Last week Mitt Romney stated that any discussion of his business record, his taxes or the way he made his fortune should not be discussed as part of the Presidential Campaign:
“[O]ur campaign would be– helped immensely if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues and that attacks based upon– business or family or taxes or things of that nature… [would not be allowed]”
While most folks think this is silly, Mitt is serious about it. He really believes that nobody should be allowed to discuss anything about his record that might be a liability. His sense of entitlement is amazing.
Mitt has been on the ropes all summer long due to folks disregarding his wishes and talking about that record. He has added to his misery with a series of mistakes and the fact that he really is a dick. The more people know about him, the less they like him. Last week, Wingnuts were in a panic about Mittens and ordered him to select Paul Ryan as his running mate. Mitt did as he was told, but made the announcement in typical #romneyshambles style.
This summertime of fail has led Mitt’s media supporters to note that he only has one path to victory: “Romney needs to dominate the white vote huge to win this race”.
Mitt agrees and is working 24/7 to maximize white fear and resentment with dog whistles and code-talking. He is doubling down on race-baiting. Yesterday he almost revealed the game with an unhinged rant about how an angry and bitter Negro in the White House was attacking real ‘mericans like him.
On CBS this morning, Mitt explained why he thought it was so unfair:
“The president’s campaign has put out a campaign that’s talking about me and attacking me. I think it’s just demeaning to the nature of the process, particularly when we face the kinds of challenges we face.”
The shock of it all. You run for office and your opponent talks about you, your ideas and why he thinks you are wrong for the job. Most folks would think that this just comes with the territory when you run for President, but for Mitt it is an outrage. The idea that anybody might question him offends his sense of entitlement.
In Romney’s view, he should be able to say anything he wants. Tell any lie. Mitt can attack Barack Obama as the ‘Great Other’, as an unAmerican usurper of power, as a man who hates the Country, as a man who doesn’t understand American values, as a man who wants to take the money from hard working white folks and give it to lazy brown people, as a man unfit for office, as a man who is incompetent, as a man who is a gangster thug and a thousand other insults and lies that Romney and the Wingnuts use to attack President Obama ALL the time. In Mitt’s view race-baiting is justified if it might help him win. He is fine with using code-talking to call Barack Obama an angry black man that all decent white folks should fear. It is OK for Team Mitt to lie and to promote policies that will destroy the middle class. It is OK for his side to bring all the crazy they want.
What is not OK–what Mitt thinks is out-of-bounds–is for anybody to notice and/or mention any of it.
If you call Mitt out for the ways that his policies will hurt the middle-class: that’s going over the line. If you notice that Mitt made his fortune through tax dodges and the destruction of American Jobs, well that is out-of-bounds. If you point out that Mitt is using memes about welfare and angry black men to appeal to white fear and anxiety, then you’re guilty of hate speech.
Mitt Romney wants to run for President with all aspects about him, his campaign, his record, his plans, his statements and his goals off-limits from any review or discussion.
He is a coward, a whiner and a deeply, deeply dishonest man.
He’ll hate it, but I think folks should discuss him, his record and his campaign’s embrace of racist code-talking.
Cheers
danah gaz (fka gaz)
Romney/Ryan 2012
“Stop hitting me!”
Linda Featheringill
Ahh, Mitt. It’s so early in the game. The really rough part is in the last six weeks or so. Man up, dude.
4tehlulz
Imagine what would happen if Putin talked about President Mitten’s taxes.
Cassidy
The first rule of Mitt is you don’t talk about Mitt.
Southern Beale
No, we’d rather talk about Obama’s cocaine habit, a barbecue he attended back in college where Bill Ayers stopped by for a beer, and Michelle’s whitey tape.
Jeesus.
Okay, on to other things. I know no one cares about TVA and renewable energy right now, but I think we should.
Boots Day
Politico noticed how ugly Romney’s rhetoric was getting, about how Obama was pushing “anger and hate.” And they also noticed that Obama was doing the same thing, by making a joke about Romney’s dog.
No, really. Both sides do it.
Waynski
He is the epitome of Whiny Ass Titty Baby. I think if Biden smacked him the face, he’d scream for his mother.
Rommie
Mitt gets 3AM Call: STOP CALLING ME! *SLAM*
Or he just goes full President Ren.
Whiny Ass Mitty Baby indeed.
Zifnab
This really isn’t any different from any other election. McCain and Bush and Dole and Reagan all hated getting called out on their records.
The difference between ’12 and yesteryear is the total lack of subtlety. We don’t even get treated to our usual “Liberal Media” talking points anymore. Its just straight up “STOP SAYING THINGS!” with a bit of fop-sweet about civility and “what about the issues” thrown in for color.
He might as well change his campaign bumper stickers to “STFU, that’s why!”
The Moar You Know
I suspect that to Mitt, they aren’t lies. I think he believes every word.
Do you think he’s every had a conversation with a black man that didn’t involve Mitt giving orders? Of course he hasn’t.
Chris
I’m loving it.
Because history shows that voters fucking hate wimps, far more than crooks or liars or criminals. And that’s exactly what the Marquis De Ovenmitt is sounding more and more like every day.
Hal
I wonder how long it will be before he breaks down in tears at how mean Obama is being toward him?
My gosh, Mitt has never had someone question him like this before [stomps feet]!! Doesn’t Obama know he’s a CEO for Moroni’s sake?
the Conster
I’m really curious about what the convention video montage of the Mittster’s bio will consist of considering that he disavows his time as governor, denies several years of his time at Bain, and avoids any discussion of his religion. I’m beginning to think he’s going to run a montage of Obama with overdubbing telling everyone in Tampa he’s coming for their wimmin and calling them honky devils.
