Dean: Romney Would Be More Feared Than McCain

Posted by Ashish on 04.11.2008

Is Howard Dean right? Would Romney have been tougher to beat than McCain?

The Wall Street Journal has an article up which quotes DNC head Howard Dean as saying that Mitt Romney would have been tougher to beat in the general election than John McCain.

"Mitt Romney was the candidate I feared the most," Dean said.

With the Republican race now a distant memory, it's interesting to think about, and Dean may be correct on this point even though conventional wisdom has always been that McCain was the strongest Republican candidate for the general election.

So what would make Romney tougher to beat than McCain?

- Money. Romney showed that not only could he raise more money than McCain, he also proved willing to invest millions of his own fortune into his campaign. With Obama set to have a huge money advantage over McCain in the general, this is an area Romney would have been much tougher in.

- Image. Romney, for all his faults, is not tied to the Bush Administration in anyway and could have presented himself as an outsider, something that Obama more or less presents himself as. At a time when over 80% of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction, being tied to Washington for as long as McCain has been is not a perk. Instead, the Democrats will have a fairly easy time establishing John McCain as a guy who has been in Washington for decades and thus is part of the problem, and will be able to tie him to George W. Bush since they agree on many key issues. Romney, at least at times, tried to present himself as a "change" candidate and we've seen that this is a "change" election. Of course, one could also argue that you aren't going to out-"change" Obama, so throwing a poorman's "change" candidate at him probably wouldn't be the best idea, but there is no doubt that McCain's baggage from decades in Washington and his ties to the "old way of doing things" and Bush will hurt him.

- Age. It won't be said publicly too much, but McCain's age is going to hurt him tremendously in November, especially against a candidate like Obama who is in his 40s and will make McCain appear as if he's from an era long gone just by standing on stage with him. Romney, on the other hand, isn't as young as Obama but isn't old either and also appeared sharp and fit, while McCain will appear old and worn down next to someone as young as Obama. Age will be a huge factor and even though Dean says in the WSJ article that Democrats won't push the age issue as an ethical decision, voters will be aware of it and will factor it in. On the flip side though, McCain's old age may make Obama appear even younger than he is and thus instill doubts in some people's minds about whether he is ready to be President. This being America though, a country obsessed with pretty, young people on TV, I tend to think that the advantage will go to the young and pretty over the old and uh, not so pretty, but we'll see.

These are just a few examples of how Romney may have been a stronger general election candidate than McCain. Of course, it's hard to really know because so many things happen in the course of a general election campaign. It's interesting to think about though.