January 31, 2012

Toughness....

Mitt Romney gets rough—John Podhoretz - NYPOST.com:

...Wanting your party's candidate to demonstrate an instinct for the jugular is a leadership quality that would never turn up in polling data or in focus-group discussions. People know better than to say they want to know their guy can be an SOB when necessary, just as most politicians know it's a problem if they come across as an unmitigated SOB.

But the plain truth is that the willingness to confront a rival directly while looking him straight in the eye and saying some pretty harsh things, and the ability to withstand the counterattack and keep on with the assault, are qualities of toughness and perseverance every successful major politician must demonstrate.

After all, if Romney isn't tough enough to take Gingrich down, how can he hope to do the same to Barack Obama, who will have somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion to use to blacken the name and reputation of the eventual Republican nominee?

Gingrich's problem is that to widen his appeal, he had to tone down his nastiness (except when it came to the news media). Thus, he had no useful countermeasures against Romney's attacks in the two Florida debates — and the Boy from Bain saw the weakness and would not let up.

In the 17 preceding debates, Romney had shown fluency, a command of the issues, an ability to spin words like cotton candy to obscure his problematic flip-flopping . . . and absolutely no spine whatsoever.

By making it clear he would do what he had to do to win — by demonstrating to Republicans he was not only made of money but that there was some steel there too — Romney almost certainly clinched his nomination....

Well I want my guy to be an SOB when necessary. Because it's necessary. Like, duh, obviously. So Romney has gone up a notch in my estimation. Pleas God, let him be tough and tenacious against the Chicago Machine that's hijacked American government....

Posted by John Weidner at January 31, 2012 9:37 PM
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