Oh Look, Mitt Romney, After Sticking His Finger In The Wind, Actually Has Opinion On Debt Deal!

By Gary P Jackson

Noted Profile in Courage Mitt Romney has finally spoken up about the debt debate. In the eleventh hour the human windsock, seeing the anger of the people, over the prospect of this deal passing, has come out against it:

After days of refusing to take a position on the high-stakes budget talks, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney came out on Monday against a last-minute deal to avoid a potentially economy-rattling government default.

Am I the only one who laughs uncontrollably when someone calls Romney the "front runner"? Not sure what's more pathetic, calling this lump the front runner, or Hot Air's Tina Korbe's attempt to spin this as a positive for old Mitt:

Perhaps the statement lacks the credibility it would have carried had he been a long-time and vocal supporter of Cut, Cap and Balance, but I’m still pleased to see the ostensible GOP frontrunner (more on that later) tack to the right on this. Maybe he’s merely adhering to the time-tested strategy of pandering to the base in a primary, but it’s still encouraging, especially because he specifically cited the two most truly objectionable aspects of the new deal as the reasons for his opposition, which puts him on the record against tax hikes in the special commission’s recommendations.

Either (a) he really means what he says and thinks a more forward-thinking, long-term approach like Cut, Cap and Balance would be better than the milquetoast deal the president and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell mustered at the last-minute or (b) he’s begun to feel the heat from his relentlessly conservative competitors in the GOP primary and recognizes that he’s going to have to pump up his conservative credentials if he wants to win the race. Certainly, with this position, Romney join the ranks of some solid organizations and individuals.

Haven't we had enough of politicians who just tell us what they think we want to hear, whether they believe a damned word of it or not?

I guess joining the right side of the fight now is better than nothing, but Mitt Romney is running for President of the United States. This is a position that requires strong leadership, not polled and focus-grouped to death responses.

Here's where Romney, if he was an actual leader, could have made a difference. Though he's in no way ever going to be the Republican nominee, the media and the GOP elites want people to believe he's the "front runner." A smart leader would have used that status he enjoys and stood up and spoken out forcefully for what he believes in.

Romney could have written an op-ed for any newspaper in the country advocating for his position. Romney could go on any news program and do the same. Instead, he's basically hid out and waited until literally hours before the vote, when it will make no difference whatsoever.

This is not leadership. A true leader would have been out there for months hammering it all home. Romney is not a leader. He's someone who sits around, waits to see which way the winds blow, and then says: "Me too!" We don't have time for people like this.

American needs leadership. Strong leadership from people that don't have to take a poll before acting. We need someone who knows what to do right from the start. That ain't Mitt Romney.