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Mitt Romney: Donald Trump is not very presidential

lpetrich

lpetrich

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Romney says Trump hasn't 'risen to the mantle' of presidency in Washington Post op-ed - CNNPolitics
Sen.-elect Mitt Romney said Tuesday in an op-ed published in The Washington Post that President Donald Trump's behavior since taking office "is evidence that the President has not risen to the mantle of the office."
"It is well known that Donald Trump was not my choice for the Republican presidential nomination. After he became the nominee, I hoped his campaign would refrain from resentment and name-calling. It did not," Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, wrote in the opinion piece, adding that several of Trump's Cabinet appointments had been "encouraging."
"But, on balance, his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions this month, is evidence that the President has not risen to the mantle of the office," he wrote.
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He wrote that policies and appointments are only part of a presidency. "A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. ... And it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring."

Brad Pascale, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, responded that MR "lacked the ability to save this nation" while Trump "has saved it."
As for Trump, Romney said he does not "intend to comment on every tweet or fault."
"But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions," he wrote.
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Could other Republicans start to show less fear of criticizing him?
 
Romney is correct but he has kissed up to Trump numerous times in the past when he thought it was in his best interests. Plus, I'll never forget his nasty remark about the "takers" the last time he ran for president. It must be nice to be so filthy rich that you can flaunt your wealth and be a critic of those who have never had the opportunity to become wealthy.
 
The Only Mantle Mitt Romney Might Seize Is Being the Biggest Fake in American Politics

When the new Congress is sworn in on Thursday, Willard Romney will be the new junior senator from Utah. This is allegedly the same Willard Romney who once bragged about being better on LGBTQ issues than Ted Kennedy, who wanted to run for president in 2000 as the Republican governor who got Massachusetts a healthcare plan, and who ran 12 years later as a "severe conservative" who didn't even recognize the Republican governor who got Massachusetts a health care plan, who gave a ringing condemnation of candidate Donald Trump and then broke escargots with the president*-elect when he dangled the State Department in front of Romney's eager eyes.
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President Trump Reminds Mitt Romney That He "Won Big" | Time pResident Trump's tweet:
Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not. Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!
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Thus proving how right MR is.
 
Trump has narrowed the entire focus of his presidency to an unneeded fence.

Nothing but red meat for the sickest, for the bigots and the xenophobes and the easily frightened.

Sure does make Romney's point.
 
One part skim milk, nine parts water. If this is "Republican opposition" to the Orange One, it's pointless. Impeachment is pointless except for the hoopla value. Two thirds of this Senate will never dump Trump. So let them own him and the 38% or 40% or whatever of the total electorate that gets them.
 
Romney flaps with the political winds. When he was Massachusetts Governor he was not great but not hard-right. Moderate conservative. He's credited with passing the Mass Healthcare law that was partly the model used for ACA.

Now he's taking hard-right positions and talking tough vs Trump but in the end I don't see him standing up to Trump.

I suspect that Trump's base, which really need to fall to pieces, give nothing that Romney says any weight at all.
 
crazyfingers said:
Romney flaps with the political winds. When he was Massachusetts Governor he was not great but not hard-right. Moderate conservative.
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Well, he did insinuate that the woman he was replacing had probably been breast-feeding during some of the phone conferences during her recovery.

No reason to do that but to make people uncomfortable about a woman gov...

Made me really enjoy his panic when the court allowed SSM on his watch.
 
Don't get me wrong. I did not like him and was glad to see him go. He even supported the religious right to discriminate against people based on their religion efforts which seems odd to me given that he's Mormon and should know that many Christians don't consider him to be Christian.

But he wasn't a radical right hardliner when he was Gov. Of course he has changed his tune now. He flaps all over the place.
 
crazyfingers said:
Don't get me wrong. I did not like him and was glad to see him go. He even supported the religious right to discriminate against people based on their religion efforts which seems odd to me given that he's Mormon and should know that many Christians don't consider him to be Christian.

But he wasn't a radical right hardliner when he was Gov. Of course he has changed his tune now. He flaps all over the place.
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Yeah, Gov. Mitt Romney wasn't GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. And I expect neither of them to be Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. Wake me when he votes against the GOP.
 
Since this thread is about Romney's op ed piece in the Washington Post, it is useful to read what he actually said: Mitt Romney: The president shapes the public character of the nation. Trump’s character falls short.

Trump's tweet was totally predictable, but that is the lead story that everyone is making out of this. My take on it is that Mitt Romney ran for the senate in order to launch a bid for the 2020 GOP presidential nomination. He has steadfastly remained silent since his election, but he opens up on the day after New Years.

So I would pose two basic questions:

1) Does Romney have a realistic chance of becoming the Republican nominee in 2020?

2) Does Romney have a realistic chance of beating the Democratic candidate? (Who would be the weakest Democrat to oppose him, and who the strongest?)
 
Trump tweeted a picture of a wall and said that it was his wall that was being built (it was a wall... on the boarder... but it was just maintenance on an existing structure, paid for during the Bush admin).
Just tell everyone mission accomplished... there's the wall being built... Trump said so. even has pictures of it. Call the Trump supporters winners and they will ignore anything else they hear in fake news about it not being funded or built.
and what does an angry crowd of people do when they get what they (think they) want? They dissipate and return to their normal lives.
 
Copernicus said:
Since this thread is about Romney's op ed piece in the Washington Post, it is useful to read what he actually said: Mitt Romney: The president shapes the public character of the nation. Trump’s character falls short.

