Quoting John Adams during his speech Wednesday night, former GOP Presidential Nominee
Mitt Romney said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
In including this quote, he almost implied that Donald Trump’s election to the presidency would be the line of demarcation between the continuation in a line of thoughtful, honorable, and altruistic presidents and the abyss of democratic “suicide” that has doomed every other democratic nation in history.
What Mitt said does not seem far off base at this point. Electing Donald Trump would be incredibly dangerous for a multitude of reasons, many of which Mitt touched on in his speech.
It was an admirable effort. However, none of it will matter.
Mitt Romney is to Trump supporters, as the WaPo’s Chris Cillizza puts it, “another sad loser of the Republican Party’s past.”
Romney’s speech will sway no one’s opinion. While those against Trump nod their heads in solemn agreement, his supporters celebrate what is more of the establishment’s desperate attempts to deliver someone, anyone else to the party’s nomination.
As Alexandra Petri pointed out in her article, the only way Mitt could have actually damaged Trump’s aspirations would have been to fully endorse him. Mitt should have said something along the lines of: “We’re in the Illuminati together. Believe me, he’s just as invested in the status quo as any of us. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for me. I love the guy.”
But unfortunately, he only put forth valid concerns, professed his supreme distaste for the Donald, and strengthened his supporters’ resolve.
Should Mitt have said anything?
Why hasn’t he endorsed any other GOP candidate if he’s committed to opposing Trump?
Will his comments really matter at all?
2 comments:
Great post, Ruby! I really enjoyed the dramatic pauses and use of parody. I do agree that the best thing Romney could have done to hurt Trump would be to endorse him. Many polls show that Trump supporters respect him because he "speaks his mind" as opposed to the phony politicos that dominate Washington.
Trump also frequently refers to his own party from an outsider's perspective, calling them "The Republicans." As he as shown with his promise to run independently if not given the Republican nomination, and his Democratic status as of very recently, the marriage between Trump and the Republican party is a very medieval one: arranged out of convenience, devoid of love, and wholly opposed to Saracens.
At this point, the Donald has positioned himself in such a position of independence and brash defiance of the establishment that any attempt by Republican moderates or traditional sources of power in Washington to curb him utterly fail. Truly, the best thing Romney could have done to stop Trump would be to endorse the blonde bombshell himself.
I agree with WillyB in the idea that Romney should have endorsed Trump if he really wanted to hurt him. I mean just look at how fast Christie was put on a plane and sent away from Trump's political campaign. The main reason that Romney is so angered by Donald Trump is the idea that Trump could potentially hurt the entire integrity of the Republican Party. Trump does not represent the ideas of the GOP in a traditional sense, and the growing support for him could derail the GOP. Although as WillyB said, this could have added to Trump's support, I feel like it was a good idea for Romney to say something. The GOP needs to do something if they want to keep their party from fracturing, because with the Democratic party so together at this moment, a fracturing of the GOP could solidify Liberals chances at the presidency for years to come. Romney has not officially endorsed any candidate so far, and probably won't during this primary season. I do not know why Romney has not endorsed a candidate yet, other than maybe not wanting to almost drag a candidate down by being endorsed by a candidate that lost the race.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/donald-trump-mitt-romney-mean-tweets-220488
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/03/08/romney-sends-out-robo-calls-for-rubio-against-trump.html
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