JONATHAN CHAIT APRIL 4, 2011
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This doesn't strike me as a really powerful push-back against the charge that the Affordable Care Act strongly resembles Romneycare:
Mr. Romney gave his standard response, saying that if he were elected president, he would work to repeal the health care law passed under President Obama and grant waivers allowing states to opt out of it. A few moments later, he introduced a new line when asked whether he had the strength to aggressively challenge Mr. Obama.
“He does me the great favor of saying that I was the inspiration of his plan. If that’s the case, why didn’t you call me?” Mr. Romney said. “Why didn’t you ask what was wrong? Why didn’t you ask if this was an experiment, what worked and what didn’t?”
Well, Obama did hire the economist who designed Romneycare to design his plan. Why should he have also asked Romney, given that Romney was positioning himself to run against Obama in 2012?
Meanwhile, David Frum has a clever observation about Romney's stiff attempts to play the demagogue:
Romney has a tic of inserting caveats into his campaign boilerplate. For example, he blisteringly attacked President Obama for canceling the European missile defense program. Here was something the Russians wanted, and President Obama gave it away without getting anything in return. Yet Romney’s critique contained a clause to this effect, “Even if you wanted to cancel the program anyway…” Again and again, Romney would salt statements that his audience wanted to hear with little mental asterisks noting that maybe what they wanted to hear was not exactly accurate, or wise, or in accordance with his own private opinions. Ironically it is this unwillingness to do the full 100% pander that creates the impression of “inauthenticity.” A less honest man would seem more authentic, at least for the moment.
7 comments
Sometimes, words just don't do it: http://arthropoda.southernfriedscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/facepalm.jpg
- miceelf
April 4, 2011 at 10:46am
"A less honest man would seem more authentic". Yes, exactly. Because what the Tea-Party Republicans want is somebody who'll lie to them, like Limbaugh and Beck and Palin and Gingrich, and tell them they can have all their services AND a smaller Federal Government AND a large military AND lower taxes all at the same time. So, if you tell them what they want to believe, without caveats and weasel-words, you SOUND authentic and will get their enthusiastic support. Until you can't deliver. Then they'll toss you over for the next demagogue. On the other hand, if such transparent pandering sickens you so you DO put in caveats, they may toss you immediately.
- AllanL5
April 4, 2011 at 10:58am
There Romney goes again, shooting squirrels.
- Nusholtz
April 4, 2011 at 11:52am
The taffy entity known as Mitt Romney is stretched taut between the poles of the Tea Party and the actual world. It isn't a pretty sight.
- liberalref
April 4, 2011 at 11:54am
- Most people have one reply to a compliment and it is not scornful. He may not be a dead man walking but every time he opens his mouth he shrinks before our eyes. Romney said, “He does me the great favor of saying that I was the inspiration of his plan." favor 1. an attitude of approval or liking. 2 an act of kindness beyond what is due or usual. Romney is either disingenuous, bad at sarcasm or too paranoid and can't accept a compliment at face value. EX: Romney's neighbor returns from a vacation in Park City, Utah and give him a nod, "It wasn't my first choice but Mitt deserves credit for making that a great Winter vacation stop." Mitt replies, "You should have ask me first. It was great in 2002 for the Olympics but it really sucks now.".
- michaelg
April 4, 2011 at 12:01pm
A startling, almost surreal metaphor, lib ref. I think I'm going to remember that one.
- ironyroad
April 4, 2011 at 12:37pm
I agree irony, lib ref. has won great honors with this one. I have, hope you don't mind, lib ref. copied this into my most notable internet quotes file.
- kras
April 5, 2011 at 7:08am