Mitt Romney: The Last Republican President?

by **TexasBlue** Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:12 pm

Mitt Romney: The Last Republican President?

Steve McCann
American Thinker
Jan. 17, 2012

There now appears to be an inevitability surrounding Mitt Romney and the Republican nomination for president. Are the American people prepared to sit through another term of George H.W. Bush? The chances are that Romney would be the last Republican president, as the Party may fly apart under his rule. The country would then have to face another round of the Left-dominated Democratic Party in charge and the inevitable collapse that would bring about.

The forces arrayed against the conservative challengers from the Romney money machine, the Party establishment, and the so-called conservative and mainstream media appear too formidable to overcome; particularly as the conservative movement cannot coalesce behind one candidate. The Republican Party will have succeeded in once again nominating a moderate under the guise of electability.

However, the landscape of the country is far different from days past. There is a growing awareness and unease among many that the best days of the United States are behind it and the future is indeed grim. An overwhelming 70 per cent of the populace is of the opinion that the nation is headed in the wrong direction and that the "American dream" is no more.

There is also a growing consensus, as epitomized by the Tea Party movement, that only a dramatic 180 degree course reversal can save the country.

Any nation that increases its Gross Public Debt by nearly sixty-six per cent in just four years (end of 2008--$10 Trillion; end of 2012--$16.6 Trillion), and has over $120 Trillion in unfunded liabilities, is facing a long-term financial crisis that will dwarf the ongoing dilemma in Europe. American society has fractured along secular, racial, and ethnic lines; there is no longer the cohesion that once was the hallmark of being an "American." The education system is in shambles as the Left and their allies in the public sector unions have succeeded in making this their ideological fiefdom at the expense of those they were hired to serve.

Total spending by government at all levels now exceeds 41% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, up from 28% just 40 years ago. This results in less capital available for business expansion and creating personal wealth. There are now 160,000 pages in the Code of Federal Regulations (22,800 in 1960) and over 72,000 pages in the tax code (10,000 in 1960), thus aiding and abetting the destruction of job creation and forcing businesses to locate overseas.

In the December of 2000 jobs report, the employment-population ratio was 64.5% (per cent of those employed as compared to the civilian noninstitutional population); in December of 2011 it had fallen to 58.5%. Were the country on the same footing as this point eleven year ago then there would be over 155.2 million Americans employed as compared to an actual of 140.8 million (a difference of nearly 15 million).

Because of the failures of the Obama regime, the world has become a much more dangerous place with the Middle East is now fully dominated by the radical element of Islam. As in the Balkans in the early part of the twentieth century, a minor misstep or misunderstanding in this region could ignite another global conflict. China, despite its own internal fault lines, is determined to exert its power and influence not only in the Far East but throughout the globe. A worldwide financial meltdown in the next 12 to 18 months is not out of the realm of possibility.

At no time in the past 150 years has the nation needed a bold and decisive leader that could not only initiate change but be honest with the American people.

Yet the current governing class and in particular the Republican establishment is treating this election cycle as if it were no different from any other during the past sixty years. Their reaction to the Tea Party movement is indicative of this mindset, as they choose to denigrate and dismiss this grassroots uprising as just another passing crusade by conservative ideologues. They fail to understand that the appeal of Ron Paul is that he is willing to stick it to the ruling class. The primary concern of the establishment, either Republican or Democrat, is to retain power through the control of the purse strings, and to put off any difficult decisions while "compromising" with the opposition.

The campaign strategy of Mitt Romney mirrors that of all the past moderate nominees chosen by the Party. The formula: speak the language of the conservative majority in the Party, claim only a moderate can get elected, divide the vote among the conservatives running for the nomination, mobilize the media to destroy any real conservative challenger, and overwhelm these same challengers with money from the deep-pocket establishment contributors.

The only criterion for people running for president should be: what have they actually done and accomplished in their previous jobs or positions? If there is one lesson to take from the Obama 2008 campaign, it is that relying on words and image can result in choosing a man that is a disaster for the country.

Mitt Romney, by his actions in Massachusetts both campaigning for the U.S. Senate and as Governor, has shown himself to be more than willing to compromise with the Left and the Democrats. He has proposed and passed the socialist RomneyCare policy, pro-abortion regulations, and gun control, and raised numerous taxes and fees while increasing spending dramatically. During the current campaign he refuses to call Barack Obama what he is; instead Romney refers to him as just "being over his head."

If ever a candidate mirrored the mindset and approach of George H.W. Bush, it is Mitt Romney.

This is the last hurrah of the Republican establishment. The conservatives and libertarians will vote for Romney in November, but only because he is not Barack Obama. There will be no enthusiasm, which will hurt the down ballot contests for the U.S. Senate, the House and state governorships. Despite the factors weighing against Obama in this upcoming election, it will be a much closer contest that it should be; perhaps a razor thin victory for Romney.

If Romney were to lose the election, there will be a grass-roots revolt against the Republican Party which will spell its demise. If he wins and the nation, through the mis-directed policies of Romney and the Republicans in the Congress, continues on its current path of compromising and nibbling around the edges of the nation's problems, then Romney will be the last Republican president and the specter of the Democrats re-assuming power will be a reality.

This is not only the most important election for the nation in over a century but also one that will determine the fate of a political party founded in 1854 in opposition to slavery and the corruption in the Democratic Party.