# GOP plan - Romney/Cain **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 19, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201 "2011-10-19T23:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/41 "2011-10-24T18:51:10Z")
Romney/Cain? Not gonna happen. My brother 😉 **Exapno** is right: Cain’s even less ready for prime time than Sarah Palin was. Romney/Huntsman? Nope. Religious conservatives will grudgingly vote for Romney, despite his being a Mormon. But an all-LDS ticket would get a few too many of them to stay home. I suppose Rubio’s a possibility, but if the GOP thinks they’ve got a chance at this late date of making inroads on the Hispanic vote by nominating one as veep, they’re crazier than I thought - and that’s a pretty high bar. Besides, Rubio’s apparently been lying to the world for years about his family history: rather than coming to the U.S. to escape Castro, apparently they moved here in 1956, years before the revolution. That’s not gonna help him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/42 "2011-10-24T19:33:26Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Well, upon further research, the only Republican female senators I can find not from New England are Murkowski (AK) and Hutchison (TX). Neither are likely candidates to be, uh, candidates. Romney/Murkowski 2012. A white male establishment figure balanced with a female outsider from Alaska. I can see Obama’s campaign slogan now, “Didn’t I already win that election?” ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/43 "2011-10-25T02:16:35Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Why would he? The only thing a far right candidate could do is energize the base. The right wing base is already sufficiently energized by the fact they want Obama out. Which if you ask many Republicans is the exact reason they LOST in 2008. They thought McCain was too moderate. They looked at the boost Palin gave him when she entered the campaign and thought, “Wow! We should have nominated someone like THAT!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/44 "2011-10-25T03:21:57Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Which if you ask many Republicans is the exact reason they LOST in 2008. They thought McCain was too moderate. They looked at the boost Palin gave him when she entered the campaign and thought, “Wow! We should have nominated someone like THAT!” Sounds like a case of conservatives all agreeing that conservatism is great. I’ve made this point before. There were a dozen Republicans running and the voters in the primary voted for the least conservative among them. And then the voters had a choice between John McCain and Barack Obama and they chose Obama. And every step the voters chose the least conservative choice. How exactly do you look at this evidence and form the conclusion that the people wanted a more conservative candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/45 "2011-10-25T03:37:06Z")
That’s just the thing. The Republican party is in disarray as disparate parts of it try to grab control. The Conservatives, the Religious Right, the Crazies. They don’t have the mentality that the party used to have of holding the Center in order to be elected and then trying to pursue their more conservative ideals. They have, by the miraculous powers of self-delusion that we Humans have in great abundance, convinced themselves that they are losing because they are NOT holding to a very Conservative, Christian, Pro-Capitalism, Anti-everything left of them agenda. And they will keep losing National Elections until either they figure it out, or more likely the Democrats once again fuck themselves in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/46 "2011-10-25T04:11:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How exactly do you look at this evidence and form the conclusion that the people wanted a more conservative candidate? When was the last time Republicans nominated the moderate candidate and won? Bush won. McCain and Dole both lost. What caused the wave election in 2010? The Republican party becoming more moderate or more conservative? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/47 "2011-10-25T05:12:35Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > When was the last time Republicans nominated the moderate candidate and won? Bush won. McCain and Dole both lost. I know 2000 is forever ago, are you seriously claiming Bush was the most conservative person in the Republican primary? McCain and Bush were the moderate candidates. The far right candidates didn’t carry a single state. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/48 "2011-10-25T07:15:39Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > When was the last time Republicans nominated the moderate candidate and won? Bush won. McCain and Dole both lost. Actually when given a choice between Bush and Gore, 50,456,002 people voted for Bush and 50,999,897 people voted for Gore. Again, people chose the less conservative choice. > [@Cyberhwk](#): > > What caused the wave election in 2010? The Republican party becoming more moderate or more conservative? It being a non-presidential election might be a significant factor. Off year elections draw fewer voters and the people who do choose to vote usually do so because they have stronger political convictions. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/49 "2011-10-25T13:52:34Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Besides, Rubio’s apparently been lying to the world for years about his family history: rather than coming to the U.S. to escape Castro, apparently they moved here in 1956, years before the revolution. That’s not gonna help him. So his family moved to the US to escape the Batista dictatorship? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/50 "2011-10-25T15:15:36Z")
