'Mitt Romney Republican' is now a potent GOP primary attack
By: SAM METZ (AP NEWS)
Neoliberals take notice. Mitt Romney has become the poster child for neoliberalism. What does that mean?
Neoliberalism is complex with a large number of nuances that is difficult to compartmentalize. An overly simplistic, yet realistic, bumper sticker description of neoliberalism would be 'free market monetarism'. Neoliberalism is all about the money. Money is power, prestige, threat, weapon, inducement, and reason for being. Mitt Romney made his money by manipulating money. Mitt Romney is not a builder or worker. Mitt Romney is a passive success. Mitt Romney will compromise on anything -- except money and the ability to manipulate money.
Biden's war with Russia is a money war; a neoliberal war. Biden's policy isn't concerned with people starving in the dark -- it's all about the money. Biden is using money as a weapon to manipulate markets, manipulate geopolitics, make threats, and reward conformity. Biden's only objective has been to wreck Russia's economy and destroy Russia's money. That's a Mitt Romney approach. That's how neoliberals do things. Money is the end all, be all of Mitt Romney's ambitions and Biden's use of government.
Republican candidates are now running against Mitt Romney Republicans. Republican candidates are running against neoliberal Republicans. For this new breed of Republican it's not all about the money any longer. The Republican Party is changing. New Republicans are concerned about issues that money can't manipulate and buy. The taint and stink of neoliberalism will linger in the Republican Party for many years to come. But the Republican Party has, at least, begun to cleanse itself of that corruption.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mitt Romney isn't up for reelection this year. But Trump-aligned Republicans hostile toward the Utah senator have made his name a recurring theme in this year's primaries, using him as a foil and derisively branding their rivals "Mitt Romney Republicans."
Republicans have used the concept to frame their primary opponents as enemies of the Trump-era GOP in southeast Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The anti-tax group Club For Growth, among the most active super PACs in this year's primaries, used "Mitt Romney Republican" as the central premise of an attack ad in North Carolina's Senate primary.
But nowhere are references to Romney Republicanism as common as they are in Utah. Despite his popularity with many residents here, candidates are repeatedly deploying "Mitt Romney Republican" as a campaign trail attack in the lead-up to Tuesday's Republican primary.
"There are two different wings in the Republican Party," Chris Herrod, a former state lawmaker running in suburban Utah's 3rd Congressional District, said in a debate last month.
"If you're more aligned with Mitt Romney and Spencer Cox," he added, referring to Utah's governor, "then I'm probably not your guy."
The fact that his brand has become potent attack fodder reflect how singular Romney's position is in U.S. politics: He's the only senator with the nationwide name recognition that comes from being a presidential nominee and the only Republican who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump twice.
"It's kind of a puzzlement, actually," said Becky Edwards, an anti-Trump Republican running in Utah's Senate primary.
As one of the most famous members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Romney is revered by many in Utah, where the church is a dominant presence in politics and culture. He won praise for turning around Salt Lake City's 2002 Winter Olympics after a bribery scandal. After moving to Utah full-time more than a decade ago, he breezed to victory in the state's Senate race in 2018. He did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
Herrod, who went to Las Vegas to campaign for Romney in 2012, said in an interview that referring to Romney was effective shorthand — a way to tell voters about his own belief system as well as that of incumbent Republican Rep. John Curtis. Herrod has attacked Curtis for his positions on energy policy and for founding Congress' Conservative Climate Caucus.
"In the midst of a campaign, it's kind of tough to draw a line. I just put it in terms I thought people would understand," Herrod said.
The Curtis campaign said the congressman was more focused on legislation and passing bills than branding. "Congressman Curtis doesn't spend his time labeling himself or other Republicans," his campaign manager, Adrielle Herring, said in a statement.
Much like Herrod, Andrew Badger, a candidate running in northern Utah's 1st Congressional District, frames his primary campaign as a "tug of war" between two competing factions within the Republican Party. He describes one as the moderate, compromise-friendly wing embodied by Romney and the other as the conservative wing embodied by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a frequent guest of FOX News who is often the Senate's lone "no" vote.
