Mitt Romney can beat President Obama. He stands a better chance of victory than any other Republican candidate. He deserves the GOP presidential nomination because conservatives can’t afford to fail in 2012.
In politics, the goal is always to win the next election. This will be especially important twelve months from now. Conservatives have an opportunity not just to stop Obama’s left-wing agenda, but to reverse it. Yet if Republicans lose, Obama’s policies are the future. America’s fiscal crisis will deepen, the substance of Obamacare will become permanent, and U.S. standing in the world will continue to erode.
Some people think defeating Obama will be easy. They’re wrong. Campaigning may be what Obama does best. He and his allies expect to spend $1 billion next year. The president will enjoy the advantages of incumbency. He’ll have the media behind him once again. His current approval rating is low, but other presidents, such as Reagan and Clinton, bounced back from poor marks. Even a slight uptick in the country’s economic performance will create an irresistible storyline. Obama could turn into the second coming of the Comeback Kid, the nickname once applied to Clinton.
To overcome these hurdles, Republicans will need a strong nominee. That’s Romney. He’s a seasoned candidate who learned from a tough campaign in 2008. This year, he is consistently the best performer in debates, as even his critics must admit. His rivals have suffered from gaffes and setbacks, and they’ve struggled with staff turnover and financial problems. Romney, however, articulates his views crisply and has run his campaign smoothly. These assets probably come from his background in the private sector, helping distressed companies turn competitive, plus saving the Winter Olympics.
National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr. had a rule: Always support the most conservative candidate who is electable. It’s tempting to dream of an unbeatable fantasy Republican, but no such person exists in real life. Chris Christie may come close, but he chose not to run — and then he endorsed Romney. So did Tim Pawlenty before him. Rick Perry entered the race with a reputation as a tough-talking Texan, but in debates he has had difficulty assembling words into sentences. Herman Cain’s frankness is refreshing, but his signature issue is a tax plan that’s controversial, even among conservatives, because it would create a whole new category of taxation: the federal sales tax.
The other candidates have their own virtues, but none has a better chance of beating Obama than Romney, who has a proven record of winning Democratic and independent votes. Romney, after all, has prevailed among Massachusetts voters, who Dave Barry once wrote “in normal times would elect a crustacean before they would vote Republican.”
Romney’s success in Massachusetts is essential to his appeal. In this bluest of blue states, he stood up for traditional marriage and the right to life. Many conservatives dislike his health-care plan, but Romney has done what really matters: He has promised to wipe out Obamacare, issuing waivers to states on his first day in the Oval Office. He’s also certain to pick a running mate who will appeal to conservatives.
Then there are the polls. Taking them too seriously is a mistake, but so is ignoring them. According to the October surveys tracked by Real Clear Politics, Obama leads Cain by 6 to 12 points, Perry by 9 to 14 points, and Newt Gingrich by 11 to 15 points. Right now, Romney is the only Republican candidate who runs even with Obama.
For conservatives, the choice is clear: In 2012, we win with Mitt.
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.