SiubhanDuinne
I can’t find the story right now, but several weeks ago young Bristol Palin complained that the reality tv show about her spent too much time on … her.
Mittens reminds me of Bristol.
Hill Dweller
This it what happens when you’ve led a sheltered life, surrounded by enablers, and repeatedly put in positions where it is nearly impossible to fail. The minute someone like Romney gets punched in the mouth, they crumple and start whining.
Valdivia
I really have absolutely no words about this whole thing. I am seething.
On the upside, this whole chains controversy reminds of how the Republicans and the media ran with the Lipstick on a Pig outrage in 2008, same m.o. and same timeline.
Still, Romney is a despicable piece of shit.
rant over.
Bokonon
I see what Mitt is trying. If the Democrats persist in talking about Romney’s taxes and business career, then you are “avoiding the issues” and making “personal attacks” and waging a “campaign of hate.”
Campaign of hate? Nice victim act. Sounds like Romney or his speechwriters have been listening to Michelle Malkin.
But Romney is trying to play the media as well as hype up the GOP true believers, and get all of them to overlook the substance of what his campaign is really doing.
The Democrats would be fools to back off.
Cassidy
@the Conster: I’m still holding out hope for a lot of Paultards to stand their ground against the teahadists.
Face
I’m curious to see how such a thin skin will fare during the debates.
BGinCHI
Romney, name one personal thing Obama has said about you that is negative.
(crickets)
quannlace
Hey, that’d be great, Mitt! If we only knew what the issues are vis-a-vis you. You change your positions hourly.
Ben Cisco
Romney is pretty much everything the NeoConfederates have smeared Democrats with over the last 40 years: a weak, wishy-washy, egotistical, America-hating, willing to coddle those who work against our best interest, authoritarian, dictatorial, fascist, short-sighted, tone-deaf, slick talkin’ LIAR.
Valdivia
Obama in Ohio right now. I want him to bring some wup-ass
http://www.ustream.tv/cbsnews
Chris
Let me also add that while Mittens is dog whistling like crazy, he doesn’t show nearly the same talent for it that, say, Donald Trump or Herman Cain did.
Hal
On the Ryan thing, it’s interesting how Mr Brilliant Blue Eyes isn’t having quite the effect the campaign or many Republicans were expecting. I just read some comments at Nate Silver’s blog and it was interesting to see some commenters twisting into pretzels to sell Ryan as a fantastic pick because Romney is up two points in a Rasmussen poll (five without leaners) and up in a Gallup poll. One commenter said basically “Wow, two points is actually impressive) apparently disregarding the whole post this is my VP bounce that everyone acknowledges.
It’s also telling that Chris Christie is still talking about running in 2016, without any hint of bet hedging on Mitt’s chances.
BGinCHI
@Chris: I think Cain could still win this thing. He gets Trump as VP and with that brainpower I don’t see how they lose. Even better, he names 2 VPs.
How does Cain/Trump/Nugent grab you?
SiubhanDuinne
@Face: I’m seriously beginning to think that by that time, someone else will be the Republican nominee. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that the kitchen gets so hot that, I dunno, Ann’s MS gets worse and Mitt bows out to devote his attention to her. Please note, I am not wishing any ill health on Ann Romney, I am just imagining a semi-plausible scenario that could allow him to drop out and still save what’s left of his face.
MikeBoyScout
Look, by any measure Slick Willard does not have the chops to be president. He gets easily “exhausted”. His misspeaking is so legendary that he makes George H.W. Bush seem loquacious.
But his whining is hilarious.
And guess what? Obama/Biden ain’t going to let up.
quannlace
I want some of that White House-brewed beer!
scav
@Zifnab: “Its just straight up “STOP SAYING THINGS!” with a bit of fop-sweat about civility”
Nicely played.
dmsilev
Has anyone done a LEAVE MITT ROMNEY ALLOONNNNEEEE video yet? Would seem to be warranted.
S-Curve
Somewhat OT, but I did see Chuck Todd this morning absolutely call out the Republican governor of Iowa for trying to stick the “Obama wants to remove the work requirement for welfare” line into the farm bill discussion.
Todd said flat out, “That’s not true,” repeated that line several times, explained what Obama had actually done, and basically reduced the guy to a spluttering ninny because the talking point had been rejected. More, please.
hep kitty
How long before they start referring to Obama and Biden as “bullies”?
eric
allow me to translate: ANGRY BLACK MAN.
i will bet anyone here $10,000 that either Romney, Ryan or Prince Rhombus (or whatever his name his) “whips out” reparations and farmers before the end of september..any takers?
Amir Khalid
Mitt has already exposed himself as insecure, secretive, dishonest, avaricious, lacking in empathy and rude. I almost fear that his cowardice might escape notice.
Linda
He thought if he just showed up, and wasn’t Barack Obama, everybody would have to give him the election, because everybody he talks to hates Barack Obama. In sports parlance, he thought he could throw his uniform out on the court and win. And Paul Ryan already promises to be every bit as thin skinned. This should be a fun fall.
EconWatcher
For what it’s worth, an elderly and old school Republican couple I know, who like Romney because they liked his daddy, just decided to vote for Obama. Ryan was too much for them. Let’s hope it’s a trend.
