I don't think Romney will win the nomination, but he can win NH and MI though and can cause Giuliani to lose by siphening off critical votes in NH and IA. I think McCain will become the eventual nominee.

I do not see Romney as going anywhere. Most of the Anybody But Rudy/McCain crowd wants Thompson to get in. Romney has no honesty, consistency or credibility whatsoever.

Now that McCain has shotgunned himself in the face on immigration, I really have no clue as to who will win the GOP nod.

But if Romney uses it as a "look, I have some liberal convictions too" perhaps it won't be as damning.

He is damn telegenic which matters in these days. So is Obama, who I think would be our strongest candidate against either Romney or Guiliani. Edwards would be strong too. The relative "inexperience" of Obama and Edwards would not matter against Romney.

Romney is a nonstarter to folks in the south(where I live). As must disrespect as we have for Republicans, they do read polls(no matter what they say)and Romney gets his hat handed to him by all Dem challengers. We need to plan on facing McCain or Guiliani and plan accordingly.

OT: Please email this to all of your friends in the military. They must now(if they don't already) that BushCo. won't support them as Vets or active duty!

Could we get an thread on this disgusting display by the White House?

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/05/mi litary_payhike_whitehouse_070516/

I think the big under-discussed story about the GOP race is McCain recovery, which began with his Iraq speech and his little song about Iran. His numbers have bounced back, the media still love him, and Rudy and Romney are looking increasingly ridiculous. I worry about this, because McCain might--might--have the the political wisdom to declare Iraq a lost cause in the fall and "lead" the U.S to withdraw, thus burnishing his "honest man" cred and becoming a tough general election candidate. He's still the guy to beat.

His Mormonism will get him.  I grew as a Southern Baptist, and I can tell you that the Evangelicals despise Mormonism.  I cannot describe the depth of distaste that they have for the religion that they openly refer to as a cult.  There are seminars in the Southern Baptist Church about how to combat Mormonism.

Romney will not be able to get the Southern Baptist (and other evangelical) vote, at least not with any enthusiasm.  The church leaders will sacrifice almost anything to prevent him from being the nominee.  While I think that he has a shot (maybe the best shot of the three front-runners) I don't think he will win.  You need Evangelical support to win the nomination in the GOP, and Romney won't get it.

I fear Romney more than any other of the Republicans. I do hope all who say he can't possibly win the presidency are right.

This is all a sideshow.  As much as I would like to see Romney on the ballot in '08, Fred Thompson can skate to this nomination with ease.  And we'd better be ready, because his Reagan's corpse, Southern-fried bullshit is custom-made for the press and too many voters in this country.

I sense its Fred Thompson if he runs. The problem is can we get critical media coverage of their major flaws: Rudy's infidelities, Romney's flip-flops, McCain's lack of principle etc. So far, the MSM only covers alleged Democrats' flaws, ex. Gore the liar, Kerry the elitist, & so on.

Southern baptists may dislike Romney's Mormonism but they'll vote for a Repub over any Democrat. The only exception I see is Edwards, who because of his southern background & speaking style would siphon off Southern votes & baptist votes. Part of his appeal is his help the working class message. Past polls have shown him doing this with baptists who will vote on the basis of an economic message.

Romney is not as weak as you think.  You are correct that he is the default candidate.  He has a partnership with all the major right-wing media folk--they all endorse him form Coulter, to Drudge, to Michael Medved, etc.  In fact, McCain's "Bomb, Bomb, Iran" clip was apparently leaked to Drudge by Romney's campaign.  The right wing media are all on board with him.  He's the money candidate.  I'm sure that financial "compensation", either direct or indirect, has helped cement his status with the republican elite.

He's also not as weak of a candidate as you think.  He is a very slick and smooth salesman.  He exudes  a "soothing" aura of masculinity, confidence, and competence.    He also has the money and the backing of corporate America.  He can afford a strong campaign infrastructure, has the media on his side, and doesn't make big mistakes.

Be careful who you wish for!

Thanks,

Mike

I'm surprised the theocons will accept a Mormon.  A lot of fundies don't even accept Mormons as Christian.  Moreover, there's fierce competition in the Rocky Mountain states, at least, between the Mormons and the fundies for warm bodies -- fannies in the pews, as George Steinbrenner might say.

Every time I think about the Mormons I'm reminded of one of the early Star Trek movies -- the one where the gang time-travels to 1980s San Fransicso to save the whales -- where Kirk, trying to explain Spock's odd behavior, says, "Don't mind him.  He fried his brains on LDS."

Just remember that used car salesmen do, in fact, tend to sell a lot of used cars.

all 3 major candidates have serious flaws for Republican voters, mcCain had the least of them until yesterday's immigration bill, Fred Thompson has the nomination on a silver platter.

See also:

Romney Tops YouTube Video Rankings
http://hammer2006.blogspot.com/2007/05/e xclusive-top-presidential-candidate.html

Romney? Doesn't he want two Guantanamos?

And doesn't he and Guiliani both want to use torture?

Southern Baptists and other fundamentalist Christian rightists will suspect that Romney would use torture on them, or at least be a threat to their belief system.

Mel Gibson Catholics won't mind water-boarding. That was a technique the Church used on heretics.