Romney's Weaknesses and the GOP Death Wish

It was clear before yesterday's South Carolina GOP primary election that Mitt Romney was in trouble. His poll numbers were dropping, not just in South Carolina but nationally. And he was being attacked from all three of his opponents, while he had to spread his counter-attack among all of them.
But, those things didn't lose Romney the South Carolina primary -- Romney was his own worst enemy.
First, Mitt Romney is, as I keep saying, a genuinely kind person. It's visible in his eyes when he has to say something negative about anyone, even after being roundly attacked by the person. He does not get fired up. There is no "bit in the teeth" feel to his speeches or to his rebuttals. He is logical and covers the needed points, politely.
Compare that to Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum's attack mode. Their teeth begin to show, they get a satisfied smirk on their faces and they go after the jugular, most often the jugular of Romney, and "billy be damned" about the facts. And even when Mitt has the chance for rebuttal during debates, he tries to soft peddle, make the criticism a light joke or finish with a smile toward his attacker.
On top of these personal traits, admirable and sought after in most professions but anathema in political candidates, Mitt Romney is not a born-again Christian who identifies with the social and religious right wings of the Republican Party. He is conservative, but he is simply not on the GOP right-wing. Add to this the fact that Romney is a very rich man. That shouldn't matter but it seems to this year. Being rich seems to make him suspect, as if he were one of the bailed out Wall Streeters  - even though nothing could be farther from the truth.
Compare this to Gingrich and Santorum. They are accepted by the right-wing social and religious GOP conservatives and tea partiers -- even though both are rich, and one could ask a lot of piercing questions about Gingrich's "born again" status, after three wives, a congressional investigation that found that he had violated ethics requirements, and being a member of the least born-again of Christian churches.
Rich? Newt Gingrich makes several million dollars a year, as does Santorum. And they make their money because they know how to use their former Washington insider status to attract clients. Romney made his money in business, not as a Washington insider. But, Gingrich and Santorum poor mouth their financial status and Romney lets them get away with it. His recent call for Gingrich to publish his Fannie Mae consulting contract is the first attempt Romney has made to go after Newt's convoluted finances and "historian-consulting" arrangements. Santorum's lucrative position on the board of a health group just after he pushed for legislation as a Senator to help their cause is another attack point left on the floor by Romney.
It isn't too late for Mitt Romney, but the clock is ticking loudly. He needs to find a way to adapt his gentlemanly personality to the rough and tumble of presidential politics. He needs to go into Florida with guns blazing. He needs to and can attack both his opponents because they are VULNERABLE.
But, if Romney continues on the same path he has strolled along until now, he will lose. His followers will understand that even if he has enough delegates to be nominated, his chances of winning in November will be slim when he is up against a Chicago-junkyard-gang campaign that will smear him with lies and half-truths.
But, if the GOP can be rational just for once - something it is not very good at - it will understand that Romney is its best shot at winning in November, IF he toughens up and goes after the job of president instead of waiting to be anointed.
One more thought : I was knee deep in the 1964 GOP presidential campaign. I supported Pennsylvania Governor Bill Scranton and New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. They were moderates feeling the first fireball of conservatism sweep over the GOP. They were out-manoeuvered at the convention and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was nominated. It was the death knell of the GOP, because Goldwater's right-wing rhetoric turned off the entire nation and he took only one state.
The damage Goldwater and his followers did to the Republican Party was healed only when Ronald Reagan's brand of compromise-conservatism pulled the GOP back together. And, the cure didn't stick, because as soon as Reagan left office, the right wing came charging back. We are seeing the result in 2012. They will accept no compromise with their religious and social platform. They will refuse to vote if one of them is not the nominee. They will destroy what is left of the Republican Party for another generation, and perhaps forever. Because Gingrich may well beat Obama in debates, on the facts, and in the heartland of America, but he will lose. He will lose just as Goldwater lost, maybe with more votes, but he will lose.
I have a modest proposal.
I believe we Republicans who are interested in good government more than in morality-play axioms in our candidates and platforms actually have more in common with Ron Paul and his libertarians than with the tea partiers and social/religious GOP conservatives. Ron Paul is not stupid. He knows that he will not win the nomination. But, he also knows that 50% of the American people agree with most of his principles. So do Romney and moderate Republicans and independents. Paul surely also knows that bringing all the troops home is not feasible. But, he knows that cutting the budget and reducing the national debt is critically important. So do Romney and moderate Republicans and independents.
The GOP has worried mightily about losing the right wing, about their splitting off and cutting the GOP below an efficient size. Maybe the opposite is the real truth. Maybe the GOP ought to kick out the social/religious right wing and move on.
If the moderate GOP, and we are many, and the libertarians and independents could come together, we could defeat both the Gingrich/Santorum social/religious faction and the leftist elite led by Barak Obama.
We need a leader. Are you listening, Donald Trump?