Romney the politician vs. Obama the would-be “transformative president”

I don’t get it. Why is the media so stirred up over Mitt Romney’s portrayal as a politician? The Etch-a-Sketch candidate, etc. Would our astute pundits prefer that Mitt pose as a saintly gentleman, far above politics, who once elected will ride into Washington on a white horse and drive out all of the evildoers? Oops. That was Barack Obama in ’08. And he didn’t even wait until he assumed office; he lunged to the center immediately after the DNC anointed him as nominee.

As recently as last September, liberal NY Times columnist Charles Blow, who supported Obama’s candidacy from day one, asked his readers:

 

Does he have any interest in becoming the Obama of people’s imaginations, the one they thought they saw through the showers of streamers, and explosions of confetti in 2008 — the man who only ever existed in their own minds? 

Is the “transformative president” more than an opportunistic transformer, shifting shape to suit the moment, but truly settling on none? 

Blow continues:

He {Obama} isn’t only battling a calcifying cynicism about the inefficacy of government in general, he’s battling the rapidly hardening public perception that he himself is a product of what I call the doughnut doctrine of leadership — soft, glazy, hollow in the middle and ideally suited for getting dunked.

Ouch.

Mitt Romney, the jokester?

Mitt Romney, official portrait.

Having lived in Michigan around the time (1963) that George Romney was elected governor, I continue to feel an affinity toward the Romney family, including Mitt. (It’s okay to like someone with whom you disagree.) So it was with some amusement and pleasure this morning that I read the Caucus (NY Times) report on the lighter side of the struggling GOP candidate. Michael Barbaro writes:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — He riffed on the space program. He hammed it up over the housing market. He even cracked wise about burial plots.

Mitt Romney may be known as a hyper-scripted, ever-so-careful public speaker, but on Friday night, during an appearance at Western Michigan University, he was something else entirely: a deft and genuinely funny jokester.

Below, a sampling of his stabs at humor from the event:

On his father’s frugality:

“My parents’ grave sites are there in Brighton. My dad — trust my dad. My dad is a very frugal man. And he checked all over for where the best deal was on a grave site. And he found a place in Brighton — because we didn’t live in Brighton. It’s like, ‘how did you pick Brighton, Dad?’ ‘Well, best price I could find in the whole state.’ So if you’re looking for the best deal on a grave site, check Brighton, they got a good, got a good spot, and you’re near the former governor and the former first lady.”

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True believers of conservative dogma victorious

Yesterday, Republicans voted for conservative extremism over sanity and moderation. (Katalusis eschews extremism from either the left or the right.)

Paul Begala at the Daily Beast reports Rick Santorum’s big wins in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado:

Rick Santorum's impressive victory in the nonbinding Missouri "beauty contest" began an ugly night for Romney. Mitt, who garnered 29 percent in Missouri in 2008, limped in with 25 percent—fewer than half the votes Santorum earned (55 percent).

Then came Minnesota, where Romney lost again. Big time. He won the state four years ago—earning 41 percent, But Tuesday night, he won only 17 percent, for a stunning third-place finish behind Santorum and Ron Paul.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Santorum’s positions or have forgotten where he stands on important issues, here’s a quick update from his Wiki page:

Santorum holds socially conservative positions, including opposition to same-sex marriage.^[2][3][4] On fiscal issues, his record is more mixed; in Congress, Santorum used earmarks and supported big government programs in education and transportation,^[5][6] but had a leading role in enacting welfare reform,^[7] and voted for tax cuts, a balanced budget amendment, and cuts in entitlement spending.^[5][6] As a presidential candidate, he has supported fiscal restraint and a ban on earmarks,^[5][6] and has expressed hawkish views on foreign policy, including Iran–United States relations.^[8]

Following Obama’s example in 2008, Romney has waffled on some issues in order to woo extremists in his party’s base, but as shown on his Wiki page, the record of the former governor of Mass. tends toward more moderate positions:

Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 but did not seek re-election in 2006. He presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated a projected $3 billion deficit. He also signed into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and state-level mandates and was the first of its kind in the nation. During the course of his political career, his positions or rhetorical emphasis have shifted more towards American conservatism in several areas.

The true believers of extreme conservative dogma continue to dig in and demonstrate their strength as the Republican primary heats up.

Update: Bachmann denies reports of endorsing Romney

In a follow-up to his earlier post at Political Intelligence (Boston.com), Glen Johnson reports that Michele Bachmann denies any intention of endorsing Mitt Romney:

CHICAGO - Former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann today denied any plans to endorse frontrunner Mitt Romney when he visits Minnesota this afternoon, following a Globe online post suggesting the possibility.

The Minnesota congresswoman noted she would be in Washington while Romney was appearing in Eagan, Minn. She also said that while she has had discussions with her formal rivals, she has no immediate plans to endorse any of them.

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Romney courts Michele Bachmann

Bachmann and Romney. Photo courtesy of the Guardian.

