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The big ‘Mitt Romney really, really cares about the little people’ messaging hits another major snag
09.27.2012
11:57 am
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Have you seen the brand new Mitt Romney ad yet? The one where Mittens tries to show his concern for us average Americans? You know, the little people?

The new commercial has already made its online debut, but as reported by The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, starting Friday, in all of Romney’s media markets, in nine swing states, it will be the only ad they’ll air.

This underscores that the Romney campaign is betting all of its chips on the new approach represented in the minute-long ad, which is about cleaning up the mess made by Romney’s remarks about the freeloading 47 percent, and about reframing the Romney message as a forward looking one. The Dem source says ad buy info indicates that other currently running spots — one hits Obama as soft on China; the other is a positive ad touting Romney’s plan for the middle class — will be replaced by this one

The new ad features Romney speaking directly to the camera; he allows that he and Obama “both care about poor and middle class families.” The size of the buy behind it suggests the Romney campaign sees the need for a major effort to reverse the damage caused by Romney’s disdainful comments about nearly half the country. After a months-long campaign by Dems to paint Romney as uncaring when it comes to working and middle class Americans, video of Romney himself playing to type is potentially devastating. Today’s NYT/CBS poll found that only 38 percent of Ohio voters think Romney cares about the needs and problems of people like them.

The new ad’s acknowledgment that Obama, like him, cares about ordinary Americans also suggests a shift to a somewhat softer approach to the president. While the ad paints a dire picture of the Obama economy, it seems less harsh in tone than Romney messaging that suggests Obama harbors sinister redistributionist leanings that will take away the wealth and health benefits of middle class Americans and hand them out to those other people.Obama’s favorability ratings remain high, and there is no sign swing voters see Obama in the more lurid terms the Romney campaign had been employing, so this may be a shift, too.

The ad also represents a significant reframing of Romney’s message. The previous, backward-looking frame — “are you better off than you were four years ago?” — is replaced in this ad with the forward-looking assertion that we can’t afford another four years like the last four. So the investment in the new spot suggests an admission that the previous framing failed and a heavy bet on this new messaging as his best shot of salvaging his candidacy.

Take a peek, won’t you? I’ll wait. (Note how Romney refers to struggling Americans as if to distance himself from “them,” rhetorically. In the now infamous hidden camera video, he called, uh, “them” “those people.” Richie Mitt just can’t help himself, apparently)
 

 
The problem is… Well, the problem is the Democratic rapid response video that really rips the whole high stakes, last resort Romney “I have empathy for ‘them’” rebranding gambit a new asshole.

Imagine for a moment that you are Mitt Romney. Walk a mile in his $3500 hand-made Italian leather shoes. Your team of highly-paid, expereienced campaign professionals have convinced you to go “all in” on just one single very, very important ad to humanize yourself in voters’ eyes and show “them”—“the 47%”—that, oh boy do you really, really care about “them.” All the pre-debate chips are being bet on this one, single commericial that is perceived as the (current) last best hope of turning around one of the all-time worst, most idiotic, painfully inept national political campaigns in all US history. It’s a tall order, but as Sargeant reports, they’re dropping stuff right and left that just didn’t work and placing their hopes on this new 11th hour strategy.

So you’re Romney and you approve this new strategy to show that you’re not a heartless rich bastard like everyone seems to think you are. By George, you’ve got compassion and empathy! This’ll show them!

And then you see the video embedded below. Wouldn’t you just puke blood?

This new anti-Romney commercial is one of the most withering, vicious, nastiest kicks in the nuts that Romney has yet recieved from the Obama camp, and let’s face it, they’ve landed some real body blows already. All of them so far in this election. Now Romney gets to absorb another punch to his throat and his entire ad buy—which hasn’t even started yet—is about to get trumped in the news cycle by this cheap little web video.

It’s hilarious to watch Romney flounder. He seems to have no idea of what to do next. May I politely suggest curling up in a fetal position on the floor?

There’s no schadenfreude quite like Republican schadenfreude, but Romney takes it to a whole ‘nuther level!
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.27.2012
11:57 am
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Arrested (Republican) Development: Mitt Romney’s words in Lucille Bluth’s mouth
09.25.2012
03:38 pm
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Mitt Romney gets the Lucille Bluth treatment on the website Lucille and Mitt. How appropriate.
 
