Utah Senator Mitt Romney Thread

[wapiti]

I saw a poll that showed Mitt's approval had dropped below 50% in Utah, which would be pretty remarkable. I doubt that he'll run for re-election in 2024 so all the talk of a primary challenge is a little premature. He's more of an executive than a one-of-100 type. 6 years in the senate will probably be enough for him.

Plus, having to work with Mike Lee has to be miserable.

[Omaha 680]

Spare me your indigination. You're post is incredibly tribal. A lot of liberals, myself among genuinely admire Romney's stand. The criticisms and seizing upon gaffs that came out during the election season do not mean people don't admire him. Romney has shown he's not fragile. Those criticisms pale in comparison to the abuse he's receiving now. Being label a traitor etc.

I guess the right can pound sand? Screw them more?

How does Joe Biden saying Romney wanted to put black people back in chains during the 2012 campaign compare to the current accusations of being a traitor? And remember, Joe Biden is the moderate one.

I agree with AA, screw the left on this one because they only admire Mitt now out of convenience.

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[USUC]

Any social media user with strong ties to the state of Utah has watched over the last several years as the Trumpers have become more and more vocal about their hatred for Mitt. Even before this week's events, it was apparent that Mitt has been a target of hatred for Trumpers. Initially I got the sense that this very vocal subset did not represent the majority of republicans in Utah. However, i've also watched as many people who held their noses and voted for Trump in 2016 have become more staunch in their support of him (primarily because of how they perceive the left has approached his presidency; whether one believes that is a reasonable basis for supporting Trump is a separate debate). The question i've been asking is whether there aren't many Mitt supporters left, or whether they are just not being public/vocal about it, and the Mitt Haters are still the minority.

There has been quite a shift in Utah among Trump skeptical/Trump annoyed republicans of going full MAGA. My dad, who was anti-Trump until he became the nominee thinks Mitt is worse than the Democrats. Its insane. He says that Romney doesn't stand a chance at reelection. His term isn't for another 4 years. He will be up for re-election either at the end of Trump's eligibility or after the first term of a Democrat. If a Democrat ousts Trump then Mitt will be welcomed into the fold of the opposition republican party. Four years is an eternity in politics. Trump is a master at engendering culture was after culture war battle. But individual culture war battles only have so much fuel. There will be thousands more of these before 2024. And Mitt will be on the "right side" of most of these battles anyway. He votes 80% with Trump.

I respect Mitt Romney as a person. I think he voted his conscience and that should be acceptable to any normally adjusted person. Romney isn't my first choice for a senator and will not get my vote if he runs again in 2024. But it won't be because of how he voted in impeachment.

[frank ryan]

How does Joe Biden saying Romney wanted to put black people back in chains during the 2012 campaign compare to the current accusations of being a traitor? And remember, Joe Biden is the moderate one.

I agree with AA, screw the left on this one because they only admire Mitt now out of convenience.

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The left is not one thing.

But what AA bitched about is hardly on the level of what Romney’s own is doing to him. Failing to see that is recalcitrant tribalism. I genuinely admire Romney, but judge away.

[tooblue]

The left is not one thing.

But what AA bitched about is hardly on the level of what Romney’s own is doing to him. Failing to see that is recalcitrant tribalism. I genuinely admire Romney, but judge away.

Is it too late for Romney to become the Ross Perot of this next election?

[frank ryan]

Is it too late for Romney to become the Ross Perot of this next election?

He’d be the most qualified candidate by far.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I've been besieged by friends condemning carpet bagger Mitt Romney for his vote. F 'em all.

You need better friends!

[myboynoah]

In the Long Run, Romney Wins

Political speeches derive their power and durability from authenticity, from the way in which phrases and sentences seem to emanate directly from a personality and its vision. That is why Lincoln’s speeches will never lose their force: They captured the dignity, simplicity, and courage of the man who made them. Romney is no Lincoln, but he wrote the speech, and the voice is his.

