Mitt Romney

After Romney’s Disastrous Week the Only Surprise is America Not Unanimously Voting Obama (September 15, 2012)

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Yahoo! News published a story this week, a joint venture with Esquire magazine, that shared the results of a recent survey the two media outlets commissioned from pollster Gary Langer of Langer Research Associates. The poll queried 1,000 likely voters on a range of topics designed to draw distinctions between sitting President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney. Results will be doled out in the next several weeks leading up the general election, however the first question posed to respondents was pretty straight forward with a rather unsurprising denouement.

“If the election were held today who would you vote for?” The answer? Amongst likely voters, Obama leads by four percentage points, 50 to 46. However the gulf opens much wider when the field is narrowed to voters who are already registered. In that case, Romney trails the POTUS by 11 percent, 52 to 41.

As voter registration postmark deadlines vary from state to state (some states cutoff entries 30 days before the election, while others leave opportunity open until just a couple of days prior), examining the responses of registered balloters becomes more consequential with each passing day. And it would seem that Republican attempts to disenfranchise the young, poor and certain minority groups just aren’t doing enough to stem the tide of momentum working in the President’s favor.

But polls are simply hypotheticals and while this news is encouraging less than two months before the ballot boxes officially open, it remains stupefying that the gulf isn’t much larger. While reading the Yahoo! story, it isn’t unreasonable to wonder if there’s any group that misfit contender Romney hasn’t done his best to alienate.

If you’re unemployed or otherwise struggling to make ends meet, a huge proportion of modern American society, there are the wealthy Romney family’s offshore accounts, dodgy tax returns and pathetic attempts to identify with real world problems to turn you off. If you’re a female, have a look at Romney’s flipflop from a pro-choice moderate to a pro-life intolerant who aligns himself with a Vice-Presidential candidate that opposes abortion in all situations, including cases of rape and incest, as well as instances where an expectant mother’s health is imperiled.

While we’re on the subject of Paul Ryan, are you an elderly American on a fixed income? Well then his plan to convert Medicare into a voucher program that exposes you to the business practices of private insurance companies ought to send you fleeing toward Obama. Are you an immigrant? The GOP can’t deport you fast enough. Person of any color? We didn’t see many of you at the recent Republican National Convention. How about a current or upcoming college student? Team Romney is tired of giving you “handouts” in the way of affordable loans and other financial aid that could guide you toward a 21st century job opportunity. If you’re gay, rest assured that the right wing will never stand up for your right to wed and raise a family. And Mittens’ deplorable handling of the Libyan embassy tragedy yesterday should go a long way toward alienating foreign policy wonks.

In fact all things considered, it’s sort of tough to comprehend how the poll Yahoo!/Esquire numbers don’t skew much father left. 95 percent to five sounds about right if you generously allow that there might just be that many independently wealthy, hawkish white males left in the nation. If Republican leadership did not receive the message in 2008 that they are out of touch with mainstream America, and it’s clear that they didn’t, let this be the year when they finally take themselves out to the shed.

Dick Cheney Reminds Us That Romney Still Has Stateside Messes to Clean (July 31, 2012)

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Last week was a big week for Mittens and the damage control is in full swing. Remember back in 2008 when one of the biggest criticisms leveled against then-candidate Obama was that the junior Senator was light on foreign policy experience? The last three and a half years have generated many criticisms from the right but the POTUS’ deft handling of a variety of thorny issues such as last year’s Arab Spring Awakening and his wise choice of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State (not to mention the killing of public enemy #1 Osama bin Laden) has gone a long way toward establishing the President as a reasoned and thoughtful statesmen.

