More Connections Between the Romney People and Scott Brown

February 1, 2010

I have to say that, as much as Mitt Romney may be underplaying it (”all I did was write him a check and say, ‘go get ‘em’”) the Scott Brown coup is making me look at Romney in a whole new light.

I met him once, at CPAC. I was dressed in business clothes, but I was wearing a Human Events cap on my head, turned sideways a la Wacko Warner in Animaniacs. Romney and his people were excruciatingly polite and respectful to me, and to all the bloggers—because you just never knew with those freakin’ bloggers, and you still don’t. Some of ‘em are influential, and some aren’t, and one cannot tell by looking. These folks played it smart. Romney took questions at Bloggers Row that year; both Joyner and Hackbarth had good ones, IIRC.

Whenever I argue with my girl and her family about politics, Romney’s name comes up. I’ve been skeptical about him in the past because of RomneyCare in Massachusetts, but of course as the nation’s situation has become more dire, he’s started looking better: statist tinkering on a small scale becomes more forgiveable, as long as he wouldn’t do such things in the Federal Government. My Other Girl (the Church sponsee’s twin) is a Romney loyalist, but TwinDad thinks the country isn’t ready to vote for a Mormon. I’m not so sure: back when Kennedy ran, there was still some very widespread and very robust sentiment against Catholics. (To this day, most fundamentalists regard Catholicism as a cult no less than Mormonism.) It is not, I don’t think, an insurmountable obstacle—particularly given how high people like Harry Reid have risen—and Glenn Beck, for that matter.

Personally, although I have zero attraction to the LDS, I feel that Mormons are among my best political allies on issues other than gay marriage: they are among the most badass Second Amendment supporters in the country.

Charles Krauthammer has a point about Romney: if he can get past the primaries, and those who are squeamish about the LDS (large swaths of the base), he might be an extraordinary 2012 candidate against Barack Obama in particular, since he is everything Obama isn’t . . . from capable administrator and competent executive to a politician whose personal charisma is decidedly low-key, and non-Obamaish in scope—Krauthammer’s point being that the average voter may be awfully burned out on conventional types of charisma. In that case, Romney’s very boring-ness will be a huge asset.

The people long for grownups at the helm. Already.

(By the way, whenever I talk about covering politics for this blog, my mother gets a pained look on her face that I believe translates into “uh-oh; my daughter’s schizo.” She just doesn’t see any other reason that, for instance, I would be on conference calls with people like Senator McCain, back when he was running for President. But this particular schizophrenic is a charming companion over dinner, and can be counted upon to climb onto the roof and check on the television antenna, and set rap traps, and take out the trash. So as I understand it, it’s worth it.)

Posted in CPAC, Election 2010, Election 2012, Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, Obama Administration, Organizing, Scott Brown