3 of 3

Write now Article Tools

Throughout his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney never had a clear shot at the top. Although he had extensive experience in business (as the CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee) and politics (as the governor of Massachusetts), he was assaulted by the left for being too conservative and by the right for his Mormon faith. Just after the Super Tuesday primaries of February 5, he dropped out of the race for the nomination after sinking millions of his own fortune into his campaign. Close investigation makes it clear that Romney's eventual failure was dictated by several key missteps over the course of his run for the nomination.

When Romney began his campaign, he was selected by the major news media as the "conservative" candidate of the political triumviratethe other two candidates were John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Although many candidates attempted to win conservative support, and several were viable alternatives, he was considered the most viable conservative by the news media. As a result, Romney adopted that unofficial endorsement as his identity, but neglected to sufficiently differentiate himself from other conservative candidates. This was most obvious at the Iowa Straw Poll in August 2007, when Romney spent thousands of dollars more than his opponents to harness only 30% of the popular vote, with Mike Huckabee pulling off a surprise second-place finish. Huckabee would continue to be a thorn in Romney's campaign.

One of the most important consequences of Romney's failure to set himself apart from other "conservative" candidates is that his economically conservative credentials were left by the wayside. Some recent policy shifts from a moderate to a more rightist social position, especially on conservative rallying points like abortion and gay marriage, were ammunition for Romney's opponents. Since Romney had relied upon the news media for his conservative identity, he was especially unprepared to defend himself against assaults on his conservatism.

Romney's response to these attacks broke any chance he had of the candidacy. Instead of reforming his image, reemphasizing his conservative credentials, and winning the votes of the right, he launched a series of aggressive ads condemning his opponents in the weeks leading up to the Iowa primary. Huckabee bore the brunt of the attacks, and had no need to respond in kind, since questions about Romney's conservatism were already circulating. Conservative voters identified Romney's single-sided attacks as an attempt to use brute force to conceal the weaknesses of his position, and flocked to Huckabee in Iowa and several later primaries. Eventually, Romney could not overcome the division in the conservative vote, and withdrew from the race.

While trying to cast himself as a conservative in the image of Ronald Reagan, Romney depended on his image and early media attention to attain the right-wing vote. This gamble proved fatal, as Romney did not establish his individuality and credentials as compared to other conservative candidates. Without a clear conservative identity, social issues came to the forefront, and Romney's forceful response sealed his doom. Therefore, although Romney was a viable candidate for the Republican nomination, his campaign made several crucial mistakes that condemned his candidacy to failure.

Learn more about this author, Iowaprodigal.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How Mitt Romney ruined his campaign for the presidency?
We want to hear your view. Write now!