This probably wasn’t the best week to make my triumphant return to blogging. Starting tomorrow I will be on a camping trip with the family through the end of the week, providing another larger-than-ideal gap between posts. C’est la vie.
Because of this I have decided to share a few emails I exchanged while I was on my hiatus. While I largely stayed away from politics during my time away from blogging, a few friends were still able to drag me into occasional debates. In one email back-and-forth between several friends, liberal and conservative alike, Romney’s likeability factor came up. A liberal friend was having a hard time believing that conservatives were excited by Romney’s candidacy or that we would do much to help him win. Specifically, he was dismayed that I gave money to Romney’s campaign despite knowing that I didn’t really “like” Romney.
Let me pause here. I believe one of the many things that separate Republicans and Democrats is that Democrats vote with their heart, Republicans vote with their head. By this I don’t mean that Democrats are dumb or that Republicans are uncaring monsters, simply that, at the end of the day, Democrats will base their vote on how they feel about something while Republicans will vote based on how they think. Admittedly, this is painting with broad brush strokes but I believe this works as a general rule of thumb.
Getting back to my original point, I believe this explains the difference in how Republicans and Democrats approach their candidates. As I wrote to my friend:
[Name deleted] and I are completely capable of looking at the two choices this fall and deducing that Romney would make a far better president than Obama. We don't have to love or even like Romney to make – what is to us – a completely rational decision. Democrats on the other hand seem like they lose all objectivity when talking presidential politics. News anchors proclaim that Obama sends a tingle up their legs, celebrities make stupid and creepy inspirational ads, and young people faint at Obama's rallies...It just seems like you can't wrap your head around why we're going to vote for Romney even though we're not falling head over heels for him. It just seems much more of an emotional decision for Democrats than conservatives.
Romney might not make us excited. He’s not sexy, trendy or cool. He’s far from perfect. I don’t think there’s any conservative going into this election with his or her eyes shut to Romney’s shortcomings or faults. But he’s far and away the choice for any rational voter this fall. And that’s the case we need to make to the American public this fall. Romney: The Rational Choice! A winning campaign slogan if there ever was one! If that doesn’t get you excited about the upcoming election this fall, what will?
Anyway, all this just so I had an excuse to share with you the next quote. As my friend explained in this same email thread, what really gets conservative hearts to go pitter-patter is the thought of not having Obama in the White House any more. My friend wrote:
I'll break it down to you like this:
If I could pick 10 candidates...Mitt Romney would probably be dead last, if even on the list.
But I would wade through fields of feces for months if it meant that I could have him as our next president over Obama.
And that my friends is what you call a winning attitude!
By the way, the wading starts here.
Vote with your head, not your heart. Vote Romney.
