Romney, the Underdog
EmailOn top of the polls and riding a wave of momentum from his strong performance at Saturday night’s ABC-Des Moines Register debate, Newt Gingrich is now the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination. And, for the first time this year, the “steady as she goes” Mitt Romney campaign looks off-balance.
Even so, the consensus among the handful of top Republican strategists whom I reached out to Sunday was that Romney remained the odds-on favorite for the nomination.
The biggest reason: Gingrich himself.
As one long-time Republican put it, Gingrich “can self-destruct on a dime.” Another wrote in an email, “Newt would truly be changed if he didn’t mess this up.”
That said, Gingrich has time on his side. Between now and the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3, there is one more debate and then a dead zone of at least a few days around Christmas. A compressed window means fewer chances to make a big mistake or for the weight of his baggage to catch up with him.
Most agree that Romney can’t simply wait for Gingrich to self-destruct, but they also acknowledge that the Romney campaign has few good options.
Said another Republican strategist, who acknowledged he was “very concerned” about Gingrich’s chances to win the nomination, “there’s very little that Romney can do now to stop Newt that will accrue to Romney’s benefit. ”
Romney’s greatest assets, his steadiness and “sobriety,” as Romney put it himself at the debate the other night, are not enough for a GOP electorate that wants to be energized and maybe even a little tipsy with enthusiasm for the nominee.
The risk for Romney is that if he falls back into traditional campaign tactics, such as grainy attack ads, he looks like the kind of ” typical politician” that GOP voters say they don’t want. Even his strategy of rolling out endorsements from elected officials in key primary states, as he’s doing today in New Hampshire, just “makes him look more establishment,” one Republican strategist said.
Romney has spent most of the year as the presumptive nominee and over-dog. We now get to see how he responds to being the guy chasing instead of leading.
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Why dont we just get to the part where we declare Ron Paul the winner and move on to some real changes….we really cant wait that long.
Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth ver 323.02b-e-41 | December 12, 2011, 8:32 am 8:32 am
Dear Yahoo. Once again, I almost vomit on your ‘Gingrich or Romney’ cheap and lieful propaganda. These clowns are competing for second place, because we all know, and you know as well, that DOCTOR is winning this by a landslide.
Posted by: maciej | December 12, 2011, 8:32 am 8:32 am
If the GOP doesn’t present Ron Paul as their nominee, then they as a unified party lack the foresight, intelligence and desire to win the presidency. Prepare for another four years of hurling invective, because neither Gingrich nor Romney stand any chance at all of upsetting the incumbent.
Posted by: Aaron Ververs | December 12, 2011, 8:33 am 8:33 am
Come on people. How many times have people made comments like this “i’ll bet you a million dollars that you are wrong” Let this go! So what if he does have $10,000 dollars to pay the bet – he’s a wealthy man; he’s WORKED hard for his money; he understands business. He is honest, hardworking and devoted to all classes. Newt is too polarizing and while he can probably out-debate Obama, he cannot win the election – he is too risky of a candidate and will most likely say something which will be yet another regrettable remark.
Posted by: sallybrigham | December 12, 2011, 8:40 am 8:40 am
Why are they making articles on this guy or Newt? Ron Paul is obviously the peoples faviorte. Stop cheating him!
Posted by: Donald Waters | December 12, 2011, 8:55 am 8:55 am
II like Ron Paul although I don’t agree with his philosophy. He and John Huntsman are the only two adults in the republican race.
Ron Paul lives in the 18th century. Today’s world is a much smaller and dangerous place. His isolationist policies can lead to economic and military disaster. It’s not the time to engage when the missiles are flying or if the world falls into another great depression. We need to be proactive , not reactive
Posted by: tmferretti | December 12, 2011, 9:04 am 9:04 am
I believe Ron Paul is the only candidate who CAN beat Obama. I think the party knows this as well.
Posted by: daniel | December 12, 2011, 10:04 am 10:04 am
SALLYBRIGHAM: “he’s WORKED hard for his money;”
Don’t you feel just a little bit of shame typing a lie like this? Mitt Romney was born into money…lots of money. He’s using a substantial portion of it to buy the White House.
Posted by: creeper | December 12, 2011, 10:07 am 10:07 am
Romney was and is the favorite of the democrats after Obama, he was not and has not ever been the favorite of most republicans. The media favors Romney, even fox.
Posted by: karek40 | December 12, 2011, 10:23 am 10:23 am
Ron Paul is genuine. But he is genuinely wrong. His philosphy will work in the world of 1776. Not in this interconnected world. I like his foreign policy but that is because I am a liberal. He is not a politician but a cult leader who named his son after Ayn Rand. That is enough said. It doesn’t matter how sincerely you believe a cynide is an asprin but it will still kill you. Ron Paul the Genuine, but Genuinely wrong.
Posted by: Dabu | December 12, 2011, 10:25 am 10:25 am
WHAT I JUST CANT UNDERSTAND!!! WHY ARE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOT OFFENDED BY WHAT THE MEDIA IS DOING TO RON PAUL?????? I hear you say the obvious that by now he is in front…but you all say nothing about what the media is doing which actually IS PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CAMPAIGN ITSELF RIGHT NOW!!!! they are colluding to black out Ron Paul!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT IMPLIES? ALL OUR INFORMATION COMES FROM THIS MEDIA!!! ALL OF IT…IF THEY ARE COLLUDING HERE….WHAT THEN DOES IT SAY ABOUT HOW THEY ARE PRESENTING THE STATE OF THE UNITED STATES ITSELF??? Do we know anything at all about what is happening here….do we really know who our leaders are? OH YEAH WELL HOW DO WE KNOW THAT IF THE MEDIA IS ACTUALLY CHARGED WITH TELLING US AND HAVE NOW CHOSEN TO BLACK OUT A PRESIDENTIAL FRONT RUNNER? I am saying you should all be VERY CONCERNED WITH WHAT THE MEDIA IS DOING HERE…how much else have they colluded to alter or BLACK OUT???? Do we even know who is running our nation? P.S. the media is doing this to themselves…no one is doing this to them…they are destabilizing the United States….and doing it on their own…this is how stupid things have gotten in our century…and yeah this is pretty stupid….
Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth ver 323.02b-e-41 | December 12, 2011, 10:40 am 10:40 am
I too am offended by Ron Paul’s and Jon Huntsman’s lack of respect by the media.
I think Paul should run as a Libertarian which he is. He would probably beat any of the current republicans and if he gets enough votes he can force a run-off with the President. I think and hope he loses that run-off but at least he would gain an honest forum for his views,
Posted by: tmferretti | December 12, 2011, 11:02 am 11:02 am
He never was. he was the favorite of the GOP main party, not the rank and file.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | December 12, 2011, 11:55 am 11:55 am
He is not the “favorite” and never was, because he cannot attract the fringes or the ultra right of the Party. Like Boehner, the Republican party is caving in to the extreme members of the party who are in the minority. It is why People like Cain, Perry and Bachmann did so well. Gingrich is a familiar face and they seem to have forgotten about 5 years of his political life [1995-2000 when he was basically investigated, found guilty and thrown out of Congress]. If Gingrich takes the nomination, I can see a mass exodus of Moderate Republicans voting Democrat.
Posted by: pksk531 | December 12, 2011, 12:32 pm 12:32 pm