Should Democrats defend Mitt Romney?

[kentuck]

Does anyone believe that the 61 million voters who supported Mitt Romney have all now turned against him? Because he believes Donald Trump is guilty?

Mitt Romney is a religious man. We should not question a man's faith, in my opinion. We do not know what is in his or her heart.

Also, he is a Republican. We should not support Mitt Romney just because he had the courage to stand up to the threatening tactics of Donald Trump, but because it is the decent and right thing to do.

We should not participate and indulge in the divisive, unstable, and de-humanizing celebrations and call it "politics". It is a sad step backward and downward.

We have no choice. We must battle the division that is attempting to turn the country into turmoil, to the detriment of us all.

[elleng]

1. We should appreciate his action,

encourage others to do so, recognize GOOD when they see it, and act on the GOOD.

[TalenaGor]

2. we need to encourage ethical behavior at every opportunity

And punish unethical behavior at every opportunity

Regardless of party..... Or we're screwed

[elleng]

3. Yes.

[Brother Mythos]

17. I agree with your statement.

When Romney goes back to being his old self, he must be called out for it.

[TalenaGor]

24. absolutely lol

Ethics are non-partisan lol

[Mike 03]

4. I would argue "Yes"

Yesterday, this senator of an opposing party embodied the "moral courage" Adam Schiff asks us all to embody. He did so at considerable risk, which I don't think is being fully appreciated by everybody.

Secondly, we are the party of compassion. This person who did the right thing, for the right reasons, is going to suffer. His entire family is going to suffer. That is what Senator Blumenthal likely appreciated when he almost burst into tears in the middle of a live interview on CNN last night. That is a moment I'll remember for a long time. It made me really proud to be a Democrat, to see one of the leaders of our party shed tears for the leader of our adversarial party for a rare act of courage.

Thirdly, even if you cannot muster compassion for Mitt Romney, one might be able to appreciate the strategic favor he did us by denying Trump the right to claim there was a bipartisan acquittal; he gave us just the opposite: a bipartisan non-acquittal.

That's my two cents.

[cry baby]

5. I celebrate the fact that there is one on that side of the aisle

that did the right thing, even though it was just this one thing.

I’m not religious, but it’s also refreshing to see someone that swore an oath to their creator and took that oath seriously.

He doesn’t need Dems defending him. He knew the backlash would come. He accepted that.

I think all we need to do is acknowledge this one vote and that he did the right thing.

[madamesilverspurs]

6. I'm happy to defend and celebrate

any moment wherein the "broken clock paradigm" works for good.

Romney is who he has always been.

.

[IADEMO2004]

7. Walked the talk. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Last Boy Scout. RIP GOP

Pat on the back but not much more.

Out of bumper sticker thoughts.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. 100% yes

[Mike Nelson]

9. We have no choice...

... when they to bring down the traditional US and turn it into an authoritarian state. It has nothing to do with Democrat or Republican - it's between right and wrong.

[bluestarone]

10. YES! BUT

Also scream when he doesn't!

[meadowlander]

11. Yes if we ever hope to see more Republicans doing what he did.

Praising one action doesn't mean you are endorsing his politics or his beliefs.

[onecaliberal]

12. Yes. He had the courage to stand up for what is right and moral in this situation.

Considering he is the sole republican remaining in the party, it’s saying something.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

13. In this instance, we should encourage Mitt Romney to ALWAYS do the right thing.....

Encourage him to listen to his constituents, vote his values and not just party lines, and have Democrats in the Senate develop a better relationship with him. For there are Democrats whose faith and values resemble his.

[Tanuki]

14. I will at least defend him against Rapist45's cheap shots at him for losing

in 2012, even though I am eternally glad that he lost, by pointing out that Romney actually received a higher percentage of the popular vote (47.2%) than FROTUS (First Rapist) did in 2016 (46.1%). I looked it up on Wikipedia.

[lunatica]

15. We should always defend truth tellers

[spanone]

16. I'll defend his decision to follow his conviction....

...against a fuckwad like trump. that takes some backbone.

