Releasing net-ads attacking Obama’s record on the economy is one thing. Holding a press conference outside the gate of a plant that was shuttered one year after Obama visited it touting his “stimulus” package is quite another. Doing it all on the same day that Obama is holding two fundraisers close by in the same state is really getting in the President’s face big time.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized President Barack Obama’s jobs record in a key swing state on Thursday by spotlighting a closed factory that Obama once touted as a symbol of economic hope.
Taking aim at an issue that could be Obama’s key vulnerability in the 2012 election, Romney launched a 40-second Web video blaming the Democratic president’s economic policies for 100,000 job losses in Pennsylvania and the total of 470,000 jobless workers in the northeastern state.
The video, coming on a day when both Romney and Obama were due to visit Pennsylvania, focuses on the Allentown Metal Works that closed in January, just over a year after Obama visited the plant to tout his economic stimulus efforts.
Romney was due to hold a news conference at the factory site on Thursday.
From The Hill:
“The 2012 election is going to be a referendum on the president’s failure to turn around the economy,” Romney told the Philadelphia Inquirer in an interview previewing the showdown. “He’s grown detached and isolated from what people are feeling and experiencing.”
Romney’s assiduously focused his campaign on jobs and the economy, casting himself as the Republican candidate best-suited to address those issues. He’ll visit the same plant, Allentown Metal Works, that Obama visited in December of 2009 to tout his $787 billion stimulus. Obama talked up the plant in a subsequent Saturday radio address, too, but the 100-year-old plant eventually closed down this January after the stimulus dollars it had been promised didn’t come through.
…
Obama will have the perfect opportunity to take a shot at the nearby Romney at two DNC events. He’s generally avoided singling out Republican foes by name at fundraisers, but whether the president holds off on firing back at Romney could prove to be one of Thursday’s more entertaining plotlines.
This is not your 2008 Romney campaign.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Mitt is a big boy now.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Insignificant. Palin and Paris Hilton both have more Twitter followers. Romney should throw in the towel before one of them declares a run.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Nate,
Be nice.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
“Doing it all on the same day that Obama is holding two fundraisers close by in the same state….priceless.”
This is how the post should have ended. hahahah
June 30th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
3 -I will when she stops milking her celebrity status for money and and starts running a serious campaign. Until then she’s just another TV celeb.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Obama is going down!
June 30th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
I’m sorry – but this is just brilliant – using Obamas specific statements/policy/record directly against him in the state the he is trying to raise funds in. I love it. Hopefully each candidate will keep knocking this man down on his horrid policy concepts until he crumbles and the WH is taken back.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
No rhetoric – just putting visuals in America’s mind about how miserably this President has failed.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Yes, Romney is smart, presidential and an incredible manager. So why is Perry right on his tail at 13% when he is not even a declared candidate, and Rudy right behind? Because Romney is STILL not connecting with AVERAGE AMERICANS, be it republicans, independants or dems. He better start showing some more depth and gusto. Then again, I’m waiting for Perry so I don’t care.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
This strategy puts Obama in an uncomfortable position. He is almost forced to respond, which he doesn’t want to do.
(A) It takes Obama off message. The last thing Obama wishes to do is address his economic failures.
(B) It elevates Romney.
(C) Obama would be showing at least part of the hand that he and his team have been planning to use on Romney should Mitt win the nomination long before they want to.
(D) Obama would be reacting to Romney. Whenever you get your opponent reacting to you, you are are winning.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Rubio.9,
Patience, my friend. We are barely into the game’s second quarter.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
I guess I see this as a good start in doing what you are saying needs to be done Rubio. I agree – he needs to break free a little from the “boy scout” image and put on the boxing gloves. I think this creates the first of many jabs to come.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
LOVE it. Brilliant move. Proud to be a Romney supporter today.
Let’s get Mitt in the White House so we can get Americans (including myself) back to full-time, gainful employment.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
2. – 5.
See how the derangement affects them.
They are COMPELLED to spew their venom, they cannot help it. This thread has nothing about governor Palin, be nate w. cannot control himself.