Mitt Romney has been a part of the American political canvas for nearly 30 years and yet to witness him committing unforced errors last week, like his offensive comments directed at London’s level of Olympic preparedness, was to experience a sense of Palinesque deja vu. Is there any weigh station between Mittens brain and his mouth? Wouldn’t you think he and his handlers might develop one after three decades? Even Pavlov’s dog was capable of learning. But after that mess, Romney wasn’t satisfied with just one pile of international dog doo. He also managed to wade into the long-running Israel/Iran conflict in a a manner that made him appear like a trigger-happy ignoramus while paying Palestine’s socialized health care system a backhanded compliment, oblivious to its implications again his “war” on Obamacare.

If it weren’t such an embarrassing week for America, I suspect those of us rooting for an Obama re-election would be engaging in a much-deserved happy dance. And yet today, the Crypt Keeper himself, former Vice-President Dick Cheney, popped out of his cryogenic chamber to remind the voting public that there are still plenty of Stateside imbroglios to which candidate Romney must attend. Truly it’s getting difficult to account for all of the issues to which the former Governor refuses or simply cannot respond with a satisfying answer.

In an interview with writer Jonathan Karl for Yahoo News, the topic of Romney’s cloak and dagger intrigue regarding the release of his tax returns was broached. When Bush and Cheney occupied the Republican ticket in 2000, both candidates saw the wisdom is releasing 10 years worth of returns. Romney as we know, will not budge on releasing above two years worth of information. The Cheneybot’s predictable response?

“If he had two years out, they’d want four. If he had four years out, they’d want six. If he had six years out, they’d want ten,” said Cheney. “It’s a distraction,” he added. “I’d say do what he feels like doing. If this is his decision, fine. Let’s get on with it.”

Dick Cheney was always a great believer in the Jedi Mind Trick. Just tell Americans that the Patriot Act, a revocation of their basic liberties, is necessary for national security and they’ll go along with it, the sheep. 9/11 is a great excuse to foment a war of choice in Iraq! And since the wealthy can be painted a job creators, let’s pass some unaffordable tax cuts while we’re at it. The American people won’t know the half of it. They’re too busy watching American Idol! It’s genius. Bwa ha ha!

Nope, not this time Cheney. The post-2008 electorate, better informed and inspired by a candidate who is not overrun by internal cynicism, won’t have it. For the last time, wanting to understand a man’s personal finances as a litmus test for predicting his handling of the country’s budget is not a distraction.

But thanks for reminding us that Romney can be every bit as disingenuous here as he can overseas.

Where Are the Jobs? Ask the GOP (June 6, 2012)

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Last month Mitt Romney wrote a column printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that presumed to pose an important query to President Obama: “Welcome to Ohio. I have a simple question for you: Where are the jobs?”

Ohio is a key battleground state in the November elections and like any politician worth his salt, challenger Romney is attempting to use the dismal job numbers of the last three months, including news released last Friday that the U.S. added a meager 69,000 positions to payrolls in May, to his advantage. In the course of his open letter Mittens makes an attempt at magnanimity: “I recognize, of course, as do all Americans, that you inherited an economic crisis. But you’ve now had three years to turn things around. The record of those three years is clear. Your policies have failed, not only in Ohio, but across the nation.”

Well I know the right is oh so tired of hearing this inconvenient truth, but the mystery of the disappearing workforce is owing not to the President’s leadership but to eight previous years of treasury looting and voodoo economic policy. Many pundits (some of whom I once considered liberal) and Republican mouthpieces are foisting a giant Jedi mind trick upon all of us, not entirely without success. It’s as if two wars paid for on the credit card, the rapid expansion of health care expenses and dimwitted tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans have nothing to do with our collective and personal debt load, of creating the impression that the American Dream and the middle class are endangered species.

It’s as though the giant bursting bubble of the housing market in 2008 and the foreclosure crisis that has yet to abate, a result of scandalous Wall Street malfeasance, was orchestrated under Obama’s leadership. Like the foundering of the automakers, partly the result of producing giant, fuel-inefficient cars that nobody wanted, a problem that has progressed a long way toward resolution (thanks to ahem, Obama) was the Commander-in-Chief’s master plan.

