Posted on 08/08/2012 6:35:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
In just a matter of days, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney will announce his choice for his 2012 running mate. No matter who Romney picks, however, the liberal media's line of attack is already clear. The Media Research Center reviewed news coverage of several potential picks, and found many have already been caricatured as too far right or outside the mainstream.
Last year, for example, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz slammed Senator Marco Rubio as a "pretty boy" and a "hack," screaming that his "policies are downright ugly." A few weeks later, CNN sought out New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to pass judgment on Representative Paul Ryan's plan to reform Medicare. "The voucher would kill people, no question," Krugman smeared.
Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has also been hit as too far to the right; on MSNBC last year, ex-CNN correspondent Bob Franken wildly claimed that Pawlenty was "pandering" to "the very wealthy" so that he could "be the person who heads their oligarchy." In 2010, CNN's Roland Martin denounced Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell for naming a "Confederate History Month" – that's like "saying, 'Let's celebrate Nazi soldiers for simply doing their job,'" Martin fumed.
Others who have been prominently named, like Ohio Senator Rob Portman, haven't drawn as much media heat (although Portman is frequently denigrated as "boring"). But no matter who winds up getting the nod, expect liberal reporters to quickly rally around a handful of Democratic talking points, including some that have already surfaced.
Here are some of the key attack quotes against the prospective VP candidates, as found in MRC's archives:
Paul Ryan: Heartless Scrooge Whose Policies Would 'Kill People'
Krugman says Ryan Medicare cuts 'cruelty'
CNN's Gloria Borger: "[House Budget Chairman Paul] Ryan became popular by pushing the unpopular, things like killing his colleague's pork projects, or trying to revamp Social Security, and eventually change Medicare into a program of vouchers for private insurers...."
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: "To be a little melodramatic, the voucher would kill people, no question....The cuts in Medicare that he's proposing, the replacement of Medicare by a voucher system, would in the end mean that tens of millions of older Americans would not be able to afford essential health care. So that counts as cruelty to me."
-- From a profile of Ryan that aired on CNN's Stories: Reporter, September 25, 2011.
NBC's Curry Rips Ryan Budget: 'Where is the Empathy?' Won't Poor People 'Suffer'?
Where is the empathy in this budget?...Do you acknowledge that poor people will suffer under his budget? That you have shown a lack of empathy to poor people in this budget?"
– Ann Curry to Ryan, NBC's Today, April, 10, 2012. [Audio]
Tim Pawlenty: Pushing for Wealthy 'Oligarchy' While Leaving His State in 'Disarray'
"...He's pandering to the segment of the Republican Party, the very wealthy, by basically letting them off the hook for any responsibility. They're interested in buying back a government. And so he is out there trying to see to it that he is the one where they shower all their wealth on, so he can turn around then and lead the government and be the person who heads their oligarchy."
– Ex-CNN correspondent Bob Franken slamming Tim Pawlenty's tax plan with MSNBC's Cenk Uygur, June 8, 2011.
"Let's talk about, you know you're a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative and you criticized the President after his State of the Union Address. You basically called him a chicken, that's the word you used, for failing to address real fiscal issues in this country. But your successor in Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton, has criticized you for leaving a $6.2 billion deficit. Last night in his State of the State Address, he said that he was left with a horrendous fiscal mess and state agencies poorly managed. So what makes you better-equipped to run the nation's economy, if you left your own house in such disarray?"
– Then co-host Meredith Vieira to Pawlenty, NBC's Today, February, 10, 2011.
Marco Rubio: A 'Pretty Boy' Whose 'Policies Are Downright Ugly'
Ed Schultz: 'Pretty Boy' Rubio Will Be 'Ugly' to Senior Citizens
"And in Psycho Talk tonight, Florida Senator Marco Rubio. He's on the attack against the Big Three. Now Rubio is an early favorite to take the number two spot on the Republican presidential ticket next year thanks to his Tea Party ideology and his pretty boy looks. But his policies are downright ugly....I'll tell you what's weakening our people, political hacks like Marco Rubio, who want to get rid of social safety nets....But these right-wingers remain determined to dismantle the Big Three, no matter how many Americans suffer. For Marco Rubio to say programs like Medicare and Social Security weaken Americans is flat out Psycho Talk." – Ed Schultz on MSNBC's The Ed Show, August 25, 2011.
Romney should pick Allen West and then when the liberals start in we can scream “RACIST”!~
Besides I want to see Mr Ed's head explode
Sarah Palin.
Just saying... :)
Willard’s got no choice... it’s gonna be Hillary.
IMO the Republicans are never going to get the Hispanic vote - legal or illegal - except for those Conservative ones who are already voting Republican or have decided to vote Republican. Same issue with Blacks. They start making all these ridiculous compromises to fit what they think these people want in their candidate and we end up with someone who looks just like another Democrat.
I thought the population of Florida they are trying to cater to was Cuban, not Hispanic. Am I confused?
It doesn't work that way. In the eyes of the democrat-controlled media, liberals are free to make such attacks. Conservatives are not. Smearing Clarence Thomas? No problem. Criticizing Obama? Racist!
We the people WILL draft Palin.
What’s the matter Mitt?
Afraid of a strong-willed female?
(Sarah:) Oh Boyyyyy...... Look what we have here!!
Don’t line me up with WHITE-MALE-MIDDLE-MANAGER-CLONES after
decades of affirmative action,
and
decades of political correctness,
and
decades of diversity training,
and
decades of, well, you get the idea...
...last chance... join us, Mitt.
"I'd like to put these VP nomination rumors to rest once and for all. While serving as VP would be a great honor,
I'd not be able to accept the office as I am not a Natural Born Citizen.
My parents became US Citizens after my birth so by the eligibility requirements specified in Article. II. Section. 1. I'm not eligible.
The fact that the CommiecRAT Party lied about their usurper Obama's status doesn't change the Constitutional Natural Born Citizen requirement."
"I'd like to put these VP nomination rumors to rest once and for all. While serving as VP would be a great honor,
I'd not be able to accept the office as I am not a Natural Born Citizen.
My parents became US Citizens after my birth so by the eligibility requirements specified in Article. II. Section. 1. I'm not eligible.
The fact that the CommiecRAT Party lied about their usurper Obama's status doesn't change the Constitutional Natural Born Citizen requirement."
I want West because I would feel very comfortable knowing he was more than able to step in if necessary. The fact that it might make liberals uncomfortable is a plus.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do not be surprised if he picks a democrat.
Naaah, disagree, FRiend. I don't think anyone who wishes Sarah well, would want her within 20 miles of this trust-fund-baby, East Coast Oligarchs' pukefest. Better she stay well away from them.
Unless it's to walk into their convention and blow it apart, and stampede the sucker right out from under the Long Island Sound Slavocracy.
Oh, please, no !
It was Mittens, through his proxies and lent-out staffers, who knifed Sarah in the back repeatedly in 2008 during the campaign -- when have you ever heard of that before? (well, since 1964, anyway) -- and then continued doing it into 2009 -- I'm convinced, at Mitt's personal behest because he correctly recognized her potential and ability and wanted to remove her from national political life.
She should absolutely not muddy her hands now.
Evidently in the hours before her selection was public, Palin's entry got a lot of edits.
As I recall, the article said McDonnell had gotten the most edits of late but that may have been only based upon a small list of persons considered likely in the press.
Stevie Colbert urged his views to vandalize the Wikipedia pages of the possible choices.
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