Frontrunner Romney
Right now Mitt Romney is very well positioned to win the GOP presidential nomination. His main rival Tim Pawlenty had a terrible debate (and he’s still trying to recover). Mitt Romney, however, has been acting like a frontrunner and now he’s trying out his general election strategy:
For a guy whose awkward sense of humor keeps raising eyebrows, this incident in Florida this morning probably won’t help Mitt Romney’s reputation.
Mitt Romney sat at the head of the table at a coffee shop [in Tampa] on Thursday, listening to a group of unemployed Floridians explain the challenges of looking for work. When they finished, he weighed in with a predicament of his own.
“I should tell my story,” Mr. Romney said. “I’m also unemployed.”
I’m sure you’re all crying copious tears for the plight of “unemployed” multimillionaire Mitt Romney.
But when an extremely wealthy person jokes to people who are actually struggling about being “unemployed,” it rankles. Indeed, Mitt Romney became extremely wealthy in a way that seems relevant to this discussion.
“You see, Romney made a Mittload of cash using what’s known as a leveraged buyout. He’d buy a company with ‘money borrowed against their assets, groomed them to be sold off and in the interim collect huge management fees.’ Once Mitt had control of the company, he’d cut frivolous spending like jobs, workers, employees, and jobs. […]
In case you’ve forgotten, Mitt became a millionaire by running a firm that made money by firing people. He also served one term as governor of Massachusetts because Massachusetts couldn’t wait to get rid of him. His one accomplishment is now considered something to be embarrassed about by his own party.
And when I say awkward sense of humor, I’m not kidding. This video of Romney pretending that a waitress grabbed his rear was making the rounds this week. You really have to see it to believe it.
Somewhere I saw Mitt Romney described as John Kerry, without the charisma. I’d say that was accurate.
Tags: 2012 GOP Primary, Mitt Romney
So — did Multiple Choice Mitt tell people *why* he is unemployed? That the people who voted him to be Governor of MA were so unhappy with his performance as Governor that they voted his behind OUT? And that he couldn’t even get on the shortlist for the next job he applied for, because few people thought he was qualified for that one. Maybe because he started on the Multiple Choice persona…..
Dear Unstable isotope, I think you guys do a good job at this delaware liberal. You guys are pasionate, and very informed. This is the only liberal Publication that I blog on regularly, although I did have a 6 month absence. See, It is possible to find the good in things, you don’t always have to be critical. Let me hear your thoughts, positive or negative on Mitt Romney’s Role in the Salt Lake Winter Olimpics, you must have studied that also, but failed to comment on it.
No one voted his behind out…he didn’t run again. He saw that sinking ship of healthcare that Ted Kennedy bullied at the state level, and realized fantasy “all your heart’s desire” healthcare would be the beginning of the end. His term started w/ having to sign-off on the implementation, and ended on the same note. It’s tough being a stepson.
Now the Olympics–that’s more his signature work……
That’s true — he *didn’t* run again in MA for Governor. Apparently he was spending so much time running for President that his approval ratings tanked to GWB levels. He really couldn’t run again AND couldn’t do much to help the R candidate to succeed him. And Ted Kennedy didn’t bully any kind of healthcare in MA at the state level — his project was always a nationwide program. At the time that Romney was pushing for this, his story was that he got the idea from a business colleague. (The story that I linked to is from 2006, when the law was signed, and Romney was taking credit for it. Make sure you note who else thought that the MA Plan was Teh Awesome — The Heritage Foundation!)Who reminded him that lots of people without insurance (but with jobs) get health care already — it is just that other people pay for it. Nothing wrong with that reasoning. But if the new talking points are that Ted Kennedy Made Him Do it, that might be good for a laugh, but that isn’t anywhere near the truth of the thing.
Pulling off an Olympics is definitely an achievement, but not exactly a qualification for being President.
