Posted on 02/01/2012 1:50:45 PM PST by newgeezer
For students of American politics, following the way the Romney campaign played Newt Gingrich in Florida is a lesson to learn and to keep. Romney’s people must have realized that Newt does best when he is positive. His bold ideas, clear vision, revolutionary insights and extraordinary perspectives resonate with voters and win him millions of supporters.
Romney, less compelling but more consistent, doesn’t need stellar debate performances or bold vision to win. The case for the former Massachusetts governor is more circumstantial: He can reach out to independents by virtue of his past apostasies on healthcare and abortion. He looks, talks and acts like a president. His record of job creation is exemplary.
But Newt needs the bold sally, the breathtaking moment of rhetorical clarity, to prevail.
So Romney’s people set out to mire Newt in negatives so he couldn’t and wouldn’t get out the positive message he needed to project to prevail. They tormented him with negative ads in Iowa. While the ads were generally accurate — the allegation about backing China’s forced-abortion policy aside — they presented only one side of the story and were stinging in their impact. Without funds, Gingrich couldn’t answer the negative ads. He fumed but watched, in impotence, as his vote share fell away.
In Spanish bullfights, the picadors torment the bull by sticking darts into his shoulders. Enraged, bleeding, frustrated and in pain, he lowers his head, snorts, paws the ground and charges straight at the matador, oblivious to the sword awaiting him behind the red cape. That’s about what Romney did to Gingrich in the January primaries.
Enter Sheldon Adelson, a Vegas billionaire who loves Newt. His affection runs so deep that he gave Gingrich the funds to destroy himself. With Adelson’s reported contribution of $5 million-plus, Newt had the weapons to fight back with his own negative ads. In a rage, he put them on TV and devoted his time in the debates to throwing accusations. RomneyCare. Abortion. Gay rights. The taxes Romney paid and the ones he advocated. Massachusetts moderate. No, make that Massachusetts liberal. They tripped off his tongue and his super-PAC put them on the air. Sheldon paid the bill. But Newt paid the price.
On Romney ***He looks, talks and acts like a president. His record of job creation is exemplary.***
Wrong!
Once in awhile he gets something right. What’s that they say about blind squirrels and acorns?
He is somewhat right, but somewhat wrong.
Newt is not his best when he’s positive. He’s his best when he goes negative against LIBERALS.
Also, Morris missed that Newt’s PAC ran half positive and half negative ads and that there were 65 TV ads against Newt for every 1 Newt ran in Florida.
In other words, it didn’t matter what Newt ran. 65 to 1 is over wheeling regardless of content .
See American Thinker tomorrow am for what happened to Newt.
no this is not right...mean mitt ran negative ads against god’s other son newt and lied on that great human being and the stupid idiots in florida ate it up....thats what happened!!!!
I think Newt suckered Romney. Romney spent 20 million, and drove his negatives through the roof. Time will tell.
Romney, less compelling but more consistent, doesn’t need stellar debate performances or bold vision to win.
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No I guess if you have enough ill gotten blood money..
and a decided lack of ethics and honor..
One thing I have not seen or read is what kind of USSC picks would Mitt make??
I agree that Romney has no testable job-creation stats. (It’s one reason I liked Perry before Perry’s mouth undid him: (although governors don’t create jobs,) Texas has an unbeatable job-creation track record.)
Romney DOES “look like a president” in the central casting sense. I have some relatives who actually SAY THIS to me when they explain their “Romney First” stances. Uhm, ok? It’s nice that he doesn’t look like Martin van Buren? But just dang.
It was a throw away article, useless.
Romney has just proven that elections can and are bought.
Look at his record in Massachusetts.
Romney has been fooling democrats to vote for him for years..
Currently he is fooling republican women..
His “niceness” is an act.. but he does have Presidential Hair..
The women in Florida are evidentially ditzes..
This is one and maybe the ONLY area where I have some "consolation prize" hope if there is a Mitt nomination.
The co-chair of Mitt's judge-picking committee is Robert Bork.
Now, it is possible that Mitt is just using Bork (who, I must take as a given, will ONLY recommend Scalia-types, never Souters or worse).
By "using Bork," I mean it is possible that President Mitt (...gulp!) will ask Bork, "So, Bob, who's your pick for this SCOTUS vacancy? Oh? Strong conservative? Nahh, I don't want a Senate fight. Thanks, but I'll pick [Souter II, etc.]."
Still, bottom line, it is at least SOMEthing that Bork is on board there. If nothing else, Bork could threaten to resign in a public huff if Romney does something like what I'm fearing. Sometimes "wets" need a little pushing to be kept in line, e.g., from Miers to Alito.
Yes, I nearly stopped reading when I saw that stupid remark. Mr. Plastic Man does not look, talk or act like a president...well, unless you mean Obama...and he has no “job creation” record.
Even without going into the specifics of what Bain Capital did and how it did it, there is absolutely no record of “job creation” in any of this. For one thing, they kept no records of this and backing it out is a highly subjective and probably somewhat impossible task. As many if not more jobs were probably lost in the numerous companies they bought and sold, and it was actually that claim (job creation) that Gingrich was challenging. But Romney seems to be exempt from the requirement to tell the truth or provide the facts about anything, another quality he shares with Obama.
This isn’t newts first rodeo. He knows there is a long road ahead for Romney, geesh just one day later he is being eaten alive with the comment about the poor. Just the tip of te iceberg.
I agree. Oh, and he also drove the negatives of "Twits for Mitt" - Haley and Bondi - through the roof, too.
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