I think Romney quits by the end of the week.

[Pale Blue Dot]

I know, I know, but I have good reasons to believe so:

1. Besides his television appearances on Friday, Romney has been off the campaign trail. He should be out on the road trying to control the narrative, yet he's letting his surrogates speaking (stupidly - retroactive???) for him. In the past when similar things have happened it was because the candidate was reevaluating his or her campaign.

2. Fellow Republicans - Republicans! - are calling for him to release his tax records. Such lack of discipline and enthusiasm among Republicans is unprecedented in modern times.

3. If Romney felt comfortable releasing his tax records, he would have done so by now. He doesn't want to, but in order to continue he realizes he has to. He won't, and he won't continue.

4. I feeling a level of giddiness that I haven't felt during a campaign, ever. Even the Sarah Palin garbage didn't make me happy, because she had so many rabid supporters and she could have actually been VP. It was frightening. Romney has neither rabid supporters or a chance to actually be President.

Bookmark it: He's done by Friday.

[Douglas Carpenter]

1. I think they are locked in at this point and have no viable alternative

besides - the election is not over yet, not by a long shot. Things are looking good - but it's still far from over.

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. Point taken, but given Romney's past actions and temperment,

I don't think he gives a shit that they're "locked in". He cares only about Romney, and I believe he knows that continuing exposes him to much worse than an election loss.

[muriel_volestrangler]

80. No, continuing wouldn't expose him to anything bad

Nothing is going to force him to release earlier tax returns; it may hurt his election not to, but that is 'an election loss' at the most, not 'worse than'. Staying in the race is not going to get him arrested (any investigation of him started now would be denounced as partisan, probably with some justification). If he chooses to lose rather than spend his own money on the election, then he doesn't lose money by staying in either.

Romney can stay in the election, and a lot of the senior Republicans won't care, because their alternative candidates are all just as weak - frequently through being batshit crazy. They don't have a 'plan B', so they won't force him out.

[roguevalley]

94. it may not matter. Ron Paul is taking the delegates right in front of them. he may just

get it because he knows the rules. A fight at the convention will be the end of everything especially if ron paul has the delegates and they try and take them away.

[Ken Burch]

97. Anybody know what the Old Libertarian's delegate count is at this point?

n/t.

[Capt. Obvious]

157. No where close to what his supporters think it is

Romney's team keeps changing the rules and stripping his delegates.

[Douglas Carpenter]

128. they will pull out all stops to block Ron Paul. He was never in the running as a possible nominee.

He challenges not only accepted Republican orthodoxy way too much - he threatens bipartisan assumptions. Established power cannot allow a major party candidate to threaten the established order as much as Ron Paul does. It was never remotely possible that Ron Paul could become the nominee. He could how ever create an embarrassing situation for Romney - but I would be surprised if he does.

[roguevalley]

168. the calamity will be worth billions. :D

[GarroHorus]

2. I predict he will name the Veep by Friday

They haven't even attempted a major redirection yet.

[NYC Liberal]

6. That could backfire for him (not that I'd mind and not that I don't think it's possible anyway)

I think most people would see through it as an obvious redirection attempt. Because the fact is, he still hasn't released his tax returns and until he does it'll remain an issue that plagues him.

[maddezmom]

9. that is what I think as well.

he sent out another teaser by email to his fans on Sat.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/14/romney-talks-vp-prospects-in-e-mail-to-supporters/

[CanonRay]

14. Do you think anyone is taking his calls?

Portman? Rice? No way.

[rhett o rick]

51. I heard The Newt is lobbying for the job. nm

[JanMichael]

16. I bet his choices for VP are running

away from him right now. He's getting toxic.

[graywarrior]

22. Maybe Dan Quale is available

[madinmaryland]

32. That would be the perfect choice!!

[The Wizard]

70. no no no

Jerry Sandusky

[graywarrior]

89. Robert Blake....lol

[regnaD kciN]

93. No, he needs an African-American to cut into Obama's base...

...so "Mitt/O.J. 2012!"

[graywarrior]

98. LOL

[jmowreader]

172. Let's be serious here

Mitt / J.C. Watts 2012

J.C. Watts is a retired NFL player who became a GOP legislator from Oklahoma. He used to be one of DU's prime sources of entertainment, and he's conservative enough to appeal to the teabaggers.

[cindyperry2010]

77. stop it now

you are just screwing with us that would be like saying sarah palin is a valid vp choice oh wait .....

