What Would A Romney Presidency Look Like?

Rick Santorum Wants To Stop Ron Paul Supporters From Changing GOP Platform

Today, Rick Santorum sent a loud and clear message to Ron Paul and his supporters. Don't mess with the GOP platform: 

“I like the platform that we have right now,” Santorum said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “I’m concerned that Ron Paul and some of his supporters out there are looking for a platform fight, and I want to make sure that we have strong, principled conservatives out there . . .to counterbalance the effect of the Paul folks.”

I agree 100% with Rick Santorum. He's got my support. 

Ron Paul was never in the race to win. He has admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party's platform. He was only in it for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.

Even though Ron Paul has told CNN’s Newsroom that he doesn't support or like the idea of disrupting the GOP convention, he wants to do what ever he can to insert his political agenda and beliefs into the GOP platform.

The problem is there is already a political party that has a platform that Ron Paul and his supporters support. Its called the libertarian party.  The reason why Ron Paul wants to remake the GOP party in his image is because he knows that the ideas and beliefs espoused by the Libertarian party will never be accepted. If he can dilute the conservative platform to make it more libertarian, then he can make those ideas and beliefs espoused by the Libertarian party to be more acceptable by the public. 

However, making the GOP into another libertarian party will not make their ideas any more acceptable to the public. They will reject the GOP as they do with the Libertarian party. They won't pay attention to the GOP if it becomes more libertarian. The corruption of the GOP platform by Ron Paul and his supporters is not good for the Republican party.

Ron Paul's attempt to change the GOP platform will not work for several reasons. Mitt Romney and the national Republican party will not tolerate any kind of disruption at the convention which is designed to railroad the GOP to adopt Ron Paul's political beliefs. Nor will they  or even sit at the negotiating table with man who is not a conservative and who conservatives won't support. Furthermore, Ron Paul knows that he doesn't have enough delegates to cause any shenanigans at the GOP convention. He's in a inferior bargaining position when it comes to attempting to negotiate with the Republican party letting him change the GOP platform.

We already have the Libertarian Party.  We don't need the GOP to turn into another one.

Why Mitt Romney Is The Right Choice For All Conservatives

As attorney and as a voter,  one of the most important issues to me is any issue related to the law. Our government, society and our communities is built on the foundation of laws. As as result, I believe that we must take great care in how we create our laws, enforce our laws and how our society responds to those laws. Our nation's success depends on how much care and attention we pay to legal issues because it affects us at every level of American life. 

All the issues that conservatives and Republican care about can be traced back our concern for the rule of law. If we fail to make the Constitution, our judicial system, criminal system, or our legislative system legal issues our top priority and concern as conservatives and Republicans, then we will not be able to be successful in fighting for life, economic liberty, national security, right to bear arms, health care, education or any other issue. As a result, this election is extremely important for conservatives of all stripes because who wins this election will have the chance to influence the make up of our Supreme Court for many years to come.

The real question isn't between having Obama or Mitt Romney as our next president. The choice is easy. However, the important question is how much effort are you willing to put into this election make that choice a reality so that the issues you care about receive the proper attention it receives in our judicial system?

Ron Paul Concedes The Race To Romney & Rand Paul Endorses Mitt

Back in January of 2012 when the Republican primaries were just about to get started, Ron Paul has admitted that he couldn't see a victorious path to the White House. Despite the slim chance that he would win the Republican nomination, he still stayed in the race. Ron Paul did not win a single state in the 2012 primary election and picked up a small amount of delegates. 

Even when Ron Paul semi-suspended his campaign, he still encouraged his supporters to become delegates at local meetings so that he can pick up more delegates. His supporters insisted that Ron Paul had more delegates than what was being reported in the media. They were sure that they could secure his nomination through other means despite the fact that Romney was amassing delegates and eventually won the nomination at the Texas primary. 

