He Built It - Romney's House of Cards Reputation

[Lightrise]

I'm still undecided who did more to destroy their reputation in a presidential campaign, Mitt Romney or John McCain? In Romney's case which of the following did the greatest damage?

1. "Corporations are people, my friend… of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend." — Romney said to a heckler at the Iowa State Fair who suggested that taxes should be raised on corporations as part of balancing the budget (August 2011)

2. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." – Romney said while advocating for consumer choice in health insurance plans (January 2012)

3. "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there." — Romney said during a Republican debate (January 2012)

4. "He [Obama] says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people." — Romney at a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa,. ( June 8, 2012)

5. "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back." – Romney said about the American auto industry, despite having written a New York Times op-ed in 2008 titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," in which he said if GM, Ford and Chrysler got a government bailout "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye"

6. "I'll tell you what, ten-thousand bucks? $10,000 bet?" – Romney, attempting to make a wager with Rick Perry during a Republican presidential debate to settle a disagreement about health care (December 2011)

7. "I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." —Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.

8. "[My wife] drives a couple of Cadillacs." – Romney, campaigning for president in Michigan (February 2012)

9. "I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. That's the America I love." – Romney (January 2012)

10. "PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air." — Romney in 2007, responding to criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals following revelations that he had once put the family dog in a carrier and strapped it to the roof of his car during a 12-hour road trip.

Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articl...hVPXxdxeOfQ.99


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The big question now is will Romney be forced to address this issue two weeks from now in the first debate. They will certainly try to get beyond this before then. Is there a possibility he can come up with anything for the debate that would be new? Wouldn't it be far to risky not to bet the farm now and make a formal 'Apology Speech'.

[patteeu]

Only dumb people would think less of Romney for saying any of those. Could you get any more superficial?

[Rain Man]

Is it wrong that 5, 6, 7, and 10 are the only ones I think are wrong or misguided (10 being the one that's terrible)?

[vailpass]

The class envy that obama has made a cornerstone of his campaign is sadly evident.

[La literatura]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Is it wrong that 5, 6, 7, and 10 are the only ones I think are wrong or misguided (10 being the one that's terrible)?

I don't think so. The only one I think is bad is 5 and 3. Other ones are just kind of funny. I actually don't mind that he's rich and out-of-touch with 99.9% of Americans.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Is it wrong that 5, 6, 7, and 10 are the only ones I think are wrong or misguided (10 being the one that's terrible)?

I think you're wrong if you think 7 is misguided or wrong. I assume you haven't seen the video where he says this. It was a joke he told at a small campaign gathering (probably a New Hampshire diner or some other similar venue). The joke was well-received by the people he was with. It was a light-hearted and friendly moment.

I'm not sure what the context of 10 was.

[Lightrise]

Originally Posted by Literature

I don't think so. The only one I think is bad is 5 and 3. Other ones are just kind of funny. I actually don't mind that he's rich and out-of-touch with 99.9% of Americans.

It's been a hoot I'll agree with you on that.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Is it wrong that 5, 6, 7, and 10 are the only ones I think are wrong or misguided (10 being the one that's terrible)?

Originally Posted by Literature

I don't think so. The only one I think is bad is 5 and 3. Other ones are just kind of funny. I actually don't mind that he's rich and out-of-touch with 99.9% of Americans.

5 is the one that seems potentially wrong to me. I'd be interested to know what he was really saying there.

[Aries Walker]

1 was understandable, given his beliefs and the context of what he was saying.
2 was taken completely out of context.
3 was pretty bad.
4 was bad choice of words.
5 was completely misguided.
6 was a terrible idea, and indicative of how differently he thinks of money than the average American does.
7 was him making a joke; he was chuckling as he said it.
8 was a bad talkie-time decision, and just highlighted his unbelievable wealth.
9 was probably the result of long campaign-trail hours (it happens).
10 was bad.

Bottom line: He's delivered some doozies, but his record also gets padded by the partisan opposition. That said, it's politics at the highest level; it's a rough business, get used to it.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I think you're wrong if you think 7 is misguided or wrong. I assume you haven't seen the video where he says this. It was a joke he told at a small campaign gathering (probably a New Hampshire diner or some other similar venue). The joke was well-received by the people he was with. It was a light-hearted and friendly moment.

I'm not sure what the context of 10 was.

I haven't seen the context for any of these, so I'm just going off of the original post.

I vaguely heard in 10 that he did a long road trip at one point and put his dog in a crate and tied it to the top of the car. I've only read one reference to it, but if true then that's pretty bad.

5 seems dishonest unless there's other context.

6 just seems kind of ill-advised, but not toxic. Hey, we all know he's rich.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I haven't seen the context for any of these, so I'm just going off of the original post.

I vaguely heard in 10 that he did a long road trip at one point and put his dog in a crate and tied it to the top of the car. I've only read one reference to it, but if true then that's pretty bad.

5 seems dishonest unless there's other context.

6 just seems kind of ill-advised, but not toxic. Hey, we all know he's rich.

Number 7 appears to be at a location in Florida, early in the campaign, and I think he's talking to a group of unemployed people. The joke about being unemployed is right at the beginning so you don't need to watch the whole thing:

[Cave Johnson]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Only dumb people would think less of Romney for saying any of those. Could you get any more superficial?

Your 57 state fixation says hi.

[InChiefsHell]

Originally Posted by patteeu

5 is the one that seems potentially wrong to me. I'd be interested to know what he was really saying there.

http://www.examiner.com/article/romn...-campaign-stop

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHell

http://www.examiner.com/article/romn...-campaign-stop

Thanks. OK, so Romney called for a managed bankruptcy of the automakers long before Obama took office and essentially implemented a similar approach. Romney's self-congratulations seems like quite a bit of puffery, but as far as the essence is concerned, i.e. that he was calling for a reorganization rather than a straightforward bailout for a long time before it finally happened, he's right. I don't think he deserves the credit he's giving himself, but I don't see why this is terribly damning to his reputation either.

[Aries Walker]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Number 7 appears to be at a location in Florida, early in the campaign, and I think he's talking to a group of unemployed people. The joke about being unemployed is right at the beginning so you don't need to watch the whole thing:

Yes, exactly. He laughs. The whole room laughs. Everybody laughs.

Until it's reproduced in print only, and there are no laughs. Then it seems worse than it really is.

It bothers me when either side does this, but it's been going on for our whole 230-plus years, if not longer, so okay.