Mitt Romney: Retiring

He might be a religious republican but I think he’s a good person.

It is sad to moderate Republicans leave.

Retiring at 78. Groundbreaking.

I think his wife has MS, maybe her health is deteriorating. But he's a fit 78 year old

I think he knows he probably won't win reelection.

Sad what Trump is doing to decent people.

R3 For the Senate, yes. Especially for an important seat for Romney.

r2 I don't find it sad, they did this to themselves. A natural conclusion to the process Gingrich kicked off.

I do think it'll be terrifying once they score the trifecta again. It's gonna be payback time in their eyes and those crazies won't hold back.

R7 Well, even in the early 2000's we had moderate Republicans in the Senate:

Olympia Snowe, Judd Gregg, Lincoln Chafee, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, etc.

^ I remember being so disappointed with Olympia decided not to run again.

He's sick of the whole mess. He's rich beyond belief and I imagine would like to spend what years he has left in physical and emotional comfort. Can't blame him. Look for McConnell to step down at the end of his current term too. Let's hope and pray they get replaced by democrats.

GOPLounge

Probably sick of being harassed by MAGAs

Trump's Truth Social. He's fucking delusional.

FANTASTIC NEWS FOR AMERICA,THE GREAT STATE OF UTAH, & FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. MITT ROMNEY, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS PIERRE DELECTO, WILL NOT BE SEEKING A SECOND TERM IN THE U.S. SENATE, WHERE HE DID NOT SERVE WITH DISTINCTION. A BIG PRIMARY FIGHT AGAINST HIM WAS IN THE OFFING, BUT NOW THAT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY. CONGRATS TO ALL. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

R13, Trump types like BILL TAYLOR.

Don't insult poor BILL like that!

Pierre Delecto?

Stupid fucking asshole.

He seems to have mellowed quite a bit from the time of his presidential run. He looks fantastic for 78! Hard to believe Biden is only 2 years older.

I think he's the only Republican who may have been able to topple the Orange terror. He might have proven stiff competition to Biden as well.

I think his religion might have held him back from the Presidency. I don't mean to insult any Mormons here (are there any?) but has anyone read up on their beliefs? Seriously weird.

I think they believe in a Mrs. God? Something about being married into eternity in heaven? I think that's why they are very anti divorce (Marie Osmond got divorced, but ended up remarrying her first husband). Don't even get me started on the "magic underwear" and the anti-gay stuff (again I know Marie has a gay child whom she claims to support, but I'm pretty sure Donny doesn't agree).

They gotten into trouble a few years ago for some kind of posthumous "ceremonial baptism" of thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors, including Anne Frank.

Gone are the days when we all thought Mitt Romney would've been a horrible president. Now we all live in terror.

If Romney had defeated Obama, we never would have had Trump. But we’d still have Obamacare.

Mormons are indeed screwed up beyond belief. They're really no different than Scientologists, except for the Christian part. The crazy part is pretty much the same.

Romney has always been a tool and his entire life has been about power. Yet somehow even a climber like Romney woke up enough to see that his republican party was no longer recognizable -- and he began to find some real integrity within. His seat will be taken by another crazy Utah Mormon far right pol and we will all suffer because of it.

More time for Mittens to put the dog on the roof of the car and go for a ride! Let's not cheerlead for him, while somewhat decent, he was one of those people in 2016 lining up to kiss Trump's ass. Also he was a vulture capitalist before getting into politics, breaking up companies and stealing the pension funds.

He's had enough of the debasing that comes with being a GOP in Congress.

Bye, asshole!

Neigh!

I see a move to Utah in my future.

Mitt is a hot daddy.

LOL I guess you weren't around when DL loathed him.

On his way out, he's revealing that he sent this text to Mitch McConnell on Jan. 2, 2021:

"In case you have not heard this, I just got a call from Angus King, who said that he had spoken with a senior official at the Pentagon who reports that they are seeing very disturbing social media traffic regarding the protests planned on the 6th. There are calls to burn down your home, Mitch; to smuggle guns into DC, and to storm the Capitol. I hope that sufficient security plans are in place, but I am concerned that the instigator—the President—is the one who commands the reinforcements the DC and Capitol police might require."

McConnell never responded.

All religions believe crazy shit, and mainstream Christianity is pretty wacko itself, but Mormons really went OTT:

[quote]In orthodox Mormonism, the term God generally refers to the biblical God the Father, whom Latter Day Saints refer to as Elohim, and the term [bold]Godhead refers to a council of three distinct divine persons consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ (his firstborn Son, whom Latter Day Saints refer to as Jehovah), and the Holy Ghost[/bold]. Latter Day Saints believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct beings, and that the Father and Jesus have perfected, glorified, physical bodies, while the Holy Ghost is a spirit without a physical body. [bold]Latter Day Saints also believe that there are other gods and goddesses outside the Godhead, such as a Heavenly Mother[/bold]—who is the wife of God the Father—and that faithful Latter-day Saints may attain godhood in the afterlife. Joseph Smith taught that [bold]God was once a man on another planet before being exalted to Godhood.[/bold]

Forgot the link

Don't you remember attacking his wife's illness during the election?

These older folks need to enjoy their old age, fortune and family and not die in office. Biden, Trump, McConnell, Feinstein. THem and a whole host of others need to let go of power. Running for school council is a lot I could only imagine what it is to run the country

Exactly R31. I love googling what certain cities looked like in the years some of these people were born. I hat them all.

