I have heard and read some folks lately indicate that although they detest or dislike John McCain, they intend to vote for him in the primary because the national polls show him as the only republican who can defeat Hillary Clinton. Indeed, most national polls of head to head competition indicate this outcome. Rush had such a caller today.

It’s only natural, when spending the time and energy to nominate a candidate, to want to put forward the guy who truly has the best chance to win. Any rationale person should consider this factor. With that in mind, I briefly present why, for truly conservative rebublicans (or anyone who wants to see liberalism defeated, for that matter), Willard Mitt Romney should have your vote. Five simple reasons…

1--Democrats, at least mainstream libs on either coast, won’t play the “religion” card against Romney. The dems are, after all, the party of inclusiveness, openness and tolerance. If the Clinton machine tries to play the “Lucifer’s brother” meme, they’ll be excoriated by many of their own as being intolerant (just like the Evangelicals they detest!). It’s against the left’s “core values” if you will. In fact, I’ve seen many a liberal poster in the blogosphere state that they wouldn’t not vote for Romney because of his religion, but rather because of X or Y. So, rest assured, that his funny Mormon beliefs, that so many conservatives find unnerving, won’t be ammo for the left in November.

2--Bi-Partisanship. Although Mitt’s record as Mass. Governor is clearly one with plenty of hallmarks of conservative action, he was very successful at forming just enough coalitional power with his lib counterparts to get real work done. Many democrats value this capacity.  And when no coalition was present, he did not hesitate to veto the hell out of them, even when he knew he would be overridden. This “political poker”, the capacity to “know when to hold’ em, and know when to fold’ em, when working as a minority head of state, will be a key competency for Romney going into the fall, when, more likely than not, we conservatives will again be facing a heavily liberal legislature.
The opposition won't be able to say that "he can't work with us".
 

3--As the best example of the above, I submit reason three, and perhaps the best of these five reasons is that Mitt takes away one of the liberal’s biggest political weapons—healthcare! Yes, the Mass plan is not perfect. Mitt has said so. It’s not entirely his plan, after all, as it had major legislative overhaul, and some judicial tweaking independent of his crafting of it. But the bottom line is, HE GOT IT DONE! Neither Obama or Hillary will be able to throw out this issue in a general election. It’s one of the major pieces of democrat artillery, and the libs won’t have it in their arsenal, cause Mitt takes it off the table!

4--”Change Agent Man”…I know, Obama has the whole lib world, and even some moderate rebublicans talking about how he’s going to change the world. Lots and lots of talk…but have you listened to his rhetoric? There’s no “there” in “there”. Gov. Romney, on the other hand, when this topic of change comes up, has a long, long, long resume of significant change processes. I won’t rehearse them here, as you can get them from any pro Romney site, but unlike the young Obama man, who can only "forecast" change, Mitt can give history lessons on what’s improved and different since he got a hold of it. (OK, some of Mitt’s list for your neophytes…turned $3B deficit into $300M surplus in Mass., turned around Salt Lake Olympics fiscally and operationally, turned around more than 100 companies whose jobs and bottom line fiscal outlooks were doomed until Mitt came along with his team to “change” them.)
 
Can you hear him asking Obama in a one on one debate…”I would like to ask the esteemed Senator from Illinois when he talks about change, what experience leading change management does he possess which qualifies him as a change agent?” To which Barrack will reply that he built a small non profit inner city Chicago 5013C, which helped disadvantaged teens get jobs and stay out of trouble. A worthy success, but you get the point? Compare Mitt’s resume of “change” to either of the lib’s frontrunners, and you come away overwhelmed on evidence.
 

5-- Can’t lay the "He's a "Bushie” tag on him, like you can other insiders (McCain). I have read many who assert that Romney is just a Bush clone, but these comments come from the kook fringe, and most objective brains will recognize that he had nothing to do with the failed, or supposedly failed policies which the left throws around everyday about the soon to retire president. He’s from a liberal state far away from D.C., and although he sometimes speaks highly of GWB for having protected us, and for nominating two excellent judges, Romney is insulated from the perceived downside of any Bush affiliation. Alright, one more just for fun…

6-- Mr. Clean. This is the most obvious point of all, and especially powerful versus Hillary and Bill. Most people, even liberals, are naturally attracted to someone who is truly wholesome, clean, virtuous, and kind. Some people say Mitt’s too good. Well, my sense is that those who find him too good, are the ones who don’t trust anyone in politics. They don’t believe that any candidate is baggage free, but as people get to know Mitt the man, they see that he is who he claims to be. This is why his poll numbers go up , and almost never down. Have you noticed that in both state and national polls…there is no measurable downward trending for Romney?  He’s not won every state, but once he wins voters over, they don’t leave. This cannot be said of other republican candidates whose poll numbers have fluctuated sometimes to extreme. There will be no ‘off camera moments” and no skeletons. If Mitt had skeletons, McCain or Huckabee’s hit men would have brought them forward by now.

So, there you have it. No reason to fear a Romney nomination. Don’t let McCain tell you he’s the only one polling ahead of Hilllary. Romney’s national polls have risen slow and steady (See latest Rasmussen national numbers), and there is every reason to believe, that come October 30, 2008, Mitt will own a significant poll lead on whomever he faces.