Romnian Reflections: The Few Made the Difference

Here’s an e-mail I received from someone you’ve heard of, a person whose name I won’t reveal because I’m not sure that person would want it revealed:

We all owe a debt to Brian Camenker, John Haskins and Amy Contrada. This trio of Massachusetts activists never gave up. With no money and no staff besides themselves, their organizations — MassResistance and Parents Rights Coalition — became the clearinghouse for the truth about this charlatan named Mitt Romney. Hundreds of reporters visited their website and countless stories were developed based on their info.

Even opposition research people from other campaigns used their info. Along with Gary Glenn and a few other people, this merry band of warriors started warning Americans years ago about the impending Romney campaign. They defeated a juggernaut that spent over 40 million dollars.

I am convinced that without these heroes, Mitt Romney would now be our nominee.

Establishment historians and beltway political consultants will probably never acknowledge their sacrifice but as long as I live, I will tell the story of how a few committed people affected the course of America.

All of you are true patriots and I salute you.

I agree with the e-mail’s author, with one exception: The nation owes Brian, John, and Amy a debt that can’t be repaid, but the mountain of money they had to climb over was more like $100 million.

After hearing talk host after talk host go on today about how “conservative” Mitt Romney is, when he was the most liberal candidate in the field, it’s good to see that one authentic reality-based community is getting at least a bit of what it’s due.

So let the historical record show that the e-mail’s author is right. A few brave people in the Cradle of Liberty helped to deliver the nation from a serious, and potentially catastrophic, error.

I for one can’t escape the parallels to a more localized event over 2-1/2 years ago in the Spring of 2005. That was when another charlatan, with the help of many of the very same people who tried to foist Mitt Romney onto an unsuspecting GOP electorate, tried to hijack Ohio’s Second Congressional District. That both efforts failed is more important than most will ever appreciate.

Here’s hoping for another historical parallel — Ohio’s Second District charlatan tried again the next time around in 2006, and was again turned back. Absent a wholesale, credible reinvention AND a list of sincere “I was wrong, I am sorry” statements a mile long to ALL who are owed them, there will be no way “Romney 2012 = Reagan 1980.” Count on it. By itself, time does not heal Objective Unfitness.

After the 2006 election I just referred to, I wrote something that eerily applies to what has transpired thus far in 2008:

(We learned tonight that) That the “Christian Right” can be taken in by clever messengers who say the right things and are successful at not revealing their true selves.

Add “most of ‘conservative’ talk radio, many ‘conservative’ pundits, and a lot of ‘conservative’ bloggers who should know better,” and you have the nearly lethal 2008 Romnian brew.

Speaking of what is owed, the list of those other than the candidate who owe Mass Resistance, and especially Brian, mea maxima culpas is very, very long. The line forms here.

________________________________________________

UPDATE: Other post-mortems —

• Rick Morris at the FDH Lounge isn’t quite at the let-bygones-be–bygones stage.
• IBDeditorials calls Romney’s exit “gallant.” IBD also liked McCain’s CPAC speech today; Michelle Malkin, though admirably open-minded, not so much.
• RedState liveblogged. Interesting stuff.
• Others — Outside the Beltway; Captain Ed (on Romney; on McCain); Politico; MK Ham (Romney; McCain); Right on the Right.
• Would like to, but can’t ignore the fact that Hugh Hewitt (HT Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion) played the religious-bigotry card one last time. If form holds, the next step is a “woe is me” column in the New York Times, like the one referred to here.

UPDATE 2 (revised, 10:45 a.m., Feb. 8): From Republicans for Family Values —

Departure of ‘Fake Conservative’ Romney from Race is Good News

Peter LaBarbera, founder of the website Republicans For Family Values, issued the following statement today:

We who know his real record celebrate the news that the media’s favorite fake “conservative,” Mitt Romney, has abandoned his GOP presidential bid. Congratulations to Mass Resistance’s Brian Camenker and all those who worked so hard to expose the truth about this man who, frankly, deceived many. Camenker’s report, “The Mitt Romney Deception,” was the linchpin of our campaign to expose Romney’s incredible string of flip-flops, anti-family sellouts and conveniently-timed conversions to the pro-family cause.

Said Camenker: “It’s quite astonishing that a rag-tag army of truth-tellers was able to take down the most well-funded and best organized political campaign in modern times — which was also in collusion with the “mainstream” conservative movement.”

Sadly, Brian is correct: the facts about Romney’s record that should have been reported by major “conservative” and pro-family leaders – such as his continued embrace of homosexual “special rights” laws and the $50 co-pay for abortion as a “benefit” resulting from his state health insurance plan — were left untold. Curiously, major conservative opinion-leaders like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Hugh Hewitt – who readily bashed Mike Huckabee and John McCain for being too liberal — couldn’t bring themselves to expose the Real Romney.

Worse yet, some major Christian pro-family leaders failed in their role to inform the public about Romney’s social liberalism. Curiously, some embraced Romney even though his (post-pro-life-conversion) record on abortion paled in comparison to Mike Huckabee’s 100% pro-life record — and despite the fact that Romney’s (current) pro-homosexual-special-rights advocacy broke with decades of pro-family tradition. We know that some of these groups accepted large donations from Romney.

Right up to Super Tuesday, millions of Christians and conservatives – relying on talk radio and not hearing the truth from some major Christian organizations – were ignorant of Romney’s pro-homosexual, liberal record, demonstrating the lack of fair play of key conservative and pro-family leaders who — at the very least – should have exposed equally the warts of all the GOP contenders.

Politics is a tough business, but is it wrong to expect conservatives – and especially Christian leaders – to conduct it with more integrity?

This was a David vs. Goliath battle, and shows that truth is more powerful than fiction. Now we must be vigilant as many of the same opinion-leaders will try to perpetuate their own myth by selling Romney as the “conservative” standard bearer waiting in the wings.

The talkers know darn well that with great power, comes great responsibility. In this case, most of them — call them the Anybody-But-McCain Coalition of the Duped — shirked it.