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Mitt Romney's editorial on Trump


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  • Schmidt
    2019-01-02 04:30:56 PM
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    Washington Post Opinion, Mitt Romney: The president shapes the public character of the nation. Trump’s character falls short.

    Mitt Romney wrote an opinion article in the Washington Post attacking Donald Trump. A couple of extracts:

    "The Trump presidency made a deep descent in December. The departures of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the abandonment of allies who fight beside us, and the president’s thoughtless claim that America has long been a “sucker” in world affairs all defined his presidency down.

    "To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.” A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring."

    You can read the complete article at the above link, but I wonder, why now as he has not yet been sworn in as the next Senator from Utah? Perhaps, it is way of launching his bid for the presidency should Trump be unable to finish his term in office. He would be the "white knight" saving the party from complete ruin...however that 47 percent is still out there.

    Mitt Romney wants to be president more than just another senator. He has launched his 2020 campaign with the WP editorial.

  • jaredsxtn
    2019-01-02 05:53:33 PM
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    I don't know if he's going to challenge Donald in 2020, but if he does then it's basically political suicide. The only way I see Romney running for President is if Donald is impeached or dies from choking on his well done steak. He would have everything to lose and the end result would be him not being President because it would likely split the Republican Party. I'd be totally fine with that scenario, but I'd be shocked if Romney actually challenged Donald.

    My guess is that Romney is the new Jeff Flake. He'll publicly criticize Donald to claim some moral high ground while still voting for his agenda nearly 100% of the time. Flake has been lauded both in and out of the beltway for "standing up to Trump," but a cursory look at his voting record paints an entirely different picture. That's the type of Senator I expect Romney to be.

  • Schmidt
    2019-01-02 07:35:31 PM
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    Well, perhaps. Quoting Romney, "I do not intend to comment on every tweet or fault. But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions."

    To clarify, I do not see Romney openly challenging or campaigning for the presidency. But if the heat gets too much for Trump to stay in the kitchen in the next two years, then he wants to be the first cook out of the pantry when everything starts going to pot for Trump and the party. Hence my designation of "white knight." To have that "number 1 spot in waiting", he will have to be continually visible and appearing "presidential"...sort of campaigning by appearing on the Sunday talk shows and writing opinion articles in the Washington Post.

    In other words, overshadowing Pence...not a difficult thing to do.

  • Schmidt
    2019-01-03 08:01:41 AM
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    Okay, I admit to "overthinking" these possible outcomes at times. However, having studied both Mitt Romney and the Mormon church in depth during the 2012 campaign, I feel that that Romney has unfulfilled expectations on his shoulders, both from his wife Ann and the Mormon church.

    First, Ann took his 2012 defeat real hard, and she is probably coaxing him to "keep the door wide open". No candidate goes into these campaigns without the support of their wives who often are reluctant, but in Ann's case she wants to be first lady more than Mitt wants to be president. The highly ambitious Ann will never publicly admit that, but she is cut out of the same cloth as Mitt.

    Second, the Mormon church is a big business and many of their notable members are CEOs of corporations. The Mormon church desperately wants one of their own at the top of government, and Mitt Romney now is the "chosen one". Jon Huntsman filled that role for a while after Mitt's 2012 defeat, but he didn't get far on the stage with Trump during the 2016 campaign. So now Mitt is back to the head of the Mormon pack.

    The Mormon Church has an adversarial relationship with the evangelicals, and with Mike Pence the heir apparent to Donald Trump should he leave office prematurely, the Mormon church would not be comfortable with Pence at the helm of government. Hence the coaxing by the church for Mitt to be ready to run.

    Governor Kasich is often mentioned as a likely Republican who could displace Trump from his podium, but while he "mulls over the situation", Mitt Romney is aggressively stepping in to fill the void from Day 1 -- keeping his name in the media's attention at every opportunity -- today and at every time Trump screws up. That could be often.

    Sure, the opportunity to run for president may never present itself to Romney if somehow Trump survives to 2020. Romney is 71 years old, a year younger than Trump, so chances for a 2024 run become more remote as the years move on. The year 2020 is it...or never.

    Finally, the Democrats do not have a solid front runner. Romney sees the Democratic Party field as rather weak compared to his campaign against the formidable Barack Obama. Furthermore, he is counting on the progressive wing of the party to apply purity tests to rule out any moderates that may provide more formidable opposition with the Independent voters. So having a strong progressive like Bernie Sanders as the Democratic Party front runner would increase Romney's chances with the moderates and independents.

    So that's my "overthinking". I'll let it go now. Don't want to do a "Chet".

  • jaredsxtn
    2019-01-03 10:37:19 AM
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    Schmidt Wrote: So that's my "overthinking". I'll let it go now. Don't want to do a "Chet".

    Ha.

