As doubts about Herman Cain’s viability hardened, and as polls trickled in from all corners of the country, the Republican base last week started to come to a dispiriting conclusion: They were settling for Mitt Romney.
When new polls have come out this fall, the headlines always blare about a Perry surge or collapse, or a Cain or Gingrich surge. Quietly, though, Romney continues to climb. Since Rick Perry’s honeymoon glow began to fade, Romney has climbed in national polls. RealClearPolitics’ average of national polls has shown Romney’s percentage steadily rise from 16 percent on Labor Day to 24 percent last Friday.
In Iowa, Romney is steadily climbing, too. His 22 percent RealClear average on Friday was the highest it’s ever been, and Romney easily beat Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry in every Iowa poll in October. And New Hampshire? Forget about it. He’s at a steady 40 percent, 20 points up on the nearest competitor. He’s a solid second place in South Carolina, trailing only Cain.
Cain looks every day like just another meteor, burning bright only to flame out in the political atmosphere. Cain spent the weekend campaigning in Alabama, of all places. He still lacks New Hampshire and Iowa staff, and has yet to show that he’s serious about policy. The Right’s search for an anti-Romney is once again coming up empty.
Of course, the Right’s case against Romney could fill a book, with transgressions in nearly every aspect of the conservative catechism. He was steadfastly pro-choice in the past. He wrote the prototype of Obamacare. He supported the bank bailouts. As governor, he favored gun control and proudly instituted greenhouse gas restraints.
And it’s not as if Romney is a political natural with the campaign skills to take down Obama. He’s a rich guy visibly uncomfortable around regular people and embarrassingly awkward when he tries to seem normal (search YouTube for “Romney” and “who let the dogs out”). When challenged in debates, he takes on a look of indignation. Mike Huckabee put it best four years ago: “People want a president who looks like the guy you work with and not the guy who laid you off.”
Don’t think the Democrats don’t see this, too. Team Obama will drag out the single mom with a sick kid who was fired as part of the Bain Capital takeover.
Romney is widely understood as a flip-flopper with no core principles, who will say anything to get elected. Jon Hunstman aptly called Romney “a perfectly lubricated weathervane.”
So why is the GOP moving toward this man? It seems almost inexplicable.
In Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the dull Mr. Collins had little in his favor except that he stood to inherit the estate of Mr. Bennett. Young Lizzie Bennett, far too self-respecting and intelligent to consign herself to such a fate, spurned Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal. But three days later, Lizzie was stunned to learn that her friend Charlotte Lucas had accepted a proposal from Mr. Collins.
“When you have had time to think over,” Charlotte told Lizzie, “I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done. I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’ character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that chance of happiness with his is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.”
The Republicans are Charlotte Lucas, and Mitt Romney is their Mr. Collins. Republicans are serial settlers when it comes to the presidency. Almost every time, GOP primary voters pick the “respectable,” connected and seemingly safe pick.
John McCain and Bob Dole are the two recent nominees who most obviously resemble Austen’s Mr. Collins — in a moment of honesty, any conservative would express disgust with their records.
But even the nomination of George W. Bush was a marriage of convenience rather than love. The GOP married Bush for money: By the summer of 1999, Bush was so clearly dominating the field in fundraising that he became the de facto front-runner before there were any reliable polls. Being the front-runner, and being inoffensive to the base, sewed up the nomination for Bush.
Democrats have their Mr. Collinses (John Kerry and Al Gore), but they also have their Mr. Darcys (Bill Clinton and Barack Obama).
Republicans, on the other hand, haven’t married for love since 1980. This year, it seems, things won’t be any different. Dear Republicans, you’ve nearly landed your Mr. Romney, and I wish you every imaginable happiness.
Timothy P.Carney, The Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Monday and Thursday, and his stories and blog posts appear on ExaminerPolitics.com.
