Romney’s got issues. He just doesn’t get it. Or he really is Dukakis part 2. Or all he really wanted was the nomination to prove something to daddy and will now knock about the nation for a few months kissing babies, shaking hands, then go home to his pools and jet skis.
His campaign indicated this week that Justice Roberts’ declaration that the healthcare mandate is a tax was, in fact, wrong. Camp Romney says it’s a penalty.
Whether it’s a tax or a penalty is beside the point politically. Romney was handed a huge gift by Roberts and he’s decided to toss it to the side of the road and drive off. This is dumb on its face. Breathtakingly dumb. Romney not running against Obamacare in 2012 is like FDR not running against Hoover and the Depression in 1932. Even I can thread the Romneycare V. Obamacare needle in a few words: In our system states have the right to craft solutions with powers the Feds don’t and should not have. Why would Mittens ignore such an easy talking point?
The short answer: He doesn’t want or expect to win. This rings false to me. I believe he wants to win very much. The more logical answer is he expects to hammer Obama on the economy, win, and wants wiggle room as President to uphold the mandate. Like Roberts, he’s a corporate robot and the Supreme Court handed the power of the IRS to Big Insurance last week in a big way. Romney has no intention of taking that power back once installed. Mitch McConnell telegraphed the same meme. No establishment Republican can stomach defunding a large corporate windfall. They won’t do it.
But – Can Romney hope to win without the Right flank on the GOP? Maybe – if Wall Street decides to throw the election his way in the Fall. (See 2008.) This is a high risk assumption. I speculated earlier this year that Romney may not understand the Chicago Mob mentality of the Obama campaign. Even if all the billionaires pull out the stops for Romney it may not be enough without the juice anti-Obamacare fury provides. The Obama campaign is vicious. Obama (and Ms. Jarrett) will do pretty much anything to win. Does Mittens understand this? I’m doubtful. Romney is relying on another economic crash now exclusively. Will this happen? It might. And it might not. Is high unemployment alone enough to sink Obama? Maybe. I’d not count on it. If it was Romney would be polling better. By ignoring the Obamatax, Romney is looking Roberts’ gift horse…in the mouth. Ditching your base in a close election is dumb, dumb, dumb.
My gut check election call is – surprisingly, given the week’s news – swinging back to an Obama win. Romney is being played. Or doesn’t really want to win. Or he is a very rich, very foolish man.
Are you psychic ? I thought the same.He’s starting to look pre-programmed, as if he must stick to his talking points or the record will stop playing in his head. His performance this week has been dismaying and distracted. The only way I was able to feel kindly towards a Romney presidency, was because it seemed that even if he did start life on second base, it still took tremendous smarts and very hard work to end up That Rich. He has also managed to hang onto his money, lots of second basemen have done so much worse, made mistakes, and ended up broke. I don’t admire his money, but smarts and grit are admirable,in anyone. He is on record as clearly stating he will repeal Obamacare, however that may be a knottier problem than was first recognized.
There is a hum on the Web that Roberts was ‘got to’ because he is in the closet, which I dismissed immediately. But on second thought, Jarrett and Axe have fewer conscience issues than Tony Soprano, so who knows ? It was on the news that Roberts has left the country, coincidence ?
I’ve not heard the Roberts is gay meme before. Serious reservations on that one. I think roberts didn’t want the grief a strike down vote would have caused so he found a way to make it work for himself. Plus he’s a corporate man thru and thru. Obamacare is a corporate feedlot.
The GOP wants to run against Obamacare, not repeal it. That way they can blame the Democrats for it.
Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
This is my greatest fear. But I’m still making my bet.
Mitt better not kill Roberts’s gift horse. I think he’s trying to walk back the mistake. At least, he’d better if he wants to keep the base excited.
JWS, I agree that it’s fairly easy to thread the needle on OCare v RCare; it’s even easier to explain raising taxes in TAXACHSSETTS, for crying out loud.
The ‘Roberts is gay’ is heard quite a bit in my corner of the country. That said, I don’t buy the blackmail story for a second.
He’s in Malta for the summer because he’s teaching in their major university. I doubt that was a last minute engagement.
Erratum: “‘…is gay’ meme is heard….”
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/03/john-roberts-chief-sophist/
NES, as an attorney, how do you see Roberts take on this ?
As a non-attorney it looks like he is trying to write new law, rather than judging HCR on its merits and constitutionality.
Romney’s people are the problem. In the last few days there have been calls from several (notably Jack Welch and Rupert Murdoch) for Romney to ditch all the “friends” running his campaign and get serious advisors or they can’t see him winning.
Eric Fehrnstrom especially seems to be on the same track a several of McCain’s people were the last time (Steve Schmidt especially who I think now is on team Romney) – maybe these folks are Obama Moles? Don’t know but I don’t trust his people. Fehrnstrom first made the “etch-a-sketch” comment and now gets alll bollixed up in the penalty/tax issue.
Romney has not given up on the OTax issue. His website is covered with it. But the campaign runners have convinced him he can’t get past Romneycare.
