I grew up in a Republican family in a solidly Republican district in a traditionally Republican region of the country. I mostly vote for Republican candidates. I believe that right now, July 2012 as I write this, the country needs a strong president with classic small-r republican ideals and capital-R Republican values (e.g. rule by law, limited government authority and spending, zero deficits, zero debts). I also believe that Mitt Romney is not that person and will not be that president.
Before this year, the only thing I knew about Mitt Romney was that he strategically exited the 2008 Republican primary early and tried to lay claim to Ronald Reagan's legacy for himself in the process. I remember thinking at the time what a ridiculous publicity stunt that was. Mitt obviously left that race in order to salvage his dignity and cushion his ego after primary voters overwhelmingly rejected his phony conservatism. I expected after his primary campaign was forgotten he would carve out quiet time to reflect on his failure and realize how pathetic his posturing was in those final moments in the national spotlight. I hoped he would be shamed into humility and we would never hear from him again.
Obviously I was wrong.
Imagine my surprise when he resurfaced at the beginning of the 2012 Republican primary campaign as the so-called early favorite and establishment choice. Didn't we already go through this? Do we have to waste more time and money to convince this guy he is not "our man"?
After he survived the primary (more on that in a later post) and became the presumptive Republican nominee I decided to give him a second chance. Again, I knew very little about him so this was the only fair thing to do. I researched his background and policies with an open mind and tried not to let my previous impression of him affect my conclusions.
I decided I cannot support Mitt Romney for president. Not only do I think he is unqualified for the office but I also believe that his presidency would be bad for both the nation and the Republican party. I created this blog to explain my decision and rationale. Hopefully, I can convince other conservatives and independents to withhold their support for Romney and vote for other candidates instead. Perhaps with enough pressure there is still an opportunity to influence substantial changes in his campaign.
