In N.H., Romney, Palin show differing Tea Party approaches
In politics, one of the most excruciating tasks is known as the grip-and-grin.
A candidate of any stripe and at any level will pose for a photo with a supporter, extending a firm handshake, exchanging a perfunctory hello, and giving a forced grin for an obligatory snapshot that is sent to the supporter as a memento of the occasion.
Mitt Romney did the equivalent with his Tea Party appearance on Sunday.
Sarah Palin did the opposite when she addressed movement members a day later.
Yet despite the difference in emotional intensity, Palin exhibited a moment of political maturity when she urged the pivotal GOP voting group not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, suggesting that discarding an awkward suitor such as Romney could cost the movement a chance to achieve its broader goals.
In so doing, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee, now earning millions she likely never dreamed about less than four years ago, showed she may have more impact as party kingmaker than as a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination during the 2012 election cycle.
Romney was circumspect about addressing supporters of the Tea Party Express this Labor Day weekend and didn’t firm up his plans until the precipitous rise of rival Rick Perry. It has forced the former Massachusetts governor to abandon his make-no-waves campaign strategy.
With the Texas governor replacing him as the national poll front-runner less than a month into his campaign, Romney was forced to reach out to the Tea Party activists who threatened to not only give Perry or US Representative Michele Bachmann a victory in the first presidential voting – the Iowa caucuses – but fuel a victory for either in the ensuing contests in South Carolina and Nevada.
Were that to happen, Romney’s strategy of winning the New Hampshire primary, and riding its momentum to victories in subsequent primaries and caucuses, would seem presumptuous and ineffectual.
Hence, the candidate decided not only to address a Tea Party Express rally Sunday night in Concord, N.H., but also to jet to South Carolina yesterday to speak at a conservative forum organized by a Tea Party movement darling, US Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
The New Hampshire appearance, though, proved instructive about Romney’s mindset and emotion at the traditional launch of any presidential cycle – the Labor Day weekend of the year preceding a presidential election.
The Globe’s Shira Schoenberg described it thusly:
“Speaking against the backdrop of the Tea Party Express bus in Concord, Romney never once mentioned the Tea Party. Rather, he criticized President Obama, talked broadly about his experience as a private businessman, and offered the same critique of Obama’s economic policies that he has been making for months.’’
She added: “He left immediately after his speech, ignoring questions from the gaggle of reporters following him.’’
Danny Yadron of The Wall Street Journal added fresh detail in his account.
“In his speech, Mr. Romney did not break new ground, but he seemed to front-load his address with stump lines that play best in Tea Party circles,’’ Yadron wrote. “`Of all the people running, I don’t know that there are many who have less years in politics than me,’ Mr. Romney said. He then reprised his oft-used line, ‘Career politicians got us into this mess and career politicians will not get us out of this mess.’’’
The Journal added: “For their part, Mr. Romney’s supporters appeared to try to prevent any openings for would-be-hecklers. When Mr. Romney finished speaking, they circled around him and walked him to his car. As his car pulled out of the park, they lined the first part of the street.’’
Make that grin-and-no-grip.
Romney is concerned that embracing the Tea Party – and all the movement’s fervent anti-government, anti-spending, pro-tax-cut philosophy – may win him next year’s Republican nomination, when small blocs of voters can had a disproportionate effect on the outcome, but cost him the general election, when moderates from both major parties often cast the decisive ballots.
All that helps explain his concern about giving the movement much more than lip service.
By contrast, Palin gave the Tea Party a big kiss over the weekend, while also seeking to channel the movement’s emotion in a constructive manner.
First in Indianoloa, Iowa, on Saturday, and again in Manchester, N.H., last night, Palin not only took Perry down a peg, but she threw a lifeline to Romney, who has most seen his political prospects diminished by the Tea Party’s rise.
In Iowa, Palin followed up her proposal to eliminate nearly all corporate income taxes – and replace the lost revenue by closing loopholes in the federal tax code – with a veiled shot at Perry.
“This is how we break the back of crony capitalism,’’ she said, as recounted by CNN political reporter Peter Hamby.
While not mentioning Perry by name, Palin’s target was unmistakable as the Texas governor faces charges of rewarding donors and allies with government jobs and contracts.
“Some GOP candidates, they also raise mammoth amounts of cash,’’ CNN quoted her as saying. “We need ask them, too: What, if anything, do their donors expect from their investments? We need to know this because our country can’t afford more trillion-dollar thank you notes to campaign backers.’’
Yesterday in New Hampshire, Palin urged the Tea Party movement not to eschew achievement for ideological purity.
“We’re seeing more and more folks realize the strength of this grassroots movement, and they’re wanting to be involved,’’ Palin said, as quoted by Talking Points Memo, in perhaps an oblique reference to Romney. “I say, ‘Right on! Better late than never,’ for some of these candidates especially. You’re converting them over.’’
Apparently concerned that rejecting a more mainstream Romney in favor of Perry or Bachmann could prevent the movement from achieving any of its aims after November 2012, the former Alaska governor added: “We patriots should not focus on petty political squabbles and media-game soundbites. The Tea Party has got to be focused on the broader, much more important goals of this movement: replace Obama and return power back to ‘we the people,’ and grow this movement without compromising principles.’’
After her speech, Palin shook a few hands, signed copies of her book, “Going Rogue,’’ and then hopped into a waiting SUV.
There was no need to shield her from the Tea Party; the movement had long since embraced her.
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