Pure brainwashing as foretold by Orwell in ’1984″
It’s amazing to watch. Mika used the ‘Paris Hilton’ line this morning on Morning Joe. They cannot help it. It is group think. The hive mind at work.
Fascinating to watch…yet, somehow a little sad that people can be so easily led about.
While the intended targets are the infantile collectivist democrats, we have some low I.Q. folks on our side who succumb to it as well.
I wish they knew how their outbursts made them look. Oh well, what can you do?
June 30th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
makK 11: All the best to Romney if he can do it…WHOEVER can do it. The bottom line is we must get Obama OUT of the White House.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Perry’s simply the flavor of the month potential candidate. Once his baggage is exposed, the more people will be coming to the Romney camp for good.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
16
Yes. It reminds me of 2008. Everyone kept looking for someone who’s not McCain.
Rudy? No
Who next?
Fred? No
Who next?
Mitt? No
Who next?
Huckabee? No
Who then?
McCain? Please, NO!! Unite, everyone!
Huge fracture. McCain wins.
This is how it has gone so far, only this time, Mitt takes McCain’s spot.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
This looks nothing like 2008.
Not even close.
This is 1980 all over again.
We even have Jimmy Carter in office to run against.
I wonder if the outcome will be as good.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
18
Well Palin isn’t Reagan, if that’s what you’re implying.
Neither is Romney. But at least he’s running, and at least he’s confident and presidential like Reagan was.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Mitt better stop it or President ThinSkin might cry.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
marK,
“Obama would be showing at least part of the hand that he and his team have been planning to use on Romney should Mitt win the nomination long before they want to.”
If Mitt is the nominee, and the election is close, I expect a scortched earth campaign from the Democrats that will be a two pronged strategy:
Part one is defining Mitt as a Wall Street vulture capitalist- the kind that has gorged off the carcass of a once great America. They will depict him as a Manchurian candidate whose sole purpose is to sell off the rest of our birthright to further enrich his buddies on Wall Street. He will be the billionaire reactionary who wants to make sure the rich come through the coming Deficit Wars better than they went in, at the expense of the middle class.
But if you think part one is underhanded, part two will be so bad Obama won’t even tough it personally. The MSM, bloggers, and underlings will largely fill the ranks of mercenaries needed to pull off an assault on Romney’s Mormon faith. I fully expect lots of documentaries, exposes, and “in depth” articles designed to portray the LDS as weird, cultish, anti-Christian, and anti-black. I know some of the Mormon Rombots on this board have expressed this fear. You’d best brace yourselves, because if Mitt is the nominee, they’re going to run your faith through the gutter, just like they did mine 50 and 84 years ago.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
BTW, this was a very smart move from Mitt. I wish TPaw had thought of it.
Mitt wins today, tactically speaking.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Fredrick.16:“Perry’s simply the flavor of the month potential candidate. Once his baggage is exposed, the more people will be coming to the Romney camp for good.”
Flash-in-the-pan candidates are just that, flashes-in-the-pan. They flare up quickly, burn brightly for a short time then flare out.
That being said, I always mistrust any statement that beings, “When people finally learn about…”. It assumes three things: (1) People actually haven’t heard about it. (2) People actually will learn about it. (3) People actually will react in the same way you do.
None of those things are guaranteed.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
When people finally learn about marK capitalizing the LAST letter of his name, instead of the first, like God fearing Americans, they’ll stop reading his posts.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
19. Reagan wasn’t “Reagan” until after he was elected.
Up til then he was a joke of a candidate. Star of “Bedtime for Bonzo” and too old and too extreme, with crazy ideas.
The democrats were hoping to run against him because Carter polled in double digits ahead of him.
The republican establishment did not want him, and all the pundits were for Baker or Bush. Bush even called his economic theories “Voodoo economics.”
During the primaries they ran a right wing challenger as a stalking horse to bleed votes away from Reagan and this challenger got in the race early, telling everyone Reagan wasn’t going to run (sound familiar?)
Even after Reagan won the nomination, they ran a ‘moderate’ Republican as a third party they were so afraid of a Reagan presidency.
