"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."


Friday, January 13, 2012

GOP Turnout

While turnout in Iowa & New Hampshire slightly exceeded levels set four years ago, it was not as high as party luminaries were expecting/hoping.

This may be because Republican enthusiasm this cycle is not as high as first thought. Or, it just may be that the figure that most excites Republicans has not yet appeared on a ballot.

When he does, I suspect GOP turnout will cease to be an issue.

Bain & Romney

Being attacked over his tenure at Bain is a blessing for Romney.

For one, in a Republican primary being criticized for a successful business tenure is unlikely to sting. Republicans are not envious nor anti-capitalist. They prize business acumen and believe that government would be much more effective if run like a business.

If anything, a campaign narrative centered around Romney's Bain experience emphasizes his largest conservative bona fides and pushes him even closer to the nomination.

While this is happening, Romney also gets some free-time to develop an effective narrative of his experience at Bain and how it recommends him as a presidential candidate in the general election. It is no secret that Bain will be the focus of President Obama's purely negative re-election campaign, and so the earlier Romney develops a message on it the better.

Plus, the more Bain is the topic now the less it will be relevant when it comes time for Obama and the Left to attack it.