Romney for President! But Not for VP!

04.04.2008

Jonathan Martin reports on an interesting development in the McCain veep search:

A group of social conservatives has launched an effort to keep Mitt Romney off John McCain's ticket.

Under the rubric of an obscure PAC called Government Is Not God, a coalition of longtime Romney opponents and past supporters of Mike Huckabee have created a website and are buying print ads that resurrect the former Massachusetts governor's past abortion and gay rights stances.

Also, Paul Weyrich seems to be a little confused:

The group does, though, include one high-profile Romney backer. Veteran movement conservative leader Paul Weyrich endorsed Romney in the heat of the primary before throwing his support to Huckabee after Mitt got out.

I guess this is a testament to just how tepid movement conservative support for Romney was: Despite being the favored candidate in the presidential field, he would be such an objectionable choice as vice president that it's worth spending time and money on ads specifically demanding that he not be selected.

--Josh Patashnik

Posted: Friday, April 04, 2008 12:26 PM with 5 comment(s)

Comments

You must be logged-in to comment.

Not a subscriber? Click here to get a digital or print and digital subscription to The New Republic!

jhildner said:

I don't think this is surprising. I was surprised to hear talk of Romney as VP. He was *never* the first choice of this contingent, and McCain, of course, was their last choice. I'm sure they want McCain to play ball by picking someone they actually like.

April 4, 2008 12:57 PM

teplukhin2you said:

Romney's the likely choice for VP. The social conservatives have nowhere to go, and when the GOP machine starts training its guns on Obama and mining their evangelical-heavy voter database, they'll come out in force for McCain.

If McCain picks Romney and sets him the task of going through the rustbelt and putting forth innovative economic programs involving some industrial planning, McC will be a formidable opponent in OH, PA, MI and MO.

April 4, 2008 1:50 PM

helitzur1 said:

Weyrich's absurdity here isn't just about having endorsed Mitt for Pres before turning around and specifically anti-endorsing him for VP. As CNN points out, Weyrich said that McCain SHOULD select Mitt as his VP just last month!

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/.../former-romney-backer-warns-mccain-not-to-pick-him-for-vp

"[Weyrich's] opposition to the former governor marks a complete reversal from his position as recently as last month, when he told the National Journal that McCain was unlikely to select Romney as his running mate – but that he should."

"If he selects somebody bad from our point of view, it's going to be very difficult," he told the magazine. "It will reinforce prejudice against him. If he selects somebody pretty good, it'll be moderately helpful…. It would help if he selected Mitt Romney, but he won't."

April 4, 2008 2:32 PM

ackyri said:

I was always surprised how Romney became the "conservative" candidate (see NR, etc.) as soon as Thompson became clearly inviable (read: as soon as he actually entered the race). I just think it made conservatives look like such idiots that they were so willing to embrace a man so clearly just telling them whatever they wanted to hear. Would that they hadn't wised up upon settling on such a strong nominee!

April 4, 2008 2:42 PM

bensharma said:

That or they know McCain's stubbornness well enough to game him -- get Romney as Veep by running ads against him.

April 5, 2008 4:43 PM