There were article after article stating that if Reagan were nominated it would be the end of the GOP. He would destroy the party and the democrats would win in a landslide. Basically what the moderate squishes still say to this day when confronted with a real conservative.
So far, the sitting president, the reaction of the establishment GOP, the running of a right wing stalking horse, the assumed ascendency of a moderate squish…all this is looking like 1980 redux.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
MWS is right of course. If Mitt is the nominee (and I still say that if Perry gets in and gives ‘em hell he has a better shot – but that’s neithere here nor there), the cruelest thing that will be done will be to tie Mitt to the LDS church policies regarding blacks.
There will be an orchestrated effort to label the Mormon church (and by extension, Romney) as racist. Democrats tend to play the race card when they have nothing left.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I say this with true regret and a complete lack of snark, because 1) if Mitt is our nominee, I hope he wins, and 2) I hate to see my religion wrongly trashed, and hate to see it happen to others.
But if Machiavelli were a Democrat, he’d be ecstatic over Mitt’s faith. Going after it has the potential to accomplish two things for the Democrats; surpressing conservative Protestant turnout by driving a wedge between Mormons and fundamentalists and secondly, rallying blue state secularists who are leery of religion generally and scared to death of “right wing fanatic” religions.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Matt.21
Good points, all.
#1. So they will all talk like TEX, right?
#2. Personally, I look upon this as Brigham Young did. When some of the members told him that they hated to start work on a temple because every time they do it, the very bells of Hell begin to ring; Pres. Young replied, “I want to hear them ring”.
If the left wishes to expose to the whole, wide world their anti-religious, anti-Mormon bigotry; that’s fine by me. The more the better, I’d say.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
They are going to play the race card on all of them, even Herman Cain. He will be called an Uncle Tom. No candidate will be given a pass. Romney is no different from any of them in this regard.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
29,
That’s true. But Romney would be more hurt by the assault.
Look at it this way. If Perry wins, he will follow the Bush/Rove/Southern path to victory. Republican candidates have ALWAYS been called racist, bigot, homophobe, etc. and have generally prevailed because the votes they seek are going to come from folks that generally shrug off such criticism.
When Romney tries to win suburban Philadelphia – some of the left wing smear attacks may tend to stick among the suburban women who ARE NOT key to Perry’s electoral success.
See what I mean?
June 30th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
LEGOLAS: Hurry! Romney and Rubio have reached the eastern shore. You mean not to follow them. But the Dark Lord Obama will surely play the race card!
ARAGORN: Romney’s fate is no longer in our hands.
GIMLI: Then it has all been in vain. The Fellowship has failed.
ARAGORN: Not if we hold true to each other. We will not abandon Pawlenty and Bachmann to torment and death. Not while we have strength left. Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light. Let’s hunt some Democrats.
GIMLI: YESSS!!!!
June 30th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
“Democrats tend to play the race card when they have nothing left.”
Remember the ads that aired in St. Louis in ’00 or ’04 (forget which) that said something like, “when blacks don’t vote, another church burns..” They also used the daughter of James Byrd (the black man in Texas dragged to death by racists) to implicitly tie Bush to his murder.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
32,
Yeah. That’s exactly the stuff.
And then you have the idiots from Hollywood like Cameron Diaz who says that a vote for Bush is a vote for rape.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Turn up the HEAT, melt Obama the uncaring ice man.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Adam,
The thing the Democrats will use on Perry (that they can’t on Romney) is that he is a “stupid, confederate, cracker who’s even more of a cowboy than Bush.” That might work in those Midwestern suburbs that will decide this election.
Their slogan will be, “If you liked Dubya’, you’ll LOVE Rick.”
June 30th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
#13 Amen, me too!
