All That I'm Saying, Is Give Mitt a Chance

Today in my contracts class we talked about an op-ed piece about Indiana’s Right to Work legislation. It’s been a very heated debate, and has resulted in democrats walking out on multiple occasions. It raised some interesting points. The more interesting point from the discussion was when my self-avowed “ultra liberal” professor stated that she actually liked some of Mitt Romney’s ideas.  I was surprised by this. After class, I asked her what she found so appealing about Mitt. Her main reason was Massachusetts health care system that he started. Apparently she served on some prestigious committee that analyzed it and found it was the best out there. This helped me see a bigger point though—Mitt Romney’s broad appeal.

In this heated primary season, I think Republicans are forgetting that Mitt can appeal to a more liberal/independent crowd. He was governor of Massachusetts. He honestly is the only candidate that has had great success in a blue state. Some people will probably say that this was our problem with John McCain. Didn’t we nominate him because we thought he would be more appealing to liberals/independents? I think that is partly true, but when did John McCain ever really have to get Independents/Liberals to like him being a Senator from Arizona (not exactly a blue state). I hope that all the Republicans voting in primaries will think about this when they go to the polls in the coming weeks.

I don’t really have anything against Gingrich’s views. I’m all about being a conservative. My problem is Gingrich the person. When he was speaker of the House, he apparently did a terrible job of leading. Don’t take my word for it, ask the people who worked with him. Glenn Beck is basically saying the same thing. He agrees with him on the principles, but doesn’t agree with his lack of leadership capabilities. For instance, my contracts professor didn’t exactly like Newt. This quote was a reference to Newt’s suggestion for the 99 percent of Occupy Wall Street to go and get a job. My professor put it addressing Newt: “When did you last do a reality check?...You go get a frickin job!” I think that is the perception that independents/liberals have about Gingrich. There is nothing but contempt. They don’t like what he did while speaker and they don’t like what he is doing now. Mitt Romney is more appealing to those people and I feel he has the best chance. A lot of my friends apparently don’t find Newt appealing either:

“Will someone PLEASE inform Mr. Gingrich that DEBATING Obama is NOT THE ONLY QUALIFICATION TO BEING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

"Just watched the debate from last night. It's definitely heating up. You could almost feel the whole room just waiting, almost begging for Mitt Romney to trip over his own words, and say something dumb. And guess what? He never did. He only looked strong, confident, and presidential. Gingrich may be able shake up a crowd in SC, but he will get eaten alive in the general election when the real issues are at stake. I'm not making my pitch for Mitt Romney, I'm just sayin', everyone please get off this Gingrich train to nowhere. I like Newt alot but I think he's the weakest of the 4 left."

I hope the rest of the Republicans will wake up and realize that Gingrich doesn’t have a shot of beating Obama. His rhetoric and campaign against the media make for good sound bytes, but his leadership is nonexistent. I think Mitt Romney is the leader that can best take it to Obama.