Against the conventional wisdom that having fewer establishment types in the mix helps the chosen one against conservative candidates, Dick Morris gives reasons that Romney’s self elimination will hurt Jeb Bush’s chances for the nomination. Consider his thoughts:
Now that Bush is alone as the front runner, we may expect him to draw all the fire. For the next sixteen months, we will hear, read, and see all the negative material about Bush. His remarks on immigration and common core will be analyzed and dissected, imperiling his candidacy.
The very sense of ennui of another Bush running for president will encourage other candidacies to sprout and provide the shadow within which they can grow, without being shot down by early negatives. Voters will find the prospect of a race between Clinton II and Bush III somewhat less than attractive. If no steed advances in the Democratic primary to exploit this vulnerability, we can be confident that a Republican candidate will.
A tame two way Romney-Bush race was highly predictable. My bet is that Romney would have won by using the immigration issue. Now all bets are off and there is time and room for other candidates to come forward.
Morris lists other reasons in his commentary: Romney Exit May Actually Hurt Bush While not convinced, we find the above the most persuasive of those, mainly because they focus on the peculiarities of a Bush III candidacy. Still a narrowed field of candidates favorable to big government will have more establishment influenced and crony capitalist money available early on either to paint an image of conservatism or denigrate the more substantive conservatives. While that is formidable it is not impossible to overcome, the Iowa caucus system being an influential example. Conservatives have an excellent stable of potential candidates with no presumptive rush to judgement necessary. They should be vetted in due course. Fortunately there is no heir apparent anywhere in the mix as such sentiment has been the bane of the Republican culture in the past (Ford, Bush I, Dole, McCain and arguably Romney). R Mall