#21 You’re right, they will be playing the religion racist card. Is there a way to counter that? Mitt can handle point #1 relatively easy I bet. Glad you can see yourself supporting Mitt. I could easily support any other Candidate including Palin. Any conservative republican would be better than Obama.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Matt “MWS” Says:
You’d best brace yourselves, because if Mitt is the nominee, they’re going to run your faith through the gutter, just like they did mine 50 and 84 years ago
=====================================================================================================
You mean like the Jews did to the Early Christian religion. Frankly, I hope they try. It will back fire in ways they have no idea. Nothing better than making a candidate look like a martyr.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
asparagus,
#31 LOL! Well done.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Deg,
I’ve long said (though perhaps not recently) I’d take Mitt over Obama any day. If he’s the nominee, I’ll shill for him, vote for him, and pray that I’m wrong about him.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Not sure if Pawlenty and Bachmann will be carried off by raiding orcs, but its always a possibility. The point is we need to stick together no matter who the nominee is and no matter what dirty tricks the Dems have planned.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
asparagus Says:
June 30th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Not sure if Pawlenty and Bachmann will be carried off by raiding orcs, but its always a possibility. The point is we need to stick together no matter who the nominee is and no matter what dirty tricks the Dems have planned.
==================
ahmen…. 4 more of Obama and it may be all over for the U.S. (if it isn’t all ready).
June 30th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
When people say that Perry has a Southern Path to victory, think about it for a second.
What states could Perry win that Mitt could not win?
NONE.
What states could Mitt win that Perry couldn’t win?
PA, MI, NM, CO, NH, outside shot at MA
And don’t forget that Mitt has a national organization already, and will grow it in the coming months.
And Perry has tons of baggage and scares independents.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
35,
It might. It also might have the opposite effect in Raleigh, NC and much of Florida. And I still say that Bush would win again in Ohio if there was a way he could run against Obama.
Romney’s “Allentown” ad was good. But growing up in Pennsylvania makes me far from convinced that Romney’s CEO background is going to appeal to unionized manufacterers any more than Obama’s…more “exotic” background would.
Whichever candidate emerges from the primary contest is going to have an uphill battle. We’re not going to win this election with 300+ electoral votes. Half the country is too far gone to vote for our guys and girls.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Deg,
“Is there a way to counter that?”
That’s a very tricky question, I think. He doesn’t want to get into a theological debate that is likely to turn off a large chunk of his base. But he’s got to be careful about playing the victim card too. He doesn’t want to come off as a missionary, but he also doesn’t want to look like he’s abandoning his faith for his ambitions.
This question was pondered in ’08 of course, and he responded with his speech on the topic, but the question will become much more urgent if he’s the nominee.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Here is part of what is at stake in our country.
=================================
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths of two people in U.S. custody overseas during interrogations, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
The investigation is the result of a review of CIA interrogations.
The Justice Department has been conducting a a probe of CIA terrorist interrogation practices . The attorney general says that he has accepted the recommendation of a federal prosecutor, John Durham, who has been conducting a long-running inquiry into CIA interrogation practices during the Bush administration
======================================================================
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/APNewsAlert/2011/06/30/id/402061
When we start going after those who are protecting us, we will have no shield from the bad guys… Obama must go, and yes, lets impeach Attorney General Eric Holder
June 30th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
42,
Mitt isn’t going to win MA or MI. He’s never led in either state. He couldn’t even win reelection as governor in MA and only got 38 percent of the primary in his other “home” state of MI.
Perry could win CO just as Mitt could, but by taking a path similar to that of George Bush.
NH? Who cares about NH? I’ll see your NH and raise you an IA.
Perry also would do better in NC and possibly FL and that will save the GOP some time and money.
And Mitt has at least as much baggage as Perry.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
The bottom line on all this is it doesn’t matter which candidate we nominate for President in 2012. It is not going to be a cake walk for any of them.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
marK,
Very true. I don’t expect the Dems to just roll over, even in the face of economic failure.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
So you are saying that Rush and Hannity are wrong when they say that anybody will be able to beat Obama at this point?
Darn – I guess my hanging on their every word will have to be trimmed back a bit.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
47,
Yeah. That’s true. The awful thing is that it shouldn’t be close. There’s no excuse for a president in these conditions to be at 47 approval.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
50
It’s the liberal media protecting Obama’s image
June 30th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Excellent contrast between Romney and Obama today…..Romney talking about job loss in front of a shuttered company, and Obama off his teleprompter at a fundraising event.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Really well-orchestrated presser by Romney. And it has had an immediate effect. I monitor Google searches and the sources of the traffic to my Romney sites, and the number of Google searches on Romney + Jobs started rising immediately after Mitt’s press conference. Very cool!
