The tragedy of Mitt Romney
For us politics junkies, the collapse of Mitt Romney's campaign is truly stunning. For conservatives, it's infuriating while for liberals, it's pure ecstasy.
What amazes me is how someone like Romney can run such an incompetent aimless campaign. We're talking about a man who by all accounts did extremely well in the highly competitive fields of strategy consulting and private equity. He was a rockstar at bain consulting and Bain Capital, where everyone thought he was the smartest guy in the room. He also demonstrated remarkable executive skills through his management of the 2002 winter olympics and successful governance of Massachusetts, despite a 85% democratic legislature.
There are several theories on why Romney is flailing. My main belief is that Romney is at his core a moderate pragmatist who was forced to distort himself in order to capture the GOP nomination. His primary domestic achievement-Obamacare-is something he is proud of but is unable to flaunt due to his fear of alienating the base. And to make matters worse, he surrounded himself with terrible strategists who advised him to not present specific economic solutions during his GOP acceptance speech or to mention our troops in the Middle East. The latter is simply dumbfounding.
I feel bad for the guy because i think he would actually make a good president. Unfortunately, has to win 270+ electoral votes first, and as of now, that seems increasingly unlikely unless he pulls off a Reagan in next week's debate.
I really don't understand why he's pandered so much to the "base". It's not like they, most certainly not the tea baggers, are going to vote for anybody other than the GOP candidate anyway. And in the primaries, did Newt, Rick, etc. really think they had a legitimate shot of capturing the nomination?
He for some reason thinks he has to be somebody he's not, lest he face the supposed wrath of the extreme right. Mitt's basically had every possible opportunity to lock this thing up, and he's screwed it up because he's trying to please the tea baggers.
Wait, could someone tell me how he is "failing miserably"?
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administr…
All the polls I see have him close to Obama. There is no way he is going to get blown out like McCain did in 2008. Why is everyone freaking out. Lets wait until after the debates.
Personally, the better question is how is Obama even close in this race. He is mediocre by Presidential standards and a complete failure by the own standards he set coming into the White House. In nearly 4 years we've seen unemployment fall only because of people dropping out of the labor force. Massive amounts of debt have been added to the deficit. Obama, the great unifier, is bearing witness to the ME becoming destabilized and China and Russia being more aggressive towards us. Genocide is going on in Syria and we will most likely see a nuclear Iran in Obama's 2nd turn (makes me sad even typing that).
Obama's retort to all this is to blame other people or go on the View. He points fingers at Romney while he pays only 20% himself.
It is a sad day when Obama can just get re-elected with a shit record like that.
Romney would make a very good President since I think that he is pragmatic, pretty moderate and purely economic focused. This is what we need right now. Four more years of the anointed one isn't going to do a damn thing.
But in the end, it warms me inside to know that the people who vote for this clown called Obama will be the ones screwed the most. Keep running up the debt, keep regulating businesses to death, keep crying about fair like a 3 year old. Four more years of Mr. Blame Game will surely turn things around.
This country gets what it deserves and a nation where half free ride on the other half obviously would favor someone like Obama over Romney.
I agree with you that Obama has been a debacle, but by every poll Romney is trailing in all the battleground states. Moreover, Romney is hurting GOP house and senate candidates. That unfortunate 47% video is really hurting his image with voters.
At the same time, I don't believe for a second that Obama is leading Romney by 9-10 points in ohio, 6-7 in virginia, and 6-8 in florida. I think the actual outcome on election night will be much closer-my guess is no more than a 3 point difference between romney and obama in those states.
Fair enough, but I think we should wait until after the debates to pronounce Romney dead. As for his video, well I have no doubt it hurts him, but we all knew this race was going to be about class warfare. Too bad the people who blindly pull the lever for Obama don't realize how much his policies are hurting them. My 401(k) is doing just nicely and my city living ass could careless about gas prices or food prices, both of which are being inflated through debt spending and quantitative easing (perpetuated and promoted by Obama).