I know how the GOP will counter: but he’s had almost four years to fix things! He can’t keep using Bush as an excuse! I am the last person to argue that it’s not the responsibility of our current elected leader to correct our wayward path and put us once more on the road to prosperity. But do you know why they say Rome wasn’t built in a day? Because it wasn’t.

All of the aforementioned problems, issues that people forget brought this nation to its very knees in late 2008, have witnessed remarkable rebounds, even as pain continues. This is lamentable but how can there by any sane suggestion that a Romney Presidency, which would effectively serve as Dubya Part II, is the way to go? We’ve been there before. That one percent thinking almost got us killed – literally and figuratively.

Obama has not been a perfect President, but he’s been a pretty damned good one, cool under pressure and able to reform the state of our military involvement, banking regulations, auto industry standards and health care dysfunction even without the participation of the opposition. The housing market and unemployment, two quagmires in need of creative strategy, have a long way to go and the economy should not be considered stable until there has been sustained improvement in those areas. But let Obama have the same eight years to continue the hard work he’s started in resetting the economy, the same period voters afforded George W. Bush to dismantle the budget surplus and national peace he inherited from predecessor Bill Clinton.

Latino Voters Self-Deport Mitt Romney (June 2, 2012)

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

According to the latest round of NBC-Marist polls, President Obama and presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney are locked in a virtual tie among registered voters in Iowa, Colorado and Nevada. This Midwest and Western states are considered by those in the know to be key battleground venues in the November elections.

In Iowa, Obama and Mittens polled at an even 44 percent favored rate, with 10 percent declaring themselves undecided. In Colorado, the President currently edges Romney by a mere percent while his lead stretches to two points in the home of Las Vegas. While the election season remains in its early stages (I know that may be difficult to believe given the oversaturation many of us already feel), the numbers are cause for concern to the President’s re-election team.

Meanwhile the results of a new Washington Post-ABC News sample ran with the headline, “Poll shows Romney becoming more likeable.” The challenger’s favorability rating registered at 41 percent, up six points from a month ago. This statistic may be less of a concern for the Obama camp, not simply because the Commander-in-Chief’s own likability index is 11 points higher at 52 percent. If there’s one thing that most members of our dysfunctional two-party political system can agree upon, it’s that Mitt Romney is a crushing bore.

So yeah ok, the race is becoming more competitive as we approach convention season and Mittens is doing courageous work trying to overcome liabilities that include anger from animal lovers (the whole driving to Canada with the family dog strapped to the roof bit – thank you Gail Collins), women (this year’s tone-deaf assault on female reproductive rights), the gay community, people who prefer their politicians to have genuine, stable positions on the issues and last but not least, Latinos. It makes me wonder who exactly these pollsters are speaking with when they collect their data.

This question could be posed relative to any of the groups mentioned above, but the results of an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll published last week indicate that Obama enjoys a staggering 34-point lead over Mitt Romney amongst Latino voters. How does the Romney Team think they can bridge that crater? Perhaps of even greater concern: only 26 percent of Spanish-heritage voters view the GOP candidate positively, while 35 percent reported a negative opinion. There are 50 million Latinos in this country with a 3.1 percent population growth between July 2008 and July 2009 alone. This is not likely to change and in the midst of many challenges faced by the Romney campaign, the lopsided nature of the candidiates’ perception within the Hispanic citizenry should be a five-alarm panic.

The aversion to Romney amongst Latinos is not entirely the Dull One’s doing. For this state of affairs, Mitten can thank members of his own party like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who has helmed a crusade against her state’s prominent Spanish contingent, or former Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain who offered an electrified barbed-wire fence on the US-Mexico border as the answer to out nation’s outdated immigration policies. Forward thinking like this from the new crop of GOP standard bearers almost makes one pine for the comparatively progressive views of Dubya.

