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Allen

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 7 months ago

Governor Mitt Romney vs. George Allen

 

Mitt Romney's Advantege's:

  1. Mitt Romney is a Govenor and Allen is a Senator. It is harder for a Senator to become President than a Govenor.
  2. "By successfully brokering legislation that promises to "solve" the health care problem in Massachusetts, Romney has instantly become, in President Bush's long-since-forgotten slogan from 2000, a "reformer with results." After Hurricane Katrina, David Ignatius hit upon the public's desire for a " party of performance." Mitt Romney, more than any of the other candidates is aquainted with success. Given the continuing turmoil in Iraq and the Bush administration's manifest failure to tackle health care, there's every reason to believe that the next president will be a domestic problem-solver, not an ideologue or a sweeping visionary. In this contest, an energetic executive like Romney has inherent advantages over inside-the-beltway players like John McCain, Bill Frist and George Allen. And by fighting on Democratic turf--in this case, by tackling the problem of the uninsured and the underinsured head on--Romney compounds those advantages. Provided he continues to aggressively push market-friendly domestic reforms that address pocketbook concerns, he will have a powerful weapon against his Republican rivals, most of whom are tainted to one degree or another by the "incompetent conservatism" of the Bush era." (2)
  3. Allen is spending resources on his re-election.
  4. "Romney vs. Allen could well become a classic of intra-Republican conflict, featuring two equally formidable politicians jockeying to occupy nearly identical ideological ground. Romney is off to a strong start. He is a polished performer on TV, and people are noticing. He is good-looking, charming and articulate — so impressive that at times one has to wonder how he found himself tossed among all of us mere mortals." (1)
  5. "Allen is running for re-election this year, limiting the organizing he can do in early primary states. If his Democratic challenger in Virginia is former Reagan Navy secretary and Iraq War critic James Webb, and if the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, Allen could find himself embroiled in a bruising, nationally watched referendum on the course of the war." (1)
  6. "Allen's circumstances are sticky in another way. A great populist wave is building against Washington, and he has been sitting in the Senate for six years, losing some of his edge. Romney is perfectly positioned to blast away at the bloated and out-of-touch Beltway, since he has never voted for any federal spending programs nor taken any congressional pork. After eight years of President Bush, there might be a thirst, even among Republicans, for a different cultural feel in a candidate, a sentiment that would help the smooth Romney." (1)
  7. Allen has never really been a leader. When evaluating someone for the Presidency, the voting record means very little. It's prety easy to be in the Congress, keep your head down, and vote the right way. I'm in fact all for voting for someone as my Congressional representative if I know he'll do just that. The Presidency is a wholly different matter, though. The President can't pass laws without leading, so if a Senator has failed to lead (Allen), or led in the wrong direction (McCain), then he's no good for the job. That's why right now I lean toward Romney pretty much by default. He's at least led, and led in the right direction. Now, if I missed something, and Senator Allen has been an outspoken leader on one issue or another, willing a bill through the Senate, I'd love to hear about it and be corrected on this.
  8. Look, politics is a game of pursuading your fellow man that your positions are indeed the best. That is how you push legislation through a stubborn Congress. Americans (especially after Pres GW Bush) want unquestionable smarts and competency, leadership, articulate and compelling arguments and debate, etc. That is why people are predisposed to Giuliani. People want to believe in and be confident in their President, that (s)he is making the wisest decisions. While Romney and Allen are on the same socially conservative-thinking tier, Romney is substantially more charismatic and pursuasive in speeches and interviews. I'll take a 85% pursuasive conservative who can get 60% of his agenda passed than a 99% conservative who's a sub-par speaker and gets 20% of his agenda passed. In 2008, conservatives, and probably most Americans, want a President Bush plus...more conservative than Bush (immigration, fiscal in particular) and stronger where Bush was weak (unquestionable smarts, great debating and speaking skills, proven fiscal conservative, proven ability to win their way with Dems, to name a few). Having a "doer" in office who is smarter and can see past the bologne of his self-posturing cabinet and consultants would be a refreshing change.
  9. Allen a little weak on abortion and too much resembles a stuttering Gomer Pyle when he delivers speeches.
  10. On August 11, 2006, Senator Allen refered to one of his opponent's aides using an emigmatic term "Macaca". While nobody is quite sure what he intended the term to mean, it has been generally agreed upon that it was a racial slur of sorts. The media coverage has been disastrous for his senate re-election campaign and unofficially ended his presidential bid before it even started. http://caucuscooler.blogspot.com/2006/08/line-change-macaca.html

 

 

 

 

Mitt Romney's Disadvanteges:

  1. Allen will probably be a current elected official in 2008, and Mitt Romney will not be (he is not running for re-election).

 

Sources:

1. http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200603170800.asp

2. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/04/health_care_plan_gives_romney.html

 

Other Links:

http://mikehuckabeepresident2008.blogspot.com/2006/04/huckabee-romney-travel-together.html

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