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Via Poor Mojo

 

Posted by Tara McGinley
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09.25.2012
03:38 pm
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Romney campaign changes the topic from his ineptitude *back to his taxes*!
09.21.2012
05:07 pm
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This is getting really to be… counter-intuitive isn’t it? The whole Mitt Romney “situation” I mean…

Republican political adviser Alex Castellanos (who worked for Romney’s campaign in 2008) told Politico’s Maggie Haberman that when he heard about the Romney team deciding to release the candidate’s tax returns today, hot on the heels of, well, months of stupid moves and self-inflicted wounds, he thought it was a joke:

“At first I thought this was an April Fool’s Joke,” said Castellanos, who tweeted something to that effect at me earlier. “But it isn’t April. I can’t imagine that David Axelrod will now say, I’m glad Mitt put this issue behind him. This will drag Mitt’s taxes back into the debate. And there’s not many days left. I just can’t imagine why they would do this. There are 40 days left and you have now made more of them about Mitt’s taxes….you don’t serve a life sentence and then confess afterward. They’ve taken their beating on this (already) ... I just don’t understand how a (being a) ‘little pregnant’ strategy (works).”

Mitt Romney—“If that is, in fact, your real name”—dude, you are truly the fucking Inspector Clouseau of American politics!

I’ve never seen anything like it.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.21.2012
05:07 pm
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Stephen Colbert on Mitt Romney’s spray-tanned Hispanic outreach
09.21.2012
04:01 pm
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The day before, the day after…

Stephen Colbert pans Mitt Romney’s inept attempt at Hispanic outreach yesterday at the University of Miami-hosted Univision conversations with the Presidential candidates.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.21.2012
04:01 pm
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Howard Stern’s crystal clear explanation of how Mitt Romney made his fortune
09.21.2012
11:49 am
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King of all media, Howard Stern, HATES Mitt Romney.

Stern recently discussed why he won’t be voting for Romney on his satellite radio show. Taking his cue from Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi’s bare-knuckled take down of Romney’ rep as a “good businessman,” Stern does a good job of summarizing the dirty dealings that allowed Romney to amass his vast fortune.

“Bain…His whole background at Bain is so deplorable, I’m not sure that he shouldn’t be in jail.”

I call your attention, in particular, to the point that “Baba Booey” makes around the 7:30 mark about who got paid first when Romney and his Bain buddies picked these companies clean…

Here’s the original article that Stern refers to:
Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital (Rolling Stone)
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.21.2012
11:49 am
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Mitt Romney’s latest ‘WTF?’: Hispanic voters are ‘trouble’ for America!

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While the media is busy focusing on the idiotic “47% of Americans are lazy bums looking for handouts” comments made by Mitt Romney in the “secret” videotape from that $50,000 per plate Republican donor luncheon back in May, now that Mother Jones has published the full transcript of the tape, new turds of “wisdom” from Shit Romney are starting to float to the top. Like this one:

“So we can capture women’s votes, we’re having a much harder time with Hispanic voters. And if the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in the past, why we’re in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation.”

Just when you think he can’t possibly get any worse, he gets way worse!

As Mother Jones’ Adam Serwer wrote:

The GOP has finally seen that silver bullet. Only it’s not aimed at the guy they were trying to take out.

That it’s a fuckin’ self-inflicted wound, makes this all the more delicious!

Elizabeth Heath tried to get her head around this latest Romney gaffe at Mamiverse, a website for Latina mothers:

Whoa. It’s one thing to say that the Republican Party will struggle without the Hispanic vote. But to say that “we’re in trouble…as a nation” if Hispanics become committed Democrats suggests that Mr. Romney is nationalistic and maybe, just maybe, a little racist. Perhaps he’s worried about the U.S. becoming a nation of Democrats, as Hispanics, who already make up the country’s largest and largest-growing minority, continue to lean Democratic in their politics. Or is he worried about Hispanics taking over and the white males who make up his constituency becoming a minority? One has to wonder.

One does!

Good luck trying to back-pedal this one Mittens. You’re going to need heaps of it.

Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter… start your “spingines.”
 

 

Via reddit/r/politics

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.20.2012
12:56 pm
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Mitt Romney and the Infinite Sadness
09.19.2012
08:23 pm
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The most Inspector Clouseau-like Mormon multimillionaire ever to run for President of the United States… Mitt Romney, man of constant sorrow.

