He likely beats Obama in 2008 once the economy became the big issue. He looks like a president too and McCain didn't.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

They have always been perceived as an ethnic voting bloc though. Wallace, Nixon, and Reagan all tapped into this particular voting base during their careers. This bloc has historically been opposed to immigrants and minorities. Trump has reignited the xenophobia which existed in previous generations. The difference is that it may not be enough to win in future elections.

_________________

Romney has received the 3rd most votes for President in US history (Obama 2008 and 2012 is 1/2); and most votes for a Republican candidate for President in US history.

Reagan ran and lost twice before winning in 1980. As did George Bush the 1st--winning in 88, being an also-ran 2x before.

Romney lost by "the margin of error" in 2012, as stat modelers have noted.

Give Obama's Chicago-based BIG DATA/IT team Romney (or any Republican in 2012) and they win. Obama's tech team is or was that far-ahead of the game.

Did you see Karl Rove? He was in denial.

_________________

I don't think so. Romney only looks good in retrospect because he is much more astute than Trump. The best Republican candidate was Jeb Bush and they blew it. He had the misfortune of following his stumbling bumbling brother. I don't care about the dynasty factor because the guy knows his stuff and he was a successful governor at least.

They got swept up in anger and protest when they should have been looking for the best candidate. Once you get past that you have to find someone to govern. Trump was never going to be that guy.

_________________

This guy knows what he is talking about.

_________________

Repubs lost 2012 after Romney lost--or failed to launch/ignite--the interest and enthusiasm of the so-called Reagan Democrats--blue collar mid-americans that Trump is cleaning up with (so far).

While I agree the Repubs need to diversify or die (as a party), Repubs didn't get thumped so badly in 2012 that a complete remake of the party is needed to win this time around.

Also, for all this "death of the Republican Party" talk, have they ever been stronger at the state level? And now that fewer and fewer news outlets have statehouse beats, they can do pretty much whatever the hell they want there. They can let the Democrats have the hood ornament of government and run the rest.

_________________

]

U.S. population has grown by nearly a 100 million people since 1980. That may account for Romney's success

_________________

shhh

To be honest Obama was a weak candidate and able to be defeated in 12. His approval ratings were consistently below 50% at the time. Romney was too indecisive as a candidate and I remember his advisers to be rather lackluster also.

_________________

Yeah, and they are wreaking havoc with abortion rules at the state level. Could be why the "What's the Matter With Kansas" issues that were trendy in the Presidential race in 2004 have been largely absent this time around--Repubs drive that social issues agenda and they are busy/happy dismantling the wall btw church and state at the State level.

Success in congressional and state races has translated into the Repubs having a larger number of "rising star" types for 2020 (should they need one) and beyond.

I wonder if after 2008, Hillary took control of the DNC and subtly made efforts to keep another Obama from rising up to challenge her in 2016. HRC/DNC taking the national-exposure oxygen out of down-ticket Dems for the last several cycles might partly explain why there isn't an entire roster of obvious "next ups" on the Democrat's side, beyond President Elizabeth Warren and maybe Booker.

Their message needed to change because of the changing demographics. We can clearly see that it hasn't. Romney was a robot too. If he had a personality he beats Obama in 2012. He makes Hillary look like the life of the party.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

No, he wouldn't have. C'mon, man.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

To be honest Obama has more to do with that than anyone.

_________________

By not being able to get his voters to show up when he isn't on the ballot?

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Democrats couldnt campaign on his record. He also doesnt have much of a relationship with the Democrats on the hill. I'm just wondering how Hillary could have impacted it. That's a bit of a stretch but if she is going to be bashed for everything else then the loss of the House and Senate might as well be included.

_________________

front page on foxnews.com (not surprising)
not even a link to an article on cnn.com (also not surprising)

They were afraid to embrace his record. Those who did won. He had no problem with it especially after Bill showed him how to sell it correctly.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I meant to write that Trump seems to think of "white people" as a marginalized ethnic minority. This is an important difference from Nixon or Reagan. Trump's vision is more dystopian and overtly violent. He is effectively racializing the negative impact of corporate globalization, thereby implicitly blaming the downward mobility of working class whites on the ubiquitous "other."

_________________

Don't ascribe to malice what can be ascribed to incompetence. Did you see that leaked DNC email about how someone wanted to crash the Republican convention by handing out light bulbs because "the light hasn't gone on for them yet"? These people are all just a bunch of try-hard lamewads who fell ass-backwards into secondhand coolness because of a once-in-a-lifetime orator in Obama. They were just as bereft of next-ups in '04, when they had John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Dick Gephardt.

_________________

This should be the motto of this election (and the world in general today). I so often hear people trying to twist dumb things that happen into intricately planned webs of sheer evil genius when in reality the dumb things happened simply because people are dumb.

Trump is currently the best example of this. He's not a political genius. He's a very stupid blowhard who was in the right place at the right time and is probably in a situation he doesn't even want to be in. None of his comments are said for some deep "purpose." They're said because they're the first things that come to his tiny brain.

I think maybe there is a paranoia that leads to this constant sense of everything being a scheme.

_________________

Couldn't disagree with you more. If you think either of these parties are going away any time soon you are delusional. They have the money and the power. They aren't going anywhere.

I wonder what the spin will be on this one.

_________________

"I never actually said anything of the sort. This is the biased media once again doing their best to deliver this rigged election to crooked Hillary. BELIEVE ME."

Dishonest Media.

_________________

Looks like they tweeted a response saying he was referring to the millions of 2nd amendment voters who will vote for him in the Fall.

_________________

Trump is in a different hemisphere though. He makes George Bush Savant like in comparison.

The Republican Party is too concerned with ascertaining whether potential candidates are "true conservates" or not. If you don't subscribe to a Wilsonian foreign policy, Friedman economic policy, and Falwellian religious doctrine then you are not a "true conservative". They also have allowed conservative talk radio and Fox News to hold them hostage. Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, and Levin should not be vetting potential Presidential candidates. If they don't past the conservative media smell test then they aren't viable in the eyes of many conservatives.

_________________

If this was Trump and he had the father of a terrorist that committed one of the worst mass murders in this country of all time, the media would be foaming at the mouth and in a frenzy. They covered the Trump baby comment 5x as much as they have covered this. People just blindly follow Hillary...

_________________
GOB: "My God, what is this feeling?"
Michael: "Could it be love?"
GOB: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite. It's... it's like my heart is getting hard."