Both Badger and Herrod acknowledge attacking Romney may turn off some voters, four years after he easily defeated a right-wing state lawmaker in Utah's Republican primary and a Democrat in the general election. But they question the durability of his support given how the last six years have broadly transformed Republican politics.
"There's a lot more frustration, and it's only building. I don't think he would win in a vote today, certainly not in a Republican primary," Badger said.
Badger in his campaign has focused on simmering outrage stemming from the 2020 election and anger over coronavirus mandates and how race, gender and sexuality are taught in K-12 schools. He has attempted to draw a direct line between Romney and his opponent, incumbent Rep. Blake Moore, by attacking Moore for being one of 35 House Republicans to vote to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In a district where support for Trump remains strong, he's likened Moore's vote to Romney's two votes in favor of impeachment.
"These folks like Mitt Romney and Blake Moore, they always cave to the left when the pressure gets turned on them," Badger said. "We're not going to compromise for the sake of compromise."
Moore did not vote for impeachment. After the Senate scuttled the commission, Moore, along with all but two House Republicans, voted against the creation of the Jan. 6 select committee that ultimately convened.
In response to Moore being labeled a "Mitt Romney Republican," Caroline Tucker, the congressman's campaign spokesperson, said he could be best described a "Big Tent Republican" who doesn't think the process of lawmaking requires abandoning his conservative principles.
Jason Perry, director of University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, said the label "Mitt Romney Republican" may appeal to some Republican primary voters, but given Romney's popularity, it likely won't work in Utah, he said.
"They're appealing to a segment of the Republican Party but probably do not have the numbers on that far-right side to be successful," Perry said.
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New Republicans are turning away from Mitt Romney politics. Removing the taint and stink of neoliberalism from the Republican Party won't happen overnight. But, at least, that change has begun. And neoliberal Democrats won't be able to compete with these new Republicans.
Romney is a result of Reagan's biggest mistake, characterizing the Republican party as a big tent.. (harkening back to his democrat roots) and inviting all the competing interests into the party... It has proven to be a disaster for the republicans...
Not so sure the party is out to fix that, but it is something that needs to be done to re-establish the party as a viable alternative to progressive liberalism...
Otherwise it will just be more of the same old same old, with different labels...
The problem with the 'big tent' metaphor is that both parties have been trying to raise the tent over people. And both parties have adopted divisive politics rather than policy ideas to keep people inside the tent they've raised. Neither party stands for anything that encourages people to come into the tent.
The Republican Party, as a private enterprise, doesn't have an incentive to change. They're more interested in keeping people inside the tent because that's more predictable and certain. The Republican establishment is risk adverse. That's what makes these new Republicans stand out. They aren't competing on who is most like Reagan (or Romney) or who is better at pushing the political buttons. These new Republicans are challenging people to think about what it means to be Republican. It's a young, unsure grass roots movement that is challenging the Republican Party.
When Republican candidates begin running against the established Republican Party (the big tent) then something is bound to change. Eventually the Republican Party will become more open or the party will splinter. An open tent is better than a big tent.
Democrats have the same problem. But the Democrats' establishment has beat down the challengers in their party. That hasn't happened in the Republican Party. The Democrats' establishment has gotten away with lying to their own constituency. But the Republican establishment hasn't faired so well. The Republican Party is bound to change.
Well, I'm not directly involved with it anymore, but to an extent I agree with you... What the establishment did to Ron Paul, then clearly made the statement "No more Ronald Reagans" in getting Mittsey the nomination, directly led to Trump being nominated the next time around.. You couldn't get any more outsider than Trump... He was the only one running two months before the convention...
Slowly the Rino's have been leaving the party, good riddance I say... In the end the party will be stronger than it ever has and there is signs of that coming to pass I'm glad to say, Hey, maybe in my lifetime...
But the Democrats have told so many lies at this point they they can't keep them all straight, they deserve what's coming to them...