A video tribute to the unspeakable, soul-crushing awkwardness and general vapidity of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

 

 
Via dissociativepress.com and Wonkette

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.19.2012
08:23 pm
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‘What a dick!’: SNL’s hilarious Mitt Romney ad
09.19.2012
11:16 am
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SNL‘s parody anti-Mitt Romney ad is pretty hilarious, but the piece already seems a bit outdated with so much humiliating water running under the bridge for poor Mitt ever since it aired…
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.19.2012
11:16 am
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‘Your Plans Are Horrible’: A 12-year-old boy’s ‘strongly-worded’ letter to Mitt Romney
09.18.2012
05:19 pm
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My new hero Jackson Ripley, writing to Mitty Romney in his head as his younger sister Kennedy looks on.

Dear Governor Romney,

I’d like to say congratulations on winning the republican nomination. But, I wish you stayed in Massachusetts. You’re plan for America isn’t what we need, and would hurt us more than it would help.

First, repealing Obama care and other health plans he’s put in place have helped families across America, including mine. I live in a middle class family, and two years ago my little sister; Kennedy was denied insurance because of her pre-existing condition. This was a huge emotional stress and financial burden on my entire family. Under Obama Care, insurance companies can no longer deny Kennedy and kids like her, the coverage they need and deserve. Because of Obama care my little sister was able to have the several surgeries she needed that helped save her life. Once the President was elected he put Obama Care into action, just like he promised and made it so that you could get insurance with pre-existing conditions. This has made a direct impact on my family. My family is with out a doubt better off now, than we were four years ago!

It is to my understanding that you stated that you were going to repeal Obama Care, including the part I have mentioned, which will take away the insurance we have and need for my sister Kennedy. Why do you think she doesn’t deserve health care? Also, when you were interviewed on “Meet the Press”, you stated that you would NOT repeal this part of Obama Care, but then your campaign backpedalled and on the “Tonight show with Jay Leno”, you said that you WOULD repeal this.

Also, you’re domestic plans (birth control, gay rights etc.) are horrible! Women should get to manage their own health, and if you wonder why you’re not appealing to many women voters, rethink your birth control and women’s’ rights plans. And people should be able to marry whom they want. We built this country so people could have freedom, and not have religious beliefs control them to that length. This country was in no way built on any religion, so we should not create laws that repress the American people in a religious way and hurt our most vulnerable.

Sincerely,
Jackson Ripley, age 12

Full story here.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.18.2012
05:19 pm
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In the Red (States): Map shows where Mitt Romney’s ‘losers’ live
09.18.2012
12:11 pm
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I love how Romney is heard in the tape saying:

“The thing I find most disappointing about this president is his attack of one America against another America.”

Pointing out the obvious irony, Dylan Matthews commented at The Washington Post’s website:

Mitt Romney will probably get 95 electoral votes from ‘moocher’ states. Obama will probably get 5.

Maker states vs. taker states?

Go to The Tax Foundation’s website for more.

HT Joe.My.God.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.18.2012
12:11 pm
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‘Half the country are lazy losers’: Mitt Romney’s response to ‘that secret videotape’
09.17.2012
09:33 pm
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“This man has no dick.”—Bill Murray in Ghostbusters

Another day, another massive, Matterhorn-sized pile of shit for Mitt Romney to step in. In this case, it was actually some shit with a long fuse that he stomped around in awhile back that was caught on videotape. Today that tape came back to haunt him. Today was the day, as Esquire’s Charles P. Pierce so brilliantly put it, that Mitt Romney “declared a class war on himself. “

In a closed-door meeting with an inner circle of high-end, millionaire GOP donors, Romney let his hair down—as much as he ever does, of course—and testified to his fine-feathered friends that:

“There are 47% of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this President no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.”

As David Corn put it at Mother Jones (where the story of the secret videotape first broke today):

Here was Romney raw and unplugged—sort of unscripted. With this crowd of fellow millionaires, he apparently felt free to utter what he really believes and would never dare say out in the open. He displayed a high degree of disgust for nearly half of his fellow citizens, lumping all Obama voters into a mass of shiftless moochers who don’t contribute much, if anything, to society, and he indicated that he viewed the election as a battle between strivers (such as himself and the donors before him) and parasitic free-riders who lack character, fortitude, and initiative. Yet Romney explained to his patrons that he could not speak such harsh words about Obama in public, lest he insult those independent voters who sided with Obama in 2008 and whom he desperately needs in this election. These were sentiments not to be shared with the voters; it was inside information, available only to the select few who had paid for the privilege of experiencing the real Romney.

