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Democrats for Romney
January 15th, 2008 (10:58 pm)
After learning that Mitt Romney has managed to survive another primary round, I was heartened to see this on YouTube:
Democrats of Michigan, on January 15th you have a unique and wonderful opportunity to screw over the Republican Party.I know Romney's victory owes more to depressed Republican turn-out, family ties to Michigan and being a pandering douchebag. But I will amuse myself to think he's merely the dope of a mass action rope-a-dope strategy. It seems to fit, really.
For more on why voting for Romney in your primary--however counterintuitive it may be to vote for that flip-flopping, say-anything-to-get-elected, neocon-of-convenience hack--isn't such a crazy idea, check out:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/10/2713/87225
Lest there be any confusion, showing Romney's old stances as a less-than-diehard conservative in Massachusetts is intended to emphasize his ubercynical ability to shape-shift into desirable forms, not to suggest he's a somehow tolerable closet moderate who is simply pretending to be a detestable right wing nut. I don't mean to suggest he should be given the benefit of any doubt in that direction--that's by no means the reason Michigan Dems should cast their vote for him January 15th.
In the rough and real world of politics, Progressives can't afford for voting to be an emotional act of personal expression. It has to be pragmatic, strategic, and effective. So, just this weird once...go Romney. Though it burns my fingers when I type it.
Of the GOP frontrunners, Romney is my favorite because he's definitely the least electable - between being a devout Mormon (which has both sensible people and fundys voting against him) and talking out both sides of his mouth, he's an easy victory for any halfway descent candidate. Of course, I don't think Huckabee is particularly electable either, and so I'd be happy to see him as the candidate. OTOH, for anyone remotely likely to vote for the GOP (ie idiots, scumbags, greedy ultra-rich people, bigots, and religious fanatics) the only thing hurting McCain is his age. He's definitely the most electable of the GOP candidates and one that I'd seriously worry about either Clinton or Obama being able to beat.