I’ve been listening to a lot of conservative talk radio lately, and one thing I’ve heard since the Nov. 7 election is a lot of talk about the 2008 race. Nov. 7 was such a disaster for conservatives that we like to look forward rather than back and hope for better results in 2008.
One interesting thing I’ve noticed is that conservative talk radio is consolidating around Mitt Romney as the “conservative candidate.” In fact, Michael Medved has said that twice in the last week — Romney is basically the best chance for conservatives. And Medved also said Romney is a candidate who most reminds him of Reagan.
And today Romney had some choice things to say about being a conservative candidate and some negative comments about McCain.
Talk radio seems to see three leading Republican candidates with a few dark horses. The candidates are McCain, Guiliani and Romney. There is a lot of discussion of Newt Gingrich, and he has certainly been prominent in the last few months. Gingrich has a higher national profile than Romney, but talk radio does not take him as seriously.
The corner, National Review’s primary blog, is filled with Romney love. I also visit Evangelicals for Mitt and the Elect Romney in 2008 blog.
Romney’s strategy appears to be to let the “moderate Republican” vote be divided between McCain and Giuliani while he consolidates support among conservatives. Will it work? Well, if you listen to prominent conservatives nationwide, many of them are rallying around the Mormon guy from Massachusetts.