# Is Mitt the new Hillary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 3, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188 "2011-06-03T13:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/61 "2011-06-05T22:59:54Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Hillary was a huge front runner and most thought she was a sure bet to get the nomination. Romney is one of a secretarial pool of Republicans ,without a front runner. Not one of them has shown the ability to cross the divides within the party, let alone lure Dems and independents. > I am not sure Romney can win over the Tea Baggers. He has a healthcare problem and a religious problem. You can not wave them away. That’s not accurate either. Romney raised 10 million bucks in one day not too long ago. Most of these candidates will have trouble raising 10 million in their entire campaign. I’d say Romney is the clear frontrunner. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/62 "2011-06-05T23:24:18Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > That’s not accurate either. Romney raised 10 million bucks in one day not too long ago. Most of these candidates will have trouble raising 10 million in their entire campaign. I’d say Romney is the clear frontrunner. Polling shows a stain of Republican candidates in a blob. There is no front runner. Hell Trump was front runner a couple weeks ago. Today it is the horn dog Giuliani who is front runner. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/63 "2011-06-05T23:47:17Z")
That’s all name recognition. There’s no front-runner at this point. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/64 "2011-06-06T00:26:02Z")
Which is why Romney is not like Hillary. She was way ahead and on a roll. Romney is like Bush, another spoiled rich guy who thinks the presidency belongs to him if he decides he wants it. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/65 "2011-06-06T01:49:32Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Polling shows a stain of Republican candidates in a blob. There is no front runner. Hell Trump was front runner a couple weeks ago. > Today it is the horn dog Giuliani who is front runner. There’s a reason the White House has been tying to torpedo Mitt’s chances by linking healthcare to what Romney passed in Massachusetts, no? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/66 "2011-06-06T02:11:47Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Which is why Romney is not like Hillary. She was way ahead and on a roll. > Romney is like Bush, another spoiled rich guy who thinks the presidency belongs to him if he decides he wants it. While his methods may be questionable, I believe Romney made his own money. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/67 "2011-06-06T02:46:24Z")
I was just reminded about Rick Perry. He’s been making noises that seem to be feints to judge support. If he can get some backing I’d say he’s the ideal anti-Romney. Paleoconservative, actually has a job,\* from a big state with plenty of media attention, no major enemies in the party that I’m aware of. Whether he can get nominated or elected is a different question. But as the person that the right-wing of the party can get behind? He’s head and shoulders over the others. \*Anybody notice that no sitting Senators are in the race? When was the last time that happened? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/68 "2011-06-06T04:32:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > A lot of people felt that way about Catholics back then, and some still do. Indeed and its also quite possible to consider Mormonism to be a heresy (as much as Islam is) and yet vote for the candidate because he has the best policies. > [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Whatever. Mormons are less annoying than Evangelicals, so at the very least Romney can play the ‘could be worse’ card. What makes you say that? They’re just as proselytizing as the Evangelicals. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/69 "2011-06-06T04:52:45Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > While his methods may be questionable, I believe Romney made his own money. Believe if you want, but his dad was Gov., of Michigan, a hugely successful salesman , and head of American Motors. He also ran for president. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/70 "2011-06-06T11:56:17Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’m trying to envision a future in which the movement conservatives all stay home rather than putting up a candidate to topple Romney. I can’t. Can you seriously see this? Are you saying they’re going to just write off the last two years? They got a shift to a Republican majority in the House but now they’ll sit on their hands? > > I know I talked about this being the silly season earlier. But nothing’s that silly. There’s a spectrum of political devotion, you know. For every fundamentalist who froths at the mouth at political rallies, there are twenty who are mostly concerned with their kids, their jobs, their churches, their immediate concerns. Those people generally vote the way their church seems to be leaning, but if they have a deep internal discomfort with an aspect of the candidate, I can very well see quite a few being too busy to vote come election day. especially in the primaries. I grew up in Alabama, and I’ve known a lot of people that would be really, really uncomfortable voting for someone they perceive as non-Christian, regardless of any other considerations. The trick is whether or not they would perceive him as non-Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/71 "2011-06-06T12:12:05Z")
