Mitt Romney is the Safe Choice in an Otherwise Motley Crowd

Published in Politiken
(Denmark) on 2 February 2012
by Written by a member of Politiken's leader college (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Anne Thye. Edited by Tom Proctor .
After the victory in Florida this Tuesday, it seems very likely that Mitt Romney will be challenging Obama in the autumn's presidential election.

Obama would be the preferred option. However, the election of Mitt Romney wouldn't be a complete catastrophe.

The American primaries, just like a Hollywood show, are full of drama, sex, comedy and exorbitant spending. The nomination is becoming clearer, although many states have yet to vote.

The victory this Tuesday in Florida indicates Mitt Romney is the likely candidate to challenge Barack Obama at the presidential elections. Fortunately. Romney certainly is the lesser evil of all the realistic candidates in, to say the least, a motley crowd of Republicans.

It is a bunch in which several dismiss evolution, and many sweep all scientific proofs of global warming aside as lies fabricated by the left wing.

A leading candidate wants to close down the national bank, and another wishes to establish a permanent moon base. But perhaps most frightening: the open support of several candidates for a bomb attack on Iran.

Mitt Romney is among the last few politicians in the moderate win of the party that once stood strong with, for example, Gerald Ford and George Bush Sr. as leading figures, and the reason for his current success is primarily due to the shift to the right he has undertaken on controversial political value issues, such as abortion and gay rights.

In consideration of the gallery of people who have had the Republican nomination within reach, it is nevertheless reassuring that it is with a colorless moderate.

The liberal commentator Paul Krugman noted the other day that the mainstream views of the American right wing that the candidates need to express are so exaggerated that you need to be either crazy or brazen to win the nomination.

Without a doubt, Mitt Romney falls into that last category. His time as governor of Massachusetts paints the picture of a pragmatic, moderate politician, then far removed from the bombastic rhetoric of the campaign.

He created a healthcare insurance system in his home state that resembles the one Obama implemented, and his core foreign political views, including his action plan for Iran or lack thereof, is not far off Obama's.

It would be far preferable that the Americans re-elect Barack Obama. And gradually as the economic situation improves in the United States, the probability for the president sitting another term increases.

However, it would not actually be a catastrophe if Mitt Romney is elected. Considering the other possible Republican nominees, it is comforting to be with a pallid moderate.


Mitt Romney er det sikre valg i en broget skare

moderat. Efter tirsdagens sejr i Florida tyder alt på, at det bliver Mitt Romney, der skal udfordre Barack Obama ved efterårets amerikanske præsidentvalg

Obama er at foretrække, men Mitt Romney vile ikke være en egentlig katastrofe.

De amerikanske primærvalg, der som show betragtet hverken står tilbage for Hollywood i drama, sex, komik eller eksorbitant pengeforbrug, nærmer sig reelt en afslutning, selv om mange stater endnu ikke har stemt.

Efter tirsdagens sejr i Florida tyder alt på, at det bliver Mitt Romney, der skal udfordre Barack Obama ved efterårets amerikanske præsidentvalg. Heldigvis. Romney er afgjort det mindst ringe valg blandt de realistiske kandidater i den mildest talt brogede skare af republikanere.

En flok, hvor flere ikke tror på evolutionsteorien, og adskillige fejer alle videnskabelige beviser på global opvarmning til side som løgnehistorier fabrikeret af venstrefløjen.

Hvor en ledende kandidat ville nedlægge nationalbanken, og en anden ville etablere en permanent base på Månen. Og måske mest skræmmende: Hvor flere åbent talte for et bombeangreb på Iran.

Mitt Romney er blandt de sidste politikere på partiets moderate fløj, der engang stod stærkt med bl.a. Gerald Ford og George Bush sr. som ledende figurer, og når det nu lykkes ham at vinde, er det primært, fordi han er rykket mod højre i kontroversielle værdipolitiske spørgsmål om bl.a. abort og homoseksuelles rettigheder.
Den liberale kommentator Paul Krugman bemærkede forleden, at mainstreamsynspunkterne på den amerikanske højrefløj, som kandidaterne er nødt til at udtrykke, nu er så langt ude i hampen, at man enten skal være tosset eller skamløs for at kunne vinde nomineringen.

Mitt Romney falder uden tvivl i den sidste kategori. Hans tid som guvernør i Massachusetts tegner et billede af en pragmatisk, moderat politiker, der ligger langt fra valgkampens svulstige retorik.

Han skabte et sundhedsforsikringssystem i sin hjemstat, der ligner det, Obama har gennemført, til forveksling, og hans grundlæggende udenrigspolitik, bl.a. når det gælder Iran, ligger ikke langt fra Obamas.

Det vil være langt at foretrække, at amerikanerne genvælger Barack Obama, og efterhånden som de økonomiske konjunkturer er i bedring i USA, bliver sandsynligheden større og større for, at præsidenten kan tage endnu en periode.

Men det vil ikke være en egentlig katastrofe, hvis Mitt Romney skulle vinde. I betragtning af det persongalleri, der har haft den republikanske nominering inden for rækkevidde, er det trods alt betryggende med en farveløs moderat.
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