Shots by Murdoch at Romney Play Out to Conservative Core

New York Times ^ | 7-5-12 | JEREMY W. PETERS

[raulgomez05]

To hear Rupert Murdoch tell it lately, Mitt Romney lacks stomach and heart. He “seems to play everything safe.” And he is not nearly as tough as he needs to be on President Obama.

Mr. Murdoch’s thoughts on the Republican presidential candidate’s prospects? “Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from the team.” Chances of that? “Doubtful,” he tapped out in a Twitter message from his iPad last weekend.

Then, on Thursday, Mr. Murdoch’s flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, published a blistering editorial criticizing Mr. Romney’s campaign, accusing it of being hapless and looking “confused in addition to being politically dumb.”

Mr. Murdoch has never been particularly impressed with Mr. Romney, friends and associates of both men say. The two times Mr. Romney visited the editorial board of The Journal, Mr. Murdoch did not work very hard to conceal his lack of excitement. “There was zero enthusiasm, no engagement,” said one Journal staff member who was at the most recent meeting in December.

[raulgomez05]

Romney's advisers said it's better to be criticized by Murdoch than praised, because of his lack of credibility due to the phone hacking scandal. I agree.

[rockrr]

You’ll find much harsher criticism of mittens right here at FreeRepublic.

[dps.inspect]

Got a call from a Romney campaign worker today... told her I will not give to Romney Till I see him blistering Obama... she responded by saying, "there's just some things you can't say", I told her good luck raising money...

[SoConPubbie]

Romney's advisers said it's better to be criticized by Murdoch than praised, because of his lack of credibility due to the phone hacking scandal. I agree.

Empty, mind-numbingly stupid rhetoric masquerading as a valid reason for excusing what Murdoch is saying. Exactly what I expect from Romney and his supporters.

[biggredd1]

romney adds staff amongst criticism....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-to-bolster-communications-team-amid-conservative-tempest/2012/07/05/gJQAVkdQQW_story.html

[dps.inspect]

Dude, that’s soo weak... Regardless of where it originates, truth is the truth... Romney better not McCain us... shushing us up so as to not frighten the independents away... if MR doesn’t come out swinging and with at least some Asymmetric Political Warfare, he is toast...

[Venturer]

Do we want a flip-flopping, fingers in the wind POS, or a Dick tator.

That is the question.

America might have a chance with the flip flopper.

[biggredd1]

I told the romney worker I would not contribute unless romney names Sarah as VP.

[katiedidit1]

Romney did not hesitate to smear and attack Newt, Santorum and the other candidates. Why is he holding back on Obama? why didn’t he blast Roberts? I want to see some fight for the RIGHT!

[Moorings]

Murdoch’s Fox channel was shamelessly pushing this candidate during the primaries, in my opinion campaigning for him whil denigrating his opponents. I have no respect for Fox, and I don’t care what Murdoch has to say now. They both deserve each other.

[sushiman]

Murdoch was being kind for chrissakes . Romney is Mr. Milquetoast . If he doesn’t find some cajones he is toast and so it America.

[Moorings]

whil = while

[Cementjungle]

Why is he holding back on Obama?

Because he's not supposed to actually win.

[ClearCase_guy]

The next 4 years will be very bad. I think the GOP has decided they want to lose this round so that the Dems take the heat for what’s coming. This will be a very costly mistake for the country.

[Ron C.]

Murdoch is right - Romney is far to meek and timid - hence, he has only a slim chance at winning.

My bet - he excites very few hard-core conservatives - and is likely to lose to the worst president ever.

We don't need another dingbat for president - we need a hard-core conservative fighter - and Mitt just ain't it.

[dps.inspect]

He’d better understand that if he pussyfoots, folks with just decide to stay home and say screw it... after this election, regardless the outcome, I’m going third party, hopefully, the Tea Party can come together and become a force to be reckoned with...

[tsowellfan]

You took the words right out of my mouth. It would be so nice to see Romney supporters target Obama half s much as they target conservatives, Tea Partiers and the AM Radio Talkers but then again... as they say “show me the supporters and I’ll show you their candidate”.

[Moorings]

He had no restrictions when he and his minions went after Newt during the primaries.

[ilgipper]

Every single show on Fox was pushing for Romney in the primaries. This story either has no legs, or Murdoch has zero impact on the content of his network.

[dandiegirl]

‘Murdoch’s Fox channel was shamelessly pushing this candidate during the primaries, in my opinion campaigning for him whil denigrating his opponents. I have no respect for Fox, and I don’t care what Murdoch has to say now. They both deserve each other.’

Boy you got that right. They trashed Newt and when they weren’t trashing him, ignored him. Murdoch had to see this. I will never view Britt Hume the same after his unprofessional tirades against Newt.

[tsowellfan]

He had no restrictions when he and his minions went after Newt during the primaries.

We're looking at 2008 all over again.

[Randy Larsen]

We ALL know that when push comes to shove, he’ll not only McCain us, but will treat us like he and his supporters did Sarah Palin!