Regardless, the Romney family always seemed to be peaceful and happy. Never in the tabloids, the kids work, they have kids, etc.

Hard to say that about both Trump and Biden's kids.

Daddy, no!

The Atlantic article linked at R27 is a pretty scorching indictment of the current GOP by Romney. He really gets across how utterly craven McConnell, Hawley, Graham and Vance are, among others.

Mormons are fucking deranged lunatics. I grew in the church and they are all fucking warped. Mitt is an opportunistic piece of garbage who made his fortune screwing people over by the thousands. He can rot.

R27's tidbit is yet another reason why I won't jump on the "poor Mitch McConnell, he froze" bandwagon. Evil muther fucker, he deserves whatever pain comes his way.

[quote]Gone are the days when we all thought Mitt Romney would've been a horrible president.

Speak for yourself, asshole. Everyone on DL isn't a simpering neoliberal with a massive hardon for literally every Republican who isn't a Trumper. Some of us have actual values that don't change with the wind. I will never praise Romney just like I will never praise Reagan or anyone named Bush. Obviously many on DL think differently and have quite malleable standards for Republicans, but not all of us. FUCK THE GOP!

Romney was a shitty governor of Massachusetts. Before there was "Obamacare," there was "Romneycare" in Massachusetts in 2006, which was Romney's plan. It was the same health care plan as Obamacare in 2009. The reason Romney left Massachusetts to run for president is that he never would have won reelection for governor in Massachusetts.

A few years ago, I was on Obamacare, which was a good program (despite the Repug criticism). However, when Romney left Massachusetts and moved to California and ran for president in 2012, which he lost, he severely distorted and lied about Romneycare/Obamacare (which was Romney's own plan, eventually officially called the "Affordable Care Act" under Obama). Again, Romney lied about his own plan to try and win the presidency. Romney then moved from California to Utah and ran for senator from Utah, which he won. All the while, he continued to try and do away with Obamacare (originally called Romneycare in Massachusetts) as a senator from Utah.

For a religious Mormon, Romney is a goddamn liar who tried to deny healthcare to millions of Americans--a plan that he originated before Obamacare. However, despite all that I have said, he does appear to be sane in his dislike and distain for the criminal Trump.

But the bottom line is: Repigs lie no matter who they are, be it Romney or the likes of the pieces of shit Trump and Marjorie Taylor Green.

From OP/R27

[quote] What I didn’t quite expect was how candid he was ready to be. He instructed his scheduler to block off evenings for weekly interviews, and told me that no subject would be off-limits. He handed over hundreds of pages of his private journals and years’ worth of personal correspondence, including sensitive emails with some of the most powerful Republicans in the country. When he couldn’t find the key to an old filing cabinet that contained some of his personal papers, he took a crowbar to it and deposited stacks of campaign documents and legal pads in my lap...

[quote] Some nights he vented; other nights he dished. He’s more puckish than his public persona suggests, attuned to the absurdist humor of political life and quick to share stories that others might consider indiscreet. I got the feeling he liked the company—our conversations sometimes stretched for hours.

[quote] “A very large portion of my party,” he told me one day, “really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” He’d realized this only recently, he said. We were a few months removed from an attempted coup instigated by Republican leaders, and he was wrestling with some difficult questions. Was the authoritarian element of the GOP a product of President Trump, or had it always been there, just waiting to be activated by a sufficiently shameless demagogue? And what role had the members of the mainstream establishment—­people like him, the reasonable Republicans—played in allowing the rot on the right to fester?

[quote] I had never encountered a politician so openly reckoning with what his pursuit of power had cost, much less one doing so while still in office.

Say what you will about Romney, he was the ONLY rethug to vote to impeach cheeto, as well as the only remotely moderate rethug whose voice mattered.

His departure will be a green light for rethug extremists to continue to push their agenda.

They've successfully moved the Overton Window so far right that the John Birch Society is now considered too liberal and progressive for them.

A contrarian in the minority party. He was literally useless. It’s good that he accepts that and is withdrawing.

He no doubt is fed up with MAGA.

Think Susan Collins will be next?

He looks good for his age.

[quote] He no doubt is fed up with MAGA.

Even though he tried sucking Trump’s cock for a job? Yeah, no.

Maybe he’s retiring to spend more time with his dismembering going-concern US corporations for his own private enrichment.

I glad he spoke up about and against Trump. Maybe some others will follow his lead on that.

He does look good for his age, but he’s 76, not 78.

He’s 76, that’s 11 years over the retirement age.

Ginsburg, McConnell, and Giuliani destroyed any dignity they had and it’ll only get worse for these old ass politicians who need to finally get out of office.

[quote]He might be a religious republican but I think he’s a good person.

He's as good a person as a republican and/or a mormon can be.

I'm concerned.

[quote]His departure will be a green light for rethug extremists to continue to push their agenda.

You're right. Watch, a MAGAt will replace him.

The democrats really need to start working on the state level. They need to hire Stacey Abrams to coordinate this. They should have been doing this 20 years ago. They need to do this NOW.

The Atlantic article is great. Thank you for sharing.

I have considered myself a moderate Republican for a long time. That changed with Junior then Trump.

[quote]He’s 76, that’s 11 years over the retirement age.

There is absolutely no such thing as a "retirement age" in 2023.

