Attacks on Romney’s investor past backfire

TORN between reality and their political dreams, leading conservatives are defending Mitt Romney against attacks on his work in the private sector even as they search for a more palatable candidate amid a growing sense that his nomination looks certain.

Romney is marching steadily through South Carolina, a state still uncertain about him, and picking up a prominent conservative’s endorsement while sending a message to his party: It is time to stop the bickering.

Not just yet, some leading conservatives have said.

“Honestly, it looks like Governor Romney’s nomination is inevitable,” said Rev Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. “Evangelicals, come November, might have to hold their noses and vote for the lesser of two evils. But it’s not November yet.”

Just over a week before South Carolina’s vote, there are signs that conservatives are struggling to find what some would call “the anti-Romney”. They appear no more organised in their search for a credible challenger than they were before former Sen Rick Santorum raised their hopes with his second-place finish in Iowa.

More than 100 conservative leaders, many of them evangelical in their faiths, are to converge this weekend at the Texas ranch of former state appeals court judge Paul Pressler to consider their options, if any.

Surrogates for each campaign were expected to make presentations and take questions.

In spite of their reluctance to embrace Romney as the GOP nominee, some conservatives have been drawn into defending him against charges of “vulture” capitalism from rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. Both are potential recipients of conservative backing in the effort to oppose Romney.

Trying to tap into populist sentiment, Gingrich and Perry accused Romney of being a fat-cat venture capitalist during his days running the private equity firm Bain Capital, saying he laid off workers as he restructured companies and filled his own pockets.

That strategy backfired. A long list of conservative leaders who have not endorsed Romney are nonetheless sticking up for his success — former Bush adviser Karl Rove, former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Club for Growth, an array of conservative talk show hosts and even Santorum. Conservative leaders defending Romney say the attack amounts to an assault on capitalism and the free market system at the heart of their movement.

“It’s a sad day in South Carolina and across this country if Republicans are talking against the free market,” said South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley, a Tea Party star who has endorsed Romney.

“It’s just been foolish,” said Thomas Donohue, president of the US Chamber of Commerce, which does not endorse presidential candidates. “They’re not doing anything other than setting up the ad base for their [Democratic] opponents.”

The anti-Romney conservatives agree.

“I’ve not talked to many conservatives that support these attacks on Romney,” said Family Research Council president Tony Perkins. Evangelicals, he pointed out, support a free market with moral restraints and generally would not object to Romney’s success at Bain. “I don’t think they see that as the real issue. It sounds more like something the Democrats might bring up.”

It is a stark turnabout from last week, when speculation crackled over whether Santorum could capture support from the large chunk of Republicans who are not behind Romney.

Post-Iowa, things went sour for this group. Romney’s second win, in New Hampshire on Tuesday, solidified his standing atop the GOP field. He was followed in that race not by Santorum but Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

Now everyone is looking to South Carolina’s primary next weekend — potentially the last stand for the anti-Romney crowd.