The Candidates
Bottom line: the Romney campaign made their bed with the early state primary strategy and got short-sheeted.
The momentum that Huckabee gained through his stunning Iowa win together with the victory that McCain edged out in New Hampshire seriously maimed the Romney narrative (Matt was correct).
Of course, there were plenty of other factors to break the back of Team Romney:
But there were so many things the campaign did right, did well, and made history on:
The list goes on…
As Patrick Ruffini notes the campaign did almost everything it needed to… it just came a little bit short.
On another note, I need to thank you, our readers. We saw our audience grow from 60 readers a day to 6000 in less than a year. The encouragement you gave us made this effort here on MyManMitt a joy and an inspiration.
What will happen to the site?! Stay tuned.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Breaking the mold on fundraising tools, events and programs…
Mitt Romney is not Ron Paul…but nice try…
February 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am
“The news machine intent on winning the information war”
“The relentless flip-flop bashing”
These two can’t co-exist. Romney lost the information war … granted, i think that the press was really rooting against him, and is happy to see McCain win, but the other candidates and the press were able to make the phony flip flopper narrative the lead paragraph of every Romney story.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am
1 - Huh? Did Ron Paul come even close to the amount of money Romney raised? That’s just a ridiculous comment, and frankly, indicative of the naivte of Paul supporters in general.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:42 am
A little short? Sure.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:49 am
When Iowa voted for Huckabee, it set in motion a concatenation of bizarre events that prevented the campaign from hitting full stride. Iowa was the reason that McCain won the nomination. If one believes in fate, it wasn’t meant to be. California was the straw that broke the campaign’s back. More than 30 districts in California were close, many of them very close, and McCain had the razor-sharp edge in all but 3.
I was going to make yesterday my last posts, but the campaign deserves an epitaph. I couldn’t be more proud of my fellow Rombots, and we need to realize that this wasn’t our loss, it was America’s. Also, kudos to all the main page posters, for doing your best to make the free market of ideas work. My greatest fear about McCain is that he will reinstate the “fairness doctrine.” When he got McCain/Feingold passed, he destroyed the Republican Party about half way. The “fairness doctrine” would finish the job. Until such time as that happens, truth outlets, like this one, deserve praise….and especially Kavon, who had the vision and the will to make it happen.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Folks - This might be the last time I post here. We Huckabee supporters have work to do and it looks like this site is really just about Mccain going forward.
I really enjoyed being able to come here and it has been a valuable asset. Thanks to all who put in a lot of hard work making this site possible.
- Shawn
February 8th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I think we can file this as a “break” moment for Romney:
A “me too” blogger conference call that turned out to be staged. (visit redstate for more details)
February 8th, 2008 at 11:57 am
RINOs for.. what’s this?.. Obama…
yep. http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmNmY2YzYjdjMDJmOTBiNTg0ZWE4ODIzNDNjZTRhZDY=
February 8th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
“The anti-Mormon rhetoric”
Google news:
Huckabee Baptist
13,407 (17% of Huckabee hits)
Romney Mormon
8,584 (8.5% of Romney hits)
February 8th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
It’s a fair list of claims, Justin.
There’s also every reason to praise the intense energy of Mitt, his family, the campaign team, and all the supporters. The degree of participation that the campaign encouraged from supporters was impressive. The campaign fired on all cylinders and performed like a finely tuned machine. I willingly admit this as a dedicated Romanon.
Still, there were some large problems that made it impossible for me and others to turn on to Romney. The largest was the discrepancy between Mitt’s moderate governance in MA (where we all know he had to work as a moderate) and his arch-conservative campaign persona (which was the biggest opening in a field crowded with moderates). Another was a rather short list of accomplishments in elected or appointed public office, comparative to the field. (It is interesting that the Dems have candidates with very short records in public office.)
None of this is to deny Mitt’s substantial list of lifetime achievements or his impeccable family. But it failed to fix those other weaknesses. And it failed to help him come across as personable and authentic on TV, radio, and print. Trying to brook these shortcomings by attempting to make his competitors look like bad choices — turning Mitt into the least-worst option — backfired in part because of the authenticity problem.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Sampo,
Thanks for that link. Chafee certainly has it right when he takes on dems who claim they were duped into voting for the Iraq war. Everyone knows Clinton and others were too afraid to vote against the resolution. And I have to say I enjoy it everytime Obama beats Clinton over the head with her vote, especially the line “you can’t be surpised when you give the president a blank check and he cashes it.”
February 8th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hello, Justin-
Great write-up on Mitt. I commend you and the other pro-Mitt posters on your efforts in support of your candidate…
One question - please clarify:
What is “the suppressed candidate syndrome”?
February 8th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Great GREAT Campaign . . . Really? Is spending over 1 million dollars per delegate considered a success? I truly think Mr. Average Joe American could have gotten as many electoral votes as Romney if he had the money Romney had to spend.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
As far as the organizational aspects of the campaign go, he was absolutey unparalleled. That’s maybe half of a campaign.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Hey TRUTH,
Back to math, Jack. 300 delegates is not $ 300 million. And who really cares what Romney spent of his own money? Better his money than some endless unidentified PACS with promises to keep. How much of Cindy’s bucks has John spent on his own campaign?
February 8th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
What killed the campaign is that the candidate had an UNLIKEABLE PERSONALITY.