I can remember when "moderate Republican" meant open to things like social programs, gay rights, and legal abortion. Mitt Romney was rightly considered a conservative in 2012—and a pretty hard-core one, especially compared with his father—and it's a sign of Republican extremism that he's considered "moderate" as if he were like Arlen Spector or somebody.

When I was a kid in the 70's there was actually a LIBERAL wing of Republicans. In 2000's all that was left was far Right Wing. 2023 is all MAGA. Not even a party anymore. They might as well just officially change the name to the MAGA party at this point. My how times have change in one lifetime.

I have no problem with this. More of these very elderly politicians should retire.

Some of them are so old and infirm that they can barely function and should be in nursing homes. Looking at you McConnell and the like.

Good Riddance

[quote] He's as good a person as a republican and/or a mormon can be.

Harry Reid, among other democrats, was a Mormon.

I suspect we're going to see Mitt fully unfiltered for the next year. Good on him, also, for calling out Manchin's flirting with a third-party bid.

He is saying he will not run for the 2025 Senate. He's not going anywhere till then. This announcement just frees him up to say whatever he wants and not pay politically.

He voted to convict on both of Trump's impeachments, becoming the first senator in US history to vote to convict a president from his/her own party. From a deep red state. Still there are DLers who can't say anything nice about him.

Probably something to do with much how he hates the gays just like all the other ultra-religious Republicans R63.

Mitt's father was George Romney, who was Secretary of HUD during the Nixon years (among other things).

One of George's pet projects was Operation Breakthrough, which was an attempt to cut housing costs by using assembly line like methods to build low to moderate income housing. I lived in one of those projects when it was completed, and let me say I am thankful to this day for that opportunity. Rather than living in squalid, roach infested housing near the university I was attending, I had a brand new, never-before-live in apartment with central heating and air conditioning, built in kitchen complete with dishwasher and trash compactor and numerous other amenities. The complex also had its own pool. And the monthly rent was $98.00/month for a studio apartment.

Can you imagine any Republican today proposing such a program much less championing it?

[quote] Probably something to do with much how he hates the gays just like all the other ultra-religious Republicans [R63].

The idiom, "give the devil his due," is foreign to R64. As is the one about not making perfect the enemy of the good (at least at times).

Has Ronna been reached for comment?

This would actually be the ideal time for him to run for POTUS, since the other wannabes are so lackluster. But someone who forgot he tied his dog to the roof of the car isn't too savvy.

He’s probably going to toss his hat in one more time. Why else would he have a have a book coming out in October

[quote] He’s probably going to toss his hat in one more time. Why else would he have a have a book coming out in October

If he's discouraging Manchin from running as a third-party candidate lest he tilt the election to Trump, why would he be running himself? The publication of the book - coinciding with his decision not to run a re-election race he might not have won - frees him to speak frankly about the presidential election.

Mormons are not Christians.

Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) , 76 years old. Born in Detroit, Michigan. Reportedly worth $300 million.

His family home growing up was just a few miles away from mine.

[quote] This would actually be the ideal time for him to run for POTUS

He’s 76, so no, it’s obviously not an ideal time now or ever in the future.

Well, he would be younger than both Biden & Trump. And Al Gore would be younger than all of them.

Dude doesn't want to be exposed as the Zodiac killer

And, yes!, the setting into the sun of another lifer from the Ward Cleaver School Of 1950s Politics!

[quote]Mormons are not Christians.

Aren't they? The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints?

He never did any real work.. Bain Capital was just a scam.

It was a way to reduce competition and capacity in mature industries while ripping off the banks! Bravo! Reverse capitalism!

Mitt reveals that - post retirement - he plans to travel with his family cross country by car, with his pets in tow. His dogs are terrified.

The article about Romney in the Atlantic is very good. Who'd a thunk we'd be at a place where Romney - Mr. "Let Them Eat Cake" - would become Mr. Profile in Courage. The stories about the repigs making fun of Trump in private makes me hate them even more for bolstering the miserable old fucker when they had plenty of opportunities to shank him.

It's also kind of scary that people like him who are in power & have the (somewhat) ability to create change believe the system is irretrievably broken.

He says all this now on his way out the door. If he were running for reelection he’d keep his mouth shut.

He's a good guy. Truly showed the courage of his convictions in his fight against Trump. His life - and the lives of his family - were threatened after he voted to impeach Trump - twice! He's on the right side of history and I hope he enjoys retirement.

His book coming out 'could' be a doozy. Here's hoping.

[quote] He says all this now on his way out the door. If he were running for reelection he’d keep his mouth shut.

Try to keep up better.

I read the Atlantic piece. I am not American but follow events there, as many outside of the US do. I was struck by his repeated mention of the fact that Republican politicians are being swayed not only be a desire for re-election, but by a fear of being shot by Trump supporters if they depart from Trump's viewpoint. It's interesting that the Republicans, having fought for a right to bear arms and encouraged their supporters to bear arms, are now scared shitless at the prospect of said supporters killing them if they don't follow the Trump party line.

[quote]I can remember when "moderate Republican" meant open to things like social programs, gay rights, and legal abortion. Mitt Romney was rightly considered a conservative in 2012—and a pretty hard-core one, especially compared with his father—and it's a sign of Republican extremism that he's considered "moderate" as if he were like Arlen Spector or somebody.

Great post, R56. More need to see these words. Romney was never a moderate anything. The people touting him as a moderate Republican probably aren't, either.