A progressive who has appreciated the efforts of moderate Republicans in their efforts over the years to promote sane government at both the state and federal levels, I'm disappointed this morning to learn that coming off his Florida victory, Mitt Romney headed for Minnesota

As governor of Mass., Romney helped put the state on a firm financial footing, and he signed into law the Mass. health care reform legislation, the first of its kind in the nation. 

Now we learn that Romney is seeking the endorsement of radical Minnesota conservative, Michele Bachman, in order to win over the Tea Party faction of the Republican party.

Glenn Johnson, blogging at Political Intelligence (Boston.com) reports:

TAMPA, Fla. - Mitt Romney is carrying a full head of steam after winning the Florida primary, but the Republican presidential contender isn’t headed first today for Nevada or Maine, the next two states to vote.

Instead, he is jetting off this morning to Minnesota for what is billed as a “grassroots rally.”

Why?

Michele Bachmann, it seems.

Aides to Romney and the Minnesota congresswoman have been in conversation in recent days about securing the candidate’s endorsement by the Tea Party favorite and forceful public speaker, The Boston Globe has learned.

Not only would it add to the impression of Romney consolidating the GOP base after rebounding in Florida from his South Carolina loss, but it could help Bachmann by earning her an ally to help her pay off her lingering campaign debt.

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Justice Party candidate Rocky Anderson enters presidential race

Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson in 2009. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com.

A couple of days ago, LadyBoomerNYC posted her support of the recently formed Justice Party’s candidate for president, Rocky Anderson. 

According to his wiki page, Anderson is a well-qualified challenger in opposition to Obama and whoever emerges as the nominee from the messy GOP primary.

Coincidentally, a Washington Post-ABC poll reported today (Friday) that more than two-thirds of Americans would consider voting for a third-party candidate.

LBNYC said:

Perhaps there is a choice. Say what? …and we don’t have to vote for the worst of two evils. (Sorry Obama fans, if there are any of you left.)

Rocky Anderson for President! He’s running on the newly formed Justice Party ticket and telling it like it is: “I consider this a second party.” “We need a new paradigm where people are committed to representing the public interest.”

The Boomer’s post includes this video of Anderson’s appearance on Democracy Now:

America’s enemies: “Just give them death”

Romney: "Bin Laden got what he deserved, a bullet in the head.

Roger Simon at Politico has tapped into America’s bloodlust and thirst for revenge that’s still going strong more than ten years after 9/11. 

Simon highlights the fact that Republicans and Democrats are bipartisan on the issue, although he needn’t have brought religion into it. 

We all know the Quakers, the Religious Society of Friends, represent the sane folks within the Christian tradition. 

Simon said:

Just in case you sometimes get Mormons and Quakers confused, Mitt Romney cleared things up Monday night.

“Bin Laden got what he deserved,” Romney, a Mormon, said at a Republican debate in South Carolina. “A bullet in the head.”

The crowd, as debate crowds sometimes do, went wild.

The audience assembled in Myrtle Beach at a Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate seemed so amped up even before the debate began, in fact, that I thought they were going to have to string up chicken wire to protect the candidates.

The primary is Saturday, and it is generally agreed that if Romney wins — it would be his third victory in a row — the Republican nominating race effectively will be over, just 18 days after it began.

So spirits are running high, and all the other Republicans are running hard at Romney.

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Could Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman defeat Obama?

Jon Huntsman. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com.

It must be apparent by now to most sentient beings that the results of the Iowa caucuses offered nary a candidate capable of igniting even a modicum of enthusiasm in the 2012 presidential race. And as E. J. Dionne, a worshiper of Barack Obama in 2008, recently observed:

As the attention of the politically minded has focused on the rather more down-to-earth contests in Iowa and New Hampshire that will help determine which Republican will face Mr. Obama in November, let us ponder what the coming year will bring for someone who must now seek re-election as a mere mortal.

Oh, but E. J., out there on the horizon in the New Hampshire Republican primary, Jon Huntsman could emerge as a candidate whose qualifications for the presidency just might excite currently lethargic Republicans, Democrats, and independents sufficiently to defeat incumbent Obama. It seems as if, Obama, like Icarus, flew too close to the sun and got his wings melted.

In today’s LA Times, Michael A. Memoli reports from N.H.:

In its endorsement of Jon Huntsman, the Boston Globe made largely the same case for the Utah governor’s candidacy that the candidate himself has to New Hampshire voters -- that he is the rare GOP candidate prioritizing the national interest over ideology.

The Globe, which has a reach into many southern New Hampshire homes, snubbed former home state Gov. Mitt Romney for the second time in its endorsement for the first-in-the-nation primary, after backing John McCain in the 2008 vote.

Both Huntsman and Romney, the paper’s editorial board writes, "have track records of success" and "have shown the breadth of spirit to lead the nation."

"But while Romney proceeds cautiously, strategically, trying to appease enough constituencies to get himself the nomination, Huntsman has been bold," the Globe said.

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