After Obama's Unsuccessful On-the-Job Training, America Needs a Real President - Mitt Romney

A day after Mitt Romney made comments that didn't completely shut the door on another run for president in 2016, a new poll suggests he'd dominate the Republican field in Iowa if he decides to enter the race. The poll, from Suffolk University and USA Today, finds Romney with a more than 25-point advantage over his closest Republican competitor, Mike Huckabee, in the crucial primary state. More than 35% of Iowa Republicans say he'd be their first choice if he entered the field in Iowa, which holds the first-in-the- nation presidential caucuses. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, took about 8.8% of the vote. Next on the list was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (6.5%), former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (5.9%). Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who got 5.29% each, rounded out the top six candidates. Without Romney in the field in Iowa, a plurality of Republicans (17%) there are undecided. Huckabee would take more than 13% of the vote, while Christie gets almost 11%. Texas Governor Rick Perry appears to benefit most from Romney not being in the field. Without Romney's name in the Iowa list, Perry has 8.5% of the Iowa vote, just behind frontrunners Huckabee and Christie. The Iowa poll isn't the first to show Romney far ahead of other GOP candidates in an early caucus or primary state. Last month, a poll of New Hampshire Republicans found that Romney would have a 22-point lead over any theoretical Republican challengers. ~~~~~ The buzz about Mitt Romney possibly being available for a 2016 presidential run was fed by an interview he gave to Hugh Hewitt. Romney has repeatedly ruled out another White House run, but he added in a radio interview the proviso, "circumstances can change." When he was interviewed on The Hugh Hewitt Show, Romney said, "Circumstances can change but I'm just not going to let my head go there. I had the chance of running. I didn't win. Someone else has a better chance than I do. And that's what we believe, and that's why I'm not running. Had I believed I would actually be best positioned to beat Hillary Clinton, then I would be running." He also raised a hypothetical : "Let's say all the guys that were running all came together and said, 'Hey, we've decided we can't do it, you must do it.' That's the one of a million we're thinking about." Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, his 2012 vice presidential running mate, seemed to encourage another 2016 Romney run. "I sure wish he would," he said on the CBS Sunday program "Face the Nation." "I think he'd make a phenomenal president. He has the intellect, the honor, the character, and the temperament to be a fantastic president....But he keeps saying that he's not going to run." When asked by Hewitt if he would consider becoming the vice presidential candidate, Romney replied, "I would always be happy to serve my country in any way that I was called upon to do. But that's not a job I would seek. I was seeking the presidency, not the vice presidency," Romney also spoke highly of Ryan, describing him as both "brilliant" and "down to earth." Romney said that Ryan "is one of the rare people who knows how to work across the aisle. He's also one of the rare people who works on our side of the aisle effectively." Among the other Republicans he mentioned as "people who I think have the potential to really ignite interest in our party and potentially win the general" were Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Chris Christie of New Jersey, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, as well as Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (A transcript of the interview is available on Hewitt's website.) ~~~~~ In my May 3rd blog, I wrote : 'The clustering of the top GOP presidential hopefuls at around 20% in Iowa is troubling. It represents an important and continuing split in Republican sentiment about who the candidate should be. Ryan represents fiscal conservatism. Huckabee represents social conservatism. Bush is the more moderate, perhaps "conservatism with a heart" candidate, if he chooses to run. It makes last week's rumors that former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may take another run at the White House even more interesting. Veteran newscaster Bob Schieffer has said that despite Romney’s repeated claims that he’s not interested in joining the GOP race for 2016, the ex-Massachusetts governor could run if former Florida Governor Jeb Bush opts out : "I have a source that told me that if Jeb Bush decides not to run, that Mitt Romney may actually try it again," Schieffer said during a panel discussion on a Sunday morning news show. After his loss to President Barack Obama in 2012, Romney left the spotlight for more than a year. But in recent weeks, he’s re-emerged on the political scene, becoming a speaker at GOP fundraisers. The Washington Post reported that Romney and Bush have similar moderate positions on foreign and domestic policy, both have the approval of the GOP establishment, but neither is seen as conservative enough for right-wing tea party supporters. However, Romney has taken Obama to task on his handling of the crisis in Ukraine while criticizing him for Obamacare and saying that the president has been "groping" for an agenda in his second term. Romney has also endorsed 16 candidates in the 2014 elections, most of whom are long-term supporters who backed his losing campaign against Obama, the Post reported. Bush, the son of President George H.W. Bush and brother of President George W. Bush, had been seen in March as the GOP candidate most likely to beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in a race for the White House. But he angered many conservatives recently by declaring that it’s "an act of love" when immigrants slip into the United States illegally to help their struggling families. It may be that when the November congressional elections are over - and if the GOP has gained control of both the House and Senate - that Mitt Romney will emerge as the de facto leader of a Party that finally will have won the ability to coalesce around a unified legislative program. That program will inevitably be very much like Romney's 2012 presidential platform -- strong foreign policy, tax reform, lower business taxes and fewer meaningless regulations to stimulate economic growth and job creation, energy independence with an emphasis on using all America's fuel capabilities, and budget control tied to a reduction in the national debt. Romney was right in 2012. The GOP should seriously consider letting him finish the job. He is better prepared to lead the country than anyone - whether left or right, Democrat or Republican." ~~~~~ Dear readers, there is no doubt that Mitt Romney is the best possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate. He has spent much of 2014 pointing out the serious flaws and errors in President Obama's leadership. He has shown that in foreign policy analysis and strategies, he was right and Obama was wrong about Russia and the Middle East. Romney has also taken on the Obamacare problem -- which has gotten worse while American attention has been focused on the Middle East (see my blog of November 7, 2013). America is in an unprecedented leadership crisis. There is no time for the luxury of a President who has to go through on-the-job training. We have seen how bad that can be with Barack Obama. Mitt Romney is ready. He has been tested in the Massachusetts governorship, in business, in public service, and in presidential politics. If any American doubted that President Obama is in over his head as President, just consider that today - after more than a year of consulting and considering - Obama announced in a public televised press briefing picked up worldwide that "we don't have a strategy yet" for ISIS. That staggering admission sent his advisors scurrying to tell the world "what the President really meant." Can you even begin to imagine a President Romney making such an admission. No. Because his strategy would long since have been in place. The White House is no place for amateurs. But America is extremely lucky to have a professional who has the qualities needed to be a truly great President. His name is Mitt Romney.