[rufus dog]

25. If that is the case, then wouldn't Obama have picked the VP for the repukes again.

One could argue that the ass whooping McCain was taken led to the Palin choice.

Would this be a two-fer?

Would Romney have to pick someone squeaky clean or would they double down?

[Generic Brad]

40. A squeaky clean Republican?

Do any exist? I always thought they were mythical beings like unicorns and Bigfoot and chupacabras.

[rufus dog]

48. You are correct

a smack to the head for me!

[Brewinblue]

154. There is one squeaky clean Republican

Hunstman, but the GOP faithful hate him for it.

[global1]

26. This Might Be A First - Where The Selected VP Takes The Place Of The Presidential Nominee Even....

before the election.

[freshwest]

54. I thought they generally don't announce their VP until the convention. May be all wrong. I don't

Much care about the VPs. Except in Palin's case, when I thought she might actually get her pinkies on the button to target the Russkis from her porch...

Right after she declared herself the Bride of Christ and expected the whole country to bow down to her. Or something along those lines.

I always thought of her as Apocalypse Barbie.

[amfortas the hippie]

62. Ice Queen Aphasia

was my favorite.
Never got to use it, tho.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

72. McCain announced Palin prior to the Convention.

It was right after his Birthday.

And as I said to Bartcop (which he used on the site), "Where the hell did he find her? Did she pop out of his birthday cake?"

[freshwest]

75. Thanks for the information, and that sounds about right!

Last edited Sun Jul 15, 2012, 10:22 PM - Edit history (1)

[SheilaT]

131. In recent years the VP choice has been

announced well before the conventions. I'm not bothering to check the google, but it's at least the past three, maybe four cycles that the VP has been announced ahead of time.

[freshwest]

133. Thanks, as I said, they haven't much mattered to me. Unless they're really scary!

[lastlib]

159. I still think of her as Queen of Babble-On.......!

[Renew Deal]

107. "How many years of tax returns did you request from VP Candidate XYZ?"

Last edited Mon Jul 16, 2012, 06:16 AM - Edit history (1)

That's the question I'm looking forward to hearing answered.

[MidwestTransplant]

126. Yeah the Condi Rice trial balloon did nothing for them so I agree.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I don't think so.

They are stuck with him. He's clearly been rattled by all the talk about what he did or didn't do at Bain, but I think he's too arrogant to imagine that it will damage him in the long run.

[Politicalboi]

5. I hope so, but

I don't think so. He will get away with only releasing 2 years. The Repukes will now make it look bad that Obama wants to pry into Rmoneys money just to make him look bad. Their party is full of "The Stupid", and they will take any excuse just so they get a chance to vote out the black man.

[Pale Blue Dot]

10. The Republican attempts to do so so far have been HILARIOUS.

If they had better, they'd be using it now. I've never seen a Republican campaign this inept. It seems to me they know they're sitting on a powder keg.

[randome]

7. I wouldn't have thought it would happen this soon.

But your #1 has been puzzling me this weekend. It gives a kind of 'whipped dog' character to the campaign. That's a death knell.

I do think he will have no choice but to drop out eventually.

[XemaSab]

37. There's no attempt to control the narrative

The flurry of poutrage from Camp Romney is the only thing I've heard from them since the primaries ended.

[randome]

59. Exactly! The Republican party is showing NO signs of coordination! None!

Palin was not vetted. Romney was not vetted.

There is a pattern.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Depends on his psychological health

Which at this point is suspect.

Don

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. I think he's one more major news story embarrassment away

And he won't be the one deciding. Guys like Koch and Adelson will be asking themselves if they want to keep throwing money down the rabbit hole.

[democrat_patriot]

12. Sorry - I'll be surprise we hear about Bain by August.

In a 24/7 news cycle the life of a story is small and weak. And they NEED a horse race.

We have jobs reports coming, both conventions, VP pick, debates etc.

All it takes is another bright shiny story to change the topic.

Rising Gas Prices
Olympics.
Unemployment goes up.
Disaster of some kind.
Obama doesn't put his hand close enough to his heart for the national anthem.
The Donald has a press conference.
Highly visible Dem, any Dem with a problem (Jesse Jackson Jr?)

The RW machine did not get to control the House with Teabaggers without excellent message control.

It's the summer - most people are on vacation. But I LOVE the backbone the Dems are showing

[Pale Blue Dot]

15. This is one of my arguments: The Republican message control has been TERRIBLE.

I've never seen it so bad. And each statement they make is worse and more hilarious than the last. "Chicago"? Really? That's the best they've got?

