TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Talk Of Romney For McCain's Ticket Reignites Critics

ADVERTISEMENT

The New York Times

Published: August 16, 2008

On the day Mitt Romney bowed out of the presidential race in February, his supporters latched onto something of a consolation prize that appeared to bode well for his political future: the warm embrace of conservatives whose approval he had long sought.

The enthusiastic ovations Romney received before and after his speech ending his campaign at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington seemed to signal that Romney had finally overcome doubts about his conservative credentials.

Yet as Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, is said to have emerged as a top contender to be Sen. John McCain's vice-presidential running mate, a vocal segment of conservative leaders and grass-roots activists have mobilized against him, with some going out of their way to block his path to the GOP ticket.

It is unclear just how large the group of Romney detractors is and how representative it is of the broader conservative movement.

The determined opposition to Romney highlights the nagging concerns about his ideological authenticity and Mormon religion that dogged him throughout his campaign.

Last week in Ohio, about a dozen grass-roots conservatives, many of them former backers of Baptist minister and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, gathered in Cincinnati to discuss their alarm about the talk of a McCain-Romney ticket and to draw up plans for a new group, Social Conservatives Against Mitt Romney.

The ultimate danger for McCain is not necessarily that Christian conservatives will not vote for him if he chooses Romney, but that they will not be as energetic in turning people out to vote, said David Fornshell, vice chairman of the Republican Party in Warren County, Ohio, where evangelical turnout helped lift President Bush to victory in 2004.

"I'm going to back whomever McCain picks," said Fornshell. "But am I concerned that there is a very important, very hard-working segment of traditional Republican backers who might not work hard? Yeah, that concerns me."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT