Mitt Romney is the worst national politician I’ve ever seen (M. Cohen)

Oregano_State

nagilum2 wrote: »

Welcome to US politics, where the special interests and donors drive the positions of the candidates. This is far from unique to Romney. Indeed Obama is one of the worst offenders.

I'm aware of what your point was. And there's no need to welcome me to US politics, just because I'm new to posting here doesn't mean I'm ignorant.

And I know that in the US the official party line in both the dems and republicans is partially driven by the interests of the corporations who fund their campaigns, through Super PACs etc.

It's a by-product of their system that companies who pour huge amounts of money into political campaigns expect a return on their 'investment' in the form of policy and even wars.

I don't agree with it, it's just the way it is.

As far as I know though, Obama has only recently started using a super PAC, and relied mainly on private donations for his 2008 campaign (not 100% sure on that part).

That's not to say he's not succeptible to influence form corporations, I'm just wondering where you're getting your information saying he's "one of the worst offenders".

Denerick

Oregano_State wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/18/romney-secret-video-government-dependent


This is absolutely ridiculous. If he manages to overcome this it will be a miracle.

This just confirms my (any many others to be fair) opinion of him as an elitist, who's main aims are to cut taxes for his mega-rich friends and business associates, and wage anothe rwar in the middle east to appease the arms manufacturers who fund him.

How can so many Americans not see him for who he truly is?

Watch the great American spin machine go into overdrive over the next couple of days. A huge chunk of the country simply believe their own facts, irrespective of what the reality actually is, so as ever this will only really impact the 6 or 7% or so undecided voters.

Brian?

An interesting read. IMO the Romeny campaign is bizarre to say the least. It seems even people in his own camp agree.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81280.html?hp=t1&wpisrc=nl_wonk

Politico leans left, I know. It's not relevant.

Amerika

briankeating wrote: »

An interesting read. IMO the Romeny campaign is bizarre to say the least. It seems even people in his own camp agree.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81280.html?hp=t1&wpisrc=nl_wonk

Politico leans left, I know. It's not relevant.

Not that it’s not relevant, it’s just the tempest in a teapot du jour.

Brian?

Amerika wrote: »

Not that it’s not relevant, it’s just the tempest in a teapot du jour.

You're going to have to explain that witty quip to me.

Amerika

briankeating wrote: »

You're going to have to explain that witty quip to me.

Tempest in a Teapot (a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion) Du Jour (made for a particular day).

Brian?

Amerika wrote: »

Tempest in a Teapot (a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion) Du Jour (made for a particular day).

Wonderful, I'm illuminated.

Which small event has been exaggerated? I posted a critique of Romneys entire campaign. In historical terms Romenys campaign may well prove to be a "storm in a teacup", but right now it's kind of a big deal.

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

Tempest in a Teapot (a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion) Du Jour (made for a particular day).

Great example of the spin operation at work. 'The liberal media up to their old tricks again, accurately quoting somebody verbatim as they diss 47% of the electorate'. What Romney was really saying was that each and every American is precious, and that the evil government panders to a certain segment of the population. He 'obviously' didn't actually say that 47% of the population were basically slaves and will vote democrat no matter what.

It takes a special kind of kool aid to ignore the huge damage Romney has done to his campaign with this. If this doesn't turn off the independents I'll have completely lost any faith I might still have in the ability of the American Republic to deal with its inherent contradictions in any meaningful way.

joseph brand

Gaffe-prone Mitt Romney asks: why don't airplane windows open?

Maybe his next Lear Jet will have a soft-top. He's an ideas man. Self-made too.

"When you have a fire in an aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly, there's no – and you can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem.

Magic underpants and electric windows on airplanes? Romney 2012.

joseph brand

This Romney clip is straight out of The Office (embarrassing). Joe Scarborough (Republican) does a double face palm and says "sweet jesus!" Cringefest!

"Roll it there Roisin."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SclDiN-lcYE

Amerika

This just in:

2Q Gross Domestic Product is revised down to 1.25% from 1.7%.
http://www.businessinsider.com/final-q3-gdp-2012-9

And Durable orders drop 13.2%.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/27/us-usa-economy-durables-idUSBRE88Q0S720120927

Yet Obama remains ahead in the polls while Romney continues to be raked over the coals by the majority of the media. I've got to ask... What has the government and media been putting in our water?

Perhaps Mitt Romney is the worst national "politician" we’ve ever seen, but it’s becoming apparent Barack Obama is the worst president we’ve ever seen. I guess it’s lucky for him his excellent "polliticking" compensates for his horrible leadership.

Oregano_State

Amerika wrote: »

This just in:

2Q Gross Domestic Product is revised down to 1.25% from 1.7%.
http://www.businessinsider.com/final-q3-gdp-2012-9

And Durable orders drop 13.2%.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/27/us-usa-economy-durables-idUSBRE88Q0S720120927

Yet Obama remains ahead in the polls while Romney continues to be raked over the coals by the majority of the media. I've got to ask... What has the government and media been putting in our water?

Perhaps Mitt Romney is the worst national "politician" we’ve ever seen, but it’s becoming apparent Barack Obama is the worst president we’ve ever seen. I guess it’s lucky for him his excellent "polliticking" compensates for his horrible leadership.

Amerika

Not even close! And once again... Bush isn't running, although the Obama supporters somehow thinks he is.

Carcharodon

Not sure where to post this thought, dont want to start another thread.

Romney has been doing a lot of campaigning stating that he is going to be tougher on China, calling on unfair trade practices while Obama has called him out on this, calling on Romneys investments in China.

Obama this week has blocked a proposed ownership of a wind farm in Oregon by a Chinese company due to national security risks as it is next to a naval base.

My question to the right is, since they are against everything Obama does, are they for or against this, very curious as to their reaction.

Overheal

Amerika wrote: »

Not even close!

Started 2 foreign wars, turned a surplus into a deficit, while slashing taxes for the wealthy, ruining our image abroad, reading books upside down, putting food on people's families, etc.

I mean, has Obama had a shoe thrown at him yet?

InTheTrees

Dont get me wrong I'm no fan of the drunken moron bush, but at least he was a politician so he had some slight ability to appeal to people.

Romney on the other hand is just completely out of touch. He's a financier. And he talks with a manner that appears that he considers his listeners to be way beneath him, almost like talking to children. Its like he's talking to the servants.

Which is also why the 47% tape was so revealing because he was speaking quite fluently and clearly to those people.

joseph brand

InTheTrees wrote: »

Dont get me wrong I'm no fan of the drunken moron bush, but at least he was a politician so he had some slight ability to appeal to people.

Romney on the other hand is just completely out of touch. He's a financier. And he talks with a manner that appears that he considers his listeners to be way beneath him, almost like talking to children. Its like he's talking to the servants.

Which is also why the 47% tape was so revealing because he was speaking quite fluently and clearly to those people.

In all seriousness, I would expect no better from a mormon. America having a president who is in a cult? They have plenty of room for improvement.

Romney's religion and wealth have left him lacking basic social skills, integrity and character. AFAIK, there's only a very small minority in the US who could actually relate to him on any level.

Brian?

nagilum2 wrote: »

Nice attempt at a diversion from joseph brand's racist statement but in fairness, if someone on these boards had said either of the following, charges of racism from all sides would follow and the person might even get a ban:




The double standard is amazing.

Nit picking I know, but Mormonism, Judaism and Islam are Religions not races. It's sectarianism and not racism to judge someone based on their religion.

nagilum2

briankeating wrote: »

Nit picking I know, but Mormonism, Judaism and Islam are Religions not races. It's sectarianism and not racism to judge someone based on their religion.

Yes, and actually I agree completely with you. I don't think it should really be called "racism".

However in the past when I've brought up this very point on these boards, I've been directed to the official UN human rights position which subsumes racism, sectarianism, and xenophobia under the same convention on on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, adopted in 1966.

Brian?

nagilum2 wrote: »

Yes, and actually I agree completely with you. I don't think it should really be called "racism".

However in the past when I've brought up this very point on these boards, I've been directed to the official UN human rights position which subsumes racism, sectarianism, and xenophobia under the same convention on on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, adopted in 1966.

I never knew that, thanks.

I would also add that having a pop at Romney for being a Mormon is a cheap shot IMO, there is plenty about the man to dislike without going there.

Mr.Micro

briankeating wrote: »

I would also add that having a pop at Romney for being a Mormon is a cheap shot IMO, there is plenty about the man to dislike without going there.

Indeed, the Mormon part is his good side.:D

RGM

I disagree with Obama and Democrats on just about everything. But, as an American, I'm ashamed that Romney is even in the race.

On election day, I will drag myself to the booth, vote all third-party, then go home and cry.

Amerika

As an American I’m pretty hyped on the Romney/Ryan ticket. On election day I will be voting enthusiastically and avoid walking past tall buildings with open windows in urban areas... if the polls keep tracking in Romney’s favor now till then that is.

Be like Nutella

just in case anyone forgot... Mitt Romney got all the way to this point... without fukcing explaining his big plan yet?

How is that even possible?