We've moved so far to the right in this country, where we demonize workers and lionize billionaires like Elon Musk, that we've lost all sense of where the center is or how extremist we've become.

Agree, R87. Like Trump himself, it's another monster the GOP created but are too cowardly to take care of, themselves.

Loathsome pieces of shit.

[quote]Romney was never a moderate anything.

Mitt Romney is a dishonest corporate raider who has built a career on dismantling America's manufacturing base and shipping it to third world countries, where people were horribly exploited. He is also an immoral, greedy hypocrite who will take any position that allows him to maintain his position or expand his current privileges - within a limited range of pseudo-tolerant, profits-oriented neoliberal conservative slogans. He has never provided anything positive to anyone who isn't powerful and wealthy, and the only thing that makes him tolerable to the synthetic left is that he is a rabidly anti-Russian, Bush-lite anti-Trumpian warmonger.

When even the Cato Institute calls you out for being ignorant about the dangers of nuclear war and lacking in diplomatic skills, you know you're a hopeless fool.

Romney-Obama 2024

If I could dream up a perfect dem ticket that would win going away and it would not be remotely close A landslide.

Instead we will get dead man walking and the seemingly empty suit. And the election will again come down to a handful of votes in a couple of key states. And then we will need to hope and pray a lot.

Progressives I realize would rather lose but keep their purity.

Mehdi Hasan:

[quote] A senator, and former leader of his party, announces he is retiring and reveals he was paying 5,000 dollars a month for security to protect his own family from his party’s own voters.

[quote] Totally normal. No fascism here.

[quote] America and the GOP in 2023.

R78 Nope- they are not.

Mormons believe in God the Father, the Son (Christ), and the Holy Ghost existing as three separate individual beings or personages while the Christians regard Christ as immortal and believe in the Trinity.

[quote] Romney was never a moderate anything.

Well, he WAS the father of Obamacare.

As a Jew, I was impressed by the argument that Mormonism is to Christianity as Jews for Jesus is to Judaism.

The irony is (as other posters have noted): Romney is really no *moderate* (in the conventional sense) - at heart, he's as hard core as any repig. But he does believe in the constitution, the rule of law and is willing to call out Trump, Large Marge & their ilk as the fools and destructive forces that they are. So he's no great revolutionary - he's just saying where the stink is coming from and yet that somehow makes him hero in a group of absolute cowards & cretins. What a world!

^ But with the existential threat we face, we really should be more fulsome in our embrace of ALL allies in this fight.

Romney and GWB started this.

I remember.

Romney demonizing Obamacare as socialism when he created it. Dubya responding to his lies about Iraq by doubling down.

They created the playbook for the ultimate evildoers to follow and magnify. And now they want to be remembered as their party's conscience.

No.

R99 must be boycott MSNBC, what with all of its Republican converts.

Good. Am I allowed to suck him off now?

[quote] Romney and GWB started this.

While we're casting blame, let's not forget the Democrats who sat out '16 ... or voted for Jill Stein.

R92, Romney's not a Dem so how would that be a perfect Dem ticket? And why do you think he'd be a landslide winner when he lost against Obama?

Mitt made his money gutting America's industrial base and condemning millions of formerly middle class workers to poverty. His actions as a businessman formed the cultural basis for Trump's rise.

He ran in 2012 as a prevaricating heap of garbage. His lying was so shameless that Obama was visibly shocked by it in the first presidential debate.

Sorry, Mitt. Fuck off.

Of course, he'll be replaced by someone infinitely worse. All Republicans will.

[quote]Mitt made his money gutting America's industrial base and condemning millions of formerly middle class workers to poverty.

Bain Capital owned the company where I worked. They merged us with another smaller company that took over management and pillaged it. We didn't get raises for awhile because it was in too much debt. It was eventually sold to Anthem before I left.

likely got a fancy beltway "consulting" gig that pays a lot more

R103

The Dems can nominate anyone they want.

Romney-Obama would win in a land slide because Mitt would gut the Republican vote. He was one of the few in his party to stand against Trump. He ticks off a lot of other Republican boxes.

What would be left voting trump would be pure 100% MAGA.

Obama would excite the Dems like no one since, well no one since the other Obama.

I am not suggesting it's practical

Yeah, Romney got rich by causing others misery. He's no knight in shining armor. But he at least believes in the rule of law and that makes him an outlier in today's GOP.

What about that Egg McMuffin guy, Evan something? He could take Romney’s seat. Very conservative but not MAGA.

^ He ran in ‘22 as an independent - with Democratic support, as they didn’t even field a nominee - & got crushed by Mike Lee.

Mormons are a Christian off-shoot and claim to be Christian, but they are not, the same way Christianity is an off-shoot of Judaism and not another form of Judaism. In both cases the new religion is too different, and too much in conflict, with the teachings of the original sect.

Mormons are non-trinitarian; they don't believe in one God in three persons, they believe all three are separate deities. This is completely against the Christian churches' Nicene creed which defines Christianity for Roman Catholics, Protestants, and all of the Eastern churches. All of those branches of Christianity agree that God is a trinity and that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are as much "God" as God the Father, and that all three are the same in one Trinity. But Mormonism takes a completely different approach and sees all three as separate, individual deities. They reject the concept of one God in a trinity. They're quite blatantly polytheistic, in fact, in contrast to Abrahamic religions like Christianity, Judaism and even Islam.

