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Romney tries out the face of a fighter
St. Petersburg Times ^ | January 24, 2012 | John Romano

Posted on 01/24/2012 2:09:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

He felt the need to fight, and I suppose that makes sense.

Mitt Romney had been embarrassed in South Carolina and was tumbling in Florida, so he woke up Monday morning with menace on his mind.

He attacked Newt Gingrich for a terrible deed, and then accused him of an awful thing. The details aren't as important as the apparent desperation behind the strategy.

This was an aggressive Romney. An indignant Romney. A defiant Romney. Which meant you could now add fighter to the list of personas he has tried on.

Personally, I'd prefer to finally see an authentic Romney.

........And when it was all done, I'm just not sure Romney's roundhouses helped solve his greatest problem.

In a lot of ways, Romney is the Republican version of Al Gore. The son of a politician who surpassed his father in fame, but never quite graduated to beloved.

He's polite, looks great in pinstripes and has spent most of his life in campaign mode, but he's not the first guy you would choose to ride shotgun on a college football road trip.

And this is where Romney has a problem compared to Gingrich. It is not because of income tax returns, and it is not because of Bain Capital. It is because Gingrich seems authentic, and Romney seems vaguely robotic.

.....The difference is Gingrich can do the conservative walk and chew gum at the same time.

Yet even as Gingrich was surging up the polls in Florida, some of the biggest names in the Republican party were wadding up their cocktail napkins to fling at him.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Gingrich's claim that he was paid to be a "historian'' for Freddie Mac was "just BS.'' New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Gingrich "an embarrassment.'' Ann Coulter called him the "least electable'' of the remaining candidates.

That should be enough. Between surrogate attacks, super PAC ads and the extensive skeleton collection in Gingrich's closet, that should really be enough.

Romney can take his swipes in speeches and debates, and he can raise his eyebrows at the appropriate moment for a good laugh. But playing pit bull for the camera is not his style.

And while voters may not be versed in every debate topic, they're pretty good at spotting a candidate who isn't committed to what he is saying....

[Full article at Source]


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fighter; gingrich2012; gopprimary; romney2012
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The conservative base wants Al Swearengen not Al Gore.

They have concluded that they need Newt not Mitt to turn the ship.

Last night Ann Coulter reinacted Linda Blair's memorable scene in the Exocist as she railed against Newt. Bill O'Reilly couldn't -- or didn't want to -- get a word in edge-wise.

1 posted on 01/24/2012 2:09:14 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
In a lot of ways, Romney is the Republican version of Al Gore. The son of a politician who surpassed his father in fame, but never quite graduated to beloved.

Ouch, that'll leave a mark.

2 posted on 01/24/2012 2:33:12 AM PST by sockmonkey
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To: sockmonkey
I was embarrassed for Romney for his continued lame attack on Newt.

I turned over and went to sleep while he was still railing on him.

Nrwt kept his cool when I would've punched the son of a bitch.

3 posted on 01/24/2012 2:51:51 AM PST by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Coulter was unhinged. She wasn’t saying anything provocative, or particularly interesting. Just vicious jabs in the style of Myth Romney.


4 posted on 01/24/2012 2:54:25 AM PST by oblomov
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
He attacked Newt Gingrich for a terrible deed, and then accused him of an awful thing. The details aren't as important as the apparent desperation behind the strategy.

The details are important. The facts will come out, with context, and it may be that Romney's allegations are false or misleading. I haven't personally done the research, but my gut sense is that Romney was lying his ass off, and that is a massive character flaw. Desperation is no excuse.

5 posted on 01/24/2012 3:10:21 AM PST by Cboldt
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
This was an aggressive Romney. An indignant Romney. A defiant Romney. Which meant you could now add fighter to the list of personas he has tried on.


6 posted on 01/24/2012 3:19:28 AM PST by Nervous Tick (Trust in God, but row away from the rocks!)
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To: oblomov
Coulter was unhinged. She wasn’t saying anything provocative, or particularly interesting. Just vicious jabs in the style of Myth Romney.

Ann Coulter (50) reminded me of Debbie Wasserman Schultz (45) and in ways other than their contemporary ages and hair color.


7 posted on 01/24/2012 3:28:37 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

“Believe you me, I can be a fighter. I mean, if it a fighter you want, I’m your man. Honest, tell me what you want. Just let me be president! OK?”


8 posted on 01/24/2012 3:43:49 AM PST by Hugin ("Most time a man'll tell you his bad intentions if you listen and let yourself hear"--Open Range)
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To: sockmonkey

Algore supported Romney on the AGW issue. There are articles about this.

I really enjoyed Myth’s response last night about how he is conservative: he led his answer by saying he had children and raised a family.


9 posted on 01/24/2012 4:11:02 AM PST by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto.)
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To: Hugin

Mitt sounds like a whining little boy.


