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Without any question, Mitt Romney is most amusing when he has to go la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you at the cultural-issues antics of his party’s base. Check out this report from Politico’s Ginger Gibson:
Mitt Romney refused to comment on two culture fights being waged by members of his own party.
At a news conference in Las Vegas, Romney wouldn’t weigh in on either the fight over comments by the president of the fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A over gay marriage or an effort spearheaded by Michele Bachmann calling for an investigation into Huma Abedin and alleged Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the federal government.
“Those are not things that are part of my campaign,” Romney said. He also wouldn’t say whether he thinks members of his party talking about those issues are a distraction.
“I’m not going to tell other people what to talk about,” Romney said.
Yeah, Mitt, you better not.
His agnosticism on Chick-fil-A must be especially galling to “the base.” I mean, this is just the juiciest target for the cultural conservatives who dominate the GOP you could ever imagine, a chance to lash out simultaneously at (a) sodomites, (b) Christ-hating secularists, (c) meat-hating hippie vegan animal rights advocates, (d) nanny-state health fanatics, (e) class-envy disparagers of “job creators,” and (f) “Chicago,” that mythical land of Alinskyite community organizers and thugs whose Democrat Socialist mayor lashed out at the good Christian chicken purveyors. Moreover, to the extent that some liberals were actually talking about preventing Chick-fil-A from doing business (instead of, as they should have, leaving it up to consumers and anti-discrimination lawyers), the brouhaha was a far better and more vivid subject for “war on religion” paranoia than insurance regulations governing contraception coverage.
But Mitt won’t go there at all, at least until his pollsters tell him too. Even as his most loyal supporters treat this election cycle as marking the Final War for the Preservation of Civilization, the candidate himself continues to pretend it’s all about GDP growth and out-year budget estimates. It’s just ha-larious.
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Equal Opportunity Cynic on August 03, 2012 3:45 PM:
Well, Republicans are acting stupid, but we expect that. And since you mentioned Chicago....
Is there anyone who looks like a bigger buffoon in all of this than Rahm Emanuel? He was Chief of Staff for a Constitutional law scholar in the White House, so I'm pretty sure he actually does possess a passing familiarity with the 1st Amendment.
He deserves to serve some time on that Louisiana school board that was stunned to find out that public funds for religious schools could go to Muslim schools.
T2 on August 03, 2012 3:48 PM:
one thing about Mitt, he might not comment today, but tomorrow's a new day. If he needs to, he'll eat a Chik fil a ----no coca cola though.
boatboy_srq on August 03, 2012 3:56 PM:
Those are not things that are part of my campaign.
That line could be used by the Romney campaign for many, many things. Like truth, or honesty, or substance.
Captcha: tscslo standard. Indeed.
c u n d gulag on August 03, 2012 4:26 PM:
Hmmm...
The base needs to be asking:
Hey Mitt - WHERE'S YOUR BEEF?
daveminnj on August 03, 2012 4:33 PM:
who needs beef? mitt's found his inner weasel!
Quaker in a Basement on August 03, 2012 5:49 PM:
Aw, fer crying out loud. Are we getting our tribalism on today, Ed? The Chick-fil-a brawl was a "juicy target" for conservatives to parade their retrograde views. But how did this ruckus start in the first place? Some of the folks on "our" side latched on to a statement of personal views by the company's founder and went full social justice economic boycott on his ass. If "they" (meaning Chick-fil-a anti-boycotters) were lashing out at gays, secularists, vegans, and other assorted avatars of the left, weren't boycotters lashing out at perceived homophobes, religious fundamentalists, and fast food culture?
Look, Mr. Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-a is a social and political conservative. I disagree with his views. The company he runs employees thousands of people--some likely agree with his views and others probably don't. His restaurants offer a good product at a fair price.
If I go buy a chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a today, my contribution, by proxy, to "traditional marriage" or anti-gay organizations is going to amount to the tiniest sliver of a single penny.
Life is too short. I'm just not going to let political purity dictate my every action down to the level of deciding where to have lunch.
gus on August 03, 2012 5:55 PM:
One thing to remember about Mitt is he has preferences for what he eats:
He takes the cheese off of his pizza before he eats it.
He also takes the skin off of fried chicken before he eats that.
He’d do better to avoid Chik-filler-up. It would make for another awkward moment. This despite Kristol’s appeal for him showing up constantly. Mitt’s peccadilloes aside, he wears his discomfort on his sleeve.
He Is What Most People, and Especially Those Who Call Themselves Normal People, Consider a Weirdo!
Mitt is a weirdo!
mudwall jackson on August 03, 2012 8:11 PM:
hilarious! mitt romney, leader!!
John Laraway on August 04, 2012 11:49 PM:
Does the snarky Mr. Kilgore think Romney SHOULD tell other people what to talk about? And if so, Isn't that the job of Obozo and the National Socialist American Worker's (Democrat) Party?
Good thing Obozo and his handler's never check the polls.
I'm not sure ha-larious is the best description for the Obozo Presidency, or his perpetual campaign, however. Those would be better termed "Orwellian", "Chavez-like" or "Castro-like".