    I can see all of your points and they all make perfect sense. What I should have been more clear about is my belief that the "Trump factor" will make it impossible for Romney to run a campaign that has a realistic chance of winning the Republican nomination. Trump owns the Republican Party right now. Any adults in the room have been cast aside for the time being.

    The elephant in the room is what happens these next two years. Mueller or the incoming Democratic House majority can uncover something so damning that Senate Republicans are forced to turn on Donald simply to save their own asses. If that's the case then Romney has positioned himself as Republicans knight in shining armor who can lead the party out of the wilderness. But if Republicans dig in and protect Donald no matter what then I don't see Romney being able to mount a successful primary campaign against him.

  • that guy in AZ
    2020-03-06 10:26:12 AM
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    Mitt Romney just proved, once again, that he is literally "the only adult in the room" in the Republican Party.

    He risked the wrath of King Donald I by voting to impeach him on one article of impeachment. His latest display of courage happened yesterday, when he hinted that he would likely NOT be voting to subpoena records related to Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

    The Senate Homeland Security Committee is set to vote next Wednesday on a subpoena for records from a Democratic public relations firm related to the panel’s investigation of conflict-of-interest allegations against the Bidens. Romney (R-Utah), a member of the panel, has hinted that he could vote against issuing the subpoena, noting the committee’s investigation might look political in nature given Biden’s resurgence and the increasing likelihood that he’ll become the Democratic presidential nominee.

    Republicans hold a slim 8-6 majority, and if just one GOP senator joins all Democrats, it would mean a 7-7 tie that would result in a failure to issue the subpoena.

    Romney’s concerns appeared to be heightened on Thursday after President Donald Trump declared in a Fox News interview Wednesday night that he would seek to use the issue against Biden if he secures the Democratic nomination.

    “There’s no question the appearance is not good,” Romney told reporters, adding that he is still “considering” his vote.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/05/hunter-biden-subpoena-mitt-romney-122207


  • Dutch
    2020-03-06 10:54:14 AM
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    AZ, this is just an tiny something which will be used against the Biden's. There is much more to come; don't under estimate what the Trump clan will do in the coming month to undermine him and his son. Nunes is already making visits all over the place to dig up dirt. As I said in another thread, the Trump Party will keep attacking all the way. Even if Biden is elected they will continue to make life an horror story for them. By the way they found an loaded gun in Epstein's cell; a bit late news; must have been from the guard who killed him. Or is this an "fake" story cooked up by someone? Crazy Trump world out there.
  • that guy in AZ
    2020-03-06 04:31:02 PM
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    Dutch Wrote: AZ, this is just an tiny something which will be used against the Biden's. There is much more to come; don't under estimate what the Trump clan will do in the coming month to undermine him and his son. Nunes is already making visits all over the place to dig up dirt. As I said in another thread, the Trump Party will keep attacking all the way. Even if Biden is elected they will continue to make life an horror story for them. By the way they found an loaded gun in Epstein's cell; a bit late news; must have been from the guard who killed him. Or is this an "fake" story cooked up by someone? Crazy Trump world out there.

    Dutch:

    This is one of those stories where I thought, "You've got to be kidding", but it turns out that it's true (sort of).

    Although the gun was not found in Epstein's cell, it WAS found in the jail where he was held. In addition to the gun, the jail has also has seen an influx of drugs, cell phones, and other weapons to inmates.

    The cause?

    The problems have coincided with a push by the Trump administration, in its quest to shrink the federal government, to curtail prison hiring, according to a 2018 investigation by The New York Times.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-gun-jail.html

    At the state level, having private prisons mean that the companies that run them cut costs in order to protect profits, which they do by cutting medical care to inmates and neglecting maintenance on things like cell door locks.

    Two years ago, Arizona prisons were forced to increase the number of tampons provided to female inmates after protesters denounced the 12-pad-per-month policy through an online campaign and by sending a state lawmaker tampons in the mail.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/15/586134335/arizona-department-of-corrections-changes-sanitary-pad-policy-following-backlash

    Montana has the highest percentage of its prisons run by private firms, but Arizona 3 other states have between 20 and 30% of their prisons run by private companies.

    https://www.axios.com/private-prisons-united-states-incarceration-4ec227eb-ebfd-4bc4-9905-1ab9d5ac2883.html

  • Dockadams
    2020-03-06 04:41:55 PM
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    All of a sudden Mittens is a worldly person? You mentioned his infamous 47 percent comment. If you hadn't, people would not have recalled it, voters have such short memories. Note: He is not anyone's savior. I will also point out his hypocrisy too. Remember when he refused to release his tax returns? He called out Trump for not releasing his too. Mittens is not a person who can be trusted either, but maybe people who lean right might love him, after all, they sent a reality show host to the presidency.
  • wwjd
    2020-03-07 05:20:17 PM
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    Romney is a decent guy even if you don't like his politics. Clearly he does draw a line in the sand that he won't cross. However, with Trump its pretty easy to publicly say "I won't suck Donald Trump's...." to look like a Republican hero. Only a rare few elected are willing to say they won't clean by hand Trump's toilet to make Trump happy, refuse to vote for making "sex" a legal form of business currency, or contradict whatever is on Trumps mind that day. Romney has some scruples that rises him above the Trump and the republicans wimps that tremble if Trump looks in their direction. "OMG, don't let him tweet on me"

