With McCain's retreat, some turn to Romney to carry his torch

[DonViejo]

PowerPost * Analysis

By Paul Kane February 15 at 8:00 AM

In more ways than one, followers of traditional Republican orthodoxy are facing an emotional inflection point this week.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), at home battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, will not attend this weekend’s Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of foreign policy leaders from NATO nations that has become a central clearinghouse for global security matters and a celebration of Western values and democratic institutions.

McCain, an avatar of all of the above, has been a regular attendee for decades. Last year, less than a month after President Trump took office, he stole the show with a speech that denounced the new president’s refusal to condemn Russian President Vladi­mir Putin.

“Our fellow citizens seem to be flirting with authoritarianism and romanticizing it as our moral equivalent,” McCain said there last February.

But with McCain’s retreat comes another man’s reemergence: Mitt Romney, his onetime political rival for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. Romney had been scheduled to launch his campaign for senator from Utah on Thursday, but he delayed the announcement Wednesday evening “out of respect for the victims and their families” of the South Florida high school targeted by a gunman.

It’s not clear how Romney, a heavy favorite to win, would approach his role as a senator, particularly in the era of Trump. His aides say that on the campaign trail he will avoid the role of chief foil to the president.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/with-mccains-retreat-some-turn-to-romney-to-carry-his-torch/2018/02/15/2ddcb14e-11c3-11e8-9570-29c9830535e5_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-low_romney-1030am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3c9007dd327b

[dembotoz]

1. will romney store this torch on the roof of his car next to the dog carrier?

[gibraltar72]

2. This is a joke right?