It's an indictment on the entire American media ...and public... how was he not destroyed over this? how the hell can somebody run on a mystery plan? can anyone tell me how his plan works? I'm open minded I swear to god if anyone can just explain how his plan works succinctly with evidence from what he has said I will gladly admit he's the man for the job. It's the most mind-bendingly ridiculous thing. His campaign has been the most fake embarrassing valueless flip flopping characterless joke I've ever seen in my life... Obama's hope and change bolox was bad enough in 2008 but at least he can tell you what his fiscal plan is going forward!
We're all fools. Romney should have been utterly destroyed in this campaign. He stands for absolutely nothing. How can anyone support this guy?
His only attribute ... literally his entire campaign value... his worth... his whole point is very simply nothing more than...'I am not Barack Obama'. Most American's are so embarrassed at the 8 years of George W Moron Bush... how can they possibly try and top that by voting in a guy who won't even tell them how he plans on doing the job!!!!!! Would any republican here like to attempt to rationalize choosing Romney based on his plan? or for the last time can we have some of yol come out of the closet and admit once and for all that this eejit : ) is just 'not Obama' and that's why you support him... fat chance I suppose I'm just givin yol a chance to come clean and cleans your soul and stop pretending you like and support the guy based on his character and his plan.. of which he has neither. I think that's me last rant on this haha I'm just dumbfounded as to how he got this far without being annihilated over NOT EXPLAINING HIS GOD DAMN PLAN!

right.. I'm done : ) Hope the election is clean and hope Obama wins.. and afterwards I hope people take a second to realize how close Romney came to getting the most important job on earth based on complete tripe and nonsense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXhO_-e3bM

The Bishop!

Be like Nutella wrote: »

can anyone tell me how his plan works?

Nope. I think it's something to do with blind faith in his own awesomeness or something.

Here's what he said himself in the 47% speech:

"If it looks like I'm going to win, the markets will be happy. If it looks like the president's going to win, the markets should not be terribly happy. It depends of course which markets you're talking about, which types of commodities and so forth, but my own view is that if we win on November 6th, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. We'll see capital come back and we'll see -- without actually doing anything -- we'll actually get a boost in the economy."


As Paul Krugman put it, Romney is effectively saying, "I am the confidence fairy!".

Joseph Stiglitz describes it as based on magic.

nagilum2

The Bishop! wrote: »

Nope. I think it's something to do with blind faith in his own awesomeness or something.

To be fair I think the exact same thing was true of Obama in 2008. His entire platform was "I'm not Bush" + "Hope" + "Change"

joseph brand

Originally Posted by Robindch in A&A.

Proving He’s Not Fit to Lead, Romney Blames Others for His Failure

Mitt is not an impressive man.

http://www.politicususa.com/proving-...s-failure.html

Originally Posted by Politicus USA
The numbers don’t look so great for Romney right now. No matter what the spin is out there about a close race, this race isn’t close if you go state by state, as the Obama campaign figured out long ago.

Unable to deny these numbers internally, even as they spin to win, Romney surrogates are busy blaming Hurricane Sandy and Chris Christie, which is really the perfect way for them to flame out. It’s sort of like when you break up with someone because you just don’t trust them, and after you break up with them they prove you more right than you could have imagined.

Romney has never been a good candidate. Not only was he never loved by his own base and not only did he have to steal wins in the primaries, but he has completely changed what he stands for in the interim. He’s a constant and chaotic rewrite that his own campaign couldn’t keep up with. Romney never did release his tax returns (we got bits and pieces of two years of amended returns or returns they admitted were manipulated to pay more in taxes). He never did do the math for his Bush on steroids tax plan. He was outed as holding half the country in contempt. He made Sarah Palin look like a knowledgeable candidate on his summer foreign relations disaster tour.

Romney won’t give interviews or answer questions. During his entire summer of gaffes tour, he only answered 6 questions from the press. His campaign shut down all that “access” when the candidate proved his own worst enemy. Then he deployed his wife Ann as his “secret weapon” only to learn that her whining and imperial attitudes rendered her a weapon of mass campaign destruction. Who can forget “this is hard” as Americans starved or her suggestions that her husband had sort of served in the military by living lavishly in Paris while others died in the war he actively supported.

There was “Russia is our number one geopolitical foe” and putting words in the Australian Foreign Minister’s mouth in order to attack Obama. Romney managed to get the Palestinians and the Israelis to agree on one thing: He is a racist. That was after he insulted the British and left England in a flurry of humiliating headlines best remembered for their scathing beat down of his clownery. He was compared unfavorably to Sarah Palin and called a twit. Crowds mocked him.

Then we got Romney’s binders full of women, general misogyny, “if she’s going to work” tells and him standing by the man who said pregnancy from rape was a gift from God. Not cool. There was his Obamacare slur that got him booed by the NAACP. His busing in of black people to attend that rally. His fear of the ladies on The View. His temper tantrums like the one he aimed at the poor Univsion producers. There was his failure to mention the troops at the convention and then the doubling down that he mentioned what was “important.” Still wondering why he doesn’t do interviews anymore?

