It's Official!

Mitt Romney will not run in 2016. Whew! One down, how many to go?

Let me say what I have said time and time before. I believe that Mitt Romney is a good man. I congratulate and thank him for his prescient withdrawal from the 2016 race. I would love to see Mitt participate in a Republican victory in 2016, and think he could serve the nation well in a number of different cabinet level positions.

We shouldn't let this good man's experience go to waste. Having said that, he was not my choice in 2008. Truth be told, neither was John McCain. McCain was lacking in conservative bona fides, particularly when it came to economics. I don't know if Romney was done in by his supporters, but there was one Romneybot in particular who frequented Internet discussions and tried to hijack every thread, whenever he came across any meager crumb that favored Romney, and then regaled us with the inevitability of Romney taking the nomination. So, he had the distinction of not only being annoying but wrong. On top of that, instead of challenging McCain's policies, which I would have probably echoed and applauded, he chose to attack McCain personally, his military service, and going so far as calling him a traitor.

God save us from our friends.

In the end, I supported McCain, not because he was my favorite or ideal candidate, but in my estimate, he would have made a better president than Obama. Fast forward to 2012. Same story. Conservatives fail to find one solid conservative candidate to coalesce around, Romney, slow and steady takes the race. I campaigned against Romney in the primaries. I tried really hard not to violate Reagan's Eleventh Commandment in tempering my criticisms of Gov. Romney, and emphasizing the qualities of those he ran against. Once he was the nominee, I actively supported him, once again believing he'd make a better president than Obama had proven himself to be.

When I heard that he was perhaps considering a third run, I was somewhat alarmed. After eight years of Obama, our nation cannot afford for Republicans to run an "also ran" candidate. If Mitt Romney couldn't seal the deal in 2012, when the nation should have been able to see what an abysmal president Obama had been, how would he seal the deal over the Dems' next "Flavor of the Month"? Maybe touting the "first woman president"?

The train wreck that was 'Hope and Change' will take years, maybe decades to clean up. The sooner we start, the better. We need to clear the deck of vanity candidates and candidates that do not have a prayer, so that we can properly vet our next president. Having twelve guys on a stage posing for soundbites or hoping for an opponent's misstep upon which to capitalize will not accomplish this.

I'm not trying to deny anyone the right to run. The guarantee of free speech does not contain within it a guarantee of an audience, or the size of that audience. Let's weed out the "also ran" candidates as soon as possible. Gov. Bush, Gov. Christie, Gov. Huckabee: follow Mitt's example. For the good of the country, the quicker you get out or not all the way in, the better.

And Mr. Trump? Open your check book and not a campaign headquarters. Just sayin'!