So, Mitt Romney "...had no desire to ... run" according to his son, Tagg

[Mann Slaughter]

Tagg told the Boston Globe today that the REAL reason his father lost the election was:

“He wanted to be president less than anyone I’ve met in my life," Tagg Romney told the paper. "He had no desire to ... run. If he could have found someone else to take his place ... he would have been ecstatic to step aside."

Short Yahoo article here.

Pg1 of the full Boston Globe article here.

Really...?
I for one am under the impression that people who don't want to be president simply DON'T RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT!

[John Mace]

Sour grapes. Romney had been running for president for the last 10 years. I believe what I see, not what someone says who has an agenda he's pushing.

[Morgenstern]

I'm betting Mitt already had a victory speech penned and I'm willing to bet it didn't have a single comment in it regarding him not wanting to be POTUS.

[Cumberdale]

Then it's a good thing he didn't win. In the past I've had jobs I didn't want and it is no fun.

[BobLibDem]

Originally Posted by Morgenstern

I'm betting Mitt already had a victory speech penned and I'm willing to bet it didn't have a single comment in it regarding him not wanting to be POTUS.

I wish they'd release that speech. He probably had the inauguration speech written, his second convention acceptance speech, and his second inaugural written too. And maybe even his farewell address. He didn't want to be president! Ha!

[Smapti]

Considering that his entire presidential platform was basically "Mitt Romney should be president", I'm not buying it.

[Blaster Master]

I'm not saying I believe this, but there are times when people step up to jobs that they're not particularly interested in because they don't think anyone else can really do it, or at least not nearly as well. Given that he obviously thought Obama was doing a poor job and the pool of other candidates, I don't think it's impossible that perhaps he thought that. Still, given his actions, I'd put that as an extremely slim possibility and most likely just sour grapes.

[MeanOldLady]

"I didn't wanna win anyway, so nyah!"

[Northern Piper]

Originally Posted by Blaster Master

I Given that he obviously thought Obama was doing a poor job and the pool of other candidates, I don't think it's impossible that perhaps he thought that.

Then why did he run in 2008, before Obama?

[MeanOldLady]

Because he didn't want to.

[John Mace]

It is his doom!

Sorry, it's raining like shit here, and I'm watching Lord of the Rings on TNT.

[WhyNot]

First thing a Romney's ever said that I think is probably true. No sane person could have run that campaign if he actually wanted the job; it had to be self-sabotage. It was the political equivalent of the dude who shows up late to the job interview reeking of Mad Dog while wearing a dirty tshirt and visible tatts and swearing at the interviewer. His family may have wanted him to get the job, but he sure didn't want it.

[China Guy]

I think Romney has been running for President practically his entire life. This line, although it came from his son, is in line with all the bull he spouted.

[Ethilrist]

That explains a lot about his campaign, aside from the whole "running" part. I guess so long as he could do it using somebody else's money, it'd be a good excuse to get out of the house for a while.

[Vinyl Turnip]

He tricked us into not voting for him. That bastard! We've all been suckered by the long con!

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by WhyNot

First thing a Romney's ever said that I think is probably true. No sane person could have run that campaign if he actually wanted the job; it had to be self-sabotage. It was the political equivalent of the dude who shows up late to the job interview reeking of Mad Dog while wearing a dirty tshirt and visible tatts and swearing at the interviewer. His family may have wanted him to get the job, but he sure didn't want it.

So, when in the last 10 years did he change from wanting to run to not wanting to run?

It's absurd to claim that would go through all the pain and grief of that primary and then the general unless he actually wanted to run. He ran a bad campaign. Just like McCain ran a bad campaign, and Kerry ran a bad campaign. Hell, Hillary ran a bad primary campaign and no one is going to say she didn't want to run.

I know it's fashionable here to always assume the worst about Romney, but this simply makes no sense.

[Robot Arm]

Originally Posted by John Mace

So, when in the last 10 years did he change from wanting to run to not wanting to run?

As soon as Fox News called Ohio.