Even with all the right positions and all the money, he could not beat McCain where Huck wasn’t much of a factor — and in the south, the base of conservatism, he could only place 3rd.
I told you he had a low ceiling outside of his homestates and Mormonland — and you just wouldn’t listen. It’s because of his PERSONALITY.
Don’t foist the same disaster on us in 2012.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
In the end, I think that Metro’s idea isn’t too far from the bottom line truth. Mitt just didn’t hit it off with voters the way McCain did. I recall exit polls from FL where voters said they agreed with Romney the candidate, but voted for McCain the person.
Happily for Mitt-supporters (myself included) I think that 4 years is a lot of time to try and soften his image so that the Romney that people see on TV is more like the Romney that people see in person. “Live” Romney is much more likable than “tv” Romney.
As is, McCain is my parties candidate and I prefer him to Clinton or Obama, so that is the new bottom line for me. I will put one of those McCain bumper magnets on my car, but it will be right next to my Romney sticker.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
PS, everyone has a base, and Romney’s seems to be in the West. That is ok, he just needs to build on it.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
#14 Diane-
“As far as the organizational aspects of the campaign go, he was absolutey unparalleled. That’s maybe half of a campaign.”
I agree completely, on both halves of that statement. All of us are deeply interested in campaign “process” - horse race coverage, polls, fundraising, campaign staff, etc.. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be posting on this site.
However, nobody votes for the candidate who ran the best campaign. They vote for the candidate. To use the most obvious contrast - Huck had no money and no organization at all, but he outlasted Mitt, Rudy, and Fred (who did have all of those things to some degree). He was able to do it b/c he connected w/ voters at a personal level…
February 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Metro:
You mean an unlikeable television persona? You don’t win your home states with an unlikeable personality.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
19,
If you read the comments on the blogs at Hucks site…It’s all “Praise Jesus” and “Thank the Lord”. Huck tapped into the Evangelical movement big time but I don’t know that he went beyond that.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
vallon, I don’t call it “winning” when McCain took almost half of MA’s delegates.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I call it winning if you eke out SC by 3 points or Florida by 5 points. A win is a win..for JM, Huck, or Mitt
The fact is I’m a MA republican and though we’re beat up by the 85% Dem majority here, and the fact that we have NO national republican office holders … Mitt was well liked by the few of us Republicans there are here.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
9, sampo re Google news
Huckabee is routinely identified as a Baptist preacher. There’s already been a Baptist in the WH and there
is no sig. bias to having another.
Romney’s Mormonism hurt him a bit…maybe a few percentage points in the South but it was not the deal breaker.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Metro I have to say you are one annoying person. Your candidate could not get above 5% except in Fla so I suggest you shutup about your stupid ceiling theory. Obviously alot of people liked Mitt and voted for him so stop being a dunce.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Mitt will come back stronger and better in 2012 I guarentee it.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
26,
Yes but…you’ll have a one term incumbent in there. That will be tough. Plus, unlike McCain who is a US senator these past 8 years…what will Mitt be up to.
February 8th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Romney did get off the best blast of the campaign so far by beginning
the uniting of the Republican party. I’ve read some of the Democrat’s
blogs and they are in agony, very divided. Obama hated Romney for doing
this, thus the critical remarks from him. The longer it goes on, the more
damage is done to the Democrats, and the more likely that the losing
side will jump ship and vote for McCain. I’ve seen several people
write this already.
I’m sorry Romney bowed out, but I’m glad he did it at this time because it is
already causing considerable damage to the Democrats. Romney’s goal in
all of this was to keep Hillary from getting the white house because “he
couldn’t imagine anything worse”. I think he is going to get his wish.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Say It Ain’t So, Mitt
One party, at least, is sad to see him go.
http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2183788
February 8th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
A (popular and highly energized and highly ambitious) Democrat will be
in office in the White House, so Romney will have to wait until 2016 and
he will be 69 then, plus his wife may be too disabled/sick
and unwilling. Who knows?
February 11th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
[...] and got short-sheeted,” writes Justin Hart in a race42008.com blog burst titled, strangely, Autopsy of a Great GREAT Campaign The momentum that Huckabee gained through his stunning Iowa win together with the victory that [...]
February 11th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
[...] and got short-sheeted,” writes Justin Hart in a race42008.com blog burst titled, strangely, Autopsy of a Great GREAT Campaign The momentum that Huckabee gained through his stunning Iowa win together with the victory that [...]
February 12th, 2008 at 4:41 am
There are many factors why Mitt Romney is not leading the GOP race to the White House right now. Reasons such as:
The large Evangelical voter turnout was a factor in Huckabee’s win in Iowa; and if the 18 mostly liberal newspapers didn’t come out several days before the New Hampshire Primary, (and, on the same day - a conspiracy, obviously) and endorse John McCain, Romney would have won that state. Many of these newspapers had endorsed liberal John Kerry when he ran in 2004.
On Super Tuesday, McCain and Huckabee made a deal and conspired to take West Virginia away from Romney, the expected winner, by fiddling with the delegates. So, Huckabee ended up winning WV. Mitt had won Maine the day before, and if he had won the first 2 states on Super Tuesday, it would not look too good for McCain and Huck. A lot of other stuff happened to this good man of integrity.
In the last days, “good will be bad and bad good.” Mitt Romney is the Best of the Best, and he will live to enthrall us another day.
Mitt 2012!!!