Mr. Romney Searches for Affection

Shortly before the onset of election season, Republicans still have not settled on a candidate. Above all, the tea party movement now has no idea to whom it should turn.

The Republican primaries begin in less than a month, and so far it’s not clear who will be their standard-bearer for the White House. Most recently, Herman Cain — former pizza chain magnate and briefly the darling of the party — ran aground because of various sexual bagatelles. Now the tea party movement isn’t certain on whom it should bestow its blessings. According to opinion polls, there’s a new frontrunner nearly every two weeks. And between all the musical chairs, Mitt Romney is still looking for a little affection from his own party colleagues.

Time magazine says the investment banker, who ran for the nomination in 2008, appears to be a better candidate this time around, besides which he seems to be the only candidate in the field who stands a chance of beating Obama next November. But the Republicans, driven ever further to the right by the tea party movement, can’t seem to warm up to Romney, who always comes off as controlled, calculating and always a bit overly coached.

Today’s Republican Party is no longer a collection of social conservatives, national security policy hawks and business elites. Instead, they’re now dominated by a reactionary fundamentalist base made up of mainly those (white) people who lost the most in the economic crisis and by a rabid lower-middle class.

This clientele can find no common ground with an elite banker who is a Mormon ex-governor of Massachusetts and who introduced the hated universal health care program in his state. They would as soon cut off their own hand as vote for Romney to run for the presidency — even after, according to the latest figures, he spent $18 million on his campaign.

This attitude is reflected in numerous polls. Romney maintains an edge here, but his clear frontrunner status has suffered. Romney spent $10 million trying to get nominated in 2008 but lost to Mike Huckabee. The Des Moines Register newspaper has him running third this time around, trailing both Newt Gingrich and Iraq War opponent Ron Paul.

The fact that Gingrich has been an enduring figure on the Washington lobbying scene and therefore a natural enemy of the tea party movement, and that [Romney’s] trailing even Ron Paul, makes the “Quit Mitt” slogan a believable possibility.

But this time, Romney is focusing on New Hampshire as his key battleground state. His staff has personally contacted 200,000 of the state’s 1.3 million residents, seeking their support. Yet, even there, the man who last year changed his convictions from moderate to conservative with the White House still firmly in his sights finds the going still rough. Voters there are now asking, “Who is this guy, really?”