It’s no secret that conservatives hate President Obama. Some say “hate” is a strong word, but one look at the rhetoric coming from conservative voters and elected officials, and you will see that the word “hate” fits pretty well. Though it’s obvious that they won’t vote for President Obama in November, is Mitt Romney really the man who conservatives can be happy with?
The majority of conservative voters and registered Republicans have the same overall ideology. Small government, low or no taxes, a big military budget and increased focus on evangelical Christianity. While the battle cry fits well with many voters, the conservative base is split into three fractions and not all of them have love for Mitt Romney.
The fraction of the Republican base that does support Mitt Romney is the business sector. Investors on Wall Street and big time CEOs can relate to Mitt Romney because of his history at the investment firm, Bain Capital. Romney was the CEO of Bain until 1999 and made millions by shutting down factories, shipping jobs overseas and making a profit for himself and his investors at the expense of low and middle-income families. In an article in the Washington Post this past June, Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital invested in companies that shipped jobs to low wage countries. You can read the article HERE.
“During the nearly 15 years that Romney was actively involved in running Bain, a private equity firm that he founded, it owned companies that were pioneers in the practice of shipping work from the United States to overseas call centers and factories”
While private sector conservatives like these numbers, hardworking middle class conservatives should be frightened by them. Die-hard conservatives often wear their yellow flag pins and ride around with “Made in America” bumper stickers, so supporting someone with a background of sending jobs to other countries doesn’t make much sense.
Conservatives who see themselves as hardworking taxpayers often believe that their taxes are too high, so what do they think about someone like Mitt Romney paying a lower tax rate than they are? This past January, Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns and revealed that he paid only a 13.9% tax rate, much lower than the average American. Romney’s wealth is estimated to be as high as $250 million, one of the highest of any person attempting to run from president.
You can read more about Mitt Romney’s tax rate HERE.
The final “wing” of the conservative base is evangelical Christians. Especially in the south, conservative Christians are open about their devotion to their religion and cling to the Bible and weekly trips to church. Mitt Romney is often quiet about his faith because he knows it conflicts with many in the Republican party. Many evangelical Christians refer to Romney’s religion, Mormonism, as a cult. While religion and faith might not be a major issue in November, some in the religious base will find it hard to pull the trigger for someone who they consider different than they are.
President Obama is far from the perfect president and is demonized by the entire Republican base. In November, voters will head to the ballot box and true conservatives might have a real problem getting excited to vote for someone like Mitt Romney.
