Huge Props to Mitt!
Major
reports going out that Governor Romney will drop out of the race today at CPAC and (one hopes) throw his support behind Senator McCain.
Plans to say during CPAC speech: “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win….”
I have been critical of the gov in the past, but he's always struck me as a sensible, highly intelligent man. I don't know whether the bitterness of the campaign will rule this out, but I would strongly urge the McCain campaign to consider him seriously as a Veep nominee. It would go a long way towards bridging the divisions in the party.
We've all had a terrible time the last few months, even those of us who've backed the (now almost certain) winner. I'll freely admit that I've strained relations with many wonderful people in the blogging community with my sometimes intemperate defense of Senator McCain, and for that I apologize. It's not in my nature to back down from an argument, but certainly I have taken things too personally.
This certainly gives McCain a huge opening to praise Romney to the skies in his own CPAC address. It also means that any TV coverage today will focus on Romney's speech and not McCain's which is probably a very good thing.
Other reactions:
Allahpundit:
I’ve got to believe that his speech will be a stemwinder about conservative values and fighting the good fight, all very much with an eye to creating a memory he can leverage four years from now. Shrewd, if so.
Michelle Malkin live-blogged the speech:
Frankly in this time of a war, I cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.
This isn’t an easy decision. I hate to lose
not just about me…i entered this race because i love america. i feel i have to now stand aside.
We cannot allow the next president of the United States to retreat in the face of evil extremism.
Just One Minute
explores the theme of whether anti-Mormon prejudice in the Southern Baptists might explain Mitt's inability to connect in the South:
I'm sure Huckabee would be delighted to be the nominee or even the VP but I suspect that throwing sand in Romney's gears was a big part of his mission.
That's reading a bit too much into it in my opinion. Huckabee's always seemed like a guy who was running to win the nomination, and he's a credible candidate, winning several states. He has not been able to connect in the North. More than anything, I think Huckabee's antagonism (and McCain's) towards Romney has to do with the negative advertising they were subjected to. Patrick Ruffini, a Romney supporter noted this
the other day:
Specifically, it seems to me that the conservative establishment’s decision to go nuclear first on Huckabee (who never had a shot but speaks for voters we need in November) before McCain (who always had a shot but speaks mostly for himself) will rank as a pretty serious strategic blunder.
Labels: Mitt Romney
