Centerfield

Far too socially conservative to win a general election? Hmmm... I don't know about that one. Karl Rove seems to have proven that is not the case. Is Romney more Conservative than Bush?

I think the bigger question is whether or not this country elects a Mormon. I personally don't have an issue with it, but I can imagine some on the right having an beef with electing a follower of the likes of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

Matt, if I was unclear, my bad. what I'm saying to arch-conservatives is, if you think Romney is too liberal, go ahead and keep thinking that, and then go ahead and nominate someone else who is too conservative to win the general election.

I absolutely don't think Romney is too conservative to win. I think he's extremely well-positioned. To me, the irony is that he's having trouble establishing his conservative props, and there's really no reason why this should be the case, other than the fact that he hasn't been closely watched enough by people outside MA.

If Romney becomes a Southern Baptist convert, he's in! Seriously, the guy has a lot of things going for him. Much like Ronald Reagan, he looks like a President--something that cannot be over-rated in an image age. He's articulate, has the perfect family, blah, blah, blah. Two hang-ups are serious obstacles, however. 1) He's from Massachusetts. He'll need to win that South Carolina primary...if he's facing a strong Southerner, it will be tough. 2) He's a Mormon. We've only elected one Catholic President in our History. We've never had a Jewish President. Fundamentalist Christians may listen to him, but the majority view Mormonism as a cult--that would be something I believe they would hold against him.

Actually, in this particular case, coming from Massachusetts, being a Mormon might work in his favor. This is, for him, a fortunate bit of placement. Normally, no north easterner would stand a chance in the west, despite its strong red leanings. But a Mormon is all but guarenteed to carry Utah, and have a strong influence on the Mormon communities in surrounding states, like Arizona, Colorado, etc.

Plus, again, being from Massachusetts, he'd look good to the more liberal Republicans of California and the Pacific Northwest.

The south would be difficult, but not insurmountable, and frankly, if he takes the west and the northeast, he could make it through the primaries without the south, and to the general election.

Team him up with a southerner for a VP, heck, why not Governor Jeb Bush, who never said he wouldn't run for vice president, as an endorsement of the Bush dynasty and the south, and he might well be unbeatable in the general election.

I like Mitt, if only because I think he would iron out many of the Bush shortcomings of the past few years. My guess is that he would spend time concentrating on things Bush neglected, like the deficit and federalism and energy prices. Also, I would imagine Mitt, while being more conservative that most New Englanders on social issues, would also be less conservative than most so-cons, meaning he'd allow stem cell research and wouldn't try to nominate judges who feel that "natural law" should supersede the Constitution.

Mitt could be a good, unifying figure who could work with Democrats and moderate Republicans (like the McCain 7) to give us sensible reforms on Soc Sec and Medicare. And in a field where conservatives are trying to pull out all the stops to prevent McCain and Rudy from winning the nomination, Romney may actually end up being the conservative alternative in states like South Carolina.