We get this meme from the MSM and their echo chamber here, that Romney is "more electable" than Rick Perry, and we should nominate him even if we don't agree with him, think he's a little weird and kind of suspect he's a closet liberal.
But then you have to actually look at Romney's performance in actual elections.
1994- Ran against Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts. In a year where Democrats were dropping like flies, he lost to Kennedy by 17 points.
2002- His only real win. He ran unopposed for the nomination and won against a non-entity named Shannon O'Brien. He spent 7 million on his campaign (an unprecedented amount for a governor's race at that time) and won barely with 49% of the vote. Keep in mind, this was in a Republican Year when the GOP was being given the benefit of every doubt due to 9/11 and the impending war with Iraq.
2006- Polls showed him running behind Democrat Devall Patrick by double digits, so he made the decision not to run again. Understandable. If he lost, he'd never be considered seriously for president.
2008- He lost Iowa after sinking a ton of money into it to a guy who ran on a shoestring budget, Mike Huckabee. He lost in New Hampshire to a guy who had been declared dead a few month before, John McCain.
He did finally win a primary in Michigan. But this was a primary where John McCain and other candidates didn't run because Michigan had broken the rules and staged an unauthorized early primary, forfeiting half their delegates to the convention. And even there, he only topped McCain by 80,000 votes
Then he moved on to Super Tuesday, where he won two primaries. One was Massachusetts, his home state, where he beat McCain by a mere 51,000 votes. (By contrast, McCain topped Romney by 69,000 votes in Arizona and Huckabee topped him by 108,000 in Arkansas. He also won a few caucuses, where the voter totals were in the five digit range.
Now, keep in mind, this dismal performance was after he had sunk 70 million into trying to get the nomination, including 43 million of his own money. It was after Rush Limbaugh endorsed him (unlikely to happen this time) and the Club for Growth got behind him completely.
(Waiting for Starkey to give me a "this is only your opinion" or some other non-response.)
But then you have to actually look at Romney's performance in actual elections.
1994- Ran against Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts. In a year where Democrats were dropping like flies, he lost to Kennedy by 17 points.
2002- His only real win. He ran unopposed for the nomination and won against a non-entity named Shannon O'Brien. He spent 7 million on his campaign (an unprecedented amount for a governor's race at that time) and won barely with 49% of the vote. Keep in mind, this was in a Republican Year when the GOP was being given the benefit of every doubt due to 9/11 and the impending war with Iraq.
2006- Polls showed him running behind Democrat Devall Patrick by double digits, so he made the decision not to run again. Understandable. If he lost, he'd never be considered seriously for president.
2008- He lost Iowa after sinking a ton of money into it to a guy who ran on a shoestring budget, Mike Huckabee. He lost in New Hampshire to a guy who had been declared dead a few month before, John McCain.
He did finally win a primary in Michigan. But this was a primary where John McCain and other candidates didn't run because Michigan had broken the rules and staged an unauthorized early primary, forfeiting half their delegates to the convention. And even there, he only topped McCain by 80,000 votes
Then he moved on to Super Tuesday, where he won two primaries. One was Massachusetts, his home state, where he beat McCain by a mere 51,000 votes. (By contrast, McCain topped Romney by 69,000 votes in Arizona and Huckabee topped him by 108,000 in Arkansas. He also won a few caucuses, where the voter totals were in the five digit range.
Now, keep in mind, this dismal performance was after he had sunk 70 million into trying to get the nomination, including 43 million of his own money. It was after Rush Limbaugh endorsed him (unlikely to happen this time) and the Club for Growth got behind him completely.
(Waiting for Starkey to give me a "this is only your opinion" or some other non-response.)