Further, they believe in other gods separate from the 3 that Christians consider one God. They believe God the Father is married to a female deity they call their "Heavenly Mother." They also believe Jesus has a female deity for a wife. And they teach that all men can become deities, with divine goddess wives and their own planets full of worshippers. They teach that God the Father was once a mortal man on another planet who attained godhood the same way.

And none of this even touches on their belief that Jesus showed up in North America and preached to some fantastical form of Native Americans, which does not appear anywhere in the archeological records or the oral histories of any Native American tribe.

I'm not criticizing these beliefs; mainstream Christianity has a lot of crazy shit embedded in it too, like all religions. But Mormons took that fantastical Christian baseline and really built it out with their own beliefs into a form that bares little resemblance to the almost 2 millennium of Christian teachings and traditions that preceded it.

Jimmy Snow (an ex-Morman YouTuber) calls it Jesus FanFic.

You know, his father was governor of Michigan and he ran for President back in the day. George Romney had a tin ear too, just like Mitt. He criticized the Vietnam War, saying we had been brainwashed, and he was practically lynched for it, pilloried in the press by both Democrats and Republicans. Then he criticized HUD policies that had a devastating effect on communities. He wasn't wrong, just impolitic. He had been President of a car company. He had been a corporate guy. And he really didn't know how to play the game as far as national politics. And his wife, Mitt's mother, Lenore was very outspoken too. Not Mormon like.

Seems like Mitt inherited a lot of that. But the thing is, I believe Mitt's impulses, like his dad's were not ideological but more practical, and he did lean Liberal. He was from the school of Rockefeller, John Lindsay, and a few others. Another popular Michigan governor was Republican William Milliken, a department store heir. He and George Romney might best be described as true moderate Republicans who tilted slightly left about some issues. They'd be dinosaurs today.

I think Mitt attempted to play the game by trying to embrace the Gingrich version of Conservatism, but it was not a natural fit and his flip flops and inconsistencies made him look inept and also fake. And of course his religion was also a messy aspect of his public life. It's too bad. He knows better. He could have really been a decent leader for his party, but he got in his own way repeatedly, and no one trusted him to be where they needed him to be on any issue. No one could pin him down as far as what he believed in. He can say he supports the COnstitution, but some of his own votes and positions undermine it. He will be replaced by another Republican. No contest.

Unfortunately he will most likely be replaced by a MAGA lunatic.

Mormons are MAGA to the core, poll after poll shows this. They love Mitt because he's their Mormon superstar, but they will never vote for another Mormon who opposed Trump.

[quote]Mormons are MAGA to the core, poll after poll shows this.

Mitt was always surprisingly clueless about his colleagues. Even now talking about the possibility of teaming up with Joe Manchin? Venal, corrupt Joe Manchin! He calls Hawley a terrible corrupt person, but who does he think Manchin is? Mitt seems not to recognize that most of his Republican colleagues are no good. Not one of them. And while Mitt projects rectitude and decency and has impeccable manners, how does he reconcile all his "goodness" with the NRA money he gets, and his votes on Gun safety reform. I get it. Utah likes its guns. But there's an irrationality to his positions.

I'm glad Ann Romney still buys Mittens his 3 pack of Kirkland shirts at Costco. They'll be on a budget now that he won't be receiving a Senator's salary.

Mitt is right about Hawley, and I love that he hates Vance too!

We will NEVER stop simping for homophobic right wing republicans who tepidly opposed Trump!

^ The far left equivalent to those on the far right for whom Faux News doesn’t sufficiently deliver the raw meat they crave.

Smart with humility. For both his own mental health and the sake of the country. Your brain starts to deteriorate in the your 80s; one needs to take it easy and not be burden with the most important issues facing the country.

The evolution of the Moderate Republican:

First to leave was Jim Jeffords

Then Lincoln Chaffee

New Hampshire's Judd Gregg

The elegant Olympia Snowe

Bob Corker

Rob Portman, who became a moderate towards the end of his senate career

Now Mitt Romney

My point being the term "moderate Republican" has changed drastically from 2001 to 2023.

I think the biggest change to "liberal" was on gay rights.

The Republican Party has shifted so far right into delusional territory.

They were succeed by:

Jeffords- Bernie Sanders

Lincoln Chaffee- Sheldon Whitehouse

Judd Gregg- Kelly Ayotte, a crazy. Ayotte was succeed by Maggie Hassan (D)

Olympia Snowe- Angus King (an Independent weirdo)

Bob Corker- Marsha Blackburn, a fucking insane Karen

Rob Portman- JD Vance, a Trump sycophant

Mitt Romney- TBD, but probably a Trump sycophant.

Trump made people forget that people can still be evil even if they're polite too

As someone who lives in Shitty Ohio, I can assure you that Rob Portman is no moderate.

On DL, if you're a wealthy white Republican, said something critical of Trump once, and slightly to the left of Tucker Carlson, you're a moderate and worthy of endless praise and sympathy from gay people whose rights you spent an entire career blocking. These same posters will attack actual Democrats who consistently support gay rights as "too woke."

R127 I didn't say I agree Rob Portman should be classified as a moderate, I'm just saying this shows how crazy the Republican Party has changed.

[quote] said something critical of Trump once

Wow. The man (Romney) not once but twice voted to convict a president of his own party. As noted upthread, he was the first senator to do so in the case of a president of his own party.

Would Romney's most unflinching critics here at least concede that whomever replaces Romney will be a loss for small d democratic values? Or is even that a bridge too far for them?

