Mitt Romney: next in line for the GOP nomination?
Mitt Romney is widely considered to be the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, largely because he has yet to publicly implode, in contrast to too many of his competitors. As Chris Hayes, of The Nation, pointed out on The Rachel Maddow Show last week, Republicans have a tradition of nominating the “next in line.” Conventional wisdom says that Romney is this next in line. At this point in 2005, speculation was flying over who would be in the running for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Possible contenders? Russ Feingold and Evan Bayh. Really. Bill Richardson was in the mix, too, but the person considered far and away to be the frontrunner was Hillary Clinton.
I’m not sure this is a comparison that Mitt Romney should welcome. Like Hillary, Romney has the money right now. Romney has the deference of much of the Party leadership, again, like Hillary. But in the end, Hillary lost. To the guy who had gotten people excited. As long as we’re looking for parallels, it should be pointed out that the most excitement from the Republican Party post-2008, is coming from Ron Paul supporters, who’ve lifted his book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, to #350 on the Amazon sales rankings. (For contrast, Obama’s The Audacity of Hope is ranked at #368.) Continue reading…