Yet more is at work here than the powerful words. The speech contained all the elements of drama: the man of quiet faith, whose presidential campaign underplayed his charitable works; the handsome politician, whose political career involved both high office and the failure to achieve it; the public figure, who briefly became a hero to opponents who had shamefully vilified him seven years earlier; the successful businessman, who returned repeatedly to public affairs; the patriarch of a large and loving family, whose own niece repeatedly yielded her conscience to the man he rightly condemned. Comparing Romney with the grifter president and his venal clan yields an instructive contrast.

. . . . . . . . .

In the short run, Donald Trump won his trial. He is now attempting to wreak vengeance on the underlings who spoke the truth, and will be supported by his inflamed mob and a craven political establishment. In the short run, they will crow and seem ascendant, while Romney will be a marginalized and probably harassed figure. All true.

From our grandchildren’s point of view, however—and it is safe to assume that the other senators know this—those who voted to acquit will leave at most confused and shallow smudges on the sand. Romney will leave footprints.

I saw a tweet this morning by someone crowing about how instead of hurting Trump, Mitt actually hurt his fellow Repub Senators seeking reelection. As if Mitt's intent was to hurt anybody. This is what Trump has given life to, people focused solely on win/lose, as if that is the only calculation in life. Pathetic.

Mitt Happens!!!

[PaloAltoCougar]

In the Long Run, Romney Wins



I saw a tweet this morning by someone crowing about how instead of hurting Trump, Mitt actually hurt his fellow Repub Senators seeking reelection. As if Mitt's intent was to hurt anybody. This is what Trump has given life to, people focused solely on win/lose, as if that is the only calculation in life. Pathetic.

Mitt Happens!!!

Nice post and a fine essay.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Nice post and a fine essay.

Yes, indeed. That was great.

[myboynoah]

How I Learned to Recognize the Real Mitt Romney

I recently read a sequence from William Shakespeare’s Henry V. In Act 4, Scene 1, when a soldier asserts, “our obedience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us,” a disguised King Henry quickly responds: “Every subject’s duty is the king’s; but every subject’s soul is his own.” After spending years filming Romney, and hundreds of additional hours examining that footage, it’s my opinion that his speech this week was a man simply telling the truth and preserving the integrity of his own soul.

[creekster]

In the Long Run, Romney Wins



I saw a tweet this morning by someone crowing about how instead of hurting Trump, Mitt actually hurt his fellow Repub Senators seeking reelection. As if Mitt's intent was to hurt anybody. This is what Trump has given life to, people focused solely on win/lose, as if that is the only calculation in life. Pathetic.

Mitt Happens!!!

That is a good essay, but I quibble a bit with your conclusion. I don't think Trump gave rise to that misguided focus, I think he is the result, the almost inevitable consequence of increasingly selfish and amoral public attitudes over the last generation or three. Symptom and sore, not cause.

[myboynoah]

That is a good essay, but I quibble a bit with your conclusion. I don't think Trump gave rise to that misguided focus, I think he is the result, the almost inevitable consequence of increasingly selfish and amoral public attitudes over the last generation or three. Symptom and sore, not cause.

Quibble taken. That's why I didn't say give "rise." He gives life to this negative ethos that exists and has proliferated on the right, particularly within the religious right.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yup.

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[myboynoah]

Mitt Romney Is a ‘Judas’ to Many Republicans. But Not in Utah.

No state as heavily Republican has been so chilly to the president. Though active registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in Utah by more than three to one, Mr. Trump won only 45 percent of the vote in Utah in 2016. Hillary Clinton and Evan McMullin, a former intelligence officer who ran as a third-party candidate, split up the rest of the vote.

Last week, national conservative activists promoted a “Recall Romney” effort online and shared stories about a proposal circulating in the legislature that aimed to give voters the ability to recall their United States senators.

Aimee Winder Newton, a Republican candidate for governor, said that such a move would have worrisome repercussions. “I get that many state legislators are disappointed,” she wrote on Twitter. “But creating a culture of censuring could come back their way.”

In reality, the recall bill was drafted months ago and has little support in Salt Lake City.