R128 You know you are right. My ho ass tries that both sidism occasionally. Fuck this cunt. That’s why Obama ethered his ass.

Moroni is gonna get ya!

Hopefully he starts a trend for these old ass bitches to retire instead of DYING in office

I loved that moment:"Please, continue..." Obama can be cold and cruel when he wants to be. A Badass.

Had Mittens won the presidency in 2008, he would have been the most handsome president.

Mittens didn't run until 2012. But Obama was always gonna be the handsomest no matter when he ran.

R137 He ran in 2008...

Mittens ran in 2008, and writing off his campaign debt was why he refused to publish his tax returns for 2009

It's tough to make people understand that you should be able to right off millions of bad debt because you wanted to be president SO BAD that you spent millions on it. Not to mention it punctured the myth of the "business genius"

The man who actually created “Obamacare” as a state program when he was MA senator. All class. Love Mormons.

Mormons are DEFINITELY not Trump supporters, at least any of the few I know.

[quote] The man who actually created “Obamacare” as a state program when he was MA senator.

Governor.

The progressive loonies will hate Romney and everyone not exactly like them , who don’t agree with everything they believe in, who are not worthy of their vote, and deserve to be scorned

Then years later they will be crying and pissing and moaning wishing they had people like this to vote for again.

Marriage equality will be lost if democracy is allowed to die. That fight - above all else - is the existential battle we're in.

He calls for a new generation of leaders. Well the new generation of GOP leaders are fascists!

[quote] I loved that moment:"Please, continue..." Obama can be cold and cruel when he wants to be.

The line was "Please proceed, Governor"

It's strange the mormon who we all hated for strapping a dog to a car roof is so notably part of a vanishingly small number of Republicans with anything negative to say RE Trump.

He's a hypocrite. He went with has hat in his hand to get a job from Trump. Trump met with him and declined him a position.

THEN he became anti-Trump.

In his defense, he was one of many who thought they could serve their country best by restraining his worst instincts. Would you rather Trump only had supplicants in his administration? If so, there’s no question Trump would have gotten us out of NATO in his first term but for the efforts of his national security team.

[quote]Trump would have gotten us out of NATO in his first term[/quote]

R150, what are you implying?

R150

The truly terrifying thing about a possible 2nd Trump term, those adults those professionals those who worked against him or tried to moderate him during his 1st term will not be there if there is a 2nd time.

It will be the 24/7 looney show.

Just wait for Trump to win reelection and see who he puts in his cabinet

As I've said upthread Mitt's book is going to be a doozy....looking at you Bitch McTurtle.

I'm only gonna read the dirty parts.

Dianne Feinstein needs to retire next.

How fucking embarrassing is it that we have 90-year-old politicians in office that NEED to be told to step the fuck down?

^Chuck Grassley^

Not willingly retiring. He knows that to get anywhere further he has to take on the maga-fucks. They know stuff. Stuff that will take him down. He did the math.

R145, who cares about marriage equality?

r159, anyone who has gone through the nightmare of not having any rights when a partner is dying or has died. Try probating the estate over his family as a single man.

My first reaction to Mitt Romney’s decision not to seek re-election was sadness. He’s a decent and honorable man, and we need more of them in Washington, not fewer.

And since Joe Biden’s age (and the ages of Sens. Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein, as well as Donald Trump) has been a major topic of conversation of late, it was refreshing to see a politician of a certain age (in Romney’s case, 76) voluntarily relinquish power before he starts missing a step.

On the other hand, Romney’s exodus is a net negative for those of us who believe in liberal democracy. It’s yet another name on the long list of decent conservatives who have been put out to pasture during the Trump era.

Leaders like Romney are repeatedly quitting and writing (or being the source for) a “goodbye cruel world” book on the way out the door, instead of standing their ground and fighting.

True, many of the erstwhile Republicans who ran afoul of Donald Trump—I’m thinking Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, et al.—were effectively pushed out. But on Wednesday, Romney said he’s confident he would win re-election in Utah in 2024—an assertion that seems consistent with recent polling. Instead of bailing, why not stick around and fight the good fight, like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp?

What is more, there is some major cognitive dissonance in Romney’s rhetoric. For example, he says “…it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.” But as Michelle Goldberg notes in The New York Times, “The problem with this argument is that Romney despises the next generation of Republican leaders.”

Does Romney really want them making “the decisions that will shape the world”? Does he even care what happens after he’s gone?

The rising stars in today’s GOP are people like Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, who Romney says, “put politics above the interests of liberal democracy and the Constitution.” And of Ohio’s junior senator, he said, “I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance.” And he does not seem to believe that these three individuals are anomalies. “A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution,” he told author McKay Coppins.

It’s tough to weigh the two conflicting outcomes: 1) if Romney stays, he just gets old, or 2) Romney’s replacement likely won’t show the kind of courage Romney displayed when twice voting to convict Trump at his impeachment trials (see Romney’s Utah Senate colleague, Mike Lee).

Romney believes that serious challenges, like “mounting national debt, climate change and the ambitious authoritarians of Russia and China,” are not being adequately addressed by Biden or Trump. And while (all things being equal) these issues could be tackled more vigorously by someone under the age of 80, does Romney really believe that his values and philosophy, as they pertain to these important issues, will be advanced if a more Trump Republican replaces him in the Senate?

