Wow, it seems like a lot of conservatives are almost openly admitting defeat over the past couple of days. Great! People tell me I can be too pessimistic, but even I am starting to believe what these people are saying -- Romney is losing.
I enjoyed finding these quotes one by one this evening, and I thought I'd compile them here and see how many I could get. All are from GOP conservatives who sense a looming Romney disaster.
Enjoy!
The stench of Romney:
“I hate to say this, but if (Paul) Ryan wants to run for national office again, he’ll probably have to wash the stench of Romney off of him.”
- Craig Robinson, former political director, Republican Party of Iowa, quoted in the NY Times on 9/23/12
Least popular candidate ever:
Romney is "the least popular candidate in history... He's never gonna win a popularity contest."
- David Brooks, NY Times columnist, on Meet the Press, 9/23/12
The success of Obama's first term:
"If this election is just about the last four years, that's a muddy verdict. Bush was president during the financial meltdown. The Obama team has turned that around pretty well... They (Romney's campaign) need to focus on the next four years."
- Bill Kristol (of all people), editor, Weekly Standard; conservative pundit/advisor, on Fox News Sunday, 9/23/12
More below.
Frustration and lack of passion:
“I was enthused when Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan because I thought it was a signal that this guy was getting serious, he was getting bold. It’s not necessarily even a frustration over the way Paul Ryan’s been used but rather in the larger context: I just haven’t seen that kind of passion I know that Paul has transferred over to our nominee."
- Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, in a radio interview
Horrific nightmare:
"We’ve got a long way to go. So it’s not over. That said, the trajectory of the campaign has to change. This has been a horrific week for him, even the Romney people behind the scenes will tell you, the Libya press conference was a nightmare for them. Even worse than this 47 percent video. They’ve got to right-- they’ve-- they’ve got to right the ship. And even if they do, long way to go."
-Joe Scarborough, MSNBC's conservative shouter, on Meet the Press, 9/23/12
The passion thing again:
"Mitt Romney does not have the passion for the stuff he’s talking about... I think he’s a non-ideological person running in an extremely ideological age and he’s faking it."
- David Brooks again, on MTP, 9/23/12
Incompetent, rolling calamity:
"The Romney campaign has to get turned around. This week I called it incompetent, but only because I was being polite. I really meant 'rolling calamity.'”
- Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist, 9/21/12
He's not like Saint Reagan and Holy Thatcher:
"We believe in smaller government because we believe, like Jack Kemp believed, like Ronald Reagan believed, like Margaret Thatcher believed, that that’s how you help the most people. I believe you unshackle individuals and they can prosper in this country. What’s so disturbing about that video is ... Mitt Romney doesn’t get it. He doesn’t believe it. And that’s what comes through. Margaret Thatcher, shopkeeper’s daughter, would have never said that in a million years."
-Joe Scarborough again, MTP, 9/23/12
Damaged political persona:
"The pendulum has swung toward Obama... (Romney has) a damaged political persona. He is running behind in key states like Ohio and Virginia and, to a lesser extent, Florida. The president is reversing the decline that began with his 'You didn't build that' comment. For three weeks he's been on a roll. The wind's at his back."
- Steve Lombardo, GOP pollster, quoted in Peggy Noonan's column, 9/21/12
Election slipping away:
"A lot of Republicans don’t think he can win. We do believe he -- he can win. But when he says he has no need to turn this campaign around, after a disastrous week where you see Ohio slipping away, Wisconsin slipping away, Iowa slipping away, Michigan slipping away, that is a political concern, not an ideological concern. That is a political concern."
-Joe Scarborough again, MTP, 9/23/12
Yessir, I'm feeling less pessimistic all the time!