Today, Ron Paul has admitted that he doesn't have enough delegates to win: 

In an email to supporters yesterday, Paul acknowledged that he was far short of the number of delegates needed to capture the GOP nomination. But he said he had far exceeded expectations and would arrive at the national convention in Tampa with far more delegates than the pundits are now predicting — up to 20 percent of the total.

“When it is all said and done, we will likely have as many as 500 supporters as delegates on the convention floor,” the libertarian lawmaker from Lake Jackson said in his email. “That is just over 20 percent! And while this total is not enough to win the nomination, it puts us in a tremendous position to grow our movement and shape the future of the GOP!”

Paul noted that his campaign “will send several hundred additional supporters to Tampa who, while bound to Romney, believe in our ideas of liberty, constitutional government, and a common-sense foreign policy.”

The Texan also tried to tamp down the enthusiasm that has led to confrontations at several recent state conventions, most recently in Louisiana over the past weekend.

“Our delegates’ presence must be felt both in Tampa and in years to come,” Paul declared. “Stand up for what we believe in. Be respectful. And let the establishment know that we are the future of the Party and of the country.”

Ron Paul was never in the race to win. He was in the race to remake the GOP party in his image. He was only in it for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.Furthermore, he admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party on matters he considers important. 

I understand this to mean that Ron Paul's campaign is officially and completely over. Moreover, Ron Paul knows that he doesn't have enough delegates to cause any shenanigans at the GOP convention or have enough delgates to remake the GOP party into his image. Sure, he's started something but I suspect that it will fizzle out.

Ron Paul is retiring from politics after the 2012 election is over, he has long term political aspirations for his son and is setting the stage for Rand Paul's future presidential run. However, Rand Paul has endorsed Mitt Romney tonight. Watch Rand Paul's endorsement below: 

This endorsement doesn't sit well with alot of Ron Paul supporters. Despite the fact that they are unhappy about it, I doubt that his endorsement will hurt him if he decides to run for President in the future because they will support him anyways. Rand Paul's endorsement will be something they will either choose to ignore or willingly forget.

Progressives & Liberals Aren't Making It Easy For Obama To Win Reelection

When the 2012 election was just barely starting, many people thought Obama would fly through the primary election unchallenged. Now Obama faces some serious opposition from liberals and progressives. The Green Party, a far left political party have nominated an old political foe of Mitt Romney named Jill Stein to be their nominee in 2012:

A medical doctor who once challenged Mitt Romney for governor of Massachusetts says she has enough delegates to win the Green Party’s presidential nomination.

The campaign of Jill Stein says she clinched the nomination after California’s primary Tuesday and now has won two-thirds of the delegates allocated.

Green Party delegates will gather in July in Baltimore for their nominating convention. The party says it’s committed to ecology, social justice, grass-roots democracy and non-violence.

Even though she has competed against Mitt Romney, he isn't concerned about her. But Obama should have reason to be concerned given that a Texas inmate named Keith Judd won 42% of the votes in the West Virginia primary, John Wolfe gave Obama a difficult time in the Arkansas 2012 primary and voters in the 2012 Kentucky Primary voted for a candidate named "Uncomitted." There's also speculation from people on the Right and Left that Bill Clinton is sabotaging Obama's campaign efforts. Other Democrats have undermined Obama's attack on Romney's experience in the private sector.  Even Scott Walker's victory in Wisconsin could be construed as evidence that liberals and progressives are unhappy with Obama since many union members voted for the governor. 

Mitt Romney doesn't have this problem. Even if Ron Paul decides to run as a third party candidate, it would harm President Obama rather than Romney. Many conservatives, moderates and independents are warming up to Romney given that he has a rapid response team that has gotten people excited. They know that Mitt Romney isn't going to the run a campaign the way John McCain did against Obama. Mitt is serious about winning this election and people are excited about it.

It is clear that liberals and progressives are unhappy, discontented and disappointed in Barack Obama. The evidence is clear at the ballot box and in liberal third party political groups like the Green Party. What's worse for Obama is that he's facing challenges from the Left from different directions. There's no single challenger but multiple challengers who thwart Obama in various ways. We will have to wait and see if this will have a negative impact on Obama's reelection chances and make him a one term president in November.

