First, let me thank all the readers who wrote in response to my 2012 prediction — far too many for me to be able to respond personally to each. The most vehement responses were from Republicans who don’t believe Romney’s policy switches were legitimate, and who think he’s a phony and a RINO. (As for me, I like the direction his thought has taken on a number of issues. I have no particular reason to think him dishonest, and in any case I am not eager to discourage politicians from moving in my direction.)
The most interesting responses were from readers who see encouraging signs of a national willingness to consider conservatism. Among the latter, I especially like this analysis of Obama’s vulnerability in 2012: “As a Chicago resident, I suggest that Obama’s problem is that he is from a region that is so reliably Democratic that he has not developed the skill of knowing ‘what he can get away with.’ In Chicago and in Illinois, Democrats can give away money to their cronies, i.e., the public-employee unions and politically connected contractors all day long, and no one does anything about it. . . .The local media ignore these problems, local Republicans don’t get traction, and wrongs are forgotten. That is not an ideal training ground for a person who needs to maintain the loyalty of red-state voters.”
This Chicago observer continues: “It is one thing to paint yourself as a moderate when you are an unknown quantity; it is another thing to pretend you are a moderate after you spent every day of your presidency watching Democratic interest groups haul as much gold out of the Fed Treasury as they could carry.”