Opinion: Mitt Romney, meh, close enough
April 22, 2012
Seth Cohen
Seth Cohen is a senior magazine journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].
There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately as to whether we’re excited about Romney’s acceleration to the presidential debates. He’s surpassed Newt Gingrich by a longshot, and just made it past Rick Santorum. So now that he’s ahead of the game, is the GOP excited to see him pull through?
Rep. Raul Labrador [R-ID] said he’s actually excited and hasn’t endorsed any other candidate throughout the months.
“I’m excited that the process is over,” Labrador said. “I’m excited that we have, potentially, a nominee that is going to be taking it to Obama. And I’m excited that we are going to be able to contrast visions between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.”
“The excitement, the passion,” Rep. Joe Walsh [R-IL] said, “will come from getting Barack Obama out of the White House.”
Rep. Louis Gohmert [R-TX] said whether you’re liberal or conservative and not sure about supporting Romney, you should be excited because “he’s been on your side at one time or another.”
I’m not really sure what that means, but it seems as though Romney, described by the GOP is not the greatest of all candidates, but he’s the best choice they’ve got for now. Many Republicans are describing him as an OK candidate and not convinced by his political achievements. During the primary, his campaign was not unanimous, but as long as he can prevent Obama from winning another election, then everything will be fine.
On Nov. 16, 2011, Charles Krauthammer, a contributor for Fox News, believes he isn’t even a conservative, only a northeastern Republican and how he’s just not a fan of Romney in general. He had a list of people he wished would take Romney’s place, the first being Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, yep, that guy. Remember him? Back in January, he made what seemed to be a doomsday scenario, in order to get the attention of the people after Obama’s State of the Union Address.
“So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last, to restore an America of hope and upward mobility, and greater equality,” Daniels said.
Krauthammer’s second choice was Rep. Paul Ryan [R-WI]; a man who attracted the spotlight after Gingrich horribly criticized his house budget plan, saying it was too far right-winged, which pissed off a lot of people.
OK, so Krauthammer’s first and second choice wasn’t Romney, but what about his third choice?
He says his third choice is no other than Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey. Well, it looks like Romney will never be on the Fox News contributor’s list of people who belong in the White House.
Hold on! Wait a minute. Just wait a minute. Let’s now fast-forward to March 9, 2012, Krauthammer was on “The O’Reilly Factor,” and when asked how he doesn’t seem to like Romney, he said something that threw many people off.
“I actually like Romney,” Krauthammer said. “I think he’s a very good man, and I think he would make a very good president.”
Oh, beautiful, he changed his mind. So now, I’m just wondering whether or not his beliefs toward the GOP candidacy are pure because saying that Romney isn’t a conservative and then saying he’d be a great president, you have to understand, can make any conservative believer psychotic.
It’s a seldom-seen world that conspires around the GOP, and whether or not they like Romney as their top candidate, for now, we’ll just have to see if he’s going to do an OK job, or a decent job, either way, as many Republicans are implying, he’ll do for now.