The Romneys only know one way...back stab your supporters so your enemies know they can trust you!

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“We don’t need another dingbat for president - we need a hard-core conservative fighter - and Mitt just ain’t it.”

I do not disagree with that statement...my question to you now...Where are you going to find that person who can run on the Republican ticket at this stage in the game? And lets face it honestly, no one but a perons running on the Republican ticket has any kind of a snowballs chance of beating Obama at this stage of the game.

And btw, in case anyone missed it, Murdoch’s boys at Fox, especially Hannity, helped move Romney forward in this thing.

[Moorings]

Interestingly, freepers had predicted this kind of behavior from the RINO early on. Freepers know RINO’s very well.

[kabar]

Murdoch is an open borders type. He was upset with Romney who said he would not flip-flop on his immigration stance during the primaries. Murdoch considers immigration as one of his signature issues, which explains why Fox has failed to cover the subject objectively.

[katiedidit1]

My hope is with the Tea Party voters. Love what they accomplished in Wisconsin but they had a candidate that did not cave under very difficult circumstances. Walker never cowered.
Now, I want to know what in the hell is wrong with Romney? he has been advised by Walker, Rush, Levin..run as a conservative..fight. He had a golden opportunity to blow Roberts out of the water during the healthcare ruling and I found his remarks to be weak at best. He better MAN UP and put his big boy pants, boxers or briefs ON now.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Richard Nixon wrote a book-length essay, “The Real War,” in 1979 describing—among other things—how to confront communism in the Third World. He said it was time for the U.S. to “match brutality with brutality” when dealing with brush-fire insurgents. Ronald Reagan used the formula to hold on to Central America.

The threat Romney confronts is no less dangerous. It is an enemy that is destroying America from within, using the entire executive branch and a corrupt news media to install a 21st century version of Marxism. Obama also represents a Chicago-based cabal of criminals intent on stealing billions through skimming, kickbacks, bogus contracts and selling U.S. secrets and diplomatic concessions to our enemies. Romney needs to call a spade a spade.

[tsowellfan]

Yup, it's been a bad week for Romney. Not that he's really had any good weeks.

The typical good week for Romney never was by his own doing. By default a bad week for Obama (and he's had a lot of them) has been a good week for Mittens.

Well, THIS has been a bad week for Mittens and I think we're going to see it showing in future polling data.

I hope I'm wrong because I dislike Obama much more than I do Romney or Ron Paul. That's basically the whole election issue: which do you dislike the least?

I sure do miss Newt. He was a fighter, quick to make decisions and knows his stuff.

[4rcane]

romney campaign remind me of mccain’s.

[Moorings]

The so-called pundits kept saying the Romney was the best candidate and he was the most winnable... what a crock! Sadly there were idiots who bought into this false notion.

Is Romney even campaigning anymore?

[tsowellfan]

I agree with what you say but the truth is, when you have to tell him to "run as a conservative" he's not a conservative at heart and they quickly become what GWB morphed into.

It's hard to tell America that Obama's the enemy within when you have George W Bush seemingly having no problem with Obama's destruction of America.

[tsowellfan]

romney campaign remind me of mccain’s.

Exactly. There is one difference though. McCain was much more conservative than Romney.

[Ron C.]

"Where are you going to find that person who can run on the Republican ticket at this stage in the game?"

Romney is the GOP candidate (proving the RNC are the biggest fools.)

Can Romney beat Obama? You would think even the average Republican nominee could easily do so in light of just how bloody awful BHO has been.

But, unless Romney can find his balls and come out swinging while sounding very much like an angry conservative - he doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell.

[katiedidit1]

George Bush (43) with his leave no child behind, medicare prescription drug benefit, etc left much to be desired.
I am finished with the gop..done! Romney’s record is liberal..how can we get on board with him? why did the republicans chose the ONE candidate that implemented socialized medicine into Mass? it was one of the major or the major campaign issues that ignited the tea parties...oy vey

[bruinbirdman]

"Shots by Murdoch at Romney . . . ."

Then he put Col. Alan West on the tube to show Romney how to do it.

yitbos

[tsowellfan]

how can we get on board with him?

To save America from Obama but that's the only reason I can think of to vote for Romney.

Typically, we want to punnish the GOP for pushing their RINOs onto us (as they did Dole and Bush 41). But the nation was not even close to losing its place in the world and was strong enough to be able to handle 4 years of a Clinton. We figured we could reverse what damage would be done by a Clinton once we get a conservative back into the WH.

Unfortunately, we're not dealing with a typical liberal democrat this time nor are we in charted territory in this nation. I feel that another 4 years of Obama could mean another 20 years of Obama and I truly doubt he will leave the WH even if Romney beat him in November.

While I would really like to teach the GOP a lesson this time I feel that I would be throwing the nation out with the RINO this time around.