MikeBoyScout
@23 Valdivia: Thanks for the linky. :-)
Thoughtcrime
If I ever got stuck interviewing job candidates like Romney or Ryan, I’d show their ass the door within the first 5 minutes.
eric
I will also bet $1 that Mitt comes out for making February 18 a national holiday…..(testing your google-fu)
Waynski
@Bokonon:
I don’t think they will. And the media can try that “why aren’t they talking about the issues?” BS, as I understand they did on Morning Concern Troll this AM, but the Obama team has the perfect defense: THEY ARE talking about issues. Remember, Joe Biden was talking about financial deregulation yesterday with the chains metaphor. Taxes. That’s an issue. Medicare. That’s an issue.
OK. Seamus the dog is not, but if you watch the clip, the president seems to get a real sardonic tickle out of hitting Mitt with that one. I hope he keeps doing it, because it clearly gets under Romney’s skin.
Cassidy
@S-Curve: Damn! When did Todd find time to find his balls? Must’ve been behind his journalistic integrity.
Davis X. Machina
Or his checkbook.
This is how private property works.
When you buy something, you own it, and are entitled to enjoy it to the extent the law allows.
You are also allowed to try and change the law to limit the extent it limit your enjoyment.
Why should the White House be any different?
The Moar You Know
@Hal: Christie is many horrible things, but stupid isn’t one of them. I think he knows what Romney’s chances are just as well as I do.
Steve
Mitt’s campaign is so obviously negative that this strategy is not going to work on anyone who is not already an Obama-hater. There are still plenty of people in the middle who wish a pox on both their houses, but none of those people will shed a tear for Mitt no matter how much he whines.
Voters in states that had contested primaries may also remember how Mitt blanketed the airwaves with ads attacking Gingrich, Santorum, et al.
danimal
It took me a while to really dislike Mitt. He’s such a cypher, an opportunistic, selfish politician who has no core. While always worthy of disdain, I always suspected there was a good Mormon behind the political dreck.
But he is such a bald-faced liar, and so unwilling to show any type of personal or political courage that I find him contemptible. Nice campaign you’re running, Mitt.
eric
@Thoughtcrime: in honor of our ever improving race relations and the job interview that is the campaign, for today’s moment of levity, i provide one of the greatest moments in television history….enjoy
http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/12064/Famous_SNL_Skit_with_Chevy_Chase_and_Richard_Pryor/
FlipYrWhig
Mitt Romney is repellent on every level. Nobody likes him, nobody has ever liked him, and yet somehow this has only just dawned on him, and he doesn’t like it one bit. He’s like the preppie villain in an ’80s high school angst movie. You just want to see him squirming and getting humiliated.
Quincy
Republican true objectives don’t garner mass support, so they need to do a lot of awful stuff to gain power. I have no idea what kind of person Mitt was before he decided he wanted to become president as a Republican, but once you make that decision you have to be willing to do anything to win. Part of this is Mitt’s thin skin, but part is obfuscation and mud-slinging to change the media narrative at all costs. A kitchen sink approach to ratfucking the process enough to pull out a close election in a divided country.
Alec MacGillis has a terrific and depressing post about Mitt’s most effective lie/race bait.
And credit to Chuck Todd for calling out the Iowa governor on it.
ETA: I see someone beat me to the Todd story.
FlipYrWhig
@Waynski: Seamus isn’t an issue, no, but energy policy is, and that was the context of the quip.
kindness
I’m thankful the Media is picking up on this. Up until now they had given Mittens a pass.
Turgidson
Mitt’s favorables are already in the toilet. Not enough people will buy the “that angry [dog whistle for niCLANG] is being mean to that nice, polite fellow Mitt Romney” bullshit he’s selling.
What it might do is drag Obama’s favorables down a bit. But not enough to damage him much, I don’t think. Obama’s favorables seem pretty calcified, in a good way. One of the benefits of incumbency, I suppose.
Linda Featheringill
@BGinCHI: #26
Oh, dear. In a game of Who-Has-The-Classy-VP should I say Nugent is classier than Trump or vice versa?
[Uncle Joe, of course, has loads of class.]
The Moar You Know
And here we go:
Damn straight, those fucking scooters won’t pay for themselves.
Southern Beale
@Boots Day:
After four years of the racist, low-down, crap the Republicans have spewed, not to mention their vile attacks on John Kerry, it completely boggles the mind that they can get away with this.
Still, it’s Politico. IOW, a manure-spreader pretending to be intelligent punditry.
AliceBlue
Oh to have been a fly on the wall of the West Wing when they saw that “Obama’s talking about mmmeeee!” whine. I bet they’re still on the floor laughing their asses off.
Southern Beale
@Rommie:
Ha ha ha . Good SNL or Daily Show skit.
Violet
Was just in the car and decided to listen to Limbaugh’s show since I hadn’t for awhile. Limbaugh wasn’t there–some guy named Mark from Wisconsin was subbing.
This Mark guy went on and on about how since Ryan was announced as running mate, the energy at campaign events is much greater, there were 13,000 people at some event in Waukesha, WI–“And those were official numbers!” and he took calls after that event and all the callers were women. He surmised that Ryan is going to bring in the female voters.
Also some call from a woman who went on about how Ryan had “baby blue eyes every soccer mom could fall into” or some crap.
The substitute host made it clear that Ryan was responsible for where the energy was in the campaign. Ryan, Ryan, Ryan! Almost thought the Mark guy would be writing his names with hearts around it in his spiral notebook.
MattF
It’s hard to take what Mitt says seriously, but, OK. He can tell any lie that he feels may improve his election chances. Everything he says has to be assumed to be true, regardless of past history or past statements. No one can say anything that may negatively affect his election chances. It’s not necessary for him to be specific about any policy choice if it could lead to an attack from his opponents. Yes, there’s a pattern here.