The problem, I think, is Romney wants to win so much that he is now getting cowed by all the polling and afraid to do what is right rather than what is expedient via polls that are mostly ginned up by the Obami.
Yup. With advisers like “Etch-A-Sketch” Fehrnstrom, who needs enemies?
MItt should definitely fire him.
Say what you will about Karl Rove, but if I were running for Prez that’s who I’d want running my campaign, especially if the other candidate has Axelgrease.
This is just strange: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/07/did_roberts_write_both_obamacare_decisions.html
Makes total sense. But B-G probably wrote one, and let Roberts have the by-line.
Mittens and all of his kittens are on vacay this week. I think they were gobsmacked by the decision last Thursday and are thinking it over. The WH is on vacay too with the holiday and the storm knocking trees over on all their cell phone towers. This may be overly simplistic but they can’t be on duty 24/7 365. I expect all hell to break loose next week when everyone is rested.
I have no issue with Romney not attacking the ruling. The mandate still remains highly unpopular, and the story is humming along all on its own without Romney needing to add fuel.
Also, you know obama’s Chicago mafiosos have a counterattack ready to launch once Romney weighs in. Better to avoid that trap, letting others tackle the mandate line.
The economy alone can sink obama. Friday’s jobs report is expected to be uninspiring. They can’t hold down gas prices forever. The world economy is stalled.
I agree with you tamer. As long as Romney sticks to the economy, I can understand not attacking the ACA ruling. BUT if he continues to make penalty-not-tax remarks, he will find himself in the same place McCain did and will lose in November.
His comment was hugely disappointing.
His aide made that comment not him. Now he is contradicting the aide.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/04/romney-calls-health-reform-a-tax-contradicts-top-aide/
Thanks for the correction, Lulu. I did see (this morning) that Mitt has said “if the SC says it’s a tax, then it is a tax.” now, if he could just take Jen’s advice (upthread) and hire Karl Rove to head up his campaign . . .
Just read Lola’s comments below. I should’ve waited to comment.
Why, Leslie? Your voice is just as important as mine.
Some here may already know this man’s story, while it doesn’t include flags or sparklers, it is the
quintessential American story and so inspiring.
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/03/walking-to-america
I’m surprised at you, John, though I do understand. I was getting a little frustrated for a minute myself. Then I did a reality check.
Is it the dead of summer? Check
Is there a giant ass heat wave depressing everybody under it? Check
Does Obama still suck and do people still know it? Check http://crayfisher.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/worst-president-ever/
Do people still have the ACA? Check?
Are the Conventions still over a month away? Check
Will Romney bring jobs back to America more so than Obama? Check
Is this election still about jobs? Check
Are Democrats still arrogant little pricks? Check
Has the GOP reasonably reformed its image in the wake of W. Bush & Obama? Check
Do I trust Romney with timing? Check
Is timing everything in politics? Check
I suspect what you want is for Romney to wear himself out to satisfy your emotional needs when it would not work to his advantage. Take another look at Bain’s record. Timing is everything Almost as important is laying a solid foundation after getting a feel for the lay of the land. That’s what Team Romney is doing right now. His better-than-Reaganeque image is being born on this family vacation. He’s got the advantage of being smarter than Reagan ever was. We can only hope he’ll be better at governing and more compassionate with the people.
This is a bet we’re all making, which means it’s a risk we’re all taking. Yes, it would be wonderful to see him crush the Odiots that support the Democratic party and demoralize Obama in the process. It would make for much summer fun while we’re all waiting around to see what happens in November. That’s gladiator BS, IMNSHO. But you bought a load with that media penalty-versus-tax thing, and quite frankly, you should know better. You know just as well as the rest of us what bullshit games the media plays. It was an aide who said that, not Romney. Romney came out again today and clarified, it’s a tax and he’s not ceding any ground on healthcare. He said the Supreme Court, the final arbiter in this country, said it was a tax, thus it’s a tax. He also said he agrees with the dissent, but he has respect for the SCOTUS. That’s more than you can say for anyone on the left anymore. He is letting the ashes settle to see what happens next.
Note, this is not an argument that Romney is an eleventy!1!! dimensional chess player. That’s not what he’s doing. He’s got a big fight coming up in the ring, and he’s busy training and eating lots of raw eggs and pasta to bulk up so he can win this thing. Take heart (your heart is lovely, ftr), it’s not over yet.
My 2 cents, USD (now worth approximately half a cent, thanks to Obama)
Hope I wasn’t too harsh. It’s damn hot.
*hate the ACA, not *have
Random notes for the night:
I’ll give you much of the comment above Lola. I admit to watching too closely and sometimes going a bit blind…the passing parade sometimes seems more important than it is.