[democrat_patriot]

61. We gotta prepare for the message to get better.

They still have the false - raised debt - most taxed - government takeover arguments.

They have $800 million to spend, and they haven't begun to stretch their finances.....

[freshwest]

134. Ah, but you remember McCain having to rein in his attack dog Palin? And his flip flopping? For many

Americans, Romney's made a complete fool of himself. For those who are still undecided, meaning they might vote for the vulture capitalist, they are either fools or else as evil as he is.

And look at the gang that was elected into power by disgruntled Democrats staying home and Koch brained voters elevating the Tea Party way above their level of competence in 2010. Most of the people they put in had questionable legal and moral problems, and they just did it anyway.

I still say Mittens could eat live kittens on stage and these people would vote for him. They've excused everything that Bush did, all of them. And they show up at every election like a swarm of mosquitoes.

I don't think that Mittens is going anywhere, except to London to cavort with the royals, maybe fire off a few rooftop missiles in hopes of starting WW3. Nothing would surprise me out of Camp Neocon and the End of Days cults that support the GOP now. Nothing.

Sorry. JMHO.

[solara]

161. Sadly, I think you may be right

This says it all:

" Nothing would surprise me out of Camp Neocon and the End of Days cults that support the GOP now. Nothing."

[kentuck]

13. He's in Europe with his wife and horse...

trying to win an Olympic medal.

[ananda]

18. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

Aren't Roms and Ann busy taking that Ratafarius horse to the
Olympics or something?

[CTyankee]

36. It will be pleasant to see pics of the two of them enjoying the Olympics in London at such a

delightful time of year to be there. It will be so charming to see them and their darling horse. I do hope we get to see his dressage performance. Top drawer, as usual!

[kentuck]

41. It will be a spiffy time for the old chap..

and they will have a jolly good time.

[CTyankee]

60. I hope so. I didn't know they were in sport. But they were in sport! Imagine!

[cindyperry2010]

78. i know they have no message control at all

he is not that clueless is he? surely to god not. i heard he was going to the olympics and i thought are you kidding me? is he trying to loose?

[monmouth]

42. My understanding was that he was NOT going because he "had a campaign" to attend to. Of course

that could change, but she was to go with the trainer, et al..and he would keep the home fires burning....

[muriel_volestrangler]

83. He's there for a fundraiser Thur 26th, and the opening ceremony Fri 27th

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/9393413/US-election-Mitt-Romney-to-host-50000-a-head-London-fundraisers.html

I can't see if he's staying after that. But I doubt he's in London much more than those 2 days.

[monmouth]

140. That makes sense, thanks..n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

17. I disagree.

I will be shocked (but pleasantly) if he drops out. He's wanted this for far too long to give up easily.

[Solomon]

19. I think he's gotta go but I dont know about next week.

After its exposed exactly what he has been investing in, he'll be reduced to meekly arguing that "look, my goal was to accumulate as much money as i can. Just because i owned the company doesn't mean I knew what we were investing in".

[Pale Blue Dot]

20. But how could Romney, who's running on his business acumen, say that?

It would be, essentially, admitting he was not in control of his company.

This issue has put a box around him that I don't think he can escape from.

[Solomon]

117. Thats why im agreeing that he has to go.

[underpants]

21. The only purpose of Romney getting the nomination is too keep Scott Brown's seat in Mass

we live in, sadly, a two term Presidency. It is not just the money it is the general public and the (Fox) "News" establishment.

Taking the Senate completely depends on Scott Brown staying at the Senator from Massachusetts.

It is all about getting distance from Bush -Cheney and in 2016 there will be that distance.

[Pale Blue Dot]

23. How's Brown going to distance himself from Romney?

I'm in Mass and I'm salivating at the opportunity to make that connection, and I'm sure many others in this state are as well.

[underpants]

28. Romney, the idea went, would not win Mass but his appearances.....

would promote Borwn and maybe (not really) draw Obama money into Mass or at least lead to the "You know some people say that Romney might win Massachusetts..." talking point.
Much like Obama did with West Virginia ( not a win) or Indiana ( an out of this world WIN in 2008).

It is all about creating momentum or "could be"'s at that this point.

[Raine]

24. He'll never quit, defeat in Nov. is all that will get rid of him. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

27. I honestly think he thinks this will all blow over.

He has never been accountable in his life, and the mere suggestion isn't gelling for him. I truly believe he thinks this will all just go away if they throw enough money at less than useful shiny objects.