Thoughtcrime
@eric:
Thanks. I remember watching that one live.
Turgidson
On Chuck Todd committing an act of journalism – I still have a faint glimmer of hope that there will be a sort of analog to the “at long last, have you no shame” moment for Romney, where mainstream journalists actually start calling out his lies routinely and effectively enough that the voters get the picture.
Then I see the Politico piece equating Obama’s Seamus quip and Biden’s “chains” moment to Mittens’s relentless and utterly mendacious dog whistle campaign and that glimmer of hope extinguishes. Both-sides-do-it is about as resilient as cockroaches.
Valdivia
@Steve:
also, I think that Obama NEVER comes across angry or hateful. This is why his constant saying Mitt and Ryan are decent family men line is excellent. He says it every time. And instead the other side is screaming about him being unAmerican, how he has sullied the Presidency etc.
JCT
@The Moar You Know: Cool, time for someone to ask Ryan what he thinks about a big portion of his proposal being thrown under the bus.
And hey Mittens — how are you going to pay for that giveback? Hello?
shortstop
@Violet: You know, I remember when we were constantly being told by straight male pundits that straight women would not be able to resist voting for dreamy Dan Quayle. And yet, many, many of us were able to refrain from doing so.
I have no doubt that some Republican women find Ryan attractive, but they’re the kind of women who think that getting beaten up by a jealous husband or boyfriend proves how deeply he loves her.
shortstop
@Rommie: I would love to see that go viral.
The Moar You Know
@danimal: I know plenty of good Mormons. Mitt Romney – and his whole family, from what I can tell – isn’t one of them.
EconWatcher
@Violet:
If the Mittster ever gets the idea that Ryan has eclipsed him, something interesting will happen. The Mittster does not strike me as the kind of guy who can be gracious if upstaged.
sharl
OT,
Dennis, your ol’ pal Jack Abramoff was on Kojo Nnamdi’s show today, talking about his days as running Signatures restaurant as a wheeling-&-dealing venue for all his old pals. The show and its transcript aren’t available online yet, but probably will be by tomorrow.
FWIW, in that link is a comment from Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists, tearing Abramoff a new one, so to speak. They also let a call from Marlowe go through on the show, where he basically said the same thing.
The host briefly mentioned that unfortunate Northern Marianna’s stuff up front (as well as a couple other ugly items), but with no details on the messy sex slavery and whatnot – he clearly wanted to keep the show’s focus on Jack’s new self-described role as a champion of reform. There were one or two callers that did get across the sordidness of those old days, though.
Valdivia
Watching Michelle–she is awesome. Truly inoculating the hateful language.
FlipYrWhig
@Violet: Yes, women are so smitten with Paul Ryan — he’s practically Dan Quayle Redux.
danimal
@eric: It’s Reince “obvious anagram” Priebus. My favorite Reince Priebus anagram is “Uric Penis Beer.” YMMV.
FlipYrWhig
@EconWatcher: I don’t think he can ever be gracious, period. He’s imperious and huffy at all times. He was harrumphing about the cookies at a photo op, for fuck’s sake.
Chris
@danimal:
I’ve never liked the guy, but the contempt has been gradually accumulating over the years into a much bigger pile than what it was in 2008. It’s not entirely a bad thing, as some of his traits (the wimpy, whiny factor especially) will play in our favor with the voters.
different-church-lady
@Waynski:
Let’s get these things right.
shortstop
@EconWatcher: Yes, but what did they THINK would happen when they put Ryan on the ticket? Can these people never, ever look past the next commercial break?
Sly
Imagine if John Kerry, in August of 2004, made a statement to the effect that his military record (which he had been running on extensively) was suddenly off limits for discussion because those mean Republicans were being mean to him. And then, for good measure, he picked Dennis Kucinich as his running mate.
The press would have had a fucking field day with him.
GregB
Should we start a pool on who will be the first Romney surrogate to drop the N-bomb on video?
Valdivia
@Violet:
funny thing is that those numbers were from the Romney Team. The journos there said it was more like 3K. Love how they inflate it.
Chris
@Quincy:
This.
Like I’ve said before – the last time movement conservatives tried to run honestly on the issues was 1964, and you saw how that ended. Four years later, Nixon showed them how to win, and they’ve been following his MO ever since.
shortstop
@danimal: I’ve had the same experience. I thought he was pathologically boring and white-bread. It took me until into this primary season to see that he’s a full-bore asshole at all times.
catclub
@EconWatcher: I thought this was the reason Mitt would not pick Ryan — a definitely brighter bulb than Romney. I was wrong.
Of course, I have no idea who would accept _and_ be a better choice than Ryan.
Jon Thune must have turned him down.
JGabriel
__
__
Mitt Romney:
God forbid that this man should become President. Can you imagine what he would do once he possessed the power to actually punish people who talk about him?
.
.
Chris
@Violet:
He really is Palin 2.0.
Bokonon
@Violet:
They really have contempt for their listeners, don’t they? This is like Sarah Palin’s sex appeal all over again – just with the genders flipped.
But what I am struck by is Limbaugh’s ability to send out the talking points to the faithful … and get them chanting and chortling in unison.
Repeat after me: women need to vote for the Romney ticket because Ryan is sexy! Sexy! Sexy! DON’T ASK ANY MORE QUESTIONS – JUST VOTE!!
artem1s
@FlipYrWhig:
you mean these guys…
Omega Theta Pi (ΩΘΠ)
James Daughton as Gregory Marmalard: The president of Omega House and boyfriend of Mandy Pepperidge. He suffers from erectile dysfunction. He becomes a Nixon White House aide and is subsequently raped in prison in 1974.
