by Jules Witcover

now that those two objects of Republican affection, Chris Christie and Sarah Palin, have decided not to come to the 2012 dance, the suitors in the stag line will have to choose from the remaining partners, none of whom has really made their hearts beat faster.

Sure, Rick Perry has movie-star looks, that Texas swagger, an impressive jobs-creation resume and a solid conservative record, but a wayward tongue goes with the package that makes many of the suitors nervous. And Michele Bachmann is an appealing spitfire but hasn't convinced the stag line there's much substance behind the ire.

Herman Cain, the pizza king, has shot up in the polls with his straight talk and simplified 9-9-9 formula for tax reform. But with no government experience, he may be too risky to survive the long sashay through the 2012 primaries. Nor is a party that has an obvious deficiency in black enrollment likely to take a black man to the prom.

The one Republican who has genuinely generated affection in the party is Ron Paul, the Texas congressmen dressed up as a libertarian, whose skimpy party he has represented in past presidential races to no avail. The other hopefuls -- the embarrassingly worn-out Newt Gingrich, the unctuous Pennsylvania loser Rick Santorum, the earnestly striving Jon Huntsman and some other forgettable entrants -- all are designated wallflowers.

That leaves, somewhat puzzlingly, the Republican Mr. Nice, Mitt Romney. The inoffensive former Massachusetts governor has been striving since last year to demonstrate that he is tough enough and consistently conservative enough to gain the affections of the oglers lining the dance floor.

What most of them have been hoping and waiting for all this time has been Ronald Reagan reincarnated -- a glamorous conservative true believer who can project strength without meanness, and who can charm their socks off with palaver that may not stand up under close scrutiny but gives them a nice warm feeling anyway.

Whether the boys-in-waiting realize it or not, Mitt Romney may be the closest of the lot to that magic formula. One prime charge against him -- that he's been a flip-flopper on such issues as abortion and government health care -- may fade into the shadows in a campaign that is likely to be dominated by economic rather than social issues. Romney's business experience, and his ability to speak comprehendingly about it, could be a trump card for him in a campaign against President Obama.

Of all the remaining Republican presidential aspirants, Romney may be the one the suitors would feel most comfortable about taking home to Mother. But the question lingers about whether he has the fortitude and the personal magnetism to pivot the Republican message of mean-spirited negativism to an appealing hopefulness for the future.

The Republicans in Congress, in league with the tea party movement, have so focused their attacks on Obama, on high-spending liberalism and swollen government that little positive message has come though to the voters about what a Republican president would do. Amid a host of naysayers, Romney seems best positioned by persona and by what he has and hasn't said to pitch a less angry call to the voters next November.

Right now, that notion may seem foolish in the face of the electorate's widespread anger at government. But there are signs that the anger is beginning to be redirected toward other culprits, notably bankers' excesses and irresponsibility, as seen in the growing protests on Wall Street. Obama is trying to lead that pivot, prodded by a liberal base fed up with his efforts to get along with the Republicans, who openly want to end his presidency.

Obama's challenge now is to convince voters that if there is, as the Republicans charge, class warfare going on, they need to be on his side. Of all the GOP hopefuls, Romney may the least desirable target, despite his personal wealth. His lack of purity in devotion to conservative dogma could in the end work for him -- in the general election. But right now, in the fight for his party's nomination, it seems to explain most Republicans' coolness toward him.

 

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The GOP -- and Mitt Romney -- Dilemma | Politics

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