Political Animal
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Today brings more evidence of cracks in the Republican coalition. In its lead story, Politico serves up a rap on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s lack of vision. But if you read the subtext, the people making the claim are a group of right-wing Republicans.
Add that to the spate of defections and insurgencies roiling the right, you have to wonder about the strategic prowess of those Democrats who have expressed concern about President Obama’s offensive against the Romney camp based on the Republican’s record at Bain Capital. After all, the blueprint for the offensive was written by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the Florida primary campaign. (Gingrich was dispatched to Meet the Press this morning to defend Romney’s Bain record, which he did not so effectively.) In fact, what we may be seeing with the Obama campaign’s Bain offensive is a rare instance of a Democratic campaign actual using a wedge strategy — one of the right’s tested weapons.
From Politico’s Reid J. Epstein and Ginger Gibson, in a piece titled, “Mitt Romney not Into ‘vision thing’”:
“I don’t know what he’ll do on anything,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola told POLITICO. “And that’s, that’s the concern that people have always had is, you don’t truly understand what Mitt Romney is going to do.”
[…]
“At the end of the day, you can’t just be all, you know, anti-Obama,” said former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, whose state is key to Romney’s chances. “It has to be, I think, two parts that and one part here’s the antidote, here’s the vision, here’s the path that I would like to lead America down.”
Politico failed to note that Blackwell is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, a politically important group.
But wait, there’s more:
And GOP strategist Mark McKinnon — who advised former two-term Republican president George W. Bush — said it’s time for Romney to outline his agenda.
This follows news of several freshmen members of Congress going on record about why they won’t sign the anti-tax pledge demanded by Grover Norquist in exchange for a once-crucial nod by Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform. Among them is Allen West, the military veteran and uber-Tea Partier from Florida.
From Kate Nocera’s piece earlier this month in Politico:
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) scoffed at the idea the pledge was some sort of blood oath. A number of other offices of freshman members told POLITICO their bosses had sworn oaths to do what was best for their districts, not Americans for Tax Reform.
“I signed that thing in the desert of Afghanistan,” West said in an interview. “I got home and they wanted me to sign again during my campaign, and I wouldn’t, and Grover started yelling at my campaign manager….I don’t care if he has my name on his website, it’s meaningless,” West added. “I think my voting record speaks for itself.”
Then there was Michael Fumento’s piece in Salon, noted here by Political Animal’s Ryan Cooper, in which the former member of Reagan administration outlined the many reasons why he has left the G.O.P., not least of them the recently mounted billboard by the Heartland Institute that compared people who accept the science on global warming to the Unabomber.
And, of course, the Ron Paul followers who wrested delegate slates from the hands of Romney supporters at state conventions will make things interesting for Romney at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this August.
With Republicans in this much of a pickle, you’d think that Democrats would jump at the chance to exploit the chaos. But you might be wrong.
Liberals, IMHO, have grown too used to reiterating loony right-wing claims as a means of refuting them. That’s a defensive stance that only serves to reinforce the right-wing claim. You know what they say the best defense is? (I knew you’d get it, Animals.)
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neil b on May 27, 2012 1:25 PM:
I think liberals just don't have as much killer instinct, don't have "the well oiled machine" (anymore!), too independent, and not as powerful and Machiavellian supportive creepy superstructure behind them - although still too cozy with Wall Street etc.
SYSPROG on May 27, 2012 1:37 PM:
yes! and I REALLY wish MSNBC would stop just re-showing the clips without commenting what a bunch of lying aholes they are...except of course, for Rachel.
c u n d gulag on May 27, 2012 1:41 PM:
Defense wins championships in most sports.
OFFENSE wins elections!
And all I've seen from the Democrats since Reagan came into office, is that usually they bring skewers to toast s'mores on to a gunfight, and then wonder why THEY get skewered?!?!
And in the times when D's do try to get tough on the R's, the R's whine and cry, and run to the MSM ref's and bitch about how mean the D's are to them, and how unfair this all is!
I swear, they're like a mean 6 year-old bully, who keeps smacking his sibling a few times, and finally, when the sibling smacks back, runs crying to a parent.
And the MSM, like a beleaguered parent, instead of trying to find out what really happened, blames both of them, and sends the kids to their rooms.
And so, Democrats always feel like, "Dad always liked the R's better."
In the words of the immortal Yakoff Smirnoff: "America - what a country!'
SYSPROG on May 27, 2012 2:12 PM:
I just flipped over to watch Meet the Press and I was thinking about this post...why aren't the DEMOCRATS countering Mitt's garbage of being a 'job creator' and Obama just not 'getting it' with the President's record on JOBS since taking over? You wanna talk JOB CREATION? OK let's. Stop fighting the 2008 election where the meme was 'Obama is not qualified, community organizer, yada yada' and say 'OK this guy created X number of jobs. What have YOU done?' Oh I know. You created jobs for your landscaper and your garage builder. And NOW you'll take credit for what Bain has done since 2002 but none of the MISTAKES since 2002. Yeah THAT'S a leader...
Joe Friday on May 27, 2012 2:14 PM:
"And GOP strategist Mark McKinnon - who advised former two-term Republican president George W. Bush - said it's time for Romney to outline his agenda."
But we've already seen Romney's agenda. He said he would sign the Ryan budget, which is 'Back to the Future' the Chimpy Bush failed agenda, only on steroids.
DAY on May 27, 2012 2:15 PM:
Just as "All politics are local," so does "Number One comes first".
(Sound like a quip from "Being There," Eh?)
People vote for what they THINK is in their best interests. Too bad they are usually uniformed/misinformed. Or believe the lies. . .
