In his continuing quest to alienate voters and outsource the heavy lifting of the presidential campaign to others, Mitt Romney is turning his back on the Lone Star State without so much as an RSVP. What a snob.
From today's Houston Chronicle
For their state convention in early June, Texas Republicans will have to settle for an also-ran after being spurned by the presumptive nominee for president.
Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who suspended his White House campaign a few weeks ago, will be one of the featured speakers at the convention's June 8 banquet in Fort Worth. Mitt Romney will not.
"The (Romney) campaign was extended an invitation, and we never heard back," state party spokesman Chris Elam said.
Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams blamed a scheduling conflict.
Yeah, it’s always a
“scheduling conflict”. Mitt’s got a lot on his plate, between slamming present and past presidents, working with his accountants to delay his tax filing, overseeing construction of his Western White House with Car Elevator, attending Ann’s dressage events, and shaking down secret donors to his SuperPAC for more ads.
Oh, and buying up YouTube so he can destroy all the clips of his previous pronouncements.
So, yeah, we get it. There’s only one of him, and there’s only 25 million of us here in the Lone Star State. We can do the math. He's 25 million times more important than any of us.
Follow along below the tumbling tumbleweed for more...
Not that we can’t make the best of the situation:
"I am very pleased that we have been able to confirm Senator Santorum’s appearance at our Convention Gala,” said Texas Republican Party Chair Steve Munisteri in a statement. "His campaign was very active in Texas during the primary season, and I am excited to offer our convention attendees the opportunity to hear from a major national figure in our party," he said.
Don’t worry, Mitt. It’s not like we’ll hold a grudge or anything. We know you’re a busy guy, and really, who wouldn’t rather hear from Santorum anyway? You never know
what that guy might say once you wind him up and trot him out onto the stage. It’s kinda exciting, really. Mitt? Not so much.
Rice University political scientist Mark Jones, acknowledging that he does not know the specific circumstances of Romney's Texas turn-down, said the political benefits of a convention appearance are overshadowed by the liabilities.
"Given his need to pivot back to the center, the state convention of the Texas Republican Party is not an ideal venue for that," he said. "The Texas Republican Party is one of the most conservative in the country, and the activists who will be attending the convention are even more conservative."
Yeah, you certainly don’t want to be seen hanging out with any true conservatives. Think of how that would look! Now that you’ve all but sewn up the nomination, you can’t be seen
pallin’ around with Tea Party types. Don’t worry; they’ll get over it. It’s not like they’re armed and dangerous or anything...
Jones also noted that Romney is likely to win Texas in November regardless, so spurning the convention probably is of no significance.
Just remember, Mitt: Hell hath no fury like a Texan scorned.
According to the results of a Public Policy Polling survey released last week, Texas Republicans are coalescing behind Romney, however reluctantly. They initially supported their favorite son, Texas Gov. Rick Perry. When he dropped out of the race in January, they sashayed over to Santorum.
Whoa! Whoa! What?? They
“sashayed over to Santorum”?! Rick’s not gonna like that! He has very strict rules about people sashaying. The Santorum advance team will need to coordinate early and often with our Texas GOP operatives on the ground to ensure that there will be no sashaying at this event.
Now that the former Pennsylvania senator is out of the race, Romney leads Texas with 45 percent to 35 percent over Newt Gingrich - who is scheduled to withdraw from the race on Tuesday - and 14 percent for Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
A Public Policy Polling survey in January showed Texas voters were divided in their feelings about the former Massachusetts governor, with 44 percent rating him favorably and 44 percent rating him unfavorably. The recent poll put him at 66 percent favorable, 23 percent unfavorable.
Yeah, this part is true:
we are “divided” in our feelings about Mitt: 42% outright loathing; 32% grudging acceptance; 22% projectile-vomiting-inducing disgust, and 4% admitted wealth envy.
Romney is winning Tea Party voters, 44 percent to 38 percent, although evangelicals still support Gingrich, 45 percent to 40 percent.
This is the cool thing about evangelicals: they can spot a fraud in Romney, but they’ll support someone like our Secessionist-in-Chief whose Texas-sized closet contains some very interesting skeletons, and they’ll support someone like Newt who trades in wives (and religions) in a futile quest to reinvent himself and stave off his mortality. Love the sinner, hate the sin, I guess.
"Strong might not be the word to describe Mitt Romney's position in Texas," Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in a news release. "Voters in the state don't like him all that much, but he's still the favorite for both the primary and general elections."
We put up with an awful lot here in the Lone Star State. Droughts. Wildfires. Blithering idiots in elected office. I guess when you put it in perspective, as annoying as he is right now, Mitt’s a
self-limiting problem. Yeah, he will probably take Texas in the primary, but then we can send him off to the Caymans for a tearful reunion with his money after he loses the general election to Obama.