and therefore significant number of Americans will not vote for a Mormon as President.

A surey by the Public Religion Research Institute released on Monday shows that nearly half of white evangelical Protestant voters don't believe Mormonism is a Christian faith and two-thirds say the LDS is different from their own faith. 67% of Americans want the president to be a Christian and only 52% believe Mormons to be Christian. More than 40% of Americans would be uncomfortable with a MorMon as President.

While majorities believe Mormon are moral people. Hawkins warns that in the general election more pointed questions will be raised that make Mormons look weird, racist, kooky and scary and very different. What he doesn't mention is what will people make of Mitt having been a Bishop of a cult.

7. He's a Flip-Flopper. Romney seems to enjoy running ads against Newt about the former Speaker's flip-flopping on issues but can't handle press interviews about his own wandering positions. Hawkins nails it with " There are a lot of issues with trying to run a candidate who doesn't seem to have any core principles." He believes this is even worse when people know Romney has no firm beliefs so Democrats can make him into a "right-wing death-beast" and Republicans will think that Romney will screw them over and Independents won;t know what to believe. As Hawkins concludes Mitt Romney has proven to be "a pasty grey pile of formless mush."