Ben on May 27, 2012 3:07 PM:
You make a big mistake here, Adele. You're confusing liberals with Democrats.
TCinLA on May 27, 2012 3:34 PM:
It used to be that Democrats were fighters. I learned "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies" from my great-grand-uncle, who worked all his life for Harry Truman from 1919 (after serving under Captain Truman in WW1) till he left office in 1953. Fought the KKK, the pro-Nazi right, etc., etc. That's the Democratic Party I was raised a part of. This Volvo-driving, cucumber-sandwich chomping, Chardonnay-swilling, bunch of overcooked-spaghetti-spined morons are damn fools, the kind of "good government" types who have never understood that politics is war without (usually) guns and never was or ever will be anything else are going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and lest the fascists take over. Unfortunately, they'll finally understand on their way to the religious re-education camps.
Mitt's Magic Underwear on May 27, 2012 3:37 PM:
The stereotype of dems as gutless turds has a significant basis in reality. They are more afraid of being disliked / attacked by Faux News than in winning.
giantslor on May 27, 2012 4:02 PM:
How about this: "Mitt Romney and his shady billionaire backers keep falsely attacking President Obama on the debt. What they doesn't want you to know is that 80% of the debt increase was an inevitable result of the Bush recession and the unemployment it caused. Now Romney wants to go back to the failed policies that brought on the recession, while giving more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. Lying to the American people, disastrous economic policies: Is this how Mitt Romney plans to lead?"
Doug on May 27, 2012 4:52 PM:
Once again with the "Democrats are wimps"?
It's still two months until the conventions and you people seem to expect the Democrats to spend every cent they have on hand running messages that most people either won't see or will ignore. We're going to be outspent 10- or 20-to-1 by the Republicans and their PACs before the election is over and we should waste our limited resources NOW?
However, I must admit there WERE several good ideas for political ads. Why not write them down and send 'em in?
Don't forget the check for production costs...
Ron Byers on May 27, 2012 5:52 PM:
SYSPROG
Watched Meet the Republicans did you? Who was Gregory throwing softballs at today--Newt Gingrich? Talk about Mr. Irrelevant.
If we want a place to start it might be with the Sunday shows. Obama might start by making it known that nobody goes on until there is equal representation.
exlibra on May 27, 2012 6:11 PM:
Doug, @4:52PM,
I kind-a, sort-a agree with you on husbanding one's money till it's closer to the actual elections although another, opposite (and equally valid, I think) philosophy is to bombard now, before everyone is saturated to the point of nausea and stops paying any attention at all. But do the Dem representatives who get invited on talking-head shows have to sit, mumchance, without contradicting the lies spewed by the other side? You get a chance to speak to a large audience, it doesn't cost any money, and you still just smile politely? Or even, without being asked, come out against Obama (like Cory Booker)? That's where I agree with Adele; it makes Dems look as if they're either wimps or sell-outs. For no good reason at all (or none that serves their constituents rather than, possibly, themselves)
allamr18 on May 27, 2012 7:41 PM:
The problem with dems is they just accept GOP talking points because they want to seem reasonable when the policy itself is not. Right now the democratic party has accepted that social security and medicare need to be reformed. It is now a common talking point from both parties the SS, Medicare, Medicaid can be reformed. Republicans will never by in large agree to raise taxes on anyone when we know its necessary and good policy. Right now democrats are afraid to attack and point out the legitimate problems of the conservatives version of capitalism. The same one that sank our economy. You wanna know why blue collar whites dont vote for us? because we dont do anything to earn their vote. Home foreclosures, increasing college costs, working longer hours to earn less, and we now start talking about taking away some of the essentials of blue collar life. SS and medicare and medicaid. On education PBO and Mitt are saying the same thing about class sizes, yet I bet you cant find a single private school that has a classroom size of 30 kids.
Mike on May 27, 2012 11:32 PM:
you have to wonder about the strategic prowess of those Democrats
I've been wondering this since I voted for Dukakis.
Headline should read "Why Are Democrats Playing Defense" ... liberals have been almost entirely shut out of U.S. national politics since at least 1984.
smartalek on May 28, 2012 3:14 AM:
"Republicans Are in Disarray; So Why Are Liberals Playing Defense?"
Because they're liberals.
smartalek on May 28, 2012 3:22 AM:
Or was that a rhetorical question?
Jimo on May 28, 2012 12:51 PM:
Why is the left always on defense?
Cory Booker (and the minions like him).
We live in an era where if you aren't a screaming right wing lunatic, red in teeth and claw, you will be named, shamed, and defeated in a GOP primary by a imbecile who can't manage a press conference, is pressed to declare themselves "not a witch," or muses publicly about what an outrage it is that those in public accommodation services can't legally discriminate on the basis of race.
We also live in an era where a Democrat has to do something like oppose the President's health care reforms and openly side with Republicans in order to get a primary challenge (and about 50-50 odds of surviving). Anything short of that, such as merely denouncing the President and every policy he stands for (I'm looking at you, West Virginia Democrats) carries no consequence within the funding priorities of the DNC (see: Montana Senate race).
The two are not comparable.
The right seeks game altering changes - e.g., Citizens United, the unilateral executive. The left focuses only on minor changes within the right-wing playbook - or just mere carping. ("It's SO unfair!")
Just a few years back, Democrats had control of Congress. As we all remember, Democrats instituted (a) automatic voter registration for all citizens, (b) an end to corrupting money in politics, (c) break up of the banks, (d) a doubling of the minimum wage, (e) a right-to-join law for union membership, (f) universal health coverage, and (g) mandated budget surplus for growth periods and mandated deficits for economic recessions. We all remember how Dems thought big and played to win.