HuffPost's Howard Fineman appeared Monday on MSNBC's 'The Rachel Maddow Show' to discuss the 2012 GOP presidential field. Mitt Romney was the focus of the conversation.
Discussing Romney in relation to some other politicians, Fineman explained, "one thing you can say about Mitt Romney though, Rachel, is there is no ick-factor there either in terms of jewelry and sex, I don't think. The ick-factor with Mitt is that he's flip-flopped a million ways on everything and he comes off, as Andrew Sullivan famously said, as making plastic look genuine."
Fineman went on to describe Romney as "like the remainder man of the Bush-era Republican establishment."
Summing up Romney's problems as a candidate, Fineman said that Romney is "an establishment guy in an anti-establishment year. He inherits the support of a lot of people who have been around politics probably for way too long. He has changed his positions on innumerable issues. And he's a terrible campaigner. Other than that he's a great frontrunner."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-loses-bin-laden-bounce-romney-on-the-move-among-gop-contenders/2011/06/06/AGT5wiKH_print.html
Also, Obama has absolutely no room to talk about flip flopping. Has he closed gitmo yet? He said he wouldn't extend the Bush tax cuts, then he did but now he says he won't again. He said raising the debt ceiling was a sign of leadership failure and voted to to raise it. Now it's incredibly important to our nation and he said he regrets his actions.
(1) 'I'm a strong believer in stating your position & not wavering.'
----or ----'I changed my position....(many times Mitt...many times...read on)
(2)' If Massachusetts succeeds ...(Healthcare), --- that will be a model for the nation.' ...or is it...
'What works in one state may not be the answer for another.'
(3) 'I like mandates. The mandates work.' ---oops...
'I think it's unconstitutional on the 10th Amendment front.'
(4) 'Those... paying taxes & not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship.' ---- wait...
'Amnesty only led to more people coming into the country.'
(5) 'Based on the numbers of American Muslims... I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified.' ...eek...I'm Mormon...maybe I believe ---
'A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith...
(6) 'I respect & will protect a woman's right to choose.' ....NOPE...
'I never really called myself pro-choice.'
(7) 'I don't line up with the NRA.....oh, I forgot....
'I'm a member of the [NRA]
Mitt said yesterday that Sarah Palin is bringing excitment to the Republican field...can't wait until next week when he calls her out and says she's a total idiot and embarassement to the Republican Party....
What would you believe?
Other than that, the guy is a lost cause as a Presidential candidate. He has no solid position on anything, i.e. flip flopping, which makes it impossible to take him seriously on anything. He's an establishment candidate running uphill against a wave of anti-establishment fury in the GOP. He's a poor speech giver and poor campaigner who lacks inspiration. In short, he comes across as a photogenic, but bland model for a stock photo of a GOP candidate, rather than a leader.
As to his being a lost cause presidential candidate, he's ahead of Obama in the polls.
As for getting too involved at this stage of the campaign, I don't. It's too early and the field is wide open.
As for the anti-estalibhsment fury in the GOP, that exists only in the minds of liberals. You guys couldn't even read the tea leaves of the Tea Party, scoffing it off as an astro-turf fly-by-night mob. You were wrong about them, and you're basically wrong about everything else about the GOP and conservative movement.
If I were you, I'd change my thinking that Obama is unbeatable.
"he comes off [...] as making plastic look genuine."
Pretty much. ;)
New Post-ABC numbers show Obama ... is in a dead heat with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who formally announced his 2012 candidacy last week, making jobs and the economy the central issues in his campaign.
Among all Americans, Obama and Romney are knotted at 47 percent each, and among registered voters, the former governor is numerically ahead, 49 percent to 46 percent.
Overall, about six in 10 of those surveyed give Obama negative marks on the economy and the deficit. Significantly, nearly half strongly disapprove of his performance in these two crucial areas. Nearly two-thirds of political independents disapprove of the president%u2019s handling of the economy, including %u2014 for the first time %u2014 a slim majority who do so strongly.
In another indicator of rapidly shifting views on economic issues, 45 percent trust congressional Republicans over the president when it comes to dealing with the economy, an 11-point improvement for the GOP since March."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-loses-bin-laden-bounce-romney-on-the-move-among-gop-contenders/2011/06/06/AGT5wiKH_print.html
To take it a step further, why would we want a businessman running our nation at this time, when businesses and banks clearly caused the economic troubles we're in?
And stop blaming businesses and banks for causing the economic problems. That was Congress who caused the problems when it forced to businesses and banks to take risks they never normally would have. They forced them to take risks, and then when it backfired, they bailed them out. Take a REAL step further and see it for what it truly is: businesses/banks are accountable for the bottom line (profit), ergo they do not take risks like giving loans to people who don't work! If they take those kinds of risks, they will fail and go bankrupt and they're out of business and out of jobs.
But if you have a Congress that demands you take those risks and then bails you out when the business DOES fail, then there's no accountability or responsibility and Wall Street gets in line for its own government checks (bailout).
But, having said that, one has to be realistic. If the you get the nomination, and the economy tanks, and unemployment stays about the same, or goes up, then Barack is indeed vulnerable to almost ANY Repub candidate-even you. This is not a scenario that is impossible to happen, there is some probability the economy will falter, and if it does, all bets are off.