I've heard it said occasionally, and not entirely in jest, that wanting to be president should disqualify someone from being president. But this claim about Romney is worse, in a way. If it's true, then Romney is someone with so little faith in his policies to make people's lives better (or so little concern for the people affected) as to want to see them enacted, and of so little character as to be pushed into something he didn't want by the people around him. If either of those is the case, thank goodness he didn't win.

And that Tagg Romney would make this claim now shows he's as tone deaf to the messages his words send as his dad is.

[LC Strawhouse]

The funniest thing is that this statement is basically a big F.U. to Romney supporters ("Guess what? You've been Bained, suckers!")

[Marley23]

Bullshit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Ro...campaign,_2012

After the 2008 election, Romney built a strategy for the 2012 presidential campaign and saved PAC money to underwrite salaries and consulting fees for his existing political staff and to build up a political infrastructure for what might become a $1 billion campaign three years hence. He also had a nationwide network of former staff and supporters eager for him to run again. He continued to give speeches and raise campaign funds on behalf of fellow Republicans. Romney declined a lucrative job as head of a hedge fund, and instead began a yearlong self-education on foreign and domestic issues.

Romney finished first in the CPAC straw poll in 2009 and second in 2010 and 2011, won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll in 2010, and won the New Hampshire Straw Poll in 2011.
[...]
Despite his preparations, Romney remained unconvinced on whether to run again. In December 2010 he asked his immediate family to vote on a 2012 campaign. Unlike the unanimous support before the 2008 campaign, this time 10 family members voted against another try; only Romney's wife Ann and one son voted in favor, and Romney told family members that he would not run again. In the spring of 2011 his wife and political allies persuaded him to change his mind, telling Romney that they believed he could fix the economy.

I can believe he had some mixed feelings about running. But he did everything he could to stay on the radar as a possible candidate and then did everything he felt he needed to do to win. Making this excuse after the fact is just lame, and it suggests Tagg is cut from the same kind of cloth as Mitt.

[WhyNot]

Originally Posted by John Mace

So, when in the last 10 years did he change from wanting to run to not wanting to run?

It's absurd to claim that would go through all the pain and grief of that primary and then the general unless he actually wanted to run. He ran a bad campaign. Just like McCain ran a bad campaign, and Kerry ran a bad campaign. Hell, Hillary ran a bad primary campaign and no one is going to say she didn't want to run.

I know it's fashionable here to always assume the worst about Romney, but this simply makes no sense.

No idea. I also don't think it's necessarily "assuming the worst" to point it out. I don't know if he ever wanted to run. Maybe he's just one of those folks who feel so responsible to others that they don't stand for themselves. Lots and lots of people around him wanted him to run, for sure. Or if he wanted to be a very different kind of president with different policies that he thought couldn't get him elected. I also have no idea why people come in for job interviews they clearly don't want, get hired and don't show up for work, etc. People are weird.

[TriPolar]

This came from Tagg. We shouldn't hold this against Mitt. We already know Mitt thinks he lost because Obama bought votes from the 47%. We don't even know if we've seen the last of Mitt.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by TriPolar

We don't even know if we've seen the last of Mitt.

We have.

[johnpost]

Originally Posted by Marley23

Bullshit.

...

Making this excuse after the fact is just lame, and it suggests Tagg is cut from the same kind of cloth as Mitt.

he has a future in politics.

[Docta G]

Apparently Tagg has no desire not to be a punk-ass douchebag.

[Sitnam]

Then Tagg and I agree on at least one thing, his father was unsuited for office.

[Sitnam]

Originally Posted by Docta G

Apparently Tagg has no desire not to be a punk-ass douchebag.

He's watching you.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by WhyNot

No idea. I also don't think it's necessarily "assuming the worst" to point it out.

OK, change that to "paints him in the less favorable light.

I don't know if he ever wanted to run. Maybe he's just one of those folks who feel so responsible to others that they don't stand for themselves. Lots and lots of people around him wanted him to run, for sure. Or if he wanted to be a very different kind of president with different policies that he thought couldn't get him elected. I also have no idea why people come in for job interviews they clearly don't want, get hired and don't show up for work, etc. People are weird.

