Senator Mitt Romney Neither Surprises nor Disappoints Me in His Contempt for President Trump: He Is Who He Is

Yes, I am neither surprised nor disappointed by Senator Romney’s outcries over President Romney. He’s what I expected. He despises President Trump. His OpEd in the Washington Post criticizing President Trump’s character was just more of the same. He echoed Senator Reid’s 2012 lies about Romney’s taxes by speculating during the 2016 primaries that Donald Trump’s taxes contain a bombshell. Donald Trump later replied by calling Mitt Romney “one of the dumbest and worse candidates in the history of Republican politics.” The war of words was on. Romney called Trump “A phony, a fraud … he’s playing members of the American public for suckers.” Candidate Trump called Romney a “choke artist.” The former nominee said he would not vote for Donald Trump in the general election. He said earlier today “I’m keeping a ‘completely open mind’ and am waiting for the facts” on the House impeachment of President Trump. The Senator is who he is. He is brilliant with both a J.D. and MBA from Harvard. He is a successful businessman. He turned the money losing Salt Lake City Olympics into a great success. He is a devout Mormon. He holds himself and others to a strict moral code. He has a natural bent to be a leader. But he’s a lousy candidate and politician. I voted for Mitt Romney in 1994 when he ran against Senator Ted Kennedy in the Senator’s sixth bid for reelection. He would have been better than the profligate Senator. Of course, Mitt Romney lost; he ran a bad campaign. He was running ahead of Senator Kennedy, emphasizing youth and job creation. His Bain Capital created tens of thousands of jobs. Then came Senator Kennedy’s devastating AmPad ad. Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital acquired AmPad, and took millions in fees out of it. AmPad entered bankruptcy. An AmPad worker, one of 250 who lost their jobs in the AmPad bankruptcy, blamed Mitt Romney for their unemployment. Bain Capital reaped $100 million from AmPad while creditors ended up with 2 cents on the dollar. It was compelling and devastating. I immediately knew Mitt’s campaign was dead in the waters. He had no answer for the ad. The ad created an image of Mitt Romney as a cold, ruthless plutocrat. He’s not, but the image carried through his 2012 presidential campaign. He also had no answer for it when Newt Gingrich raised it against him in the 2012 primaries. Governor Perry called Mitt Romney a “vulture capitalist.” I would have voted for Mitt Romney in 2002 when he won the governorship of Massachusetts. I knew he would be better than the Democratic opponent. We left Taxachusetts in 1996 for sunny Southern California. We left Massachusetts before Governor Romney imposed Romney Care, an individual mandate, on the citizens of Massachusetts. He also substantially raised fees, as if he were Governor Michael Dukakis. Governor Romney did not stand for reelection in 2006 because he would have lost. The Mitt Man can wear out his welcome. He sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008. He lost the nomination to Senator McCain. Governor Romney spoke at Chapman’s Dodge College in 2008. My friend was impressed by him. I was underwhelmed, quoting the Duck Test: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. I said Mitt Romney looks like a preppie, walks like a preppie, and talks like a preppie. Mitt Romney is a preppie, who could not connect with the people. He was also disbelieved because of his political changes. Republicans successfully seeking statewide office in Massachusetts have to be what’s called a Rhino elsewhere in America. Mitt Romney was necessarily pro-choice. He claimed to be a moderate, but said “I believe abortion should be safe and legal in this country.”. Then came the 2012 metamorphosis. He’s now pro-life. Governor Romney signed the strongest assault weapons ban in the United States, saying “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” but then curried favor with the NRA in running for President. His moral code does not extend to convenient epiphanies by others. He explained “I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be.” Thus he asked and received President Trump’s endorsement in 2016 during his successful run for Senator from Utah after seeking the Secretary of State appointment in the new Trump Administartion. Political necessity trumped his moral probity. He probably wasn’t going to defeat President Obama’s reelection in 2012, but his poor campaign didn’t help. First, he could not attack the President on the unpopular ObamaCare because much of it was modeled on RomneyCare, including the individual mandate. Second his three debate performance was bewildering. A clear consensus exists that he won the first debate. He was knowledgeable, confident, and assertive. President Obama was essentially phoning it in. Instead of building on his strong success in the first debate, he backed off in the final two, looking indifferent and out of it. He let Candy Crowley get away with a blatant misstatement. His debate strategy was inexplicable, as if he was confused by her statement. His presidential campaign died that night. Only he didn’t know it. The Governor’s inability to connect with the voters was clear. He may despise President Trump, but the Trump voters know Trump’s one of them. They don’t care about the President’s personal behavior. They don’t care about his tweets. I wish he wouldn’t send some of them, but that’s who he is. They know the mainstream media will crucify him for anything he says or does. They don’t care. Finally a candidate/President who is not politically correct! And now we know Senator Romney in a secret Twitter account has a nom de plume, “Pierre Delicto,” which sounds like the legal phrase “In pari delicto” It means “equally at fault.”