Exapno, Palin isn’t running - yet. Crane ---
**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:** [June 6, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/72 "2011-06-06T12:30:55Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Exapno, > > Palin isn’t running - yet. > > Crane Palin isn’t running. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/73 "2011-06-06T12:35:43Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > What makes you say that? They’re just as proselytizing as the Evangelicals. Personal experience. The only way to deal with Evangelicals is generally to avoid them altogether. They are divisive, period. Mormons seem to have the ability to drop the act and interact with a person as a person. Maybe my experience is merely limited. The annoyingness of Evangelicals is hard to top in any case. Did they ever even get the memo that this isn’t 1650? Fortunately we don’t have to fuck around with either one. We have Obama until 0’16. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/74 "2011-06-06T12:55:20Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Palin isn’t running. Technically. Exploratory committees, bus tours, fundraising fireside chats, whatever the euphemism is today doesn’t matter, it’s campaigning and that’s what running for office is. Yeah, I know they haven’t filed with the FEC, but I don’t know why anyone considers these coy maneuvers anything but the first phase of running for President. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/75 "2011-06-06T13:26:19Z")
Because actually running would require a lot of financial disclosure and some degree of self-disciplined work, and would be very unlikely to result in a win for Palin. By not running, but not saying, she garners an endless amount of public attention and the ability to use PAC funds with virtually no oversight, plus she ends up being able to look like she is a serious factor in the decision making of the Republican committee. If she doesn’t run, she and her fans can continue to believe that if she had, she might have won. She also gets to feel like Kingmaker. It’d actually an ideal situation for Palin. Huge amounts of attention, no actual responsibility, no opposition, people throwing money at her, and adoring fans wherever she goes, begging her to run for President. Why _would_ she actually run for President? She gets almost all of the perks with almost none of the hassle simply by not running, but not ruling it out. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/76 "2011-06-06T13:36:52Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > Why _would_ she actually run for President? Never underestimate a politician’s ego. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/77 "2011-06-06T13:39:14Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Indeed and its also quite possible to consider Mormonism to be a heresy (as much as Islam is) and yet vote for the candidate because he has the best policies. Snort. Yeah, right. Keep 'em coming. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/78 "2011-06-06T14:13:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Never underestimate a politician’s ego. Yes, and from what I’ve read, Palin’s is the size of Alaska. But I suspect there are enough people around her with clear enough vision to recognize that she has virtually no chance of winning, and manipulate her into not running and keeping the cash cow going. The minute she declares, she will not only be expected to get more serious in her discussions (something which she might well dismiss), but she’ll be subject to all those pesky campaign finance regs, which can’t be brushed aside so easily. From what I’ve read, Palin’s always had trouble making a distinction between her own funds and those relating to whatever position she’s holding, so this may not strike her personally as a problem, but the people around her surely can see it. Because she’s such an egotist and falls so readily into the belief that she’s being persecuted, it shouldn’t be too hard for her people to manipulate her into not running. Since they are almost certainly milking the cash cow themselves, I’d think they’d have every reason to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/79 "2011-06-06T14:42:43Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > But I suspect there are enough people around her with clear enough vision to recognize that she has virtually no chance of winning, and manipulate her into not running and keeping the cash cow going. There isn’t that much to debate here, really. She’ll run or she won’t, and I’ve been saying for a long time that she will. I started to change my mind the last few months and then she started up with this bus tour nonsense. If she’s interested, her advisers aren’t going to talk her out of it. And I think you’re assuming she’d hire _good_ advisers. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188/80 "2011-06-06T14:57:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s true that Romney has had trouble winning over parts of the conversative establishment (because he’s not a hardline conservative) … Hardline? It’s debatable that he’s a conservative at all. RINO at best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mitt-the-new-hillary/584188.md?page=5)