“Generally you don’t see that kind of behavior in a major appliance.”—Bill Murray in Ghostbusters

He said this shit, too:

My heritage, my dad as you probably know was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico, and, uh, had he been born of, uh, Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot at winning this. [Rich donors cracking up]
But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lieved there for a number of years. And, uh, uh, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be, uh ... Latino.

I hope none of you had liquids in your mouth when you read that last one, but I would imagine that whopper of a line left plenty of shorted-out computer keyboards and iPads in its wake.

And best of all, he said THIS:

“We ... we, uh, use Ann sparingly right now so that people don’t get tired of her.”

I can think of at least one numskull Mormon multi-millionaire Republican Presidential candidate who’s going to be sleeping on the couch tonight. You, too?

If Romney is this comically clueless when it comes to talking about his own wife in public, how would Mittens fare with the G8 leaders and NATO? Vladimir Putin probably can’t wait to look deep into Mitt Romney’s eyes and make him piss right in his pants…

I’ve always seen Mitt Romney as “Thurston Howell III” from Gilligan’s Island, but he’s really much closer to another Jim Backus character: “Mr. Magoo”!

Happily, we’ll probably never get to find out what sort of damages Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would inflict upon America. I am actually starting to give a lil’ credence to those wingnut conspiracy theories that Mitt Romney is a Manchurian candidate sent to infiltrate and then destroy the Republican Party. I mean, this guy sucks! He’s the worst of the worst. How can Mittens even top this latest misstep? Pull his dick out during the third debate?

“This chick is TOAST!”—Bill Murray in Ghostbusters

Here’s the wholly inadequate statement that his campaign puked up this afternoon, via TPM:

“Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy. As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work,” Romney spokesperson Gail Gitcho said in a statement. “Mitt Romney’s plan creates 12 million new jobs in four years, grows the economy and moves Americans off of government dependency and into jobs.”

AS IF this even begins to address this latest mess. So sweet to watch this shit happen in real time. And it’s not even like I’m “rooting” for the Democrats or Obama to win, I just want to see Mitt Romney and the Republicans lose!

UPDATE: Romney himself finally made a statement about the videotape at a press conference Monday evening, via AP

Republican Mitt Romney says a video clip in which he called nearly half of Americans “victims” was “not elegantly stated” and was “spoken off the cuff.” But he says President Barack Obama’s approach is “attractive to people who are not paying taxes.”
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The Republican nominee did not disavow the comments but said they were made during a question-and-answer session. He said it was indicative of his campaign’s effort to “focus on the people in the middle.”

Not elegantly stated? Oh my, now aren’t we deluded?!?!

During the presser Romney called for the entire videotape to be released. Mother Jones seems happy to oblige him. MJ reporter Adam Serwer tweeted:

“Mitt wants the full video huh? Well don’t worry, there’s more to come.”

The liberal American Bridge PAC has already hit Romney, hard, over his private remarks with a viral video. Watch until the end:
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.17.2012
09:33 pm
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Идиот: Vladimir Putin cracks sarcastic put-down of Mitt Romney’s foreign policy prowess
09.12.2012
06:15 pm
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What’s Russian for “pwned”?

It’s been another horrific, shitty, awful week for GOP nominee Thurston Howell III Mitt Romney. Now, even Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t resist piling on the insults aimed at the increasingly hapless Republican standard-bearer.

Yesterday Putin said he was “grateful” to Mitt Romney for saying Russia remained the United States’ “No. 1 geopolitical foe” because this idiotic statement of non-fact aimed at the GOP’s abundant pool of cud-chewing low information voters, actually helped Putin in missile defense negotiations!

According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Putin told reporters:

“I’m grateful to him for formulating his stance so clearly because he has once again proven the correctness of our approach to missile defense problems. The most important thing for us is that even if he doesn’t win now, he or a person with similar views may come to power in four years. We must take that into consideration while dealing with security issues for a long perspective.”

Seems reasonable enough to me!

Way to go, Mittens! That’s what happens when you pander to people who get their information from ALL CAPS EMAILS. Yet another reason why Mitt Romney will never be the President of the United States.