June 30th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Perry has so much baggage, there’s no way he’ll run…The MSM has not yet begun to vet him and his backround….
If Perry were to announce he’s running today, then he would be spending the entire primary trying to explain his backround and judgement away…and there’s not enough time.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
I think you are spot on. It will be, as Karl Rove put it, the nastiest campaign this country has ever seen,” especially if the candidate is Romney/Mormon.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
LV,
Let’s just not do this today. Do you honestly believe that there aren’t going to be plenty of questions about Romney? Really? I can rattle off a list right now that I know every talking head and political opponent is aching to bring up.
And any candidate that ran for governor of the largest state in the union three times is vetted enough to run for president. That’s a fact. You might not like him. You might like Mitt better, but Perry is perfectly suited to run for president. And given the rumblings of those close to him, I suspect he will.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
*make that the second largest state in the union. Point still stands.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
#53 Mike S.
The timing was perfect….
June 30th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Adam
The fact is, people want a candidate who can beat Obama. After a brief look at Perry’s past statements, along with his baggage, they will make the judgment that he is unelectable.
Plus, he looks and sounds and acts just like Bush.
There are things that could hurt Mitt in the general:
(1) Mormons and blacks history
(2) Layoffs
(3) Accusations of flip-flops
(4) Obamacare and Romneycare, why does he want to repeal Obamacare and not Romneycare?
But these things are all easily dismissable if you examine the truth. They are “spin-able”
For example
(1) Mitt’s parents and himself marched in Michigan in solidarity with MLK. Also, no one actually believes Mitt is racist. Total nonsense.
(2) Mitt has created over 488,000 jobs, much more created than layoffs. Layoffs are part of business, but if you create jobs more than layoffs, it is good for everyone.
(3) All of them are untrue except abortion and indexing the minimum wage to inflation
(4) You have already heard my explanation in-depth several times. It is obviously working too.
Now Perry has some inexcusable baggage that cannot be explained or spun:
(1) Executing an innocent man even when he knew he was potentially innocent. He tried to cover it up afterwards.
(2) Massive growth in government, almost doubled.
(3) Secession (which is a big deal for some people, not me personally)
(4) Gardasil mandated vaccine from Merck despite its pending FDA status and not giving parents a choice to opt out who are concerned about it
(5) Looks, sounds, acts like Bush
June 30th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I thought the Mormons were massacred and driven out of Missouri because of their anti-slavery stance. That’s what I learned my high school and college history classes. The mormons had an anti-slavery stance and were growing very quickly, so the plantation owners went to the governor, and he issued some sort of extermination order against the Mormons.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Oh, and Harry Reid is supposedly a practicing Mormon. Would the democrats devour one of their own leaders to attack Romney? It weould be saying that it’s okay to be the ranking senator but not president.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
MassCon,
I was angry at Perry for the Gardisil thing, but for the record, there was a choice to opt out, but it recording submitting a form.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
McCain was supposed to be “electable” but wasn’t. Perry’s positions are well within the mainstream of the GOP. And all of what you consider to be “excusable” baggage in the case of Romney and “inexcusable” for Perry are open to interpretation.
Secession is especially easy to explain away when you actually look at the quote. There indeed WAS an opt out for the Gardasil and it was never enacted anyway. And Bush’s favorables have done nothing but come up in recent years.
Frankly the vast majority of people on this site are out of touch when they keep bringing up the “Bush=Perry” routine. Too many on here are from a northern perspective and are biased in thinking that southern appeal isn’t going to work. Clinton was a Bubba from Arkansas and was very popular. Bush was elected and reelected in spite of (or perhaps because of) his cultural southern tones.
War fatigue is what brought down Bush. That and spending. It wasn’t because he was from Texas or because of the way he talked.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Didn’t Perry move ahead with the execution of a potentially innocent man for political expediency?
June 30th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
64,
Not according to the man’s wife.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
You’re asking if the Democrats would throw Reid under the bus to save Obama’s ass?
What do you think?
