It is fashionable amongst many in the Republican Party to castigate Mitt Romney as the quintessential Republican in Name Only (RINO). It is a very real question in my mind if it isn’t the other way around.
First things first! He has announced he is not running for re-election to the United States Senate, and, in an interview on 60 minutes last night, he convincingly laughed off the possibility of running for the Presidency, at least for now.
He spoke out plainly against ex-president Donald Trump, saying Mr. Trump is a risk of harm to the nation and that he is lacking in personal character.
Mr. Romney went on to say that he no longer has “a home” in the Republican Party, implying that the party is in danger of abandoning its traditional values in favor of a less principled style of governance.
Mitt has taken political guidance from his father, George Romney, who lost a presidential nomination to Richard Nixon. George Romney famously became a Republican maverick. After Barry Goldwater said “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice”, George Romney came out strongly against those far-right sentiments. George Romney also faced opposition from within his party and his church because of his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
As for Mitt, I can think of no blemishes on his outstanding record of public service. The worst thing he ever did was to put the family Irish Setter in a car-top carrier for a 12-hour road trip along Lake Huron. The dog had a barrier from the wind and survived the trip well except for a case of diarrhea.
Old Google found one on the first try. This ad included complaints about Romney using tax havens. Our country should be the tax haven. But Romney was too moderate relative to the prevailing political culture to make that argument.
https://www.google.com/search?q=2012+ad+Not+One+of+Us+Romney&sca_esv=2add359135117c8e&sca_upv=1&source=hp&ei=H8l5ZcnhCYeEwbkPgMi9wA0&iflsig=AO6bgOgAAAAAZXnXLyveSPKyApFmQPfcGDn5rXjFnRag&ved=0ahUKEwiJ7f7o2IyDAxUHQjABHQBkD9gQ4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=2012+ad+Not+One+of+Us+Romney&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhwyMDEyIGFkIE5vdCBPbmUgb2YgVXMgUm9tbmV5MgUQIRigAUjH2wFQ9GBY5dEBcAF4AJABAJgBhwGgAfsXqgEEOC4yMLgBA8gBAPgBAagCCsICEBAAGAMYjwEY5QIY6gIYjAPCAhAQLhgDGI8BGOUCGOoCGIwDwgIOEC4YgAQYxwEYrwEYjgXCAgsQLhiABBixAxiDAcICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIREC4YgAQYsQMYgwEYxwEY0QPCAgUQABiABMICFBAuGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBGMcBGNEDwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAgsQLhiDARixAxiABMICDhAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBwgILEC4YgAQYxwEYrwHCAgUQLhiABMICCBAuGLEDGIAEwgIIEC4YgAQYsQPCAgYQABgWGB7CAgUQIRirAsICCBAhGBYYHhgdwgIHECEYoAEYCg&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:dd712b0d,vid:TXudE_NKe00,st:0
Richard: You said, “Romney was too moderate relative to the prevailing political culture…”
One can never be “too moderate,” especially in the defense of Liberty!
Also, you seem to thing that the prevailing political culture should determine what we think, feel, and say. Nay!
In 2012 the Obama re-election campaign ran a TV ad that ended with, “He is not one of us.” A Christian and capitalist is definitely not a modern Democrat.
Richard:
My cursory look did not find it, so I asked AI if the Obama reelection campaign ran an ad in 2012 that said, “He is not one of us”.
Here is AI’s answer:
I found no evidence that the Obama reelection campaign ran an ad in 2012 that said “He is not one of us”. However, there was a 2008 ad by the John McCain campaign that used this phrase to criticize Obama’s policies and experience1. It’s important to verify the authenticity of information before sharing it with others.
It is not me saying you are wrong. It’s Bard!