    Trump: "Show me a man with ethics and morals, and I'll show you a loser"

  • Chet Ruminski
    2020-03-08 09:32:34 AM
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    Schmidt Wrote:

    Okay, I admit to "overthinking" these possible outcomes at times. However, having studied both Mitt Romney and the Mormon church in depth during the 2012 campaign, I feel that that Romney has unfulfilled expectations on his shoulders, both from his wife Ann and the Mormon church.

    First, Ann took his 2012 defeat real hard, and she is probably coaxing him to "keep the door wide open". No candidate goes into these campaigns without the support of their wives who often are reluctant, but in Ann's case she wants to be first lady more than Mitt wants to be president. The highly ambitious Ann will never publicly admit that, but she is cut out of the same cloth as Mitt.

    Second, the Mormon church is a big business and many of their notable members are CEOs of corporations. The Mormon church desperately wants one of their own at the top of government, and Mitt Romney now is the "chosen one". Jon Huntsman filled that role for a while after Mitt's 2012 defeat, but he didn't get far on the stage with Trump during the 2016 campaign. So now Mitt is back to the head of the Mormon pack.

    The Mormon Church has an adversarial relationship with the evangelicals, and with Mike Pence the heir apparent to Donald Trump should he leave office prematurely, the Mormon church would not be comfortable with Pence at the helm of government. Hence the coaxing by the church for Mitt to be ready to run.

    Governor Kasich is often mentioned as a likely Republican who could displace Trump from his podium, but while he "mulls over the situation", Mitt Romney is aggressively stepping in to fill the void from Day 1 -- keeping his name in the media's attention at every opportunity -- today and at every time Trump screws up. That could be often.

    Sure, the opportunity to run for president may never present itself to Romney if somehow Trump survives to 2020. Romney is 71 years old, a year younger than Trump, so chances for a 2024 run become more remote as the years move on. The year 2020 is it...or never.

    Finally, the Democrats do not have a solid front runner. Romney sees the Democratic Party field as rather weak compared to his campaign against the formidable Barack Obama. Furthermore, he is counting on the progressive wing of the party to apply purity tests to rule out any moderates that may provide more formidable opposition with the Independent voters. So having a strong progressive like Bernie Sanders as the Democratic Party front runner would increase Romney's chances with the moderates and independents.

    So that's my "overthinking". I'll let it go now. Don't want to do a "Chet".

    “So that's my "overthinking". I'll let it go now. Don't want to do a "Chet".”

    Whats that???? Be the only person in the country to predict and explain all through the campaign why Trump could win the 2016 election??? Even explaining on Oct 28, 2016 that the reason Hillary was leading in the polls was people were lying to pollsters because they didn’t want to admit supporting Trump??? A little bit more thinking might have opened minds to the Bradley effect and exploring objectively. While Schmidt counters with cognitive dissonance and floated banning me because I was hindering Hillary winning the election. I recall imploring Schmidt multiple times to use his Democratic Party Connections to alert the Party to the error of Hillary’s campaign. You may have forgotten that I thanked you guys several times for enabling me to post and allowing me to memorialize my campaign predictions while every other forum I joined for the campaign banned me. I joined this forum with “let’s get behind Bernie and elect him president” and never lasted more than a month on any other forum. I like Biden mainly because he is a Corvette guy and his “Better dead than Red” campaign has the support of a lot of money. Plus he is looking really Presidential. If Trump’s self destructive nature and the economy and clogged arteries don’t stop him Joe doesn’t have a chance in the debates if there are any. If Trump survives to debates then Joe will have a tough road to hoe because Ray Trump Cohn will make Joe the new Trump while Trump campaigns using Democratic standards. While Biden will be representative of not being able to afford Medicare for All, Trump is already on record with “we won’t deny anybody healthcare because they can’t pay”. Both Parties have their residual constituency. Very few votes are needed to determine the winner. For all the reasons “normal people”are offended by Trump those same reasons endear Trump to Trumpers. While Biden can remove Bernie he also removes the opposite of Trump. That puts him Biden siding with Trump on socialism. Over thinking or just thinking???

  • wwjd
    2020-03-08 06:34:59 PM
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    well based on that, it appears that after the 2020 election Trump will suspend the US constitution, disband congress, have all political opponents arrested, invade Canada and mexico, and raise taxes on everybody except those who make over 1 billion per year.

    .... and The Great Wall of Trump will be used to keep people in rather than out.

    Democrats might as well just give up right now even though over half the country would vote for anybody other than Donald Trump. What's the point if only the majority of Americans want Trump out WH.

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