Just as premature political obituaries were being written for Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign last summer, it is too early to be writing off former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s hopes for the White House. McCain’s Super Tuesday success makes him the clear front-runner, but there are good reasons the race for the Republican presidential nomination should not be declared over. (With former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee likely having peaked on Super Tuesday, it is effectively a two-man race now). With good wishes to the winner, whomever that might be, The Examiner offers the following advice:
With the economy a dominant campaign issue, Romney’s business acumen and commitment to free enterprise give him qualifications for president that stand out above every other contender regardless of party. Combined with his superlative record of rescuing a nearly bankrupt Winter Olympics while sweeping out its corruption, Romney has much to offer to mainstream Republicans looking for a leader.
He supports commonsense energy policies like Alaskan drilling, and he is not intimidated by the global-warming frenzy. Romney also had the good sense to oppose the Sarbanes-Oxley law that has imposed far too many costly and unnecessary regulations on businesses and consumers. Whether or not he manages a successful comeback, Romney has made an important contribution to the nomination battle that has aided the GOP in polishing its platform and prospects for November.
As for McCain, he faces a cold, hard fact of political reality: He cannot win the November election against either of the two possible Democratic candidates without the vigorous support of millions of conservative Republicans who do most of the nitty-gritty work of a campaign. Many of these folks presently evince little enthusiasm for the Arizona senator.
Like it or not, he must win these people to his side, starting today as he speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference in the nation’s capital. Without being defensive or apologetic, he should offer credible commitments to concrete actions sought by conservatives, starting with the no ifs, ands or buts completion of the full fence mandated by the law since 2006 for the U.S. border with Mexico.
He also should pledge to cut the numberof federal regulations in half in four years. He should make a centerpiece of his administration a credible process to end failing and unneeded domestic programs as the Pentagon did with its Base Closure and Realignment Commission. He should pledge to veto any bill that compromises the right of employees to secret ballots in union representation elections. And he should pledge a comprehensive investigation to determine whether the abuses of the judicial system exposed by the indictment of William Lerach and his former colleagues at the Milberg Weiss law firm were isolated crimes or indicative of a deeper problem.