And for 25% of the US Population, he is right.

[madinmaryland]

34. You may be right. Of course Rmoney has never had to work a day in his life.

Anyone who believes Rmoney is a self made man is full of shit.

[emulatorloo]

122. He worked very hard destroying American companies and putting people out of work.

He worked very hard coming up with smart ways to make money for himself, no matter what the consequences were for other people.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. He'll name an attack dog VP shortly

to go around and do his dirty work on the campaign trail bashing Obama while he jets off to the Olympics to watch Anne's horsey. He'll not sully himself with any of this anymore!

[amandabeech]

92. What? Has Bob Dole emerged from his grave? n/t

[DesertRat]

129. Maybe this guy

[deutsey]

144. Ah, the very embodiment of all that's great about America

[Scuba]

30. I would add that he's a privileged prick who's never had to face the music before....

His wimp out meter is likely redlined.

[Gothmog]

31. This thread is based on the premise that Romney has some shame

The premise of the OP would make sense if Romney had some shame. Romney is shameless and therefore normal rules do not apple.

Romney is going to out raise and outspend President Obama. Romney won his primaries by out fund raising and outspending his opponents and Romney will try the same tactic in the general election.

[randome]

55. I'll see your 'apple' and raise you two grapes!

I don't think shame has anything to do with it. I think his unelectability will only continue to grow from this point forward until it becomes possible he will drop out only to save the Republican party from further embarrassment and loss of funds.

When your own party doesn't want you, it becomes increasingly hard to support him.

[Gothmog]

127. Romney is part of the one percent who thinks that he is entitled to be POTUS

Romney will not willingly give up the GOP nomination. He thinks that he is entitled and deserves to be POTUS. That is how the GOP operates. Romney believes that as a member of the one percent, he is best suited to lead the country and will not give up the nomination without a fight. Romney carpet bombed Newt, Perry and anyone who stood in his way and will not give up the nomination and the chance to be POTUS without a major fight.

[DrDan]

33. let's just put a couple of bucks on it . ..

[Jackpine Radical]

108. Make that 10 thou.

[DrDan]

138. you're on Jack - Mitt will survive

his voters will continue to contribute and vote for him - it will take a lot more scandalous behavior for him to drop out

[Jackpine Radical]

143. Actually, I was just taking a cheap shot where I could. I agree--

He will be the nominee in the fall.

For one thing, all those committed delegates--the one who signed the Romney pledges--aren't going away.

Anyway, who else would they run? Jeb wouldn't do it. The Koch Bros.wouldn't permit the party to run Ron Paul--he's bad for bidniss.

Newt? Santorum? Hahahahahahah!

[DrDan]

156. btw - the significance of the amount of our bet did not go un-noticed

good one

[Pale Blue Dot]

109. If I had it, I'd bet it.

Unfortunately, I'm a teacher.

[randome]

110. Then just open up one of your Swiss bank accounts to cover the bet!

Geeze. You one-percenters never want to take any risks, do you?

[DrDan]

137. been there . . . how about a few lesson plans

I still have some of my old ones

[cali]

35. not a chance. zip. none. not going to happen.

[RebelOne]

38. Gotta agree. Definitely not going to happen.

I would even take bets on it.

[Logical]

39. No way, how many times do we see predictions on du like this???

[WI_DEM]

148. tons, and they never come true.

[CakeGrrl]

43. He won't. The GOP will count on voter suppression and

a lapdog MSM not really interested in putting the bite on Romney.

[AlinPA]

44. No, they will name his VP (Rubio or Rice) and Baingate is done. The media frenzy will be

wild.

[KamaAina]

121. Rice is a nonstarter with the repuke base

one of Silicon Valley's worst-kept secrets is that she's bought a house near Stanford -- with her domestic partner.

Rubio? Might be a good fit. Did his parents come here before or after Castro took over? Depends on the phase of the moon or something.

[GusFring]

45. He has domestic terrorist sabotaging the economy for him Why would he quit?

It's only July.

[stevenleser]

46. As Romney himself might say, "$10,000 bet?"

Just kidding, not only dont I bet, I dont have that kind of money to bet.

But I dont think there is a chance he gets out in the next week,

[loyalsister]

47. How exactly would that go?

Would he announce that he wants his delegates to vote for one of the other declared candidates whose campaigns have been suspended?

There are technical details that make simply saying he's dropping out unlikely.

