Harris Poll: If Mitt Romney Won GOP Nomination, Barack Obama Would Lose Race
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is considered the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, but would he be a serious contender to beat President Barack Obama if he wins the GOP nomination? According to a Harris poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, Obama wouldn’t win a second term if Romney won the GOP nomination.
I believe this to be true. My own voting patterns and thoughts about 2012 aside, I think there is growing anger apparent in the US electorate. The anger is multi-directional; people are not angry solely about gridlock in Washington, or about the ongoing “snipping” of the financial safety net by the GOP. They are not upset just about the utterly shambolic state of both the economy and the Administrations efforts to get it re-energized, coupled with the group of Tea Party know-nothings who have decided that destruction must precede - well whatever it is they want the nation to become.
People are angry about all the above and none of the above. As the US loses ground to the rest of the developed world in overall health, education, and scientific acumen, people are starting to wonder how we got to the point where Fulbright scholarships are no longer funded, the Chinese sequenced the German e.coli strain first, Airbus is edging out Boeing even for US carriers’ business. This diffuse anger is building, it is real, and it will have a very real effect on how we are governed, and by whom. But even though people are angry, they are not stupid. People are aware that a Pawlenty, Bachmann or Palin will only make things worse. That a destructive, divisive social agenda designed to make everybody live like a New Apostolic Christian is not the answer.
Obama would lose to Romney for the same reason I think most incumbents will have a real problem being re-elected in the next cycle (unless they are running against a Tea Party endorsee - that ship will have sailed by the end of this year). Anger, fear, discontent and a lack of trust in current leadership.