Oh, and Romney’s greatest achievement this cycle — lying so dangerously about auto production being moved to China that he forced GM and Chrylser to correct him on the record, over and over and over again. He’s still telling that lie. So it should be a given that seeing a potential fail on the horizon, Romney and his surrogates do what Republicans have come to do best. Blame others. They never look at their policies or candidates and think, gee, maybe we got it wrong. Nope.

It’s always everyone else’s fault. And so Chris Christie is being threatened that if Governor Romney wins, he won’t forget (nice mafia tone to that one) the betrayal of Christie helping his state and praising the President for a job well done for the people. So unfair of Christie to refuse to aid Romney in his delusions of grandeur. Doesn’t Christie know what really matters in this world? This is hard, Governor! And Sandy. Who knows what revenge the GOP has planned for Sandy for screwing them over so. Others lost lives and property but Sandy will be best remembered in Republican land as the unfair stealer of toys for the boys.

According to a PPP poll, Romney’s favorable ratings dropped by a net 7 points in the aftermath of Sandy, while Obama’s rose 6 points. While there’s no way of knowing if that drop is related specifically to the storm, perhaps instead of having a “relief” campaign rally staged with props as Sandy ravaged New Jersey, Romney could have acted presidential, even from the sidelines. Obama did it in 2008 when the financial crisis hit. Then candidate Obama proved himself worthy of leading by rolling up his sleeves and putting the country first. Sandy wasn’t destiny for Romney. He could have asked the Red Cross what they needed and set about really trying to make that happen instead of posing with canned goods the Red Cross said they didn’t want. He could have praised Christie and Obama and demonstrated his alleged bipartisanship. He could have taken the high road, but then, this is Mitt Romney.

There were options open to Romney that he chose to ignore. No, it wasn’t ideal for him as the challenger, but he could have made it work. Instead, he chose to make cheap shots from the sidelines while complaining about Chris Christie not being his bestie anymore. Maybe if Romney had treated Christie with a modicum of courtesy after he knew he was picking Ryan as his VP, Christie would have felt his loyalty had been returned. But no. Romney left Christie hanging. Another bad decision from Romney, but more than that, an indication that he doesn’t know how to build consensus and loyalty.

If Romney manages somehow to make magical math happen on Tuesday, surely he will take all of the credit. But should he fail, he will take none of the blame. That, in and of itself, should prove he’s unfit to lead.

The Romneys paraded themselves like a couple of Monarchs, waiting to rule over those lazy moochers, who don't understand how 'hard' they have it. Admittedly, Willard wasn't the worst out of a bad bunch, but the memory of the other candidates who lied to GOP supporters, telling them that god had told each of them they would win if they ran, is fresh in my mind.
Lying to voters is insulting and offensive, or at least it should be. But we've seen GOP supporters who believe Obama is a Kenyan, a communist a muslim and who knows what else.

Furthermore, Mitt's contempt, or lack of understanding of women, by supporting 'rape is a gift from god Mourdock' hasn't helped him. He should know better, what with his 'binders full of women', and maybe, his wife.

If he really is doing well in the polls, it's very surprising, since he's alienated 47% of Americans, most blacks, women and IIRC Latinos, who favour Obama.

joseph brand

nagilum2 wrote: »

To be fair I think the exact same thing was true of Obama in 2008. His entire platform was "I'm not Bush" + "Hope" + "Change"

To be fair:
He isn't Bush.
He gave them Hope.
and
He has brought change.

Perhaps not a lot of change, but you can put that down to obstructionism, and Mitch McConnell.
Are we allowed mention Bush, or was that too long ago? GOP supporters loathe to mention his name, which explains his absence at the RNC.

nagilum2

joseph brand wrote: »

To be fair:
He isn't Bush.
He gave them Hope.
and
He has brought change.

Perhaps not a lot of change, but you can put that down to obstructionism, and Mitch McConnell.
Are we allowed mention Bush, or was that too long ago? GOP supporters loathe to mention his name, which explains his absence at the RNC.

Obama is not as unpopular as Bush, but he is still very unpopular with some. And many Democrats are disillusioned with him.

It shouldn't be surprising that Romney copied a playbook that won last time. He is a business guy after all.

aloyisious

I listen to Romney and it sound's like he's taken a leaf from Clinton's book "It's the economy, dummy". I also heard that one of his Presidential plans is to scrap FEMA, which would go down a treat in the East Coast states right now.

I'm left wondering who exactly Romney mean's when he tell's the voters he will raise pay scales, given that he is a businessman who's income comes from ensuring production is done at minimum cost. There's also the Obamacare Plan:

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=does%20the%20obama%20healthcare%20put%20extra%20cost%20on%20employers&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDEQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fobamacar-has-put-employer-based-health-care-plans-on-a-slippery-slope-2012-7&ei=RAKZUJbEDImnhAerg4H4DQ&usg=AFQjCNFVA1w0mpLmMCNkIueLlZ0vp7DEfw