# Mitt Romney, presidential bid as a democrat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 14, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129 "2023-09-14T23:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/81 "2023-04-11T01:42:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Decades later, Reagan’s tax cuts remain in place even though they have driven the nation into peril This isn’t even close to true. Federal tax policy has changed many times in the last 40 years. > [@eschereal](#): > > A Glass-Steagal-type safely valve could have been restored in '09 when the D’s had firm control of the government, but, no such luck. > **[Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 | Federal...](https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/dodd-frank-act)** > > Signed by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010, this legislation provided wide-ranging prescriptions aimed at correcting the causes of the 2007-09 financial crisis. You can argue it wasn’t enough. You can argue a lot of things. But you can’t argue nothing was done. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/82 "2023-04-11T17:45:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > True. But given his de facto veto power over everything the D’s do, we’d do better to accept that Trumpist rather than being forced to propose only trumpist-lite legislation as our own. I’d take minor progress over no progress. Dems got a lot done even with Manchin. And he doesn’t have that power anymore with 51 senators. Better Manchin than a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/83 "2023-04-19T03:58:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Agree Romney’s got no chance to be President in the current world. Neither would GWB, GHWB, nor Saint Ronnie the Befuddled if they were each teleported into today at the age they were when they contemplated their first run at the WH. And here’s the fun part: Ford, Nixon (pre or post Watergate), and Ike couldn’t be elected today either. Pretty sure Teddy Roosevelt would be on that list, too. Taft, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover I really don’t know enough about but I don’t think Harding and Hoover ended up liked by much of anyone. That’s all the 20th Century Repubs. Close to zippo chance. Could Lincoln even be elected in the 2020’s? He seemed to have some concern about the plight of those Black folk so he’s probably out. That’s a real nice Party ya got there. Be a shame if something happened to it. Oh… Never mind. Something already has. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/84 "2023-04-19T04:07:14Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > And here’s the fun part: Ford, Nixon (pre or post Watergate), and Ike couldn’t be elected today either. And I think Teddy Roosevelt would be on that list, too. Assuming they competed as Republicans, in which case they would be buried in the primaries. But, Gerry, Teddy and Ike would not be unelectable, _per se_. Gerry would be the hardest sell. But Tricky Dick, yeah, he would be caught in a weird twilight place with no traction in either direction. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/85 "2023-04-19T04:10:05Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > But Tricky Dick, yeah, he would be caught in a weird twilight place with no traction in either direction. But even if you could magically remove Watergate and other shenanigans he couldn’t come close to being elected now because he was just too liberal for today’s knuckle-draggers. And even if you could magically disappear his pardon of Nixon, Ford wouldn’t make it because I think he had an actual soul. Both would be considered RINOs. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/86 "2023-04-19T04:14:36Z")
As much as he was reviled by the left, _before Watergate_, he was basically more to the left than any president that followed him. I mean, Gerry was not horrible, but he appointed Rockefeller to serve as VP, FFS. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/87 "2023-04-19T13:40:10Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > But even if you could magically remove Watergate and other shenanigans he couldn’t come close to being elected now because he was just too liberal for today’s knuckle-draggers. Oh, I think Nixon would excel in today’s GOP. He would simply shed any past position he’d held that would be troublesome for him and deny he’d ever held it. He would inherently understand the grudges and hatreds of the Republican base and feed them exactly what they wanted to hear. One of the things he had in common with Trump – and that they both have in common with Republican voters – was a burning resentment of elites and the political establishment. Unbound by a previous generation’s sense of political decorum, and being much, much smarter, he would likely exploit that resentment even more effectively than Trump. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/88 "2023-04-20T01:00:56Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Unbound by a previous generation’s sense of political decorum, and being much, much smarter, he would likely exploit that resentment even more effectively than Trump. I don’t disagree that Nixon would thrive in the current GOP, but he could never have been the one that starts the movement. He needs Trump to shit on the chessboard and normalize this behavior, before he swoops in and co-opts it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/89 "2023-09-14T23:17:35Z")
Does anyone see any possibilities here? This would certainly be his last shot at it and he is motivated. he has been laying the groundwork for a party switch that wouldn’t seem a surprise if it happened. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/90 "2023-09-14T23:19:26Z")
I attempted to reply, but discourse said my reply was too short. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/91 "2023-09-14T23:19:41Z")
Romney has done a pretty good job of staying out of the fray and I think he is one of the few who could get away with a blatant attack on Biden. Both Biden and Trump are undesirable for about 70% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/92 "2023-09-14T23:24:30Z")
But he couldn’t get away with running as a Democrat, as if such a thought would ever occur to him. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/93 "2023-09-14T23:25:55Z")
No. He’s a very conservative Republican that doesn’t happen to be batshit crazy. He didn’t have to fake it as he’s got a shit ton of money and at his age obviously wasn’t going to build a career in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/94 "2023-09-14T23:28:46Z")
Why on Earth would you think Romney would have any amount of support among Democrats? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/95 "2023-09-14T23:28:50Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > No. He’s a very conservative Republican that doesn’t happen to be batshit crazy. He didn’t have to fake it as he’s got a shit ton of money and at his age obviously wasn’t going to build a career in the Senate I see it as a bit of a long shot but I don’t completely rule it out I think he would make an extremely strong Democratic candidate. Yeah obviously would not do too well with the far left but he could pull from the center and the center right ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/96 "2023-09-14T23:31:09Z")
??? Whaaaa? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/97 "2023-09-14T23:31:12Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I see it as a bit of a long shot but I don’t completely rule it out I think he would make an extremely strong Democratic candidate. Apart from that bit where no Democrat would vote for him, sure. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/98 "2023-09-14T23:32:56Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > No. He’s a very conservative Republican that doesn’t happen to be batshit crazy. This. The fact that he’s an anti-Trump Republican may give him a modest level of respect among some Democrats, but compared to any actual Democratic candidate, his views and policies are going to be far too conservative. He may be marginally not as unpalatable to liberal voters as Trump or his MAGA allies, but that doesn’t mean he’s actually palatable to them. See a not-dissimilar discussion here, from last year, about Liz Cheney: [Liz Cheney for president. Who would vote for her?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liz-cheney-for-president-who-would-vote-for-her/969830/) Also, memories aren’t _that_ short, and liberal voters will remember his comments from his 2012 presidential run, like: > [@](#): > > “There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what … who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims. … These are people who pay no income tax. … and so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” > [@](#): > > “I had the chance to pull together a cabinet, and all the applicants seemed to be men. […] I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks?’ And they brought us whole binders full of women.” ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/99 "2023-09-14T23:33:05Z")
I’d rather encourage him to run as an Independent. He’d surely siphon-off enough R votes in key states to assure a Biden victory, without pulling too many D votes. In fact, if Christie is determined to keep Trump out of the White House, they should team up for a Christie/Romney Independent ticket to split the R vote and his goal will likely be accomplished. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129/100 "2023-09-14T23:47:44Z")
Romney is far to the right of Reagan. Very few Democrats voted for Reagan and even fewer will vote for Romney. That idea is pure insanity brought about by forgetting where the Overton window used to be anchored. You are correct that Romney is one of the less batshit insane members of the Reactionary Traitor party. That still leaves him well to the right of substantially all 1980s Republicans plus all Democrats ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-presidential-bid-as-a-democrat/990129.md?page=6)