Despite attempts to portray himself as conservative, Mitt Romney struggles with his image within the GOP. (Associated Press)
What is the matter with Mitt Romney? As Valentine’s Day approaches, the putative front-runner for the Republican nomination has still not succeeded in wooing a large portion of the Republican Party.
Even though in 2008 Romney was considered the conservative alternative to McCain, in 2012 the conservative wing of the party would rather go on a blind date to find a nominee than accept the well-known Romney.
They will throw their support behind almost anyone in order to prevent Romney from becoming the nominee, no matter how flawed or unrealistic. At various times during this race, a TV-show host billionaire, a pizza executive with a wandering eye, a crazed anti-vaccination fanatic, a practically illiterate governor and a bloviating toad have all led the polls as the conservative alternative to the supposed moderate, empty-suit Romney.
Now the sweetheart of the month is Rick Santorum. Almost a week ago the Republicans of Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri handed Santorum a hat trick of victories that seemingly blunted the momentum that Romney had coming off of wins in Florida and Nevada. Santorum may actually be the most credible challenger to Romney, because of his strong family and moral background, his working-class roots and his ability to connect with voters.
However, Santorum’s success can be attributed in large part to his overwhelming focus on social issues. Up until now in the election season, social issues have largely gone unaddressed because economic issues have been so pressing. However, in the past couple of weeks several events have brought social issues back to the forefront of the political discussion.
The explosion over the Komen foundation’s temporary decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood and the Obama administration’s decision to mandate first that religious institutions and now all insurance companies provide birth control, have reinforced the idea that religious freedom is under attack. This motivates social conservatives who are at the heart of Santorum’s support.
Meanwhile, Romney supporters have no reason to be excited. Their candidate’s economic message has been overshadowed by the uproar over social issues, and Romney is not entirely comfortable or believable when discussing his conservative positions on these issues. He tries to present himself as conservative, even going so far as to say he was “severely conservative” as governor of Massachusetts during his speech at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the conservative conference held over the weekend. Unfortunately, everyone who listens can tell that he is just trying too hard.
Instead of running around and hollowly claiming the mantle of conservatism, Romney should highlight his personal history. Since it is almost Valentine’s Day, he should begin highlighting his 42-year marriage to his high school sweetheart, his beautiful family and his overall loving family life. He should begin talking about his 2-year mission in France and his leadership in the Mormon Church, where he dealt with all kinds of difficult problems in his community. His devotion to his religion is something that he has in common with the very people that are now rejecting him.
He has lived his personal life in a conservative way, and opening up about it will allow people to get to know him and his family. Right now Romney is lacking the personal connection that many voters desire, and his campaign has been mostly centered on poll-tested platitudes that do not help his perceived stiffness. Americans want to elect a person that they know and trust to the White House, and if Romney can’t make even Republicans trust him, how will he be able to make the entire country trust him?
Romney will not be getting a Valentine’s card from Sarah Palin, or the tea party on Tuesday. Currently, he is playing the role of the unloved nice guy who will try to do anything to make people happy. People like him, respect him and think he is intelligent, but in the end they do not love him. To love someone, there has to be a personal connection, and Cupid is not going to be shooting arrows into the heart of the conservative movement for Romney, he will have to make the case himself.
Andrew is a sophomore majoring in finance, French and markets and culture.