[patrice]

49. Unlikely. But even if he did, they can't run from this & his exit would confirm it further.

[onenote]

50. Not a chance. But I'll bookmark so we can see which one of us is eating crow.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

52. I doubt it because they are going to play really dirty

[Jessy169]

87. Same here.

Like I posted below, it is just too good to be true. No way Karl Rove didn't see this coming and get a plan in place to deal with it. While we are being very entertained with Kristol and all these other Republicans calling for Romney to release his tax returns, it could very likely be nothing more than staged drama. We shouldn't get our hopes up too much. Don't count Karl Rove out -- but keep some champagne on ice in case it turns out to be as good as it looks on the surface right now.

[rhett o rick]

53. I think you misjudge the arrogance of the 1%. nm

[randome]

57. I think you overestimate them.

Palin was not vetted.
Romney was not vetted.

The lights are out in the cave Republicans call home.

[rhett o rick]

69. You are assuming that because Palin was exposed as the nitwit she was, that she wasnt

vetted. I disagree. By the way, the Republican Party successfully stole two presidential elections. They are not stupid. I think that the Republican Party decided to back off for a while. This is a specific strategy that I read about but cant locate the source. The Repukes recognized that the public were fed up with Republicans and decided to cut their loses and give up the 2008 election. Hell, they picked dip-shit McCain as their candidate. What better running mate than Palin, that any fool recognized as a nitwit. Didnt anyone else notice that Georgie Bush and Dickhead Cheney, two loud mouth egotists, were suddenly quiet and instead of leaving Washington the DC with a fuss, left without a whimper. Someone told them to shut the f up and slink out of Washington the DC.

It is very dangerous to underestimate your enemy.

[randome]

79. I agree. Do not underestimate them.

But OVER-estimating them gives them more power over us.

I don't think either stance will help us. But I do think it's important to recognize Reality. The Republicans are NOT coordinated on this and they do not seem to understand what has happened to make them that way.

PNAC was a coup within the GOP.
Bush, Jr. is now toxic to them.
You say Palin may have been vetted? I've seen no evidence to suggest that.
Romney has not been vetted.

It was not fully recognized that Rome had fallen until someone noticed cows grazing on the Senate lawn.

I think we need to recognize that the GOP is at their weakest level in decades. Now is the time to drive the stake through their feeble hearts!

[rhett o rick]

90. I agree with some of what you say. But as far as the 2008 election

i believe that "they" (whoever) decided they couldnt win so they didnt try. That's why McDipshit and Palin were the candidates. They didnt care. It is impossible to convince me that "they" are sooooo stupid they didnt recognize Palin for what she is.

I am not sure what is going on this year. Romney is soo bad a choice. One thought is that the elite are soo arrogant that they didnt foresee the 99% seeing thru Romney. Their arrogance blinds them.

[rhett o rick]

56. WWKRD? What would Karl Rove do? He would insist that Rmoney not "quit", but go to the

convention and let the convention decide (with help of course). That way it will look like the Repukes fixed their own problem in lieu of letting him quit like a coward.

[Marr]

58. Hell no. He's a CEO. They DO NOT put the "team" ahead of themselves.

This is the whole outlook they've lionized. Kind of silly to expect them to suddenly become self-sacrificing team players at the eleventh hour.

[Kalidurga]

63. He won't quit, but he should.

1. He doesn't think he did anything wrong. He most likely thinks he has never done anything wrong.

2, His handlers won't let him quit at this point not until they have a viable back up plan, like a brokered convention.

3. He thinks that he is owed being President and all the maneuvering he has done since 1999 has been to that end.

4. He is proud of being a vulture capitalist, he is hiding something much bigger, so I don't expect him to release his income taxes either. If he does he is done. If he doesn't well he has supporters who will back him up on that issue.

[baldguy]

64. Maybe they could get Alan Keyes to replace him.

[SemperEadem]

65. Nah... his ego won't allow it

their convention is going to be hilarious!

[The Wizard]

67. He still has this

And don't forget how Obama gets the teabagger base foaming from the mouth.

[99th_Monkey]

113. Not sure how that would work w/ Condie Rice as VP candidate

but hey, pretty much anything is possible these daze.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

68. It would be phenomenal,

but one word: HUBRIS.

[ClusterFreak]

71. I don't know if what you predict will come true of course...

...but you have laid out a very compelling case that it just might.

[bowens43]

73. I'm sorry but this is silly. It's NOT going to happen.

[The Wizard]

74. If the cartel wants him out

he's gone. Let's see how much Saudi money he draws.

