Don Roach: 5 Reasons Conservatives Don’t Trust Romney

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Don Roach, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

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Conservatives are not warming up to Mitt Romney. In my opinion, there are five reasons why he’s struggling with gaining the support of conservatives. But, one quick note, while the media is focusing on his inability to win conservatives, the single most important question is not if Romney will energize the conservative base it’s if the conservative base will be energized by the opportunity to boot Obama from office. The president has done a really good job over the past four years of bringing together various factions opposing his policies and Romney may just be the man to defeat him. But that’s only if he can secure the Republican nomination and that’s where conservatives come into play.

Here’s why Romney is having a devil of a time courting them:

1) Romney supported the economic stimulus

Conservatives know their own and one thing is for sure, Romney is not a conservative. Back in 2009, Romney supported an economic stimulus and said, “I think there is need for economic stimulus [...] Americans have lost about $11 trillion in net worth. That translates into about $400 billion a year less spending that they'll be doing, and that's net of additional government programs like Medicaid and unemployment insurance. And government can help make that up in a very difficult time. And that's one of the reasons why I think a stimulus program is needed.” Conservatives didn’t like the stimulus plan in 2009 and still don’t like it in 2012. Romney liked the concept even if he quibbled over some of the finer execution points in Obama’s plan. Conservatives are having a difficult time reconciling Romney’s support of the stimulus because conservatives generally believe that the government should leave the economy/market alone. Agree with that thinking or not, Romney believes in government intervention, even extensive government intervention like the stimulus plan. While that will play well with liberals and to some moderates, it continues to hurt him with conservatives.

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2) Romneycare and Obamacare

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Legislation A – Mandates that residents must have some form of healthcare or face consequences.

Legislation B - Mandates that residents must have some form of healthcare or face consequences.

Once again, Romney has discussed differences between his 2006 healthcare plan and Obama’s more recent one. The devil’s in the details as it were but to conservatives any plan that requires Americans to have health insurance and punishes them if they don’t is not a ‘conservative’ policy. Romney has tried to get away from this every which way he can, but he simply can’t. He, like Obama – who’s a Democrat incidentally, introduced legislation that would provide a form of universal healthcare. Do I need to go into further detail as to why conservatives aren’t fist pumping over a potential president who instituted universal healthcare five years before our sitting one. Republicans, chew on that for a moment.

3) Romney’s muddied position on abortion

Romney has taken two positions on abortion and they have both been dependent upon his audience. When he ran against Senator Kennedy he famously stated “I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law, and the right of a woman to make that choice, and my personal beliefs, like the personal beliefs of other people, should not be brought into a political campaign.” But by 2008, his tune had changed. He was now saying that states should make the decision. His actual position on abortion is important to conservatives but what’s more important is that Romney has changed, or at least highlighted certain aspects of his position depending upon the focus of his remarks. That rankles with conservatives who are pro-life and more than that want someone they can trust to fight the good fight on abortion issues. Romney is not that man.

4) He’s not one of ‘us’

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No, I’m not talking about his Mormon religion. I believe American conservatives aren’t too hung up on his religious beliefs generally. However, that he is seen as one of the privileged elite and not the ‘common man’ makes him the least relatable candidate of all the remaining Republican candidates. Liberals like to cast republicans as upper middle class white people when the reality is far from the press clippings. Put it this way, if Republicans were only the elite, then Romney would fit right in and he’d be well received by rank and file conservatives. That is not the case and so Romney will continue to have problems with conservatives who love the legacy of Ronald Reagan and even respect the cowboy nature of former President Bush. Romney does not seem to possess the same charisma former presidents have shown and it will continue to plague his campaign.

5) All of the above equal “you can’t trust him”

Take the previous four reasons why conservatives aren’t enamored with Romney and they add up to a lack of trust amongst conservatives that Romney will put the country back on course. As I write this, I’m aware that most New England Republicans adore Mitt Romney. However, socially moderate and fiscally conservative Republicans are not the majority of the Republican party. Thus, while Romney may be able to tango with the President in the northeast unlike all the other candidates his main concern right now is gaining enough Republican delegates in order to have that fight. As I mentioned last week, I suspect that Gingrich and Santorum may eventually tag team against Romney because Santorum looks like the alternative to Romney that Republican conservatives have (finally) selected. Romney is going to need to make overtures to conservatives and I believe he has. It won’t hurt him in the long run but what he can’t do is shift his policies. It’s a tightrope that he has to walk and while doing so I would not be surprised if he alienates conservatives.

So what does it all mean? Essentially, Romney is a very strong candidate and if he is the nominee will be a very formidable opponent for President Obama. But his weakness is with conservatives. Ultimately, his saving grace will be conservative & moderate angst towards Obama. That may be enough for him to secure the presidency if he can convince enough conservatives that his presidency will be better than the last 3+ years under Obama
 

 

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