The Fix says:
To our mind, former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) may have come out of the special election in New York smelling the sweetest -- he avoided getting involved at all and now looks like the voice of reason.
*As Jeff noted below, he did give $5,000 to Hoffman
** (Jeff here) To be clear, the PAC gave the donation supporting Hoffman once he became the Republican Party's candidate. Mitt Romney really is the adult leader in the party.
6 comments:
I disagree. He gave Hoffman a contribution to help him out, but he could have helped him a lot more by publicly endorsing him.
It doesn't matter that Hoffman lost, or if he won. If Mitt comes out the winner because Hoffman lost, does that mean he comes out the loser if Hoffman had won? I don't agree with either point.
You support the most principled candidate, and Hoffman was clearly it. Who cares if he lost. You don't endorse the winner, you endorse the candidate who embodies the principles you believe in.
Sarah Palin made Hoffman a contender. Now Mark Kirk is seeking a Palin endorsement. He won't be the last. The winner here is Sarah Palin, who had a lot more moxie than Mitt in coming out to stand for principles.
I was disappointed that Mitt didn't endorse Hoffman.
This is coming from a big supporter of Mitt. This incident doesn't make me want to vote for Sarah over Mitt, but I gained a lot more admiration for Sarah than I did for Mitt out of this episode.
I feel health care will come back to bite Mitt though. I like Sarah's views on health care a lot more than Mitt's, yet they both say the free market is the answer. I know you can only do so much in a state with all the mess that federal regulation makes health care in this country, but mandates and rising costs aren't the answer.
Sarah made the Hoffman race all about her. She wasn't included in the races for Governor in VA or in NJ so she stuck her nose where it didn't belong in Upstate New York, without EVER talking with Hoffman, nor was she familiar with the district.
Mitt, on the other hand, understood that Dede was not only the choice of the Republicans in their LEGAL choice among the GOP chairman, but that Dede was a popular representative in the area. Mitt understood that this was a LOCAL race, not about sticking it to the Republican Party.
I will forever respect Mitt Romney's decision for staying out of this race and will forever hold it against Sarah Palin for costing us the election.
Palin Actually Not That Popular in NY-23 (DUH!)
According to Public Policy Polling, 44 percent of voters in NY-23 said they had a negative view of the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. That's one percentage point higher than those who viewed her favorably. Isolating just Republicans in the district, the numbers are better, but not overwhelmingly so. Fifty-three percent of Republican voters said they had a positive view of Palin while 32 percent said their view was negative.
NY-23 is a decidedly Republican district, with the GOP enjoying a 14-percentage point advantage in voter ID, according to Public Policy Polling. That Palin is just breaking even in one of the "reddest" areas of the northeast shows the current limitations of her political reach.
"She could overcome those kinds of numbers in a contest to get the Republican nomination but they certainly wouldn't be good enough in a general election. The North Country should be friendly ground for her and if she can't make it there it's hard to see how she can make it anywhere."
From commenters at Committed to Romney chat:
Wow, just wow - Kirk in IL - a moderate, soliciting Palin's help. Knew this was going to happen - Palin would support the conservative running against Kirk. Blogs are heavily loaded here lambasting Kirk and saying Kirk lost votes. People here will go Dem if Palin is involved - just like NY-23. I live here and that was a terrble move on Kirk's part.
Here we go again - the conservative candidate running in Illinois against Kirk has dropped out to be able to run as an independent against Kirk. NY-23 all over again...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/03/eric-wallace-withdraws-bid-illinois-senate-seat/?test=economy
I thought he made the wisest choice in VA, NJ and NY. She was the legal Repub candidate in NY-23, Romney stayed out of it because he didn't support her, but donated to the third party once she was out. Yes, he's a Republican and it also showed respect for the state party people who chose her. That was not a national race nor was it a stage for politicians seeking the Presidency in 2012. It seems Mitt is always spelling out to people exactly what roles are what, state vs fed, city vs state. They confused mayor with governor during debates, too, and many confuse the three branches of govt.
Romney offered and was invited to campaign for Repub candidates in VA and NJ, which he did graciously. Palin offered, but wasn't asked. She inserted herself with robocalls despite the candidate wanting her to stay out of it. That was not her place to do that and showed an abject lack of respect and boundaries for the candidate running. What in the heck was that about??
No, I think Palin was the one who didn't show any good sense and FYI, the third party candidate lost because people resented being bashed for their moderate views. One minute, Repubs are trying to woo them with the old "big tent" routine, the next, people like Palin are kicking them in the teeth. You can't have it both ways.
Just wanted to add that Obama doesn't have respect for boundaries or people with dissenting views and thinks everything is about him, too. He and Palin have that in common. Romney gets them on whatever level and doesn't need to be told. I didn't even know he was campaigning because he didn't use it to make a big stink about himself. It was about them. The guy has his rudder straight in the water. Real smooth.
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