[jenmito]

76. No way. He gave McCain 24 yrs. of his tax returns to try to be VP and then President.

He'll do ANYTHING to try to be President.

[Jackpine Radical]

111. Yup--he gave McCain the tax reports. Then

when the McCain people looked at them & went "OMFG!" and rushed for Palin, it must have dimly dawned on him (or at least his staff) that people wouldn't like what they saw in his tax returns. So, once burned, he's hiding them.

[MineralMan]

81. I wish he would, but I think he won't.

The man has an enormous ego, and quitting would deflate that. I think he stays in the race, loses, and then enters obscurity.

[The empressof all]

82. As much as I would get a big giggle out of that...

It's just don't think it's gonna happen.

The mainstream news is not really on board with this story. Outside of the liberal blogs and MSNBC it's not really burning news.

[Jessy169]

84. Too good to be true?

It is hard to believe that Karl Rove didn't see this issue coming, or that he at least assigned a probability that it would be an issue. What are the chances that what we're seeing is all part of a plan that Rove put into place to deal with this issue? All the conservative pundits and other Republicans calling for Romney to release his tax returns could all be just staged drama. My paranoid side thinks that something really fishy is going on, like, how could Rove and Romney have been so stupid to get caught in this trap -- no way. My optimistic side thinks that Rove and Romney are finally falling victim to their arrogance and their world of lies where deceit and fabrication have always worked so well. Either could be true. I'm hoping for the best, but don't be surprised if Karl Rove pulls a rabbit out his hat.

[randome]

91. Rove is not in charge.

He has not been for a long time.

[adigal]

162. Rove thought he could hide bush's DWI - dumbass thinks he's the smartest

guy in the country. Hubris.

[randome]

166. WE thought it, too, at times.

He is not the evil genius people imagined him to be.

[GObamaGO]

85. I don't think it is likely he will quit

One, he is too much of a narcissist to give up the campaign. Two, he has the GOP delegates and this late in the game, they would have a difficult time vetting and preparing another candidate.

I think he will probably choose a running mate within the next two weeks that will shore up the GOP's evangelical base.

[99th_Monkey]

86. I'm betting Rmoney holds out til the convention

Last edited Mon Jul 16, 2012, 01:08 AM - Edit history (1)

and then Jeb is nominated and becomes the GOP candidate by acclamation.

I agree Mittens is totally boxed into an untenable corner and is finished.

[Dan]

101. I agree

and felt this was the going to happen.

The question is do the American people want to have another Bush presidency...

[cbdo2007]

102. romney will be getting booed by his own party on the convention stage. It'll be amazing.

[99th_Monkey]

112. :popcorn: ~nt

[onenote]

141. You have a very active imagination.

As do the posters that think Jeb Bush is going to pop up as the candidate at the convention.
For posters on a political board, some people don't seem to have a very strong grasp of political reality.

Here's your reality check: Romney isn't quitting this week, next week, before, during, or after the repub convention. He's the nominee. And he will not be a pushover in the general election.

[cbdo2007]

158. Wow....take a joke much?!?!

You really think I thought he would get booed at the convention?!?! Of course not, I was just taking the opportunity to spread some good thoughts to everybody because we're seeing a candidate suffer bigger than any has at this stage of running for pres in our lifetimes.

Oh the other hand, you have a very active imagination as well if you think he's going to make it to the election. Some of his own party are turning on him with 3.5 months before the election. I'm guessing his donations will start dropping soon as this tax return/bain stuff sinks into people's brains, and he'll drop out of the race. It's much more damaging to their party for him to drop out within the next month, rather than with 2-3 weeks before the election.

[onenote]

160. let's check in with each other on Labor Day to see which of us has a more active imagination.

[coalition_unwilling]

125. Grammar Nazi here: think you mean "acclamation" and not "acclimation" (unless

you're exhibiting some 9th-degree irony that I'm missing

[99th_Monkey]

130. Thanks for the correction Matey. ~nt

[madamesilverspurs]

88. Where other people

have a conscience, Romney has a strong sense of privileged entitlement. I doubt that it will allow him to quit.

-

[Pale Blue Dot]

95. Now Bloomberg is against him

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014167340

Arguably Bloomberg represents the 1%.

He's DONE.

[riderinthestorm]

96. No way. He'll stonewall calls to release his tax returns and without the damaging info being public

he'll simply ride it out. He won't quit.

