Governor Mitt Romney Has Not Closed The Deal

Governor Mitt Romney has not closed the deal with Conservatives, as former Senator Rick Santorum won stunning primary victories in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.   Adding Iowa to Santorum's list, Santorum has now won more states than Romney; though Romney still leads in the delegate count to date.   This is an ominous sign for Romney since if he gets the Republican nomination, he will absolutely need Missouri and potentially Colorado to beat Obama in the general election.

Romney has just not convinced Conservatives that he is the real deal.  Unfortunately, there are policy decisions in Romney's past that makes it difficult for many Conservatives to believe that Romney is really a born again Conservatives, even though he is saying the right things today.   One such issue, in RomneyCare, signed by Mitt Romney into law, is the requirement in Massachusetts that Catholic institutions must provide contraception coverage in their group health care policies to their employees. This is the very same requirement that Obama just put into ObamaCare causing a storm of criticism and rebellion from the Catholic Church.

Santorum, Gingrich and even Romney attacked this ObamaCare mandate on the Catholic Church, as a violation of First Amendment religious freedom; however, how can Mitt Romney be credible when he mandated the very same requirement in RomneyCare.   Romney is being called a hypocrite by Catholic organizations in Massachusetts.  

It is pretty clear that Mitt Romney has not closed the deal with Conservatives; just yet.   And, it may very well be that Rick Santorum, rather than Newt Gingrich, is the Conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.   We will know in the next few weeks as we approach Super Tuesday in March.   Once again, however, the general election will boil down to Ohio.   No Republican has been elected to the Presidency in the last 100 years without carrying the state of Ohio.  

When all is said and done, which Republican Candidate is likely to carry Ohio.   This Blogger still contends that Rick Santorum, from nearby Pennsylvania, with his Catholic, Italian, blue collar, coal miner grandparent's roots has the best chance of carrying Ohio; even better than Obama.  Mitt Romney will not play as well in Ohio given his rich man, Harvard, Wall Street image; particularly since any Republican candidate will have to overcome big union support for Obama in Ohio.

So here we are.   The Republican Establishment supports Governor Mitt Romney for the nomination and presumably Romney has the money to go the whole way.   But Grass Roots Conservative Republicans, that had to hold their noses to vote for John McCain, have said NO in five out of the first eight primaries.   So this contest is far from over. 

Most important, we have to take back our country in 2012 and 2014.   If Mitt Romney does get the Republican nomination , he will need to unify the party by choosing a VP running mate with unquestionable Conservative credentials.   It would be best if that candidate was a Catholic, or evangelical Christian, with blue collar roots.  It would be good if that candidate came from a swing state with a high electoral vote count like Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia or Ohio.   That means Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum (whose Delegates may be necessary to put Romney over the top), Bob McDonnell, or John Kasich.  Any one of these potential VP candidates could help Mitt Romney beat Socialist President Obama.

Once we have a Republican nominee, WE THE PEOPLE must work very hard to make Obama a one term President and sweep his Socialist pals, at all levels of government, out of office to prevent the bankruptcy of our nation.   Obama will have a billion dollars to spend on his campaign, plus millions more in Super PAC money and the lame, stream, left wing media spouting Obama's propaganda for free.   It is already happening, as never before in American history, as MSNBC is running non-stop blatant commercials, by their Socialist commentators, supporting the Obama agenda. 

We will be working against overwhelming odds to defeat Obama; but since our nation, our freedom and our way of life is at stake,  we must put on our hip boots to drain the swamp in Washington DC to sweep Obama and his Socialist pals in Congress out of office.  We can do it through people power and the Internet.   We must do it to preserve our freedom, our nation and way of life for the sake of our children and grandchildren.   In the mean time, if Mitt Romney expects to win the Republican nomination, he must close the deal with the Conservative Grass Roots of the party.   Mitt Romney is not there yet.