Today, the media and pollsters are to blame for Mitt Romney's political troubles, according to Romney's fans. But if Romney loses, blame will quickly shift to the candidate himself, his shortcomings, and his ability to articulate a conservative vision for the country.
And the fallout from a Romney loss has the potential to reverberate through the Republican Party for a decade.
One can imagine the thought process: Romney, the moderate Massachusetts flip-flopper, was insufficiently clear in articulating the views of the conservative movement and allowed his own shortcomings to distract from the cause, both of beating President Obama and of advancing the agenda.
Anger within the activist class has already caused political casualties, from Utahs Robert Bennett to Indiana's Richard Lugar.It has also forced incumbent Republicans to change their tune, in hopes of avoiding the same fate.
If Republicans do lurch to the right, history suggests they will be vindicated in the near term. The midterm election under a second-term president is typically disastrous for the incumbent party as the six-year itch takes effect.By 2016, Republicans searching for a presidential nominee may incorporate two lessons from the previous two election cycles into their decision: 2012 will hint that moderates unable to articulate the most conservative vision can't win nationally, and 2014 will show that conservatives can win. That would seem to buoy any of the more conservative candidates who might run for president.
The reinvention of the Republican Party that has been under way since the end of George W. Bush's term is far from complete. Romney's loss would make the violence of the internal struggle all the more dramatic; it would steal influence from those arguing for a middle path, and hand influence to the conservative factions already on the ascent. --Reid Wilson@HotlineReid NATIONAL JOURNALS PRESIDENTIAL RACE REPORT
Webb Drops the Hammer on RomneyNEW![9/27/12] Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., upbraided Romney over his 47 percent comments on Thursday in Virginia Beach, alluding to the fact that Romney did not serve in Vietnam and saying that veterans who receive government benefits do not participate in a culture of dependency. Webbs own service in Vietnam lent his words extra weight.
Election-Year Economics: All How You Look at It [National Journal, 9/27/12] Both Obama and Romney have cherry-picked statistics to suggest their own economic plan will result in growth, but whoever wins may have a problem: If wrong, the victor will have both destroyed his credibility and failed to solve the problem voters care most about.
Schedule Forces Obama to Cancel Debate Prep with Kerry[Boston Globe, 9/27/12] Obamas busy schedule has forced him to cancel several practice sessions with Sen. John Kerry,D-Mass. Less than a week from the first debate, he has held only one session with Kerry, while Romney has sparred extensively with his Obama stand-in, Sen. Rob Portman,R-Ohio.
In 1985, Romney Said Bain Would 'Harvest' Companies for Profit [Mother Jones, 9/27/12] The left-leaning magazine has obtained a video from 1985 in which Romney explains that Bains goal is to identify potential and hidden value in companies, buy significant stakes in these businesses, and then harvest them at a significant profit.
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N2K Presidential: Romney Loss Would Intensify Internal GOP Struggles