The damaging info is in the returns. He isn't stupid, he'll simply sit on them. Sure the calls for their release will continue but sooner or later the Obama campaign's persistent calls will sound "petty" and "old". The MSM needs shiny, new trash for their daily grist and they will tire of this story sooner or later.

rMoney has already raised close to a billion dollars without raising a finger. He's got people pledging millions in superpac money to overcome all obstacles. He hasn't even begun to spend those bucks.

He also owns the majority delegates.

He's taken time off to huddle with his advisors in order to come up with this very plan. Bank on it.

[steve2470]

99. He's not going to quit

The Republican attack wurlitzer will unleash a tsunami of bullshit and attempt to wash all this away.

I'd be totally shocked if he quits.

[ailsagirl]

100. I have more of a feeling of dread

because something is going on we don't know about. And it will be sprung when we least expect it. I don't know--- I just know those crazed neocons would stoop to any level to NOT have Obama serve a second term. They're really nuts.

I hope I'm wrong

[randome]

103. There is ALWAYS something going on we don't know about.

Don't let it keep you up at night!

[ailsagirl]

123. It doesn't

I've almost become accustomed to it.

[Renew Deal]

104. I doubt it.

Anything is possible in life, but that would be unprecedented in modern presidential politics.

I think the republicans have a slightly better chance without Romney than they do with him. My feeling has always been that they should nominate a loser they like than a loser they dislike. Maybe it will happen and it certainly could happen, but I doubt it.

[liberal N proud]

105. They have KKKarl Rove working on a swiftboat attack now.

It will not need to be true, but they will sick the media dogs on and it will go viral.

All in an effort to change the subject and get off defense.


Will it work? Hope not.

[randome]

106. Karl Rove has not been in charge for a long time.

He is not the evil mastermind some want to believe he is.

[Octafish]

115. Yeah. He's only raising and controlling the GOP cash pile.

From April:

The Karl Rove Machine You've Never Heard Of

EXCERPT...

Between the super PAC and nonprofit group, Rove's special interests have raised about $104.1 million since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United, a decision that allowed unions and corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns.

[randome]

118. Raising money is not the same as controlling the message.

That's obvious since there is no message coordination going on within the GOP. There was no vetting of Romney. Do you really believe the evil genius legend still exists after seeing what a train wreck the GOP has become?

[Octafish]

119. They're pretty good at message control. Their messenger's the problem.

The GOP nominee's been defined by us, for once -- offshoring sleazeball crony capitalist nutjob draft dodger.

As for evil genius: How soon until the capital gains tax rate goes north of 15-percent?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

150. I hope not either

the question I have though is, what exactly will they use. The past four years have been one big swiftboat attack that has essentially failed. His "job approval" numbers notwithstanding (which have still remained sort of weak because of the economy but relatively stable overall), the Republicans can't make people *hate* President Obama, so most of their attacks have fallen flat. The race is competitive mostly by virtue of the sluggishness of the economy but absent a major catastrophe, I'm not sure what the Republicans would be holding back at this point.

[backscatter712]

114. No, it's too late for the GOP to switch candidates.

Mitt will stick it out, but he's been seriously wounded - he's gonna get steamrolled this November...

[jillan]

116. No - But he will do something big this week whether it's VP or go after the President - anything

to change the story.

[Ter]

124. Ron Paul supporters are all over this

They still believe.

[SheilaT]

132. No. No, no, no, no, no.

People running for office at almost any level are in a bubble. I imagine that the bubble a presidential candidate is in is very large, and does not admit any reality at all.l

When you run for office, you really think you might win, no matter how objectively hopeless it is.

Just look back at all those who were running earlier this year, and you can see that they really though they might win it, no matter how obvious it was to us on the outside that there was no chance at all that a given candidate (Christie, or Huntsman, or Perry, for instance) had.

Romney, as the presumptive nominee, is so far inside that bubble that most objective reality simply does not penetrate. It's not just that he doesn't look at DU, it's that he and absolutely no one around him looks at anything that is not strongly pro-Romney.

I have once or twice in my life been inside such a bubble, and only for a very short time, but the bubble factor is huge.

[Major Nikon]

135. This won't be front page material in a week

Let's face it. The Obama campaign is getting a lot of mileage out of this, but I don't expect it to last long. The media needs a constant source of fresh material and they are only going to harp on this for so long before they drop it.

However, I think the strategic implications for Rmoney are catastrophic. What record does he have to run on now? He can't run on his Mass gov tenure because that means talking about health care reform and poor job creation during his administration. Now he can't talk about Bain because that means talking about tax returns, secret offshore accounts, his status between '99 - '02, and bankrupt companies. Just about all he has left is his tenure as CEO of SLC's Olympic committee. Kinda hard to build a case for his qualifications based on that alone.