Believe me cass–I cringe Heritage Foundation practically endorsed this stuff back in the day, and absolutely agree with you on the culpability. However, isn’t the real character test righting the wrong–especially if you were part of it? No doubt he was taking credit for it, late in the game–and will have to distance himself from that. That’s the whoredom of all politicians. My point being…given policy and legislation is slow–it’s tough to tease out the true instigator of any paradigm shifter and appoint blame. But hey–if a final signature on health care legislation in Mass. assigns blame, then have at it. Because, God knows if it were monumental and successful the full credit is grabbed too.
The Olympics achievement wowed the world. Pulled back from financial mismanagement, amidst a raw 9/11 changed insecure global arena, and scandalous credibility scenarios–Romney did get right in there, and 1-2-3 retooled that crashing meteor–in short order. Pro bono. Man of the Year I believe. So, I’ll raise you one community organizer, who was elected President, to an international ambassador who quite honestly saved the Olympics.
But all this aside, it’s too early for me to go all passionate one way or another–heck–twitter, you tube, texts, aides and wiki leaks aren’t done w/ all their scrutiny yet! And I see Huntsman as a dark horse…..giddyup.
Massachusetts has the lowest uninsured rate in the nation. Republicans are that far gone – they won’t even hear of a successful program and must cringe in embarrassment from it because the Kenyan usurper used it as a model. So far in the discussion of her opposition, patients, outcomes, uninsured, sick has been completely list. It’s all about freedom! free markets! socialamism!
The man who killed bin Laden vs. The man who “saved” the Olympics (meaning he wasn’t in on the bribery). I’ll take that bet any time. The GOP is really living in lala land if they think community organizer no experience is going to be their talking point. You might as well select Sarah Palin if that’s the way you’re going to go.
However, isn’t the real character test righting the wrong–especially if you were part of it? No doubt he was taking credit for it, late in the game–and will have to distance himself from that.
There is a very great deal of revisionism in this — not the least of which is that the MA Insurance for All program is quite entirely Romney’s baby. And a thing he still defends, BTW. People in MA are largely happy with this program and now that MA has most of its people covered by insurance, they are now engaged in the business of trying to work out ways to control the costs of care. It is hard to see anything *wrong* in this. Especially since Romney’s business colleague who suggested the core problem was *right*.
But I think that if putting on a profitable and fun sporting event were a rational criteria, then we ought to be vetting many of the organizers of Olympic Games — since most of them are pretty successful (sometimes not profitable, often wowing the world but certainly without the cronyism that Romney was said to preside over. Really, if we wanted people who could do the bread and circuses right someone would have had the idea to draft George Steinbrenner into the job when he was alive. I mean, who is more successful than Steinbrenner at putting on a profitable sporting event? And Steninbrenner did it for years. And let’s throw into the mix the astonishing number of flip flops that Mitt has had since he ran against Ted Kennedy, either.
But the business of the *community organizer* qualifications are their own dog whistle, as you know Joanne. And bypasses not only President Obama’s other accomplishments (not least of which is winning the Presidency of the US, which Romney hasn’t done) and bypasses the fact that we already had out *businessman* President. One who did to this country what Bain Capital did for the businesses it was supposed to “turn around” — extract alot of resources on behalf of their friends and leave what is left to burn.
Dear unstable Isotope, Even though Mitt Romney is running on the republican ticket, I am glad you are starting to see the difference in the way Mitt Romney believes, and the way the republican main stream believes, Mitt Romeny is his own man. As far as the Obama’s involvement in the Osama Bin Laden Killing, I would not place to much emphasis on that, the following is starting to get all over the internet.
OBAMA’S OWN WORDS:
2008: “Navy Seal Team 6 is Cheney’s private assassination team.”
2011: “I put together Seal Team 6 to take out Bin Laden.”
2008: “Bin Laden is innocent until proven guilty and must be captured alive and given a fair trial.”
2011: “I authorized Seal Team 6 to kill Bin Laden.”
2008: “Guantanamo is entirely unnecessary and the detainees should not be interrogated.”
2011: “Vital intelligence was obtained from Guantanamo detainees that led to our locating Bin Laden.”
Is this guy a HOSER or what?
I HOPE THIS GETS SENT AROUND TO PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH
“isn’t the real character test righting the wrong–especially if you were part of it?”
No, the real character test is realizing that it wasn’t a “wrong.”