I suppose we could try our best to get as many conservatives as possible in the Senate and House but we must also consider that when we have a candidate as boring as Mitt Romney that could mean less voters leaving the house to even vote for Congressmen and Senators. We could lose all three.

I don't know what the answer is. It would be nice to be able to replace Romney now before this continues any closer to November. And I don't see that happening. Perhaps we could vote against Obama and primary Romney in 2014.

I think I'd prefer a root canal over going to the polls in november for Romney.

[tsowellfan]

Correction: Primary Romney in 2016

but I know you know what I mean

[funfan]

I could just see Obama pulling a Bloomie and getting a 3rd term.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Don’t disagree with you...

[dandiegirl]

Doesn’t seem like he is. All I ever see is the jive master jogging to his telepromtors to read a speech about how he can get people’s jobs back. It’s comical.

[nathanbedford]

The threat Romney confronts is no less dangerous. It is an enemy that is destroying America from within, using the entire executive branch and a corrupt news media to install a 21st century version of Marxism. Obama also represents a Chicago-based cabal of criminals intent on stealing billions through skimming, kickbacks, bogus contracts and selling U.S. secrets and diplomatic concessions to our enemies. Romney needs to call a spade a spade.

The threat represented by Obama that you so accurately outlined will not go away even if Obama is defeated in this election.

The current political situation in this country is such that we are likely to win this election but only because of Obama overreach and the condition of the economy. Next time around, the demographics are likely to prevail over any conservative message. America is becoming more like California in which common sense and decency are swept aside by a tsunami of immigrants/emigrants. Watch Texas in the upcoming cycles and see if it follows New Mexico.

Therefore, it is insufficient for the survival of a constitutional republic merely to defeat Obama in this election, he must be repudiated. If Romney wins it will be his responsibility as President of the United States to the rule of law to prosecute every misdeed of the Obama administration unto the the limits of the law. It is obvious that Romney's campaign will not do what Newt Gingrich would have done, characterize Obama for what he is, a Marxist and a corrupt Chicago style pol and, I concede, it is unlikely that his administration will vigorously prosecute Obama administration's crimes-but it must be done.

In this respect our button-down candidate is reminiscent of George Bush who not only declined to expose Clinton for what he was but actively sought to rehabilitate Clinton and, unbelievably, Teddy Kennedy. It is one thing to accord a candidate latitude in fighting an election and quite another to condone the kind of pandering to leftists that has been conducted by the Bushes once they have the power of the presidency and the control of the Attorney General. Instead, George W. Bush painted himself into such a corner that he felt compelled to appoint a special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame affair, a scandal about nothing. Compare that with the behavior of Obama in the far more serious case of leaking our state secrets.

We see the same phenomenon occurring now in the attempts to salvage the reputation among conservatives of Chief Justice John Roberts. Those who worship the false god of comity do so at the expense of the Constitution, the rule of law, and even the survival of the Republic. The worship is predicated on false assumptions. For example, it is the belief that there is a legitimate intellectual exercise now going on in United States Supreme Court. Nothing could be further from the truth. The four liberal justices have no intention whatsoever of permitting the Constitution to interfere with their agenda. It is not a legitimate institution if four out of nine Justices are conducting a sham.

It is similarly not a decent exercise in representative democracy when the outcome is skewed because of race. There is no decent society if we descend into tribalism. Obama clearly is sacrificing the unity of the country to the advancement of his own narcissism and the advancement of his Marxist worldview. If Obama loses and Romney has not made the case that both Obama and his worldview are illegitimate, not just unpopular, the virus he represents will erupt again only to feed on an even more favorable demographic body. Marxism is a virus which, like the Hun, is either at our feet or at our throat and it will emerge and threaten our very existence as a Republic the next time the Democrats find an attractive candidate.

I said months before the debacle of the 2008 election that Barack Obama had to be "morally" destroyed or John McCain simply had no chance whatsoever to win the election. That was true. I repeat, Obama and Obamaism must be morally destroyed for the very survival of the country.

[SeminoleCounty]

Rupert Murdoch rose in the media industry by supporting the Labour Party in Australia in the early 1970s....Labour at the time was led by Gough Whitlam, who was the “Father of Australian Socilized Medicine”

Murdoch also hired a sniveling liberal mangina called Piers Morgan to run one if his British newspapers

Folks, Murdoch is a Liberal. His money is on Obama. Why do you think Fox News has been so weak on Obama?

Romney is better to keep his own people. There is not a GOP presidential candidate that has won the popular vote in 2 successive elections since Reagan...so there is not anyone really that much “better”...and I would not call the liberal Karl Rove “better”

And, Murdoch’s criticism is because Romney will not out-and-out support Illegal Alien Amnesty. Murdoch is a big supporter of Amnesty...and note how FNC leans heavily towards Illegal Alien Amnesty

Romney needs to go more aggresive on Obama....but he needs to stay away from the autobot GOP “insiders”.

[Finny]

Excuse me ... then why in the hell are you going to vote for the guy? You really think he wouldn’t be just as bad as Obama?