Mark Metcalf as Douglas C. Neidermeyer: An ROTC cadet officer and scion of a military family who hates the Deltas. He is fragged (killed by his own platoon) in Vietnam.
Kevin Bacon as Chip Diller: A smarmy Omega pledge who is trampled by the panicking crowd at the end of the movie. In “Where Are They Now?” he became a born-again Christian missionary in Africa.
Chyron HR
@Violet:
“But if you’re prettier than Mitt Romney, that’s not hard.”
(Hey, I didn’t want to recycle all my jokes from 2008, but the GOP has kind of forced my hand.)
Chris
@shortstop:
Maybe I’m just living in a liberal echo chamber, but it staggers me how horrifically run this campaign has been in every possible way. I’m stunned that these were the guys who delivered 2000 and 2004 such a short time ago.
“Let’s wind the clocks back a decade… those… liberals and journalists wouldn’t DARE touch any of you. I mean… what happened? Did… did your balls drop off? Hmm?”
different-church-lady
@the Conster:
TAPMA CONVENTION — A VIDEO PLAYS ON SCREEN
VIDEO: “Where de white wimmin at?”
LIGHTS GO UP. CHEERING, BALLOON DROP.
PRESS: “Uh, Mr. Romeny, that wasn’t President Obama. That was Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles.”
ROMNEY: “STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!”
Chris
@catclub:
I still think Thune would’ve been a better pick. Generic white guy from the right party, the conservative base trusts him in a way they still don’t trust Romney, but he hasn’t had the public exposure Ryan does and so would be less likely to turn off independents. Oh, and the lack of public exposure means he’d have been less likely to overshadow Romney, too.
Ah well.
Emma
@eric: You offering this bunch sucker bets now? We’ve been around the block a few times, kiddo!
jl
Need to disregard all the fake poutrage.
As I noted in a previous thread today, for the GOP and their VSP co-conspirators and dupes, the definition and scope of unfair and demagogic language has expanded.
Saying that the GOP wants to “end Medicare” used to be unfair and demagogic. Now saying that the GOP wants to “end Medicare as we know it” is unfair and demagogic. See Krugman’s blog post today.
As I said, bullies will bully until some one stands up to them.
Since whining gets old very quickly with the normal 73 percent of voters, and whining seems to be a key strategy in the GOP campaign, might as well let them whine as often as they like.
Culture of Truth
Romney 2012: The lying will continue until morale improves
The Lodger
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m seriously beginning to think that by that time, someone else will be the Republican nominee. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that the kitchen gets so hot that, I dunno, Ann’s MS gets worse and Mitt bows out to devote his attention to her. Please note, I am not wishing any ill health on Ann Romney, I am just imagining a semi-plausible scenario that could allow him to drop out and still save what’s left of his face.
He’ll have plenty of face left. After all, he started off with two of them.
NotMax
Allow me to state the obvious.
The “division, anger, hate” and “Chicago” mentions are intended to summon up visions of Obama as Jeremiah Wright. Period, full stop.
The media and the general public will let the Romney campaign get away with this opening shot, thus encouraging them to up the vitriol and not dance around making Wright into the Willie Horton of this election.
JGabriel
@Violet:
Or, as I call them: cold-blue Nazi eyes.
.
Zach
Imagine if Barack Obama had held a secret meeting with bloggers who are as close as you can get to the liberal equivalents of racists Robert Stacy McCain, Dan Riehl, etc that Mitt and Ann met with in private a couple months back.
jl
@The Lodger:
” He’ll have plenty of face left. After all, he started off with two of them. ”
Very nice. That will make a good title for a book on the GOP 2012 campaign: the three faces of Mitt.
I couldn’t help adding one, since there is the Ryan face, which has to be mentioned in any account of the Ryan/Romney ticket.
Turgidson
This is probably chicken-little of me, but it seems like, at least a little bit, the GOP has gotten its “brazenly lying our asses off and getting away with it” mojo back.
And the PA voter law debacle makes me worry that a state that should be safe might come back into play.
Basically, I’m starting that think that Romney can stay in striking distance no matter how much of a bumbling fool he proves to be every day. And the blue-eyed sociopath will somehow be able to dissemble his way out of the granny-starver label he has earned.
Talk me down plz.
different-church-lady
@Turgidson:
In 2004 the Red Sox won the World Series. The ball did not dribble through Buckner’s legs. Lee didn’t throw the Ephus. Pesky didn’t hold the ball.
You’re welcome.
Steve
@Chyron HR: I thought I was the only one around here who knows all the words to Evita.
Violet
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’ve been saying it’s a possibility for awhile now. I don’t think Mitt wants to be President. If President Obama continues to be m33n to him, and he fades in the polls due to his whining, general unlikeability, and the drag of Ryan’s budget on the ticket, I can see some point where Mitt decides it isn’t fun anymore and the GOP brass are happy to let him go.
Turgidson
@different-church-lady:
I’m a Cubs fan. That doesn’t make me feel any better. But thanks for trying.
Bobby Thomson
@eric: Death of Michelangelo? No. Acquittal of the Chicago Seven? Unlikely. Publication of Huck Finn? Definitely not.
Inauguration of Jeff Davis? Oooooh.
Emma
@Turgidson: Let me throw one — no, two, words at you: Barack Obama.
Or, more to the point, his campaign people. They’re not the usual sort of Democrat. They kick ass and take names, and aren’t afraid of calling unhinged UNHINGED.
