The Bolt On Candidate

In recent posts I have written at great length about Mitt Romney and the need for him to nail up the nomination. Most the my thoughts have centered around the idea that Romney is too plain, and he just needs to win.  Once the nomination is in the bag, he needs to turn his attention to President Obama.  I had a very interesting conversation last night about the Republican Primary races and two major points came out of that conversation.  1) Mitt Romney is plain by design.  2) The other candidates for the Republican nod are simply trying out policy ideas for the Republican platform.  Now, maybe I am late to these conclusions, and if I am oh well.

1) Romney really does not need to come out strong for or against anything on the Republican platform just yet.  He needs to be as plain and vanilla as possible.  In the general election, anything he says during the primaries can and will be used against him.  Off the wall remarks (like his "I like to fire people." remarks from Monday) will land him in hot water not only with Republicans but with President Obama in the fall. The Obama machine is smart, and will use anything they can get their hands on to beat the Republican candidate.  By letting the other candidates sling the mud, he is able to stay relatively clean.  Mud also costs money, which, if left the other guys, leaves the war chests full until the general election that will undoubtedly be a moneyfest.  After reconsidering these factors, it seems as though Romney's wisely saving himself for the General Election is not a bad strategy at all.  

2) What do I mean by Romney needing to be the bolt on candidate? I mean that Romney needs to take the issues and stances most popular from the primaries and run with them as if they were his own.  Just like you bolt on parts to a stock car making it faster, the Republicans need to bolt on issues and opinions to someone in order to make them better.  No single candidate in the Republican stable leading up to this year's primaries was/is strong enough to beat President Obama, so they sent the herd out in order to get the best results.  Romney, being the stockest of the stock field, makes the best candidate for the race.

Look at the rest of the candidates.  Santorum is too religious, so he would need to tone down his homophobia to attract moderates.  Huntsman is too scientific, thus a need for a tone down to attract the religious base.  Ron Paul is almost too liberal on some issues and too conservative on others to decide which way he would need to go.  Newth Gingrich is not even worth mentioning, but he would need to tone down period.  Who does that leave?  Rick Perry is not electable simply because he is from Texas and talks remarkably similar to this other guy I know from Texas..that'd be George W. Bush in case you are wondering.

Romney's ability to play to the middle really is not a determent after all. He is smart enough to realize that the other candidates are hewing the planks for a perfect fit to the platform.  In looking back, I have been somewhat incorrect in pushing for him to hurry up and win.  He does need to make sure he reads the right polling numbers and takes the right stands on the right issues. In a sense his standing back and allowing the other guys to do his work is smart liked a fox.  Still my only concern is that every day spent fighting other Republicans (even if they are building a good platform) is a day wasted in the fight against President Obama.

What do you think?  Is this old news to you? Let me know.  Write a comment, leave a message on Facebook.  Let me know what you are thinking.  The purpose of this post, as all of my posts, is to get a discussion going.  I'm more than willing to hear what you have to say.