Obama Will ‘Beat the Pants Off of Romney’ Says SteinBy Kevin Chupka | Breakout – 11 hours
Mitt Romney may be setting his sights on November, but he still has work left to do to rally Republican support. A victory in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary will put him closer to becoming the party's nominee, but it may not generate the much-needed vote of confidence that Romney is looking for to seal the deal in the general election against President Obama.
Ben Stein, economist, lawyer, author and self proclaimed GOP "party guy," says he would vote for Romney this fall if given the chance, but still isn't convinced he is the best choice for Republicans to put on the ballot.
"Unfortunately he has a kind of a checkered past," Stein says of Romney and his vast riches, adding, "Mr. Obama will beat the pants off him unless something dramatic happens."
While the uber-rich "one percent" like Romney have been vilified of late, Stein doesn't think his wealth in and of itself will derail a quest for the White House, telling Breakout's Jeff Macke it's been a very long time since the country had a "poor candidate" as a serious contender for President. For Stein, Romney's downfall will be questions about how he got rich, his ill-defined and/or changing views on issues and, though Stein disagrees with the sentiment, lingering questions about Romney's Mormon faith.
Perhaps even more than that, Stein points to a general lack of enthusiasm for the Republican frontrunner, noting that Romney's chief remaining GOP rival, Rick Santorum, has supporters "really stoked."
"It seems to me if they want to try and win they should try to get a party nominee who people are really excited about," says Stein. "I don't think anyone is particularly excited about Mr. Romney."
Stein can't help but draw the comparison between Santorum and the modern face of the Republican party, Ronald Reagan. He says of his 1980 campaign, "they said 'oh he's an extremist he can't win, he's only appealing to the far right' but people at his rallies were wildly enthusiastic." Stein concedes, "of course Santorum is not Reagan but I just question whether Romney can win with positions forced upon him he doesn't really believe in and a conservative moniker that he's trying to attach to himself that doesn't really fit."
Assuming Romney can overcome a less than stellar perception within his party, Stein still thinks the road ahead does NOT lead to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
With a "heart-breakingly cruel" unemployment rate and a shaky economic recovery Stein observes, "nothing that I have seen makes me think (Romney) is the guy to solve the problem." He adds that President Obama may not have a viable plan either but a proven ability as a "wizard campaigner" along with a solid base of voters across several demographics still makes him very hard to beat. |