10 posted on 01/24/2012 4:13:35 AM PST by bmwcyle (I am ready to serve Jesus on Earth because the GOP failed again)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Last night Ann Coulter reinacted Linda Blair's memorable scene

I watched the whole thing, and I WAS waiting for her head to start spinning around...

11 posted on 01/24/2012 4:13:35 AM PST by Jim Noble ("The Germans: At your feet, or at your throat" - Winston Churchill)
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To: combat_boots

“I really enjoyed Myth’s response last night about how he is conservative: he led his answer by saying he had children and raised a family.”

So did Obama.


12 posted on 01/24/2012 4:15:23 AM PST by ari-freedom (If SOPA passes, we will lose our Free Republic.)
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To: ari-freedom

Hah! Didn’t know that! Logic says that having children is, then, both conservative and communist.


13 posted on 01/24/2012 4:19:12 AM PST by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto.)
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To: Hugin
“Believe you me, I can be a fighter. I mean, if it a fighter you want, I’m your man. Honest, tell me what you want. Just let me be president! OK?”

That right there is Romney's whole problem in a nutshell. He is merely trying to be a politician that can get elected, by trying to sell himself to the voters. Saying and doing whatever he believes will get him the sale. That is all he has ever done in politics. He doesn't really believe in anything. No real beliefs or principles at all. In short, there is no there there, and I can't believe that some still don't see it clearly.
14 posted on 01/24/2012 4:30:15 AM PST by ZX12R (FUBO GTFO 2012 !)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The subject of this article is exactly what they were trying to achieve for Romney last night. It has been heard that Romney isn't much of a fighter, so that debate was set up to showcase Romney as a fighter.

The thing is, he was being a fighter with the wrong person. People know he will be a PC wimp when it comes to Obama.

I wasn't impressed with the whole thing. The attacks at the beginning became boring and to filled with obnoxious detail.

It did work well at curing my insomnia. I fell asleep.

15 posted on 01/24/2012 4:31:15 AM PST by dforest
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To: Jim Noble

Ann was trying to show Mitt how to do it (Coulter and Cristie can’t drag Romney across the finish line) meanwhile......

_________________________________________________________

..................”But Gingrich doesn’t have to win in Florida. All he has to do is hang on until the Super Tuesday donnybrook on March 6, where despite his Virginia blunder, the terrain favors him. Gingrich is a Civil War buff and he may finally have realized that while he doesn’t yet command the men and materiel that Grant had, being General Meade, the man who defeated Lee at Gettysburg and thus changed the course of the war, will be good enough for now.

So if Gingrich wins the nomination, can he beat Obama? The smart money says no, but you’d expect a poll-obsessed, racing-form consulting collection of media eunuchs to say that. (Heads have been rotating on MSNBC the past 48 hours as the metrosexual chatterers try to unearth the secret of Gingrich’s belligerent appeal, unable to wrap their minds around the fact that it’s the very belligerence that’s the appeal.)

The dumb money, however, says . . . maybe. In a fight between a puncher and boxer, between Grant and Lee, the boxer may sing and dance for round after round, but if the puncher ever catches up to him, it’s lights out. Gingrich’s genius in going after the media is that he knows they are Obama’s Praetorian Guard and shock troops rolled into one. If he can take them out — by making them look as ridiculous as they really are and thus stripping them of their pompous, bogus “morality” — he can sweep up the midwest, roll up the South, and very likely force the surrender in the same place Grant cornered Lee: the swing state of Virginia.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/288877/why-newt-could-win-michael-walsh


16 posted on 01/24/2012 4:33:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; All
...face of a fighter

Face of a 'fighter?' Romney can't even spend his way to a wrestling win in a single primary state away from his 'home turf!'

Just posted: 'Mr. Electability?' SuperLoserMan Mitt not viable candidate...0-17 in 'road' races [Vanity]

17 posted on 01/24/2012 4:35:21 AM PST by Colofornian (If 94% of LDS repeat voting for Romney, then such RINO-voting reveals a liberal Mormon bent)
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To: oblomov
Coulter was unhinged.

Nothing new there with Coulter. She typically takes a stance of righteous indignation and I'm not sure where this love-festival with her ever came from. She just needs to fade away, but people like that will cling on to the bitter end.

18 posted on 01/24/2012 4:54:33 AM PST by voicereason (Dems, Pubbies...too often a one-sided coin.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I preferred Perry, actually, but I love this line: “...some of the biggest names in the Republican party were wadding up their cocktail napkins to fling at him.”


19 posted on 01/24/2012 5:12:13 AM PST by Mr Rogers ("they found themselves made strangers in their own country")
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Romney is reminding me more and more of Algore in 2000... continually trying to reinvent his wooden self. He`s doing the same to his past stances as well... trying to pin him down on any serious issue is like playing “Whack-a-Mole.”


20 posted on 01/24/2012 5:16:43 AM PST by ScottinVA (Liberal logic: 0bamacare mandate is acceptable... but voter IDs are unconstitutional.)
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