Despite what general election polls suggest, the numbers don’t add up and history teaches us that statistics are themselves only another statistic when it comes to predicting U.S. Presidential contests. The insights are useful and needless with almost equal frequency. The doom spelled for the future of the GOP’s appeal in its alienation of women and minorities has yet to be experienced at its height. This gives us something to anticipate in future election cycles. But any Republican strategists who think that rich white men can carry Mittens to victory in November are kidding themselves. There’s only so much disenfranchising you can do, though I expect GOP lackeys to continue giving it the old college try.

Obama Opens Up a General Election Can of Whoop Ass on Romney (May 16, 2012)

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

A little over ten days ago, President Barack Obama, who has been frequently criticized by members of his base (myself included) for anemic fence straddling throughout his first term, came to Virginia in a vigorous mood. Our sitting Commander-in-Chief chose the swing state he won in 2008 to formally launch his drive for re-election, casting the 2012 race as “a make or break moment for the middle class.”

Declaring himself “still fired up,” those of us who have enthusiastically followed his trajectory from Illinois State government to U.S. Senate to the White House can vouch for Obama’s ability to excite a crowd. His ample charisma and message of hope is one of many reasons BHO drubbed John McCain on election night four years ago.

The irresistible orator has turned out to be a far more pragmatic leader than the revolutionary-minded among us may have wished, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We have some epically serious problems with which to contend and although there have been times when I would loved to see Obama challenge a political rival to an old-fashioned duel (see John Boehner and last summer’s debt ceiling tango), my better self understands that this is no way to move the country forward. And however quiet his methods, the POTUS has certainly done that. As Joe Biden said correctly, “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

So after a rousing start to what is sure to be a long general election campaign, the nation settled into several presumed months of contemplating the Veepstakes. Which GOP crazy would Romney tap to be his second-in-command? Boring conversation for certain. Then two very awesome things occurred…

BOOM! Obama tells ABC’s Robin Roberts that “at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” It may have taken a lot of words to state a simple fact: everyone has the right to decide who to love and wed. And the admission may have been forced by a clumsy, off-message but must-love-his-honesty Joe Biden, who unequivocally declared his support for gay marriage on Meet the Press, but the important thing was that the words were finally said.

And BOOM! JP Morgan Chase, one of the pillars of Wall Street, an institution long heralded for its ability to manage risk, announced it had lost two billion dollars through hazardous betting, adding new chum to the waters surrounding the debate on financial regulation and oversight.

Folks we have a live one!

In no time at all, Mitt Romney raced for the podium to declare “My view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said. “That’s the position I’ve had for some time, and I don’t intend to make any adjustments at this point. … Or ever, by the way.” Well good, glad we cleared up your permanent inflexibility Mittens.

Except that was a lot easier to get away with in 2004. Fortunately, society’s pendulum is swinging quickly on this issue, with a March 2012 Gallup ABC News poll showing that 52 percent of Americans support the legalization of same-sex marriage. I know the Republicans have long stopped caring about majorities or embracing the mainstream, but they continue to isolate themselves at their own electoral peril.

Likewise, the Romney camp wasted no time stepping in it over the JP Morgan Chase debacle. Romney spokesman Rick Gorka issued a statement that read in part, “JP Morgan’s investors, not taxpayers, will incur any losses from this hedging trade gone bad. As president, Gov. Romney will push for common-sense regulation that gives regulators tools to do their jobs, and that gives investors more clarity.”

Um, didn’t JP Morgan use taxpayer money, in the form of savings, holdings and other securities in the bank, purchased and stored with the honest dollars of hard working people, to execute this financial belly flop? Are we expected to believe that the bank will sell off buildings, reduce executive salaries or liquidate other assets to compensate for the loss?

Out of touch, and come November, out of time, the Republicans will finally be forced to take themselves out to the shed and contemplate a platform overhaul that includes elements of reality, modernity and tolerance. But until then, it will be wildly amusing to watch Mittens try to grapple with unscripted events as they happen, generally coming out looking like an ass, as has occurred in this first week of the general election campaign.