June 30th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
63
I never thought McCain was electable. I thought his age, lengthy Washington career, and hawkish appeal contrasted horribly in a tough election for Republicans, where war and Bush were tied so closely to our party.
I think Romney is electable. Not because he’s moderate. But because he’s energetic, smart, presidential, and has a compelling case for his election as president. And his personal life is flawless and impeccable.
Now… as for the Bush/Perry point. I am not saying people dislike Perry because of how he sounds and looks, but because he reminds people of Bush. He would just rub people the wrong way because of it.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
“You’re asking if the Democrats would throw Reid under the bus to save Obama’s ass?”
LOL! If that didn’t work, they’d back up and do it again.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
i think its too early to say ho they would brand perry.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
67 except for his treatment of dogs
June 30th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
66 & 68, but Reid will still be in office as the ranking senator and one of Obama’s staunchest allies. It would be a political disaster for Obama to attack Romney on the basis of religion when his key ally in the senate is an active Mormon.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
71,
Not so. Most of the party wrote off Reid a year ago when they thought he was going to lose an election.
And Obama wouldn’t be the one attacking Romney. His media lap dogs would do it and it would be just as effective without the down side.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
At the 1964 GOP convention didn’t Romney’s Father and his people walk out of the convention while Goldwater was speaking because they wouldn’t put civil rights on the platform?
June 30th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
73,
Just to play devil’s advocate – why then did Romney stay with a church that was discriminatory to blacks until 1978?
Now don’t get me wrong. I am totally neutral on the LDS church – but that’s the kind of stuff that’s going to be asked. It’s the same thing Obama was asked by conservatives about his continued membership in Rev. Wright’s church. And anytime any conservative gets indignant about it, the Left will highlight the questions raised about Obama’s religion.
June 30th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Greg,
“It would be a political disaster for Obama to attack Romney on the basis of religion when his key ally in the senate is an active Mormon.”
No no no. Obama won’t do it. Goodness no. It will be bloggers, the MSM, Democratic “analysts” etc….. Dateline, for instance, might run a special on the LDS. TLC might do an election marathon special of “Sister Wives.” DailyKos will do what DailyKos does.
No, Obama would stay above it, at least officially. If asked about it, he might say, “I don’t comment on others’ religion, you’ll have to ask Mitt.”
June 30th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
That would back fire on the media. Everyone knows he is Mormon – that card was already played. The ranking senator is Mormon, the most popular college basketball player in recent memory is Mormon. Most people know at least one or two Mormon families these days. I am from Ohio, and even I know a few. I know them as people who keep their noses clean and raise great kids. I don’t think I am too different than others in this regard. I just can’t see people really caring. If Mitt is nominated by a GOP that is controlled by evangelical southerners to an extent, I think he will have passed the religion test pretty easily.
June 30th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Greg,
“That would back fire on the media. Everyone knows he is Mormon – that card was already played.”
Perhaps. But it’s never been “explained” to a general election audience, and never when a Democrat’s @ss has been on the line…. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the MSM would go to great lengths to “explain” Romney’s religion. I’m not saying that’s a reason not to nominate him (there are many others of those), I’m just saying it’s gonna’ happen. It’s sad, but it’s gonna’ happen, if he (or Huntsman) is the nominee.
The truth is, most of the anti-Mormon hatred (as opposed to theological differences) is on the left not among evangelicals or other Christians. They’re going to go ape____ if he’s nominated.
Did you see what the left did with that whole Prop 8 thing in California?
June 30th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Politico has the video of Mitt’s press conference in PA today.
Gosh Mitt is just so good in this environment; he should have a press conference every week!
Mitt’s press conference has got to be making Obama nervous after his terrible “dick” press conference yesterday.
Mitt is relaxed and in command of the event. He’s engaged with the reporters answering questions with details and passion. He’s on message, focused, approachable.
Key takeaway: Mitt looks like he could step into Obama’s job tomorrow morning and start improving the economic situation immediately.