[Squinch]

18. Yes. He stood up at great personal cost.

[democrattotheend]

20. Agreed

It doesn't mean DU'ers in Utah have to vote for him in 2024, but he deserves credit for what he did yesterday. And even for those who disagree, I would encourage everyone to refrain from casting doubt on his motives, because that plays right into Trump's hands. Regardless of what you might think of him, Romney voting to convict deprived Trump of the ability to say it was all a partisan witch hunt and only Democrats voted to remove him. So now Trump is trying to claim Romney just did it because he's bitter about not being SOS, or about losing the 2012 election, or who knows what else. Regardless of what you otherwise think of him, Romney's vote to convict helps Democrats a lot with the narrative and in preventing a backlash like the GOP faced in 1998. Let's be smart here.

[Squinch]

21. Yeah. I don't see the point of trashing allies, even if they are

likely to be temporary ones.

[DeminPennswoods]

19. Dems should defend Romney's right to follow his

convictions and vote his conscience. It was clearly a difficult vote for him.

[roamer65]

32. Spot on correct.

[maxsolomon]

22. He's not up until 2024.

He'll be just fine. He's as serious a Momo as they come.

[crickets]

23. Romney's a big boy. He can take care of himself.

A heartfelt thank-you and pointing out the ugliness of the pile-on seems sufficient. Mitt can defend himself from there.

[Demonaut]

25. yes, as much as he would accept

[democratisphere]

26. ABSOLUTELY YES!

The only Republican with a SET and willing to put himself on the line for analation by drumpf and his cult!

[dalton99a]

27. Romney can take care of himself. He'll be fine.

Don't forget he is a Republican:

[llmart]

28. We don't have to defend him...

but I have felt all day long that I should somehow email him and thank him for having a moral backbone unlike all the rest of them.

I think I will do that. He needs to know his act of courage is appreciated because you just know the Dump allies are going to try to make his life a living hell. It's what the Trump family does.

So yes. I will do a polite thank you to him while letting him know that I'm a lifelong Democrat who remembers when Republicans could be decent people.

[slumcamper]

29. Without reservation. . Defending Romney is tantamount to defending reason itself.

Whoever would have thought we would see the day when the exercise of mature reasoned judgment was a rare commodity requiring such courage? Romney deserves commendation.

[RockRaven]

30. NO. Do not defend Romney per se. But DO criticize *his* critics for their oath-violating, ignorance,

partisanship, group-think, corruption, cowardice, fecklessness, etc.

[Blue_true]

31. I agree. We go after his critics. But don't pat him on the back for doing the obvious. nt

[kentuck]

33. We should not forget the value of the video of Mitt Romney finding Donald Trump "GUILTY"...

...in a trial on the floor of the US Senate.

That is a valuable video come election time.

[Zambero]

34. Defend him from Trump's abuse, yes

Romney put a lot on the line by casting a vote to convict when the outcome was certain. So for him, it was a matter of principle. Trump will be vindictive toward him to the bitter end. Democrats have no reason to align with Romney's political views, but we should demonstrate that he has support and appreciation for haven taking a courageous stand on this particular matter. It might also give pause to moderates and independents who might consider voting for Trump but have no stomach for his pettiness and mean streak toward anyone who crosses him, even for a legitimate reason.

[democrattotheend]

36. Exactly. Also, fight back against efforts to impugn his motive

Not just because it's the right thing to do but because it's in our interest NOT to let Trump marginalize him as acting out of spite or jealousy. His words were powerful, and could go a long way in convincing swing voters that the impeachment effort was legit and not just a partisan witch hunt. The argument he made is more powerful coming from a Republican than it could be from any Democrat. So no matter how you feel about Romney, whether you think he was being courageous and principaled or not (personally I do, but I understand that not everyone does), it is important to fight Trump's attempts to make his vote an act of spite or jealousy or an effort to position himself for 2024.

[rwheeler31]

35. We should be defending him and the Biden family and the managers and the witnesses.

We are not making enough noise, we may not be able to stop the vindictiveness but we can show we are still fighting.