He picked up the dog by the ears, and that bothered many people.

Maybe they didn't know it back then but we sure know now.

The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made on September 23, 1952, by Senator Richard Nixon (R-CA), six weeks before the 1952 United States presidential election, in which he was the Republican nominee for Vice President. Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses. His place was in doubt on the Republican ticket, so he flew to Los Angeles and delivered a half-hour television address in which he defended himself, attacked his opponents, and urged the audience to contact the Republican National Committee (RNC) to tell it whether he should remain on the ticket. During the speech, he stated that he intended to keep one gift, regardless of the outcome: a black-and-white Cocker Spaniel that his children had named Checkers, thus giving the address its popular name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech

That speech tug at people's heartstrings and gave Nixon's career a boost when he needed it.

because there are degrees of Republicanism.

He was the Republican that paved the way for the current crop.

We had policy disagreements with Romney. That's fine. We're supposed to have robust policy differences. Romney is a decent man, and certainly not "way worse" than MAGA trash.

The ridiculous demonization of Mitt Romney was a mistake. It was good that we won that election, but we pushed many moderate GOPers toward the MAGA side by showing that we will (often unfairly and viciously) attack *any* GOP candidate, even relatively moderate and milquetoast Mitt Romney. So, why not just go hard right at that point?

Did you forget about Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes, Newt Gingrich, Tom Delay, Dick Armey, Eric Cantor, Michele Bachman...?

I could go on all day with awful GQP who came before him.

was the model for the Affordable Care Act. And, Massachusetts is the only place that implemented the intended tax penalty for people who live without health insurance when they can afford to get it.

As governor, Romney thought that would be a feather in his cap when he ran for president, but he overestimated the intelligence of the national Republican base.

only that whatever it was, Noem did worse.

and he should have known better. He richly deserved all the flak he got for it. What might have been the final nail in Mittens' electoral coffin, though, was the secretly-recorded meeting with wealthy donors during which he said this:

Only it isn't 47%, it is 0.1%. And, because that 0.1% has bought so many politicians and judges, they get what they want. They toil not, neither do they spin.

Makes me sick.

What a scumbag

Both suck for different reasons.

That’s the best Republicans can do? To compare candidates whether or not they shoot their dogs or not? It’s a very low bar.

...its a magnet on my fridge now

The dog must have been traumatized by the trip.

He is a shit too. He made his money by using borrowed money (leveraged buy out) to
acquire businesses after which he would borrow more money against the business, off
shore it if it was still producing something of value, then lay off the employees, and then try
to steal the employees pension and health care benefits.

Interesting to see them fight amongst themselves as to who is more awful.