Trump's tweet was totally predictable, but that is the lead story that everyone is making out of this. My take on it is that Mitt Romney ran for the senate in order to launch a bid for the 2020 GOP presidential nomination. He has steadfastly remained silent since his election, but he opens up on the day after New Years.

So I would pose two basic questions:

1) Does Romney have a realistic chance of becoming the Republican nominee in 2020?
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I doubt it. In 2012, we saw what the radicals in the right-wing was trying to accomplish as they did in 2012. 2012 was the year of the right-wing "Anyone but Romney" primary season tantrum. They went as far as backing 'DC Outside' Newt Gingrich (?)... twice to try and stop the Romney nomination. Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann for a week, even Rick "don't Google me" Santorum had flashes in the polls to try and contest Romney, but it never finished. With Trump winning the nomination, and the GOP all in on Trump, I can't see anyone unseating Trump, other than Trump or Congress.

2) Does Romney have a realistic chance of beating the Democratic candidate? (Who would be the weakest Democrat to oppose him, and who the strongest?)
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With this electorate, it is impossible to tell.

The same electorate that elected Obama and Trump, smacked both Obama and Trump in the face in the following mid-term. Obama because of ACA and Trump because... well... Trump.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Copernicus said:
...
1) Does Romney have a realistic chance of becoming the Republican nominee in 2020?
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I doubt it. In 2012, we saw what the radicals in the right-wing was trying to accomplish as they did in 2012. 2012 was the year of the right-wing "Anyone but Romney" primary season tantrum. They went as far as backing 'DC Outside' Newt Gingrich (?)... twice to try and stop the Romney nomination. Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann for a week, even Rick "don't Google me" Santorum had flashes in the polls to try and contest Romney, but it never finished. With Trump winning the nomination, and the GOP all in on Trump, I can't see anyone unseating Trump, other than Trump or Congress.
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I see two possibilities--that Trump would not end up being a contender in 2020, which would leave Romney left standing with money and organization behind him--or that Romney might attract a lot of moderate votes back into the party during primaries. That is, there could be a moderate backlash against Trump, especially given his increasingly erratic behavior when under pressure. However, the Republican rank and file could just find themselves unable to take another 4 years of scandals and tweets.

2) Does Romney have a realistic chance of beating the Democratic candidate? (Who would be the weakest Democrat to oppose him, and who the strongest?)
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With this electorate, it is impossible to tell.

The same electorate that elected Obama and Trump, smacked both Obama and Trump in the face in the following mid-term. Obama because of ACA and Trump because... well... Trump.
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And Romney would probably end up taking credit for the ACA, since Obama started with Massachusetts as his model (even though it was really not Romney's idea originally).
 
Gun Nut said:
Tr
and what does an angry crowd of people do when they get what they (think they) want? They dissipate and return to their normal lives.
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I believe you meant "when (they think) they're getting what they want".
[/niggle]

I do agree that all Cheato would have do is tell them The Wall is completed, and they'd forget all about it. But Cheato doesn't want any wall - he wants a wall ISSUE. Build the wall and it goes away. Cheato no likey.
 
Elixir said:
Gun Nut said:
Tr
and what does an angry crowd of people do when they get what they (think they) want? They dissipate and return to their normal lives.
Click to expand...

I believe you meant "when (they think) they're getting what they want".
[/niggle]

I do agree that all Cheato would have do is tell them The Wall is completed, and they'd forget all about it. But Cheato doesn't want any wall - he wants a wall ISSUE. Build the wall and it goes away. Cheato no likey.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think Trump would have been happy to have it as an issue go away but Rush and Ann dropped it in a paper bag, set it at his front door, and lit it on fire.
 
TV and credit cards said:
Elixir said:
Gun Nut said:
Tr
and what does an angry crowd of people do when they get what they (think they) want? They dissipate and return to their normal lives.
Click to expand...

I believe you meant "when (they think) they're getting what they want".
[/niggle]

I do agree that all Cheato would have do is tell them The Wall is completed, and they'd forget all about it. But Cheato doesn't want any wall - he wants a wall ISSUE. Build the wall and it goes away. Cheato no likey.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think Trump would have been happy to have it as an issue go away but Rush and Ann dropped it in a paper bag, set it at his front door, and lit it on fire.
Click to expand...

I still think that Elixir is basically right that Donald Trump manufactured this crisis out of whole cloth. He could easily have ignored Limbaugh and Coulter. His supporters don't need him to build a wall. They just loved to cheer his outrageous performance. He said ridiculous things and got away with it, much to the consternation of liberals everywhere. Coulter and Limbaugh would have moved on to the next budget showdown. At this point, Trump had another self-inflicted wound in his right flank over his disastrous Syria announcement, which did not go over so well with his base of supporters. Unfortunately, he is easily distracted and manipulated. He wasn't strong enough to ignore Limbaugh and Coulter, so he made a worse mess to appease them. Now he has painted himself into a corner. He has to find a way to save face. And here comes Romney to rub salt into the wound.
 
I see this as a good move on Romney's part. Trump may very well be going down. Or be so toxic by 2020, he cannot win. By essentially declaring his independence from Trump, Mitt is free to act sensibly and not become a total sycophant for the Trump cult. He can then, if necessary, work with the Democrats to get what he wants, without being tied to Trump as a ball and chain, politically. He gets this over from the beginning, and avoids embarrassing problems of not supporting Trump 101% later. Being nominally independent as the walls cave in on Trump is a good move. Had he not done this, he would be pressured right now to be a "team player" in lock step with Trump, but he has innoculated himself from that from the beginning.
 
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