Since he spent so much time doing it, it just seems odd to assume he didn't want to do it. I'd need a lot more evidence then a potentially sour grapes offspring of a poor campaign. Both are a dime a dozen. I need some serious ass evidence since it such a huge undertaking.

[Simplicio]

He's never met anyone who wants to be President less then Mitt Romney? Sort of a weird world to live in where everyone you run into is harboring greater Presidential ambitions then the actual nominee.

[leahcim]

It seems like all of the recent Republican candidates would not have run were it not for God telling them to (after discussing it with their family, of course). "Didn't really want to run" is just part of the "humble and pious" narrative.

[Enkel]

Take that Koch bro's, et al! He wasn't 'bad' he just wasn't interested.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Simplicio

He's never met anyone who wants to be President less then Mitt Romney? Sort of a weird world to live in where everyone you run into is harboring greater Presidential ambitions then the actual nominee.

Let's not discount the skill of a good interviewer to get someone to say something really, really stupid. Not sure Tagg is the sharpest knife in the rack, either. Isn't he the one who wanted to punch people for something or other?

[Elendil's Heir]

I think Tagg was trying to say that his dad wasn't consumed by ambition and was just running for the good of the country. But that's not the Mitt we've seen relentlessly campaigning for the better part of a decade.

Originally Posted by LC Strawhouse

The funniest thing is that this statement is basically a big F.U. to Romney supporters ("Guess what? You've been Bained, suckers!")

Yeah, really. Imagine you were a hardcore Romney supporter (yes, there are still some out there) who worked really hard, and donated to the campaign over and over, and put up his yard signs, and talked to their friends and neighbors, and stuck with him even when it looked like he might lose the nomination to a nobody like Cain or Gingrich or Perry. Now you learn... ol' Mitt never really wanted the job after all.

To which they would likely reply with one voice, "Thanks, Tagg. Thanks a whole fuckin' lot."

[JRDelirious]

Wasn't Tagg the one who said he had felt like taking a swing at Obama during the debate (and then had to go up to the Prez to apologize)?

Sounds to me like the younger Romney needs to go contemplate the many benefits of keeping his thoughts to himself until someone else gets to proofread them. Being generous, I'd say like Elendil's Heir, he probably meant to convey that Dad wasn't doing it out of ambition but out of sense of patriotic duty(*), but the boy can't string together a proper public statement.

(* And stepping in out of a sense of patriotic duty is fine for jury duty, enlisting in the Army, or volunteering to help the needy. But CEO and CinC of the republic? Ya gotta have your whole heart in it. And ya gotta want it for yourself, not to make up for how the Old Man did not get there.)

[not what you'd expect]

I don't believe old Tagg. What kind of name is that anyway? He must have been teased a lot growing up. Kids running up to him and yelling "You're it."

[LC Strawhouse]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Yeah, really. Imagine you were a hardcore Romney supporter (yes, there are still some out there) who worked really hard, and donated to the campaign over and over, and put up his yard signs, and talked to their friends and neighbors, and stuck with him even when it looked like he might lose the nomination to a nobody like Cain or Gingrich or Perry. Now you learn... ol' Mitt never really wanted the job after all.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch. They all idolized Romney's skillz at ripping off the little guy, but they couldn't fathom he could be ripping THEM off too. Priceless.

I wouldn't be surprised if Clint Eastwood was subconsciously rebelling against the whole project too. I mean, he actually told Mitt to go F himself during his big speech (using invisible Obama's voice)

Originally Posted by not what you'd expect

I don't believe old Tagg. What kind of name is that anyway? He must have been teased a lot growing up. Kids running up to him and yelling "You're it."

Mitt was surely comparing baby name ideas with Sarah Palin.

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by John Mace

I know it's fashionable here to always assume the worst about Romney, but this simply makes no sense.