The problem with us is that we live in the bubble. High consumers of political information. That’s not what the rest of the country is doing. And Obama and his team understand that.
Culture of Truth
I would not have gotten the Pesky reference had I not just read his obit yesterday.
different-church-lady
@Turgidson:
That explains it.
Violet
@Turgidson:
The campaign will go up and down a little bit between now and November, that’s for sure. But if Romney, Ryan and/or a GOP surrogate are whining about the Obama campaign being m33n to them, it’s a sign we’re winning. Chuck Todd calling Grassley’s statements a lie is also a good sign. They’re not just letting them get away with every lie. Maybe the media hates Romney and doesn’t want to deal with him for four years.
Calouste
@Violet:
Indeed. He wants to be King.
amk
One word – coward.
Dennis G.
@dmsilev: Isn’t that what every Jennifer Rubin column is? She must have some of her rants online by now…
jl
@Turgidson:
I can try to talk you down a little, but I think you are right that no matter how miserable and bizarre the Ryan/Romney performance is, they will get 45 plus percent of the vote. Several varieties of bigotry and ignorance among a big chunk of voting population will guarantee that, sadly.
On other hand, the only consistent thing in Mitt’s campaign tactic arsenal is emitting absurd whines and complaints which will get old very quickly with the 70 plus percent of voting population.
And we do not know how bad Ryan will be on national stage. He had his debut interview as veep on Fox yesterday. TPM says even on that friendly ground, he could not disentangle himself from the very unpopular House GOP budget, and could not answer questions about the Romney budget and how quickly that would solve how much of the (fake) debt problem.
MikeJ
@Emma: Obama is kicking ass right now in Iowa. Talking about how much he loves the name “Obamacare”.
MattF
@Turgidson: Y’see, I don’t think so. Republicans certainly believe they can tell any old lie, but– somehow, Mitt just isn’t the right vehicle for that tactic.
As a counterexample, Georgie Bush delegated the lying to Turdblossom and didn’t get stained by it. But Mitt’s not a good enough politician to do that. And Mitt’s getting nailed, repeatedly, and he doesn’t like it; not one bit.
Waynski
@different-church-lady: Thank you for the correction. Much obliged.
Culture of Truth
High consumers of political information.
some of us are drinkers
muddy
My comment in the last thread belongs here so here it is again.
NonyNony
@Chris:
Well, they aren’t the guys who delivered 2000 and 2004, so that may be why you’re stunned.
I mean yeah, they’re Republicans. But Mitt Romney ain’t George W Bush.
George W Bush was a helluva campaigner. It was clearly one of the few things in life that he enjoyed. It was a game to him and one he was good at. He likes being around people who like him, he loves giving barnburner speeches with no content in them to fire up a crowd, he likes doing that “governor” stuff like going to the State Fair and eating BBQ with the proles. He liked the fake cowboy cosplay. He loved it. He hated the actual job once he had it, but with the campaign he was in his element.
Mitt Romney is a shit campaigner. He clearly hates it with the white hot passion of a thousand firey suns. He hates stopping into diners and eating cold toast while listening to Joe Sixpack grumble about whatever Joe Sixpack is grumbling about. He hates eating food that comes on sticks or is supposed to be eaten with his hands. He hates giving speeches in front of crowds, and would obviously rather be giving a sales pitch with a powerpoint projector in a boardroom with six people in it. He can’t do the fake “real ‘merican” role-playing that campaigning for a GOP nomination requires. AND, to top it all off, he mostly has to do his campaigning in front of crowds of people who mildly support him for the R next to his name at best and hate him as an example of the worst excesses of captialism at the very worst.
He’ll still probably get 45% of the vote, because we are that kind of country. But honestly – he hasn’t given his people much to work with.
Valdivia
I have a question–have any of the pundits taken the time to do a side by side comparison of the Obama and Romney stump speeches?
Because Romney’s is talking about the tone of the campaign, calling Obama a liar, lying to no end. While Obama talks about policy. It would be the easiest thing to debunk the Romney bullshit lie of how he wants to have a real conversation about issues but Obama won’t let him.
Do a freaking side to side comparison and it will be obvious who is the one full of hate and dissembling. (hint hint to any entrepreneurial pundit reading BJ)
different-church-lady
@Bobby Thomson: They’ll just lump him in with President’s day.
quannlace
Shows just what their attitude toward women is. I see somebody else beat me to the ‘Dan Quayle’ comment. Yeah, they really believed his blonde, boyish good looks would bring in the ladies! Funny how it was the soccer mom vote that was supposed to have clinched it for Clinton. And I don’t think they were seduced by sexy Al Gore.
JustAnotherBob
@FlipYrWhig:
Let’s watch to see how much Mitt enjoys Ryan pulling much larger crowds. Good chance he’ll start sending Ryan to very blue places just to trim his numbers….
Dennis G.
@sharl: Jack’s makeover is pretty disgusting. I expect that by 2016 he’ll be a fully restored wingnut that the village will treat as a serious voice of reform.
Republican scandals never end, they just shift into new gears.
jl
@NonyNony: Dub was also shrewd and had campaign discipline, but could temper it with ‘situational awareness’ when the unexpected came up.
And I think he actually believed a lot of the BS, both domestic and foreign, in 2000. Cheney is pissed that Bush had enough smarts to ditch some of the BS that he could see what causing himself harm later on.
Mitt is like a clueless guy trying to work some machine he doesn’t understand, and when things don’t turn out as expected, he just pulls the levers and pushes same buttons harder and starts to get pissy. Which I enjoy watching, which is uncivil of me, but there you go, at least I am honest about it.
catclub
@Dennis G.: Elliot Abrams.
