Republicans (heart) Not Romney

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Via twitter: 

BREAKING: In Desperate Move, Romney Changes First Name to 'Not'

-- Andy Borowitz (@borowitzreport)

Borowitz, a you may know, is a very funny humorist.

But what's really funny about this is that it could very well be true. Given what a desperate, soulless, pandering politico Romney is, changing his name doesn't seem all that far-fetched. And if he really wants to be what the right-wing Republican base, and indeed most of the party generally, wants him to be, "Not Romney" is just about perfect.

Because, of course, the Republican Party, judging by the polls as well as by how the primary season has gone so far, does not want Romney to be its 2012 presidential nominee.

Just take the latest NYT/CBS poll of Republican primary voters, which finds Romney trailing Santorum 30 to 27 (with Paul at 12 and Gingrich at 10). Yes, that's just over one-quarter national support for the supposed frontrunner and likely nominee, the guy with the money and organization, the guy who has spent years setting himself up to win in 2012 and the past couple of months trying to destroy his opponents.

Indeed, Romney's whole electability argument, once a cornerstone of his appeal, appears to have collapsed, not least because he's losing white working-class support as people come to see him, correctly, as a privileged rich douchebag who is anything but a man of the people who cares about the concerns of ordinary folk. (Not surprisingly, Romney's likability, both among Republicans and generally, has also declined dramatically.)

This isn't to say that Santorum will prevail. He likely won't. But what's pretty clear on this Valentine's Day 2012 is that Republicans like Not Romney a whole lot more than Mitt Romney.