[Douglas Carpenter]

136. well maybe two weeks, but yes as soon as a new shiny jingly object comes by the media will focus on

that instead. But still it does leave a lasting impression that will remain

[cbdo2007]

164. You assume the President Obama's camp has already played all their cards?!?!?

Nope, this is just one in a long line of attacks they probably have planned. To us, this all looks like stuff people are "just discovering" but the puppet masters have this whole thing planned out meticulously. They're releasing small bits of dirt each week and Romney is already getting majorly distracted and flustered by it all.

[barbtries]

139. i'll bookmark it

but am skeptical. it may be true that tptb may decide to save their super pac money for 2016.

[Vinca]

142. I almost hope he doesn't fold his mink tent and go home.

During the few minutes I could tolerate "Morning Joe" they were talking about how this campaign is like Bush/Dukakis and Bush/Kerry and it occurred to me . . . Dems have finally turned the tables. At long last they're getting a taste of their own medicine.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

145. Will that be in 3 business days? When it happens, can we call it Fitzmas II?

Not that it isn't important, but I don't think the Bain story has that much traction with the greater general public. We have to understand us politically astute people have a heightened sense of things, and just because something should be a major scandal doesn't mean it will actually end up as one.

In other words, live boy or dead girl. That's probably what it is going to take. Otherwise, Romney will name his veep and the Bain story will get shoved into a back drawer somewhere, like those old birthday cards from your grandparents that you don't want to throw away.

[TrollBuster9090]

146. NOOOOooooooOOOO! We don't want THAT!

We want there to be a riot on the CONVENTION FLOOR, with all of his old opponents trying to knock him off the top of the totem pole again!

Ron Paul suicide bombers, Newt Gingrich "rockets" and Rick Perry's steel-headed tanks. The bigger the war of attrition the better.

[WI_DEM]

147. I didn't book mark it (others will) but you're wrong--Mittens is going to be the nominee.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

149. This could possibly (help) sink him in November

if the Obama campaign is able to get this narrative about him "baked in" to the public consciousness but I doubt that it's going to result in Romney quitting the race. I think that they're locked in to him. Him dropping out and/or having a brokered convention would be a disaster for the Republicans no matter how you spin it. Plus, he's getting ready to announce his VP choice, which should help him seize control of a few news cycles- at least until the Obama campaign figures out a way to attack whoever it turns out to be, of course (which I'm sure they're keeping close tabs on).

[get the red out]

151. Media is covering his ass

I don't think he will have to quit, it will take a lot of pressure to keep the story going.

[IDemo]

152. I predict AMC is reborn and introduces the Mittador

Rooftop dog crate optional. Bookmark it!

[Javaman]

153. no way in hell.

narcissists and sociopaths fatal flaw is they think they are better and smarter than everyone else.

lost mittens would walk through a pit of molten lead before he would quit.

[Brewinblue]

155. 50/50 chance

is my estimate that he doesn't end up the GOP candidate. When or if he drops out, well sometime before September.

[Logical]

167. 0% chance

[jimlup]

163. In all seriousness... don't we want him to make it to convention...

If he steps out they Rovian/Cheney head of the party might find a viable candidate in time. If we can nurse Romney through convention... then take him down that would be better. Leave them without a lever to pull in November...

[grantcart]

165. Doubtful, unless you see that he has to take time off to go see the doctor.

Then expec to see some health problems cooked up so they can provide an exit.

[DrDan]

169. ahem . . . it's Friday . . . and guess who is still here . . .

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

170. But what if he retroactively quits a month from now, extending back to today?

Is that beyond the realm of possibility?

[DrDan]

171. drat . . . that was a good point

[just1voice]

173. I bookmarked it because I know (R)s don't give a sht about laws or truth

In fact, (R)s like criminals a lot more because they think crooks are people who figured out how to get away with things they themselves would do in a heartbeat if they thought they could get away with it.

Maybe someday people will get that although I doubt it. (R)s set up torture camps, lied about nuclear weapons and lie about everything else in their lives and still people think honesty or truth matters to them.

It'll be a close election regardless of how big a criminal Robme is and the more focus there is on his lack of ethics, the more support he will get. The real focus should be on issues if politics mattered at all to politicians.

[Make7]

174. RE: "Bookmark it: He's done by Friday."

I actually did bookmark this.

Is it Friday yet?