The smarter side of Ollie North (Republican candidate for Senate in VA)
jl
@Valdivia:
Your question made me chuckle. I cannot imagine the media celebs ever doing a lick of actual disciplined work, so I cannot see that happening.
Valdivia
@jl:
a girl can dream no? Maybe Greg Sargent? Steve Bennen? Anyone?
jl
@jl: And then if they actually did a comparison, they would have to reach conclusion on something involving substance, and stand by it long enough, and have the courage, to communicate it their audience.
I don’t have any hope for competent analysis of anything from media anymore.
Chyron HR
@Steve:
“So this is what it feels like… when doves cry.”
jl
@Valdivia:
Bueller… Bueller…. Bueller?
Sweet dreams, kiddo. I will trust you to keep your feets on the ground, and be ready to wake up and run (actual running to improve your mood, not the likker closet, that would be too much and endanger your health).
rikyrah
this is absolutely on point.
imagine….the President fighting for the job HE EARNED.
when one has been handed everything their entire life, they don’t get it.
he expected to be handed the PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES
Canadian Shoggoth
Romney/Ryan 2012 “Stop Mitting Yourself!”
Lolis
@EconWatcher:
My dad convinced his lifelong Republican neighbor in Texas that the Republican Party was psychotic. Granted, this man is a scientist, so he was open to rational argument. He went from hating Obamacare based on conservative media to now being a huge fan thanks to my dad. One less Romney vote.
Chris
@NonyNony:
I thought Karl Rove was working on the Romney campaign, which is why I said that. You’re right that the candidate is definitely shittier this time around, though. Romney’s riddled with insecurities and personal issues, whereas Dubya the frat boy just plain didn’t give a fuck.
To be fair and upon further reflection, though… it’s noteworthy that even with a better candidate, the only reason Bush won in 2000 was because a big purge of black Florida voters (who were misidentified as felons) eliminated a ton of Gore votes, and even with that he still needed his buddies on the Supreme Court to bail him out. So on second thought, this campaign isn’t so different after all (see all the voter suppression laws).
Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
I’ve been wondering for a while whether Rmoney might not have Asperger’s syndrome or something. I’ve brought it up before, and asked whether anybody who knows more about it could maybe chime in. From what I know of it, two things Asperger’s people often show are a lack of empathy and an inability to understand how to behave toward others, and so come off as kind of weird and off-putting. Rmoney seems to have a healthy helping of these two traits.
I don’t mean to insult people with Asperger’s; I know a guy myself who has it. It’s just that Rmoney seems to have such low social skills that I can’t help but wonder whether it might not be something organic. He doesn’t even seem to understand that other people see him as unlikeable and assholish, and it’s that lack of understanding, not the assholishness itself, that leads me to wonder about this. I mean, shit, Richard Nixon was a more sympathetic character than Rmoney.
Valdivia
@jl:
no likker for me? :(
Culture of Truth
Nixon was awkward, but all too human. In contrast Mitt’s supporters and family continually must reassure us that the man, is, in fact, an organic life form.
Applejinx
Romney likes firing people. He could still fire Ryan!
That would be good news for John McCain if I ever heard it (strangely, that is not snark but sincere, on the assumption that McCain hates Romney ferociously and will do anything to take him down)
Tone In DC
@Amir Khalid:
LULz.
LanceThruster
I thought his magic undies were supposed to make him a MOTU. Instead, as preznit, if he got that 3am phone call, he’d petulantly whine, “Time out!”
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)
I really don’t understand the obsession with the workout regimens of Republican politicians. Not only that, but if Paul Ryan is as ripped as they say, it sure doesn’t show. I mean, I’m 5’8″ and a measly 155 soaking wet, and am in no way shape or form a bully. Yet, based on the pictures etc. I’ve seen of Paul Ryan, if I were a bully, he looks like a guy in whose face I would be unafraid to kick sand.
moops
It really leaves very little. Perhaps talking about his awesome rescue of the Salt Lake City Olympics ? I’m guessing most Republicans don’t know that he “saved” it with massive federal funding increases, some of which went to fund infrastructure improvements in spots he owned land. but that probably doesn’t bother them. most likely they know nothing about it, and can be told that saving the Olympics was an awesome accomplishment.
but that is not much of a montage for someone 65. maybe talk up his failed senate run? or that time People honored him…
Betsy
@Valdivia: It’s so obvious, isn’t it?
If anything think it shows a back-room strategy session in which the O-team are chuckling and saying, “Well, I guess the trick to working *this* campaign is to just keep it simple, stupid, isn’t it.”
RomneyShambles = such incompetence. To counteract MittFail, a lot of the time, it’s not even necessary to go to full Obamaikido.
Joel
@Hal: There has been a steady Rasmussen-pimping poster in the Fivethirtyeight blog for some time now. He keeps arguing that Rasmussen was top rated in the ’08 election, so that Silver should be giving them more weight. The argument is so flimsy that it defies belief.
patrick II
Mitt: We should have an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues.
Anon: Fine. So, which tax loopholes are you going to close to meet the one trillion dollar savings you say is your goal?
Mitt: I’m not going to tell you
Anon: Ok, fine. So, how’s your dog doing after that horrible ride?
ericblair
@Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):
I know some aspies, and Romney doesn’t give off that vibe. Aspies can’t read people well, and the kind of inappropriate things they say are usually out-of-left-field irrelevant to the conversation. They can be very empathic when they understand that someone else is upset or in pain.