President Obama drew blood with his own viciously witty riposte to Romney’s idiotic/politically suicidal statement about the crisis in Libya:

“There’s a broader lesson to be learned here: Gov. Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later and as president one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that. It’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make them.”

Dropped. Romney really tossed that ball right over the fuckin’ plate, didn’t he?!?!?

Fox News viewers who have never heard of any of this and who have no idea what any of this means can go here, here and here for more information.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.12.2012
06:15 pm
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15% of Ohio Republicans think Mitt Romney deserves the credit for killing Osama bin Laden
09.12.2012
04:28 pm
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A poll released Monday by Public Policy Polling shows that Mitt Romney is at a distinct disadvantage in the highly important Electoral College swing state of Ohio, polling just 45% to Obama’s 50%, but one of the ancillary questions the pollsters mischievously slipped in sheds some light on how pathetically misinformed—or willfully ignorant—some Ohio Republicans really are.

Does this seem like a trick question to you?

“Who do you think deserves more credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?”

63% percent said Obama, 6% said Mitt Romney and 31% of the respondents said they were not sure.

If you break it down (see cross tabs), about 15% of the Ohio Republicans who rated themselves “very conservative” actually believe that Mitt Romney deserves the credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden.

That’s more than one in ten!

Mitt Romney obviously can count on, and receive, the support of the most blinkered ignoramuses in the country. No wonder the GOP is so virulently anti-education. Without the low IQ buffoon bloc standing so square-headed in their corner, they’d never win another election, EVER.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying “Democrat” = “smart,” because that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms, but self-identifying as a “Republican” is an admission of one of two things: that you are either throwing your lot with the fucking idiot brigade or that you are a fucking idiot yourself.

Pick one. It’s not a trick question.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.12.2012
04:28 pm
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Mitt Romney’s biggest problem is that he’s a dick and everyone knows it
09.11.2012
03:42 pm
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Kos, the majordomo of liberal blog Daily Kos, cracked me up with his blunt assessment of what is perhaps Mitt Romney’s most difficult to surmount problem with the American electorate: Even after $180 million in TV ads, too many voters still think the guy’s a fucking dick.

And at this late stage of the game, Romney has little time, and few options left, to change their minds…

So if money isn’t doing it, and Romney’s personality isn’t winning him converts, what’s left?

The debates. They start in early October, then it’s bam, bam, bam: 10/3, 10/11 (veep), 10/16, and 10/22. They will present Romney with his last chance to gain points from Obama.

However, he can’t score points by playing it safe. If he tries to be nice and gracious and not touch Obama like he touched Gov. Rick Perry in one of those early-season debates, he might earn brownie points, but Obama will remain unscathed.

So he has to attack.

But remember, people think he’s a dick. So Romney has to attack in a manner that doesn’t reinforce the narrative that he’s a dick. And who really thinks Romney has the chops to pull that off? He can’t interact with NASCAR fans or picnicking ladies or British prime ministers without coming off as a dick. He’s now supposed to deftly attack—with a convincing smile—the guy who is standing between him and his birthright presidency?

Meanwhile, Obama can play it safe. He is winning. He can be gracious and accommodating, all the while rising above any nastiness with presidential bearing. He doesn’t need to win these debates as much as not lose them, and that makes his job so much easier.

It seems pretty clear cut. If Romney plays it safe, he continues to lose. He has to throw that Hail Mary. But by going on the offensive, he’ll remind people that they think he’s a dick. Because he is.

Watching Thurston Howell III Mitt Romney and the Marie Antoinette Republicans flailing this hard—like fish on the sand, right?—is such good fun. I’m not that all hot on the Democrats or Obama, but I would very much like to see Mitt Romney’s richie rich nose rubbed in dogshit in November.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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09.11.2012
03:42 pm
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Larry Flynt will pay one million dollars to anyone who can produce Mitt Romney’s financial records
09.08.2012
11:55 pm
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My favorite pornographer Larry Flynt is offering $1 million to anyone who can provide him with Mitt Romney’s financial records.

The Hustler publisher has bought full page ads that will appear in Sunday’s Washington Post and Tuesday’s USA Today.

This is what makes America great. Flynt once again puts his money where his mouth is.

 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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09.08.2012
11:55 pm
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