Also, he hits Obama very hard but there is no demagoguery or snide quality in his tone…..Mitt is the master at this, it’s really extraordinary!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/58147.html
June 30th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Of course, the left would have gone ape____ on a baptist preacher too, and I voted for him, so as I said, it’s not a reason to vote against Romney. I just hope my Mormon friends here know what would be coming.
June 30th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Prepare for the current wave of class warfare as we debate the budget and debt ceiling.
Romney is on the right track. He needs to keep painting the Obama misery index. These pics from Allentown are spot on. He needs to pace himself and continue to tie Obama to the decline in the economy and the people who are out of work. He should use few words and many pictures. He should let those people speak for themselves.
By the Fall of 2012, they don’t have to hate Obama, but they have to hate what he has done and what has become of our country while he has been president. It is the only way to withstand what will come. That they hate the idea of his being president more than they could hate any other option.
June 30th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
2 nate w
“Insignificant. Palin and Paris Hilton both have more Twitter followers. Romney should throw in the towel before one of them declares a run.”
=========================================
You can’t attack Sarah Palin for her political stances,her Reaganesque
conservatism,the fact that she is de facto The Leader of Conservatives
in America.
So you do what slimy,deranged and demented PDS suffering buckets of puke
do.
You raise your ugly,repulsive head out of the sewer or is it septic tank
and attack and insult the great woman personally.
Coming from a slimeball like you it doesn’t mean a thing.
June 30th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Interesting take from Jim Cramer. He criticized both Obama and Romney for not going to western Pennsylvania and supporting the developement of the shale fields there. He pointed out all the jobs it would create. That is a point that Palin has made as well. He criticized Obama for being a idealogue and Romney for not caring or not being aware of it.
June 30th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
#82
I think Sarah Palin would be wonderful as the Secretary of Energy.
June 30th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
#83
I think Romney will make good Secretary of….of….hold on….let me
think….
Oh yeah,Secretary of Railroad,who knows,maybe even secretary of Transportation.
June 30th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Telldude. Actually, Reagan WAS Reagan before he became president. Something about fullfilling 2 full term (without quitting) as gov of one of the largest states in the union. (yes, I know AK is bigger land wise, but it has less folks than the city of South Gate, CA). So, before thou speaketh, thou shouldest checkest facts.
June 30th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
I don’t care what the size of the state is, they have to balance their budget. Alaska may be more challenging because all of the money comes from oil. The governor has to determine what the price of oil will be for a year.
Underestimate and you have budget problems. Also Reagan did not face hundreds of thousands or millions in legal bills. Also Reagan had institutional support among Republicans in the state legislature.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
Do people not think that the Dems are going to attack any of the Republican’s religion in the general? You think Bachmann or Perry would escape without having their religion mocked and attacked? We are already seeing what they are doing to Bachmann’s religion (with plenty of Republicans joining in). I find it a little disingenuous that there are so many people here that are so concerned about what would happen to the Mormon religion if Romney gets the nomination while pretending like Perry or Bachamnn would be invulnerable.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
74 – Nuetral my ass … Bigot.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
79 – We know far better than even you do. Have you ever had ice thrown on you from a moving car because of your religion? Or been screamed at for twenty minutes because of your religion? Try being a Mormon missionary. Trust me, we know what people are capable of (most of the people doing those kinds of things would probably be conservatives, to be honest with you).
June 30th, 2011 at 11:19 pm
86 – that makes no sense at all. Every governor has to deal with fluctuations in the economy.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
The greatest thing about the Romney ad today and his speech is that there is very little spin in it. There doesn’t need to be any spin. It is hard for Obama to rebut his own words and facts.
July 1st, 2011 at 12:12 am
Jax,
Bachmann’s religion will be irrelevant next Fall, because she won’t be on the ballot. I’m not at all familiar with Perry’s religion or approach to it. I did, however, speculate above that the Democrats would try to paint him as “a stupid, confederate cracker.”
July 1st, 2011 at 4:15 am
tex #81 classic Tex… name calling and insults, but at least this time there is no foul language. Perhaps there is hope for improvement.
July 1st, 2011 at 2:50 pm
88,
Still waiting for evidence of being a “bigot”.
I can toss labels around too.
I think for you, Romney worshipping asshole fits the bill.