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August 4, 2024 - 7:00pm
Republican Senator Mitt Romney, once considered a Right-wing villain, has become a favourite of liberals in recent years. An opinion piece last week in the New York Times urged Kamala Harris to tap Romney for a cabinet role to combat the critique that she’s too far to the Left of the rest of her party. Meanwhile, last month Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and a prominent supporter of the Democrats, wrote in the same paper that the party should elect Romney to replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket. “Romney could make the case that the Democrats are putting country before party in ways that the MAGA movement will not,” the writer argued.
The Utah senator’s newfound popularity among Democrats marks a startling shift from his public image in 2012. As the Republican nominee in the presidential election, Romney was subject to intense character attacks from his political rivals and the media.
Months before the 2012 election, then-Vice President Joe Biden told a predominantly black audience that Romney would “put y’all back in chains”. Then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid falsely claimed the GOP candidate hadn’t paid any taxes in a decade. One Democrat-aligned super PAC ad even suggested Romney was at fault for a woman dying of cancer, since he’d been involved in the closure of a manufacturing plant which had previously employed her husband.
The media played its own part in the fight against Romney. For example, when he described his efforts to recruit women for his cabinet, which involved his staff compiling lists of qualified women, mainstream outlets ran countless headlines panning Romney’s use of the phrase “binders full of women” and amplifying social media posts mocking the comment.
However, Romney’s more recent critiques of his own party, particularly Donald Trump, have endeared him to Democrats and the press. The shift was most striking when the Utah senator voted to convict Trump during impeachment proceedings in 2020, which led to widespread praise from the other side of the aisle.
“I sat silently across the chamber, listening to my friend give one of the most important speeches I have ever had the good fortune to hear in person,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy wrote. “At a time when many wonder what honor is left in public life, there is Mitt Romney.”
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SubscribeA rehabilitated Republican is always necessary for the Dems and their foot soldiers. They are nothing more than props. It gives the left faux credibility to say that “we don’t hate all Republicans, just the current ones.” I do think there is special hatred toward Trump, but it doesn’t matter who is running for the republicans, they will be portrayed as some kind of ism and threat to democracy. This is certainly clear with Vance. This man’s longtime friend and mentor is gay, he’s married to an Indian with immigrant parents, he has friends in the trans community, yet he is still labelled a homophobic rac!st. I do think people are slowly catching on to this propaganda, but it takes time.
You hit the nail on the head.
I think it’s worth separating out the ‘Threat to Democracy’ critiques from the ‘He’s homophobic/transphobic/racist/ableist/whatever’ critiques.
To clarify, I’m not American and if I were voting either way would be agonising but I do think people worried about Trumps effect on democracy has merit. You don’t have to take my word for it – just google Project 2025. And even if you don’t take it as representative of Trump’s own agenda, Trump himself has consistently said he wants to increase the power of the executive, replace civil servants with political appointees, and there is a good chance he would try to pardon himself. Even if you like Trump, the long-term implications are worrying.
Identity politics is stupid, but the same token pushing back against it shouldn’t mean you overlook other issues.
“Whether Trump will ever prompt the same re-evaluation is less likely.”
The Left should take the knee to Trump. He single-handedly revitalized the Left.
People who work in the news media, as Trump put it, “are enemies of the people.” Never more than now, I would say.
Haven’t forgotten Obama’s glib remark during the 2012 Presidential debate that “the 1980’s called and want their foreign policy back” after Romney had asserted that Putin and Russia were a threat. Of course this is the same Obama caught on open mike who told President Medvedev that he would have more “flexibility” with regard to Russia once the election was finished. Medvedev said “he would pass it on to Vladimir”.
Heck, throw in Obama’s Muslim apology tour to get a full sense of his foreign policy naivety or his own ego…or both.
The U.S. missed a great President in Romney.
One only has to read the rubbish in the Guardian and the New York Times to understand how complicit the main stream media is in left wing cover ups and demonisation of such as Bush, Romney and McCain. From Biden’s dementia to his son’s criminality the left has it’s own print Leni Riefenstahl’s ready daily with propaganda for a decreasing readership.
The “binders of women” remark was pretty funny, and Romney laughed about it too. But America was appalled when word got out that Romney had tied his dog’s cage to the top of his car on a trip to Canada. Romney had to stop at the next gas station to take care of a small problem. The dog, terrified by zooming down a freeway on top of a car, had a case of explosive diarrhea. Romney hosed the dog and cage down, and continued on to Canada—dog on the roof again. I don’t know about you guys, but I would have done the same thing if I was tied down on the top of a car in motion. Romney had nothing to say on that one.
Not new. Been their “darling” for almost 8 years actually.
Maybe Trump will become popular with the left in another ten years.
Not sure why they even hate him so much now
It’s mainly just ‘vibes’ and mass behaviour
I would vote for Mitt Romney in a heartbeat.
For the Left, last year’s Right-Wing-Hitler-Villain is always rehabilitated as a calm, reasonable, responsible counter to this year’s Right-Wing-Hitler-Villain.
I am sorry I wasted my vote on Romney. He’s such a disappointment (then again couldn’t stomach Obama – probably should have sat that race out LOL). He seems rather lost and flaying. Instead of working with the Party he’s gone the Cheney-way. Some old dogs really can’t learn new tricks. Whatever he stands for at this moment is a big unknown. He seems to want to remain ‘in play’, relevant – but like the nerd at the party doesn’t seem to know how to go about it.
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” – Orwell 1984