In what's sure to affect the GOP presidential nominating race, Sarah Palin to Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that she isn't sure Mitt's a conservative:
In a blow to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, Sarah Palin said Sunday that she's "not convinced" the former Massachusetts governor is conservative enough to do Republicans' bidding in the White House.
Palin, the former governor of Alaska, said the GOP presidential field remains wide open because Romney's past positions on healthcare, abortion and other issues have been moderate-to-liberal, leaving Republicans confused about what he'd do as commander-in-chief."Most voters in the GOP, and Independents, we will want to see that candidate who we can trust will just inherently, instinctively turn right, always err on the side of conservatism," Palin said on Fox News Sunday. "I am not convinced [Romney is that person]. And I don't think that the majority of GOP and Independent voters are convinced, and that is why you don't see Romney get over that hump."
Gov. Palin's opinion won't change the opinions of Mitt's core supporters. That isn't where he's having difficulty, though. Last Tuesday's defeats exposed Mitt's weakness with blue collar workers and TEA Party activists in the Midwest. Newt's win in South Carolina exposed Mitt's vulnerability with evangelical voters.
Any GOP candidate that doesn't have the enthusiastic support of the TEA Party and the evangelical voters can't win a general election. Without those voting blocs, a candidate doesn't have a ground game, a GOTV operation.
When thinking Mitt's liberal 'accomplishments, think harsh, expensive CO2 emission limits regulations on power plants. Think O'Romneycare. Think of his not understanding the Second Amendment.
Mitt's inability to talk fluently about these things creates alot of anxiety with conservatives. With more liberal accomplishments than conservative accomplishments on Mitt's record, why wouldn't conservatives, especially TEA Party activists, question Mitt's conservative credentials?
It's worth asking this simple question: Did Ronald Reagan ever need to highlight his conservative credentials? Did Milton Friedman? Thomas Sowell? Mark Levin? They didn't because it was apparent that they were staunchly conservative.
If a presidential candidate feels the need to describe himself as "severely conservative", it's likely that he realizes that a) he isn't a conservative and b) he needs conservatives' votes this November.
It's different, too, in that Mitt wasn't attacked by Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich. Mitt was attacked by Sarah Palin, the woman with the most conservative credibility in America, even more than Michele Bachmann.
If Mitt doesn't fix his conservative problem ASAP, he'll be badly damaged. There's no sugarcoating this problem.
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