David Axlerod Not Telling The Truth Mitt Romney's Economic Record

President Obama tried to go after Mitt Romney's private sector experience and that failed. Now, the Obama reelection team is trying a different approach by attacking Mitt Romney's record as Governor of Massachusetts: 

Mitt Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts has been something of a taboo topic on the campaign trail, with the Republican candidate rarely discussing his years in public office, preferring to trumpet his private sector experience instead.

President Obama's re-election team now wants to change that dynamic, turning taboo into talking points, highlighting Romney's 2002 gubernatorial campaign promises on jobs, taxes, and state debt that they say were left unfulfilled.

"Romney campaigned for governor on the promises of more jobs, decreased debt and smaller government," senior Obama strategist David Axelrod writes in a research memo to "interested parties." "When he left office, however, state debt had increased, the size of government had grown and over his four years, Massachusetts' record of job creation was among the worst in the nation."

Axelrod will host a rare press conference later today in Boston to drive the case home with officials who served in Massachusetts state government during Romney's tenure. Testimonials on Romney's record from several state officials are also featured in a new campaign web video.

Not surprisingly, the only way Obama can attack Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts is to lie about it. The facts clearly show that Mitt Romney reduced the size of government, decreased unemployment and left the state with a surplus. 

For a close analysis of the real facts about Mitt Romney's record both in the private and public sector, I wrote a series of blog articles analyzing various aspects of Mitt Romney's record which you can read below:

1. Getting To Know Mitt Romney's Record 
2. Mitt Romney's Faith & Economic Leadership
3. A Look At Mitt Romney's Business Career
4. Mitt Romney's Rescue of the Salt Lake Olympics 
5. How Mitt Romney Turned A $3 Billion Deficit Into A $2 Billion Surplus 
6. Govenor Mitt Romney's Record On Taxes And Fees 
7. RomneyCare 
8. Govenor Mitt Romney's Impressive Record of Job Creation 
9. Mitt Romney's Leadership Style 
10. Concluding Thoughts About Mitt Romney's Record

Obama is doing what ever they can to distract the voters from focusing on his own economic record since he doesn't want voters to know that he's never been serious about improving the U.S. economy. As a result, Obama is willing to do anything, including, lying to the American people about Mitt Romney's economic record. Mitt Romney, much to the surprise and glee of conservatives, went on the offensive rather than the defensive and highlighted Obama's disastrous attempt to create jobs. 

Lessons From The 2012 Republican Primary

Last Tuesday, Mitt Romney won the Kentucky and the Arkansas Primary and with tonight's victory in the Texas primary, Mitt now has more than the 1,144 delegates needed to be the official Republican nominee to take on Barack Obama: 

Now that Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee, the 2012 primary is officially over. Lets look back at some of the important lessons we've learned from the 2012 Republican Primary: 

1. Organization matters

I think this is the fundamental principle of campaigning. Organization is essential and crucial to a good and victorious campaign. Mitt Romney focused creating organization early in his campaign by building the right "core" campaign team while working on developing a strong campaign teams at the state level. Mitt Romney runs a very tight and disciplined organization and he makes sure that things are streamlined and saves the campaign money.    

2. Fundraise early and often

Having a strong campaign organization at the top level and state to state level is, in my opinion,  the most important part in becoming a winning candidate. If you don't have a good organization, nothing else you do will matter, even if you're backed up by a solid campaign war chest. 

The second most important part in creating a winning election team is fundraising. Its not the money that matters but its the timing and frequency. The rule is that fundraising should begin as early as possible and done frequently as possible. Mitt Romney was very aggressive in raising money for his campaign and he started on it pretty early in the campaign as demonstrated in his well publicized Las Vegas fundraising event in which he raised $10 million in a single day back in May of 2011.Since that time, Mitt Romney has continued to perform well each quarter in raising money for his campaign.

3. Messaging Is Important

A third important aspect of running a successful campaign is messaging. In fact, the heartbeat of a campaign is its simple, focused and crisp message. Obama's message in the 2008 election was hope and change which was quite effective but Obama is now struggling with coming up with a strong simple message to run on in 2012.

But in terms of the 2012 GOP primary, some candidates had good campaign messages and others didn't. Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan was a hit while I think Rick Perry couldn't come up with a coherent (no pun intended) campaign theme. Even more central to having a good campaign message is the ability to articulate it well and Rick Perry struggled at that.

Here's what one GOP operative had to say about the importance of managing your campaign message and how it can sink your campaign:

Republican operative Todd Harris says it’s important – and increasing difficulty – for a campaign to control its message with the rise of super PACs, outside groups, tabloid political journalism and instant news cycles

“About the only thing you can control is what comes out of the candidate’s mouth,” Harris says. “Except when you can’t.”

3. Follow Through With Your Attacks

Many candidates didn't accept responsibility for their attacks on certain candidates. Tim Pawlenty attacked Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health care plan by calling it ObamneyCare and when called to repeat that attack during the debates, he couldn't muster the strength to repeat it to Mitt's face. Rick Santorum had the same problem in which he attacked Mitt and when given the opportunity to repeat the attack on Romney, he just couldn't repeat it.

On a closely related matter, some candidates had no problem going after other candidates in a debate but they botched their attacks badly. Rick Perry comes to mind. Had Rick Perry set up the attack right, he would have been very effective against Mitt Romney. But he botched that attack so badly that he never really recovered. To make matters even worse, Rick Perry made another campaign gaffe and it was all over for Rick. 

If a candidate can't be aggressive with a fellow competitor, people will assume that he won't be able to stand up to opposing party candidate. Voters will also wonder if the candidate will have the strength to confront Congress or other nations or will he back down from a fight. Additionally, voters want the candidates to have the ability to execute their attacks properly since if the candidate actually becomes President, he will still have to engage in verbal jiujitsu to promote his agenda and if he can't articulate himself or his policies, there's no point in having him in office.

4. Vetting Matters

Some candidates didn't do a good job vetting themselves before running in 2012. Candidates like to promote the good parts of themselves and what their vision is for America. Candidates also like to do opposition research on their competitors.  Smart candidates will conduct opposition research on themselves before they run. Herman Cain found out the hard way when news reports began to surface of his infidelities with other women.

5. Focus, Focus, Focus

Mitt Romney won the 2012 Republican primaries because he remained laser focused the issue of our nation's economy and kept his attacks on Obama while other candidates focused on other issues and went after Mitt. Mitt Romney is just as focused in the general election as he was in the primary election. Obama keeps trying to distract him and the American voters on other issues but Mitt keeps the public's attention on Obama and his economic record. 

6. Debates Do Matter:

As much as people complain about the large number of debates presidential candidates do, they're still an important and essential part of the election process. Mitt Romney consistently did well in the debates while the other candidates had a great night at one debate and then didn't do well in another.  Jon Huntsman was a horrible debater who rambled on, sometimes incoherently, about issues that weren't really important to the American voter. Rick Santorum whined throughout his debates.

Conclusion

In my observation, Mitt Romney was able to obtain the Republican nomination because he followed the fundamentals of political campaigning better than anyone else. Moreover, he was able to apply the fundamentals in new and creative ways that allowed him to beat his competitors. Finally, we got a glimpse of how aggressive Mitt Romney can be with others but we didn't see the full depth of how combative Mitt Romney can be until we started to see him take on Obama. 

Its clear that Republicans have underestimated Mitt Romney and are starting to appreciate good Mitt Romney is at political jiu jitsu. Mitt is a clever, shrewed and smart and very aggressive and people are starting to see it as Romney goes after Obama. People all across the country are starting to realize that Mitt Romney can beat Obama. And he will.