Minority unemployment is horrendous. More and more people are on the government dole (nice to have a safety net, but Obama could do more to help the economy, thereby truly helping people instead of giving them a hand out).
End of the day both you and I will do just fine. Sickening though to see how uninformed and easily manipulated these clowns area. While Romney is not some saint compared to Obama, he is a man that just wants to focus on the economy that has to regretfully focus on social issues.
Oh well, the sheep will keep pulling the lever for their messiah. It is going to be funny to see what food prices and labor participation will be in 4 more years. I am sure 8 years in Obama will be blaming Bush or something else for his mistakes. Hallmark of someone who can't take ownership of a problem is to always blame others for their own failure.
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No way Romney beats Obama in the debates. Obama is a crap President, but he can speak well and the sheep lap it up. Romney is going to try and call Obama out on his failed promises and Jimmy Carter-esque Presidency and Obama is going to talk about Hope, Change and Fair share and everyone will just break down in tears for him.
Pretty sickening. Maybe if Romney talked about paying peoples mortgage or buying them an Iphone he would win. Food Stamp President for 4 more years.
Nothing Romney says is ever substantial, even for a politician (blah blah blah cut spending blah blah blah Obamacare blah blah blah big government). The worst part is, it never sounds like he genuinely means anything he says. Always sounds like he's trying to kiss someone's ass. When he speaks, you can almost sense the internal battle going on inside him between his internal urge to say something that's actually meaningful (rather than some extremely generic ideological statement against big government) and his need to suck the collective cocks of Bible-thumping idiot rednecks in order to win the election.
Obama is no genius, but Romney is a fucking joke. The election is over. The guy's a mormon for fuck's sakes.
Yeah, I mean because if Romney actually talked about substance the morons in this country would be able to grasp it.
And I love how people shit on the "Bible thumping idiot rednecks" as if the far left is any better.
Wait, Hope and Change is an in depth and intelligence statement coming from the White House.
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Spot on Nobama. Watch out though, how dare you question the anointed on. Obama is too busy going on the View to deal with these things. He needs 4 more years to get things done and when they aren't done in 4 more years he will blame someone else.
That is what happens when you elect a community manipulator, opps, I mean organizer.
Obama's biggest weakness is Obamacare, which Romney invented first.
Romney's ideas are sound, but his delivery is terrible. He lost every Republican debate, save one, and still managed to come out with the nomination. Now he's in over his head when it comes to delivering his message on the campaign trail.
Healthcare at the state level is a lot different at the national level. One only needs to look at the Dept of Education to see how much of a failure things can be when a states issue is managed nationally.
This is how Romney needs to get elected. Promise the 46% some free shit.
And who the fuck goes on the View. The very fact that Obama would go on that shit is sickening. Did anyone see Goldberg completely embarrass herself in front of Ann Coulter? I feel bad for Ann, having to be around so much stupidity.
the real tragedy of mitt romney is that in 1993 incumbent massachusetts senator ted kennedy happened to be a democrat. that fact is what decided romney's unnatural party affiliation.
he would've been much better off positioning himself as a fiscally conservative democrat. we would not have been subjected to the sickening sight of a harvard JD-MBA superstar financier cringeworthily pretending to like grits, israel, hunting, etc. and thereby cementing his image as a certified phony constantly operating out of his element.
in fact he may have already been president by now if he had gone blue early on.
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Why are you looking at this thread lol.
TNA is on the fucking money here people. I'm no Romney lover but its beyond confusing how Obama has even held up in the polls/public opinion.
The American people (and YOU if you vote Obama) are fucking stupid to support a president who has done zero to improve the country through 4 years. Social issues aside, this is a no-brainer to me.
The answer why this clown (Obama) still has support is the Judeo-Bolshevist/Zionist media. Opinionated media=biggest threat to America going forward. I don't care what the fuck you think about something, I want the facts to make my own decisions. Nothing more.