Romney’s not like that. He’s awkward around people, but it’s around people he doesn’t usually deal with, which is 99.9% of the population, and seems at ease and interacts well with other rich fucks. His inappropriate comments seem like attempts to dominate and belittle others, which is something aspies don’t tend to do. He’s an overprivileged rich asshole who’s never had to deal with the great unwashed as anything besides the help, and has had everything else in life handed to him on a silver platter, and is having a lot of difficulty dealing with this new environment. That’s his problem, such as it is.
cckids
@Valdivia:
Not to mention, to many, it is a backhanded compliment. That the nice thing you can say about them is “he loves his family”. Ted frickin Bundyprobably loved his family. Not exactly a high bar.
flukebucket
@eric:
I prefer Rinse Repeatus. I saw that here a couple of days ago and it stuck.
bemused
@Lolis:
Ideally, he will go on to convince other Republicans to ditch the psychopaths. They may actually listen to someone who was a lifelong Republican.
LanceThruster
@flukebucket:
I agree. It’s very apt. I saw his Rinsoid on Morning Joe this AM and he could not give a straight answer to a single question (not that Scarborough is anything but a gopper tool), but it was like watching a liar stuck in a loop (no, they’ve given enough detail for voters to choose. The specifics come once they’re elected).
It’s like those shady m-effers have raised the bar to new lows. Don’t ask us details. You wouldn’t like those. Trust us. Really. Just trust us.
No. FU. FU all to hell!
Dr. Squid
@patrick II: Actually, it’s more like this…
Anon: Fine. So, which tax loopholes are you going to close to meet the one trillion dollar savings you say is your goal?
Mitt: I told you to stop talking about me.
Dr. Squid
@Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.): Speaking as someone who likely has Asperger’s, no. Mitt doesn’t have an excuse – he’s just a disrespectful schmuck.
Darkrose
@Steve:
Definitely not.
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev:
I’m expecting Halperin to do one soon.
Munira
@Anatoliĭ Lъudьvigovich Bzyp (formerly Horrendo Slapp, Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.): I’ve been wondering the same thing.
chuck butcher
I’d like to note in re:R-money that a business is not a goddam democracy. It is a fucking dictatorship. Does one of you think I ever asked my construction crews what they wanted to do today, how to do it, to take a vote? That doesn’t mean I thought my crew didn’t count or something like that because I counted on them to do their jobs well, but it wasn’t in the least democratic. R-money owned Bain, what he said was how it would be. Unlike most of us in business, if what Bain was working on went south – they still won. They did not pay a price for the failure of their ventures. What the hell do you think would happen to me if a house fell apart? I sure the fuck wouldn’t get a big payout… nope, I’d be ruined, both in the wallet and reputationally. How hard is it to understand why Mitt acts like he does?
chuck butcher
I’d like to note in re:R-money that a business is not a goddam democracy. It is a fucking dictatorship. Does one of you think I ever asked my construction crews what they wanted to do today, how to do it, to take a vote? That doesn’t mean I thought my crew didn’t count or something like that because I counted on them to do their jobs well, but it wasn’t in the least democratic. R-money owned Bain, what he said was how it would be. Unlike most of us in business, if what Bain was working on went south – they still won. They did not pay a price for the failure of their ventures. What the hell do you think would happen to me if a house fell apart? I sure the fuck wouldn’t get a big payout… nope, I’d be ruined, both in the wallet and reputationally. How hard is it to understand why Mitt acts like he does?
muddy
@chuck butcher: That comment deserved to be stated twice. Yay WP!!
Starlit
@Davis X. Machina: A little OT, but that’s exactly what’s wrong with “privatizing” things: it means the new owner can sell, or not, whatever he or she pleases. Which means the only people who can afford education get it, the only people who can afford health care get it, the only people who can afford clean water get it.
And, increasingly, it’s less and less possible to get quality social and communal things, but there’s less and less value put on them.
Starlit
@EconWatcher: Perhaps he’ll give Ryan a haircut?
SiubhanDuinne
@The Lodger: Okay, that was brilliant.
Obvious, in retrospect, but brilliant.
SiubhanDuinne
@Violet: Yup. I don’t think it will happen at the convention, because I believe Mitt really really REALLY wants the adulation that accompanies a presidential nomination … But some weekend in early October … I’m thinking the Columbus Day holiday or something ….
SiubhanDuinne
@muddy:
I’m really sorry you had to go through that.
Marshall
Well, he will. Three of them, in fact.
Marshall
Well, he will. Three of them, in fact.
fuckwit
@Valdivia: He doesn’t come across as it, because he very probably ISN’T it.
Obama seems very much in control of his emotions, like someone who always has been level-headed and even-tempered.
brantl
@danimal:Having watched the public behavior of influential Mormons for some time, as far as I can tell, the good Mormons are the quiet Mormons. And they’ve still bought into a religion that thinks that Missouri is heaven-on-earth. About a step up from Scientology.
Right/Left = Impulse/Thoughtfulness
erm, there’s nothing coded about:
“Anglo Saxon” is very much a racial call by Republican Romney’s spokespeople.
Republican Romney’s Mormon religion was explicitly racist until 1978.
Romney never rejected his racist Mormon church’s policies, Romney only accepted that the Mormon “Prophet” realized it was bad PR to be explicitly racist.
Romney’s Mormon church still funds explicitly bigoted laws even while manipulating the tax code to hide billions of dollars.
.
(iirc, it’s important to note that the Democratic Party had Mormon Harry Reid in direct line of succession to be President, which, iirc, made Democratic Senator Harry Reid the highest Mormon political official to date.)