Mitt Romney Really Ought to Give Iowa a Try
By Ward Smythe | Thursday, June 9th, 2011 | Politics
Mitt Romney is skipping out on the Iowa straw poll.
Romney to Skip Key Poll in Iowa
The Wall Street Journal
The Iowa straw poll, held in Ames, is one of the landmark events of the nominating contest. Mr. Romney’s decision sends the clearest signal yet that he doesn’t want to wade deeply into the social issues that carry particular weight with Iowa Republicans and instead intends to present himself to voters nationally as a successful businessman who can improve the economy.
Okay, personally I’d like to see Mitt skip the whole campaign. He’s just not going to be able to explain away Romneycare. Besides it’s way beyond time for the GOP to get over the “it’s his turn” syndrome. Presidents Dole and McCain were unavailable for comment.
But does Romney think he doesn’t need Iowa? Last time around he spent some $2.5 million to win the straw poll only to come in second to Mike Huckabee in the actual caucuses. Romney tried to portray himself as the social conservative in that contest, but that banner was Huckabee’s to carry.
This time Romney wants to focus on the economy. And that will be the determining factor in next year’s election.
But by skipping Iowa, is he saying he doesn’t care about their economy?
Now that Newt Gingrich is all but out of the way, and let’s face it all that remains is the serving of the divorce papers, Romney runs the risk of another strong challenger vaulting to the front.
By not participating in the Iowa straw poll, Romney appears a little arrogant. And he ignores this sage advice:
“If you can’t compete in Iowa in August, how are you going to compete in January when the caucuses are held?”
Who said that?
Mitt Romney, 2007
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About the author
Ward Smythe is a pseudonymous aspiring freelance writer from Central Virginia. Until late 2007 Ward blogged at the now defunct "Ward View" and was active in Virginia and national politics. Ward's signature style of snarkery gained him a unique following that he hopes to regain here at Bearing Drift. Ward uses humor, satire and sometimes photoshop to make his point. Ward is proud to be an equal opportunity offender.
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Comments
6 Responses to "Mitt Romney Really Ought to Give Iowa a Try"
As I wrote in a recent post, Romney “is always who he must be to win any given election and therefore is no one at his core.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Romney can win the nomination by doing everything he can to lose it. Maybe he’s the Inspector Clouseau of the Republican party.
BTW, Romney made that quote back when competing in Iowa in January was part of his campaign strategy.
This is good news for Tim Pawlenty.
Mitt Romney is toast now that he came out as a global warming alarmist. Add that to Romneycare etc……….
He’s done. Lots of people wasted millons of dollars supporting that Democrat in GOP clothing.
Liberals fear that Romney will be able to make a strong case against re-electing President Obama!
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