> [@lalenin](#): > > So his family moved to the US to escape the Batista dictatorship? Well, maybe, but considering that Rubio works them into every speech [it’s kind of worrying that he’s not sure who they were fleeing from](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/marco-rubio-updates-his-senate-web-site-biography/2011/10/22/gIQAdt6f6L_blog.html). Rubio knew damn well that they weren’t fleeing from Castro, since his mother tried to move back in 1961. In any event, Rubio is no more ready for prime time than Palin was. He’s awfully pretty, and excels at giving prepared speeches, or at answering softball questions which he can respond to with a talking point. He goes all Perry when asked to speak off the cuff, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/51 "2011-10-25T19:36:41Z")
It’s true, in 2000 Bush ran as a moderate. Remember “compassionate conservatism”? Being “a uniter, not a divider”? He managed to fool me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/52 "2011-10-28T17:08:47Z")
He pretended to be moderate. The problem with “compassionate conservative” is that it was necessary to come up with it. Conservatism is not compassionate. It is greedy and mean. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/53 "2011-10-28T18:14:39Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > It’s true, in 2000 Bush ran as a moderate. Remember “compassionate conservatism”? Being “a uniter, not a divider”? He managed to fool me, anyway. He also ran as an anti-establishment outsider despite attending Yale and being the son of a previous president. It was a pretty fucking amazing magic trick, really. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/54 "2011-10-28T18:44:30Z")
Right, my point is that Bush didn’t win by out-conservativing all the other nominees. He cultivated an image of moderation and cooperation, as deceiving as that later turned out to be. The GOP usually ends up nominating the candidate that _appears_ the most moderate, not the most conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/55 "2011-10-28T19:04:47Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Romney/Huntsman would be a very respectable ticket, which is why it will never happen. Romney’s already held in suspicion by too many Republicans of being too moderate, and Huntsman if anything is on his left. It would appeal to more Independents but a lot of the base (e.g. Tea Partiers) would probably just stay home. Why? If the choice was “Stay home and let the socialist have at us for another 4 years” vs. “Hold your nose and get a Christian back into the Whitehouse” I’m sure they’d get a decent turnout. With a responsible ticket they might even steal enough of Obama’s default votes to make up for the super right freaks that sit at home and pout. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/56 "2011-10-28T21:29:39Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Why? If the choice was “Stay home and let the socialist have at us for another 4 years” vs. “Hold your nose and get a Christian back into the Whitehouse” I’m sure they’d get a decent turnout. With a responsible ticket they might even steal enough of Obama’s default votes to make up for the super right freaks that sit at home and pout. I don’t know… One Mormon on the ticket would be a tough pill to swallow for many Republicans, although I believe they’d choke it down if it meant getting rid of Obama. Two Mormons and I see just about the entire religious right sitting home on election day. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/57 "2011-10-31T04:07:46Z")
The people who want Romney, don’t want Cain. The people who want Cain, don’t want Romney. In some perverted way, it does balance the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/58 "2011-10-31T19:16:27Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The people who want Romney, don’t want Cain. The people who want Cain, don’t want Romney. In some perverted way, it does balance the ticket. Sort of like Kennedy/Johnson in '60. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/59 "2011-10-31T22:32:12Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > One Mormon on the ticket would be a tough pill to swallow for many Republicans, although I believe they’d choke it down if it meant getting rid of Obama. Two Mormons and I see just about the entire religious right sitting home on election day. Actually, I don’t think Romney’s religion will be all that big an issue. Since the eighties there’s been a surprising ecumenical sense among religious conservatives. While religion is the foundation of their beliefs, they devote surprisingly little attention to issues of religious dogma. They’ve even made common cause with conservative Mormons, Catholics, and Jews. Nowadays the common enemies are secular humanists and liberals. That said, I agree a Romney/Huntsman ticket would never fly. One Mormon is okay. But two working together starts looking like a conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201/60 "2011-11-01T21:42:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In the last election cycle, the GOP nominee chose someone to appeal to the fire-breathing right, someone who hurt the ticket because she appeared inexperienced, incompetent, and a loose cannon. That was true even though she was a lifelong politician and sitting governor. Cain has never been elected to political office and so cannot even make that claim to ability. That’s correct: Herman Cain does not rise to the level of Sarah Palin. Let the horror of that sentence in its implications for the ticket take root in your brain until it blossoms in all its Audrey-like glory. > > Herman Cain has exactly as much chance of being named the vice-presidential nominee as you or I. I’m not one who believes that success in business gives much indication of whether they will govern well but Cain is vastly more compentent and intelligent than Palin who is “smart enough” for a reality show but can’t pick up concepts and policy quite as quickly as Cain could and I don’t have a particularly high opinion of Cain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-romney-cain/600201.md?page=4)