Steve Benen: A Misguided Appeal For A Moderate Mitt

[Proud Liberal Dem]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/politic...034545.php

I agree with Benen's piece that argues against this odd notion that is apparently floating around among the punditocracy somewhere out there that if Romney were to win the GOP nomination and somehow manage to defeat Obama that he is somehow likely to govern as a moderate "Massachusetts Mitt" as POTUS. After witnessing the power that the Tea Party currently wields over the GOP in terms of being able to threaten and intimidate Republicans- even supposedly "moderate" and reasonable ones like the Maine twins and my own Senator Lugar- into totally refusing to cooperate with President Obama and the Democrats in Congress, there is nothing to suggest to me that, aside from teabaggers simply vanishing after November or the "moderate" Republicans (all 2 or 3 of them) staging a successful coup and grasping control of the party back from the teabaggers, a Republican in the WH in 2013 will be under considerable pressure to kowtow to the Tea Party agenda in terms of judicial appointments, appointments to federal agencies, and decisions about bills passed by Congress that land on his desk. Should the Republicans maintain control of the House AND capture the WH and Senate (a nightmare scenario if I ever heard one) in November, such pressure to cater to the Tea Party would only increase on a President Romney and he would risk severe alienation and loss of political capital if he disappointed them (though I'm sure he wouldn't). Put more simply, it would be a HUGE mistake to give Mitt, who has adopted increasingly harsh Tea Party rhetoric during this campaign, the benefit of the doubt that he might transform into "Mr. Moderate GOPer" if he were to win the WH. I'll take that one step further and argue that we MUST assume the worst of ANY of the potential GOP candidates if any of them were to win in November and work to ensure their defeat of their nominee in November.

[jaxx]

I agree Mitt has crossed the line of moderate into teabagger junk. I wouldn't trust him to take the garbage out.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

(01-06-2012 08:05 AM)jaxx Wrote:  I agree Mitt has crossed the line of moderate into teabagger junk. I wouldn't trust him to take the garbage out.

Then he'd have to take himself out.

I wonder if he realizes how hard it is going to be govern if he wins the nomination and somehow manages to win the WH with the level of divisive and ugly rhetoric that he apparently has felt compelled to adopt in order remain competitive in this year's GOP primary? He would have to continue placating the teabaggers, which in turn is going to turn off the Democrats- if he even offers to work with them at all, which will be difficult since the Tea Party vultures will forever be looking over his shoulder ready to pounce on him should he show ANY inclination towards "bipartisanship". Even if the Senate goes Republican, it won't be by a filibuster-proof majority and I don't believe that the Dems won't accede quite so readily to the full-blown Republican Tea Party agenda. In short, he'll be boxed in like a crate of Boston Tea.