As for the Tax V Penalty dance between the ‘etch a sketch” aid and Romney – at best that guy needs a sock stuffed in his mouth – every time he shows up Mittens has some splaining to do. OR it’s an Obama-esque dance. MR is giving himself room to keep the law and blame Obama. Much as Obama kept the bailouts and blames Bush. It’s kinda the perfect one party system acting as a two party system for the masses. I’m now convinced Obamacare is here to stay regardless of who wins…that is until it crushes itself under it’s own weight in 2015 or so. It’s unworkable without huge spending which will eventually kick off inflation.
I don’t mean to go all prison planet here but broad strokes matter – themes, agendas. It may be that Barry’s “job” was to get HC done and now he’s done. W’s prime job was setting up huge forward bases in the M.E. He did it. We’re there checking the Russians and Chinese. Iran is next via Syria I suspect. I assure you the next box to be checked is entitlements. Who can get it done? MR or Obama? AND – this is important – I’m not sure any of this is an exclusively bad thing. Painful yes. Bad in the big picture? I don’t know. S.S. simply won’t last as it is. The lock box was raided long ago.
- Yes, it’s still early in the election. Very little can solidify perceptions at this stage. At this stage most everything is fixable in a campaign. Esp in a week like this. I noted in my “round up” reading tonight that the right wing damage may not be that bad for Romney. They really do have no where else to go and know it. They hate Obamacare whether or it’s a tax or a penalty. The tax meme is more powerful and they know that too. Generally, they’re better at “the game” than the Left.
- I also want to point out a fact i did not know until today which i think matters on some level: MR and Bibi have been friends for 30 years. (MR is going to Israel shortly.) No one loathes knee jerk Israel bashing as much as me cuz if you gotta choose your gray area – CHOOSE THE ISRAELI gray area. No brainer in my book. That said one cannot discount the power Israel wields in this nation. I’m sure Bibi wants Obama gone as much as Rush Limbaugh. The relationship between Bibi and MR is worth looking into. Is the macro stage being set?
- Finally, I am studied in my noncommittal stance this election year. A 2nd Obama term would be catastrophic on nearly every front. He’d destroy what’s left of the Democrats, worsen race relations, take the nation on a horrific ride with scandals, and split us so badly blogs and ranting internet comments would not contain the rupture. Obama haters hate him in their bone marrow. Most Obama lovers won’t give a shit the day after he wins – if he wins.
But MR is yet another nightmarish front man. He’s no leader. He’s a manager. The only reason he’d be better is that the left MIGHT come to, which would help. But I’ve no illusion that Romney will change anything that matters. He won’t. Obama was “their guy” dressed up as “not their guy”, which is what the moment called for. On the other hand, Romney is not even in costume. He doesn’t need to be.
I agree with you entirely on Romney’s trip to Israel and the Bibi connection being worthy of note. I’m not on board with knee-jerk pro-Israeli rhetoric as there’s one salient fact that people often overlook: Israel has no Constitution. Until they get one that gives non-Jewish citizens, including Palestinians, equal rights, some of the criticism is well deserved. Not all, but some.
I’m also with you on Romney not being a savior. He’s of the same cloth as everyone else in Washington. But he IS a competent manager who performs for whomever he’s been hired by, and if elected, his client is The American people to some degree. It might also be Wall Street and big business, but he’ll have to serve us somehow. Obama is neither a good manager nor is he concerned with the American people. All he cares about is Obama.
Thanks for taking my comment in stride. We do have work to do while this downtime is upon us, and I do have ideas for that. Watch P&L on Friday for a post on five talking points for ACA. We need to get ahead of that game. I think you’ll like my ideas since you had a hand in advancing some of them in my mind.
Let me clarify that I am pro-Israel and that I want it to survive.
Also, my ‘hood is going ape shit with the fireworks and poor Bob Barker is beside himself.
Poor Bob.
They banned fireworks in Indianapolis due to the drought, so it’s been all quiet on the Midwestern front tonight.
We went to the White Sox game last night and saw their fireworks display which was great. But the best part of last night (other than the White Sox win) was that as we were leaving the upper deck, we looked out and saw over 100 different fireworks displays from communities that surround Chicago, stretching from Gary, IN on the southeast, to Who Knows Where on the nort, and every neighborhood, park district, and township in between. And that number was lower that last year due to the economy, the heat and the drought. It was beautiful.
Karl Rove was working with the Romney campaign; I assume he still is, maybe he’s being even more stealth. But they didn’t handle the penalty/tax issue well. Romney was right but being right is irrelevant in America today, and often as not will get people attacking you. You have to say what the crowd wants to hear and thinks is cool for the moment. And Romney’s main problem is he isn’t cool, and he’s running against the coolest President evah. But it’s summer and sweltering and it’s a weird holiday because the 4th was on a Wednesday; people have their own concerns, nobody’s paying attention to nonsense about a penalty/tax nobody really gets because it’s taking so long to kick in it seems more like the launch of a new video game than anything approaching real legislation.
Speaking of Bibi:
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/04/video-netanyahus-independence-day-greetings-to-america-from-israel/
When was the last time we had a leader with the courage of his/her convictions ? Agreement with such a person is not the point, Leadership is the point.
wow. Love that clip.