Today Mitt Romney decided to chime in on the presidential race. More specifically, Romney decided to go after Donald Trump. His speech was meant to rally Republicans around anyone but Trump but all it will do is strengthen Trump now and hurt him hard in the fall. Should Trump become the Republican nominee, this speech will be featured in a Hillary Clinton campaign ad, bet on it.
Romney took to the podium today as one of the “kind of” leaders of the Republican Party. “Kind of” because he was the last candidate the GOP nominated for president, but a lot of us didn’t like him then and we certainly don’t listen to him now. Nevertheless Romney has a following. His press conference today was designed to speak to that following, but did he think they hadn’t heard those lines already? We know the case against the fake conservative, silver spoon, real estate tycoon. Romney said absolutely nothing new. We get it.
Trump supporters seem to look pass the lack of bona fide conservative credentials and focus more on how Trump is shaking up the establishment. Well, Romney’s speech plays perfectly into the narrative that the establishment is out to get Trump. Romney resorted to name calling, he did not offer specifics, and he just cried about the sky falling. Romney’s words will sway zero Trump supporters toward another campaign and they won’t bring out anyone new to any of the competing campaigns.
At this point in the calendar Romney’s speech will only strengthen Trump’s numbers in the primary. Romney is not considered a stalwart conservative; his people are not Republican primary voters. But at a later point in the calendar, Romney’s words will be used to hurt Trump and they will have an impact. Expect a Clinton ad to run with black and white, grainy images of Trump partying with unpopular celebrities, like Tom Arnold (photo linked here), while we hear Romney saying that Trump’s “domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgement to be president.” This will turn off Republicans who only come out in general elections during presidential years. In certain swing states where the total will be close, Romney’s speech, in a well-made commercial, could have a significant impact.
And the worst part is Romney was too gutless to endorse a candidate, which made his rallying cry needlessly perplexing. Romney said we need to rally behind one of the candidates, but he is not offering any leadership if he doesn’t identify which one to rally behind. Keeping the field spilt helps Trump and all three of Trump’s competitors do not have a viable path to victory, so why not, at this point, pick a candidate?
Mitt Romney did not have to step forward, but he unfortunately did. It is too late in the calendar for this to impact the primary electorate, but it will hurt Trump if he becomes the nominee. Romney’s speech was a mistake. If you missed it, you can watch it here. Or, if Trump wins the nomination, then you can hear it again in a Clinton commercial, coming soon to media markets everywhere.
Originally published on RedNova8.com
