‘Rudy McRomney’

March 2, 2007

As the presidential campaign process unfolds, let’s not lose sight of the capacity of Republicans to tear each other apart.

Leading conservatives yesterday attacked the Republican party as big-government, free-spending coddlers of illegal immigrants and said the country’s conservatives should withhold support from the GOP’s current slate of presidential nominees to force them to the right.

“I feel very angry and betrayed” by the GOP, some of whose elected officials have backed a “guest worker” immigration plan, abortion rights, and tax increases, said Richard Viguerie , chairman of Conservative-HQ.com . “We should withhold support from all major Republican [presidential] candidates today. Not one of them deserves our support today,” he told a ballroom full of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual meeting yesterday. […]

At least one conference participant sported a sticker that featured a circle with a line drawn through the words “Rudy McRomney” — broadcasting the wearer’s opposition to the early leaders in polls for the GOP nomination, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani , Senator John McCain of Arizona, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

The “Rudy McRomney” tag is apparently becoming the new buzz phrase among conservatives looking for a far-right candidate. There’s something “wrong” with all of them — Giuliani has embraced liberal social policies, McCain sponsored campaign-finance reform legislation, Romney disagreed with the right on everything up until a few minutes ago, Huckabee raised taxes in Arkansas, and Brownback supports “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants.

But, where’s the proverbial bomb-thrower who’s prepared to burn the house down? I think we’re starting to get a hint.

The conservative Washington Times reports today that former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore (R) doesn’t mind being the one to break the party’s 11th Commandment and will unveil a video he’s debuting tomorrow on his campaign website, YouTube, and in an email to GOP activists in Iowa.

“The three leading challengers for our party’s nomination may be good men, but they simply do not share our conservative values,” Mr. Gilmore says in the ad….

“John McCain has fought conservatives time after time, even invoking the rhetoric of class warfare to oppose the Bush tax cuts,” he says in the ad.

“Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney both repeatedly opposed core conservative values to win elections in New York and Massachusetts,” says Mr. Gilmore, who was nominated by President Bush to be the Republican National Committee chairman after the 2000 elections.

“It’s for these reasons that I intend to pursue our party’s nomination for president [and] I will represent the Republican wing of the Republican Party,” says Mr. Gilmore, considered a philosophical conservative who believes in limited government, individual liberties and non-intervention abroad except when directly threatened.

It’s also worth noting that Bob Novak reported this week that Gilmore has been push-polling in Iowa and found that far-right activists are likely to turn on “Rudy McRomney” when they learn more about their backgrounds.

Now, Gilmore is the longest of long-shots, and is trying to run on an abysmal gubernatorial record. But he has nothing to lose by spending his time attacking the top three and trying to level the playing field, which he seems anxious to do.

How nasty will Gilmore get? I don’t know, but it might be entertaining to find out.

Oh man. Christmas came really early this year.

It’ll be nice to watch a circular firing squad unfold in the other party for a change.

  • Rudy McRomney will be stampeding toward the Right providing plenty of ammo for the left during the presidential election proper.

  • I don’t know much about Gilmore– how charismatic is he on TV? Remember, image means a lot in presidential politics. He could be ideologically exactly what the theocons are looking for, but if he comes off as un-personable, he’s done for.

    All I can say is, I am SO GLAD we knocked George Allen out of the running– it seems that that has truly made all the difference!

  • If you liked George Allen, you’ll like Gilmore.

    If you like “economy-saving” tax cuts, you’ll like Gilmore.

    If you like having to clean up after someone else, you’ll like Gilmore.

    That’s all I have to say.

  • This is giving me hope. I knew it was early but it really looked to me until now as if the whole GOP was just bezalled by Giuliani.

  • Caped Composer — I checked out your tunes on your website and wanted to tell you it was great stuff!!!

    Sorry for the off topic.

  • Thanks, Marcus– if you’re in the NYC area, you should come hear me perform live, a week from tomorrow. I appreciate the fact that you listened to my stuff, and I hope to write some politically-oriented tunes soon.

    Getting back to the topic . . . Focality, when you say “if you liked George Allen, you’ll like Gilmore,” do you mean that just in terms of ideology, or does Gilmore actually possess the same at-home-with-the-crowd confidence that Allen did? (And, if that’s the case, we can take him down easily– all we need to do is send S.R. Sidarth out with a video camera!)

  • “Rudy McRomney” – I love it.

    Meanwhile, Romney is delusional – at least, I hope he is…

    The mainstream media’s aggressive coverage of his candidacy for president, Mitt Romney said yesterday, is proof that he is considered the conservative choice in the Republican primary contest.

  • Newt is waiting for one or two front-runners to knock themseleves out, or to get knocked out.

    I’d love to see him get the nomination. . .unlikeable, obtuse, prone to the occaisional insane outburst. . .the ideal candidate.

  • … and Brownback supports “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants.

    I wouldn’t count Brownback out on this. That will be a really easy thing for him to flip-flop on. he’ll just reverse his position and divert every question about it to “securing the borders”.

    Go Brownback 2008. A GOP candidate even Hillary can beat.

  • I think Richard Viguerie is right. I think all of his people should withhold their support from every Republican candidate to seek the nomination, now or later.

    Permanently. Just go fishing. Or whatever. It will make our victory in ’08 even more satisfying.

  • “Gilmore is the longest of long-shots, and is trying to run on an abysmal gubernatorial record.”

    The incompetence card worked for Bush to get into the White House. Gilmore may not be as much of a long shot as you think. He’s mean, he’s stupid and he’s incompetent — a spitting image of his hero Bush.

  • At least one conference participant sported a sticker that featured a circle with a line drawn through the words “Rudy McRomney” — CB

    Well now…I think I could happily wear such a button myself. Or even something that said “no (Gil) more Rudy McRomney”… I wonder if they have car magnets like that?

  • libra, you can make your own with a printer and sheets of flexible magets from an office supply store, or a hobby store..

    Part of the function of the primary field of candidates is to float platforms for the eventual star to espouse. The second and third-tier folks take the heat for the bad stuff and drop out and the real candidate rakes in all the “good” stuff that plays well with the constituency. I wouldn’t put it past Newt to come in late and claim the platform that most of the party will support.

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