So why is he really leaving? My guess is that Romney doesn’t need this heartache. He’s rich. He wants to spend his twilight years with his beautiful family. He simply wants to retire, and that’s his right. But if he’s not going to stay and fight, at the very minimum, he should have focused on succession planning.

If Romney cares about leaving a lasting legacy, he would have prioritized identifying, training, promoting, and otherwise grooming a group of young, like-minded conservatives in Utah who share his values and philosophy. In other words, he should have built a machine. This necessarily requires being involved in the state and local Republican parties, which control money, ballot access, registration of voters, etc. His political aides could have managed it and made this project a priority from day one.

But according to Chuck Warren, a GOP consultant who has worked for several Utah Republican campaigns (including the late Sen. Orrin Hatch’s last one), “I just don’t think it’s something [Romney’s] engaged in, and he didn’t have anybody in his political circle who said, ‘Go do this.’ I just think he felt like, ‘it’s not worth my time.’”

In fairness, Romney may not be temperamentally suited to the kind of schmoozing required to build a movement. According to Coppins’ reporting, Romney “didn’t have many real friends in Washington, [and] ate dinner alone there most nights…” Regardless, for anyone who wants their values and ideas to outlive them, this effort is most certainly worth their time. If only the non-Trumpy Republicans saw that.

And it’s not just Romney. Look no further than Arizona, where two-term Republican governor Doug Ducey failed to effectively pass the torch to a sane successor. The infrastructure built by Sen. John McCain was not tended to, and today the Arizona GOP is in shambles.

Make no mistake: The MAGA forces are starting up think tanks and hosting conferences. They are identifying fellow travelers and placing them in high-profile campaigns. But when it comes to creating this sort of movement or infrastructure, Yeats’ line about “The best lacking all conviction, while the worst being full of passionate intensity” rings true.

Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, but there is little reason to believe that he will ensure the torch is passed to someone more like him and someone less like Mike Lee. That might happen, but it won’t be the result of prior planning.

Without a successor, there is no success. So if any other Never Trumpers still in office are listening, feel free to retire. But first, do the legwork and plan for your successor.

R159 is a right wing troll based on posting history. F&F.

He needs the time off to go through those "binders of women" he says he has.

My thoughts. America needs to set time limits on terms for these politicians. (SCOTUS too) Govt has far too many old men living in the past and not moving forward. You are still a young country that needs young vital Reps with better vision than boring old boomers clinging on. The 2 party system has to go, not enough Greens/Independents/First Nations etc. Most of all DONATIONS and Dark money have to go. Money has tainted politics far too much. Politicians have to learn they are working for the people NOT ruling over them.....as is the case in Tennessee.

R165

So you want to set term limits , so that more people you want to see elected , can be elected, since they are not voted in by the voters now.

And of course let’s have 5-6 different parties so a potus can be elected with 23% of the popular vote. Nothing says stable govt more than a presidential party that takes charge of the country with 23% of the nations support in an election.

[quote]But on Wednesday, Romney said he’s confident he would win re-election in Utah in 2024—an assertion that seems consistent with recent polling. Instead of bailing, why not stick around and fight the good fight, like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp?

Maybe he's tired of spending $2 million a year to protect himself and his family against MAGAts.

Maybe after Romney retires, he can join the campaign trail AGAINST Dumpster.

R168, Romney’s still in office throughout the end of next year, when his term expires.

R157, yes, him even moreso. But as DiFi is from my state and has represented CA in the senate since I was, oh, 8-years-old (I'm almost 40 now), I'd say it's time for a change.

R159

If the republicans win, trump or desantis, lots of people will be concerned with marriage equality. And the right to choose

Trump may not be a true believer but he will own his re-election , if he is re-elected, to many who are. It’s going to be hunting season, In a way the first term was not.

Desantis if he wins will be unrestrained.

Marriage equality other gay rights and abortion will be right at the top of the hit list.

Just reading that part of the book excerpt that has him musing about leaving the republican party - as his five sons have done. I would hope he does so before the election, along with endorsing Biden.

Mittens had to get his dig in and suggest that Democrats ditch Joe Biden for someone younger. He can fuck right off since he helped elevate the rise of Trump/MAGA with pandering to the Tea Party and then not speaking up about Trump until the country had turned against him. I repeat, Fix your own broken Republican party before lecturing Democrats on what they should do. I repeat, Mittens can fuck right off.

Please do not cheerlead for this asshole.

[quote] as his five sons have done

Can you elaborate on this, R172?

Have all of them changed parties or are they just agnostic (so to speak)

R173 wants to live in the past & extract retribution. As long as we're engaged in trench warfare in the immediate electoral future, I'd rather welcome disenfranchised republicans & try, with their help, to win elections.

Did you miss my point about Mittens saying that Joe Biden was too old and needs to step down R175? He needs to focus on fixing his own fucked up Republican party (he was a presidential candidate after all) before lecturing us.

R173, here's the passage from the Atlantic excerpt:

"Throughout our two years of interviews, I heard Romney muse repeatedly about leaving the GOP. He’d stayed long after he stopped feeling at home there—long after his five sons had left—because he felt a quixotic duty to save it."

R177, I don't happen to share Romney's position (historically, an incumbent president who's not had to fight for renomination is very hard to beat), but it's one that is widely shared - if anonymously - by many Democratic insiders. Just this past week, Joe Scarborough made this point in the aftermath of the David Ignatius column advancing this very same argument.