Thing is, there really isn't any "not worst" option here. Either Romney spent many years and lots of money running for a job he didn't want, or he did want it & ran such a terrible campaign that people have been making jokes since before the election that he didn't want the job.

[Boyo Jim]

I think there is one kinda legitimate meaning to this. I think Romney certainly wanted to be president, but grew to hate the campaigning for it. Possibly he even grew tired of the continual lying he had to do just to get through the primaries. He probably didn't mind attacking Obama -- like so many other conservatives he may have been in the Fox bubble and actually believed Obama was as bad as he said. But he surely understood he was denying most of his own political history, when in reality he was probably rather proud of it.

Plus, he must have understood he was working his hardest to appeal to cretins. I can imagine that would get very tiring.

[DigitalC]

Yeah, i can totally believe that Romney didn't want to RUN for president, he just wanted it handed over to him.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

So you get a uncharismatic dude who doesn't want the job in a weak economy, who sabotages his own campaign, and screws every pooch he can find along the campaign trail--and he still wins 47 % of the popular vote. What would someone have to do to win under 40%? Literally screw a couple of pooches on national TV?

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

So you get a uncharismatic dude who doesn't want the job in a weak economy, who sabotages his own campaign, and screws every pooch he can find along the campaign trail--and he still wins 47 % of the popular vote. What would someone have to do to win under 40%? Literally screw a couple of pooches on national TV?

Everyone knows that one. Caught in a hotel bed with a live boy hooker or a dead girl hooker.

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

So you get a uncharismatic dude who doesn't want the job in a weak economy, who sabotages his own campaign, and screws every pooch he can find along the campaign trail--and he still wins 47 % of the popular vote. What would someone have to do to win under 40%?

Run against a white guy in better economic times.

[Boyo Jim]

Have a worse hairstyle?

[BobLibDem]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

So you get a uncharismatic dude who doesn't want the job in a weak economy, who sabotages his own campaign, and screws every pooch he can find along the campaign trail--and he still wins 47 % of the popular vote. What would someone have to do to win under 40%? Literally screw a couple of pooches on national TV?

If Obama was white, Romney gets under 45%. Maybe not as low as 40%, but definitely enough to lose by 10%+. That would be a shellacking. He loses North Carolina and perhaps even Indiana, so he'd have matched McCain's states. Want to see under 40%? Run Santorum against Hillary when the economy is humming along in 2016.

[Shakes]

It seems to me that this is a big slap in the face to Trigg's own father.

If I were Mitt, I'd be a little more than pissy with him right now.

[Inner Stickler]

Originally Posted by Sitnam

He's watching you.

Josh Romney is the creepy stare dude, not Tagg.

[foolsguinea]

Originally Posted by DigitalC

Yeah, i can totally believe that Romney didn't want to RUN for president, he just wanted it handed over to him.

Alternatively, it could be that he wanted to run, and win, just to prove he could, but had no real clear idea what to do after that.

And at this point, he's having to rewire his brain after running for so long and giving so much to it. He may no longer be sure he wanted it, and may be rewriting his own history for subconscious reasons.

[drewtwo99]

I started a thread here many moons ago saying that I really didn't think Romney wanted to be president anymore. Seems I wasn't the only one who thought that!

[gamerunknown]

Originally Posted by not what you'd expect

I don't believe old Tagg. What kind of name is that anyway? He must have been teased a lot growing up. Kids running up to him and yelling "You're it."

Well, close enough. On the better days that is.

Anyway, couldn't he have fired himself?

[Vinyl Turnip]

Originally Posted by not what you'd expect

I don't believe old Tagg. What kind of name is that anyway? He must have been teased a lot growing up. Kids running up to him and yelling "You're it."

Yeah... something tells me he heard worse.

[Johanna]

Originally Posted by not what you'd expect

I don't believe old Tagg. What kind of name is that anyway? He must have been teased a lot growing up. Kids running up to him and yelling "You're it."

Somehow, Tagg is the name of the recently-founded magazine for DC lesbians. First issue was November 2012.

Coincidence?? I think so!