Not disputing you on the current state of the economy, but what in the world did Bush do over 8 years to improve our economic circumstance? Bill Clinton was the best President this country had since Eisenhower and increased taxes as one of his first economic policies. The tax increases didn't help the economy, but getting the budget under control primarily through spending cuts while increasing a bit of revenue for bipartisan political support (and to give voters a sense that everyone would chip in) gave business a sense of optimism and certainty that allowed more hiring/higher wages due to the increased chance for a tight fisted federal reserve and for a stable government and society.
Free markets are occasionally prone to failures causing widespread middle class misery, and humans - being animals and not points on a spreadsheet after all - will do anything to survive typically resorting to crime. Market failures also cause stagnation in terms of people's motivation to find work. Look, not everyone works in finance and is gunning to become millionaires. When your working a shitty low wage job without much of a stake in society (much of America today unfortunately) then you have a real chance of becoming a detriment to others around you who are playing by the rules. Everyone who is willing to work hard, should be given a job - period. There are too many lazy people in this country as it is and it seems like their numbers are increasing by the day when there aren't any jobs (even government jobs) out there. The current administration shows more concern for normal people with a desire to live in a stable, low crime, prosperous society than does the Romney campaign imo and in the opinions of most people I know. Obama's foreclosure relief plan will keep people w/large debt burdens within their homes and thus preventing criminals from entering empty homes in middle class neighborhoods.
I'm partially playing devils advocate, and could make other arguments as to why this is truly a tossup race and not a clear choice as some on this forum seem to make it - but once you become wealthy you have to make a choice on issues of social rights - gay person, minority, religious influence - Scientologists might not be accepted by mainstream catholics, crime, taxes, foreign policy and environmental policy. I haven't decided to vote for either candidate in particular and will wait to the debates but Obama does have many merits worthy of praise (as does Romney primarily in regards to his success at Bain).
Obama has not been great by any measure, but Romney is almost infinitely worse. The fact that Romney has flip-flopped on almost every major issue in the past ten years (abortion, healthcare, role of government) makes him unreliable and a phony. His lack of specifics when discussing his plans, his insincerity, and his general lack of composure point to his unpreparedness in running for president. Their joke in cutting taxes for the super-wealthy is almost as funny, if it wasn't sad.
For a pretty funny view on how Romney changes his mind, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/opinion/sunday/a-quantum-theory-of-mi…
For what its worth, I think Mitt Romney is a very intelligent and pragmatic individual who is chained by his promises in the primaries and by the crazy, by any reasonable measure, GOP. The GOP is so far right it is off the fucking line. Democrats have become centrists, and to anyone who thinks the Democrats are communists/socialists, open a fucking book.
who's missin some Brady right now
Gotta love how people call changing your mind flip flopping. I call it pragmatic and being able to change your mind on things is a good quality. Seems a double standard is applied.
Also, how are people faulting Romney on being vague? That is what politics is called. Obama isn't offering specifics either and even if either one of them did, do you think the American public could/would pay attention? Get real.
Romney MIGHT be a worse President. I say MIGHT because he isn't President yet. You know who is? Obama, and he has been mediocre at best. Anyone who supports Obama and doesn't say he has been a let down compared to the oversell that occurred during 2008 is lying to themselves.
The fanfare that elected Obama was ridiculous. He has failed on nearly every promise and his first two years in office showed how unprepared he was. He ran roughshod over the Republicans and as a result, lost the House and nearly lost the Senate. Then he switched gears into the blame game mode.
I don't know if Romney will be better or worse, but I sure as hell know I don't want 4 more years of Obama. How on earth can Obama hold the support he has with the economic shape we are in is beyond my comprehension. Even if you don't like Romney, for god-sake, put the fire to Obama and get him back on track.
As for Republicans being far right, get real. Republicans lost their fiscally conservative roots and the Tea Party brought them back in line. The fringe elements of the Republicans are just as scary as the Democrats. And I love this "cut taxes for the rich" lie that you always hear.
Understand something. Only the well off pay federal income taxes. Whenever you cut federal income taxes you cut them for the rich because the poor don't pay ANYTHING.
And thanks Ashton. You are the man.
Of course, it is purely coincidental that his mind changes in line with where the votes are...
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