"Fix your own broken Republican party before lecturing Democrats on what they should do"

This +1

Mitt is such a massive cunt. I love this:

Christie, Chris Evaluating Mr. Christie’s 2024 campaign, Mr. Romney labels him “another bridge-and-tunnel loudmouth” like Mr. Trump.

Perry, Rick Mr. Romney described Mr. Perry, the former Texas governor who was a rival for the 2012 Republican nomination, as a “dimwit,” Mr. Coppins writes.

In his journal, Mr. Romney wrote of Mr. Perry that “Republicans must realize that we must have someone who can complete a sentence.”

In 2016, when Mr. Perry ran a short-lived campaign for president, Mr. Romney said that the Texan’s “prima donna, low-IQ personality” was a non-starter.

[quote] He's as good a person as a republican and/or a mormon can be.

Eternal damnation with faint praise.

In 2012, Mittens said that the annual income of a "middle-class" household was $250,000.

[quote] While we're casting blame, let's not forget the Democrats who sat out '16 ... or voted for Jill Stein.

Don't worry there's plenty of room down here for ALL of them.

Mitt is a vulture capitalist piece of shit.

He speaks French because during the Vietnam War, Mormons could get deferments and go on Mormon Missions. Mitt was sent to France.

Poor little rich boy is the kind of man Trump calls a pussy. They both are.

[quote] Have all of them changed parties or are they just agnostic (so to speak)

Yes, they've changed their party affiliation from Republican to "Mega-rich Agnostic."

So looking forward to when this election is joined by the Biden campaign. I expect that anti-Trump testimonials from the likes of Republicans Romney, Liz Cheney, John Kelly, etc., will move the needle. That, and a likely pre-election conviction, should help to doom Trump.

I still loathe him. Good riddance to stinky trash.

^ He's less loathsome than what the GQP is now featuring. At least he was never a clear and present danger to the American experience.

The broken by Trump at datalounge would love Pol Pot 🩸if you could provide a link, fake or not, that he hated Trump.

[quote]The broken by Trump at datalounge would love Pol Pot 🩸if you could provide a link, fake or not, that he hated Trump.

I agree. It's absurd to whitewash a bad person to any degree just because of a comparison to Trump or the person's enmity with Trump. Romney is a bad man, period. Nothing about Trump changes that whatsoever.

Remember how he crawled to Trump when he thought he was going to be SOS?🎠

Yes @R191

Let’s try that again

And Trump played him for a fool. So effictively made him look like a fool. That is the only reason why he hates Trump.

He's getting out of Dodge before the roundup starts.

But he still became the first Senator in history to vote against a president of his own party after an impeachment trial. And for good measure, did it again. He saw & continues to see Trump as an existential threat. In this war, in which Trump is peeling off traditional Democratic allies, that has to count for something.

R194

An obvious insider that knows Mitt and speaks with insider knowledge?

As soon as mitt sees Biden slip below the Mendoza line Mitt will mount a 3rd party run in an attempt to save the country and democracy from trump

We get the govt we deserve..

Geez you guys used to think a juvenile haircut prank made him unfit for office.

I can only hope that Romney's (still) haters have the same contempt for Jill Stein.

[quote] He saw & continues to see Trump as an existential threat. In this war, in which Trump is peeling off traditional Democratic allies, that has to count for something.

That’s like saying we should give Mussolini a pass because the trains ran on time. Nothing Romney has done regarding Trump changes how bad Romney is.

R200 is apparently not a believer in granting second chances to politicians. I hope that lack of grace doesn't extend to everyone in R200's life.

Political priss pot @ r201 needs to put down her teacup and leave.

Aren’t you the censorious one, R202. In addition to being graceless. I’m not staying.

r201, unlike life, there are no second chances in politics. Once there is a perfidious betrayal, one must go.

I long for the day we held our politicians to the higher standard of the appearance of wrong doing, but Republicans would have continued on their weaponizations rampage.

The current boyfriend is post scandal. According to a post a few months back they’ve been together for a year.

R204

And what have you done to make a positive difference? Besides longing I mean.

Wrong thread sorry.

r206, what a lovely non sequitur.

I point out people's logical fallacies.

R208

So you do nothing but bitch and post? Well played average liberal. People who do nothing then complain are our future.

[quote]So you do nothing but bitch and post?

It's called critical thinking. Offering failures a second political chance is not realistic unless they are willing to spend many millions of dollars to simply get their way. Odd thing is that both Romney and Trump are Capitalists. Cut taxes, cut programs.

See r209, critical thinking and analysis, and not a "bitch and post".

Plus, pointing out people's logical fallacies is basic critical thinking.

Ultimately, these are MY OPINIONS.

If you are debating my opinions as facts, you are truly the product of a poor education.

R210

So we both agree you are doing nothing at all to change things except yacking on DL. You yackers are the future.

Do nothing complain a lot while you call that critical thinking.

[quote]you are doing nothing at all to change things except yacking

You have succinctly assessed why Fox Infotainment is so successful in dumbing down America.

Not complaining, just giving my opinion. And my Act Blue account would demonstrate more than "yacking".

Romney-Cheney 2024

Biden-Harris 2024

Trump-Scott 2024

Progressives vs MAGA vs More Moderates

A 3 way race that will never happen but would be a lot of fun to watch.

There is a season. It's time to go.

There is no truth to the rumor that he will host an Onlyfans account for Daddy treats. No truth whatsoever.