Now, About That Car Elevator
On the podcast we recorded just now, Rob and I talked with Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. (As he himself explained, by the way, "Reince" rhymes with "pints.")
Reince explained that he had just visited Mitt and Ann Romney in San Diego. "I found out about that car elevator," he said--and although I may have a word or two wrong, this comes from the notes I took while he was speaking:
I found out that the car elevator is just a $1,500 simple mechanical lift that's required by the building code. Fifteen hundred dollars is still a lot of money, I know. But the real car lift is nothing like the picture of some fancy car elevator that the press painted.
I'm a big believer in correcting the record. If the press gets something wrong, we have to say so. We have to fight back.
It's a pity the Romney campaign felt too defensive to correct to record itself, of course. (Romney's house in Southern California is still worth millions, no matter what kind of car elevator he has, and the real pity is that the campaign felt defensive about Romney's wealth, his career--really, about free markets.) But now we have an RNC chairman who, a) knows the press is against us, and, b) wants candidates and party officials that are willing to fight.
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Jun '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Maybe Priebus thinks he is advancing a political version of Mayor Guliani's broken windows theory, but worrying about correcting the "car elevator record" following a campaign in which his candidate was portrayed by the President of the United States as a callous, woman-with-cancer-killing, greedy job destroying monster who wants to lock women up in chastity belts seems to be a little . . . um, off message.
Jun '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Wait! Pathetic. That's the word I was looking for.
Mar '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
I feel the lifetime political operators on this site do not understand that the world has changed forever. It no longer matters whether we have someone who we optimistically think will "fight". This post is foolishly naive.
The fact is that future national elections are not the battleground anymore. Our spending problem is too far gone for any fixes that can be implemented in the very limited time that remains.
Thanks to the coming hyperinflation and eventual federal default, the only battleground that matters is the restoration of federalism (which is the nice way to say "the secession of the Red States.")
Edited on February 6, 2013 at 7:41pmRe: Now, About That Car Elevator
Peter Robinson
(As he himself explained, by the way, "Reince" rhymes with "pints.")
What's Priebus rhyme with?
No snark intended I really don't know.
Jan '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Yes, let's fight, make sure the record is straight, etc.
And Mr. Priebus is so gosh darn good at it that it's taken 2 full years to get his own side to begin pronouncing his first name correctly.
Jan '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Tommy, I'm sorry, but we're talking about effective communication here -- which means it'll be another two years before you get to find out how to pronounce his last name.
Tommy De Seno
Peter Robinson
(As he himself explained, by the way, "Reince" rhymes with "pints.")
What's Priebus rhyme with?
No snark intended I really don't know. · 2 minutes ago
Aug '10
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Funny how the public thinks that car elevators are cool for Batman but bad for a presidential candidate.
Silly people!
Feb '12
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
I'm surprised people still don't know how his name is pronounced. I learned it before he was even elected to his position. It's really not that difficult people!
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Unfair to beat me down and not provide me the answer!
Jun '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Tommy De Seno
Unfair to beat me down and not provide me the answer! · 5 minutes ago
I believe the vowel sounds rhyme with "free us," as in free us from the likes of Priebus and Rove.
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Tommy De Seno
Peter Robinson
(As he himself explained, by the way, "Reince" rhymes with "pints.")
What's Priebus rhyme with?
No snark intended I really don't know. · 31 minutes ago
PREE-bus.
(Rhymes, alas, with "Toyota Prius.")
Mar '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
I understand the chairman's point, but, um, I think the Romney folks probably had this one right (even a stopped clock is right twice a day).
I mean, really, was the candidate going to say "Yes, yes, I have a car elevator at my multi-million dollar property for cars worth in the hundreds of thousands, but it's okay, it's not that awesome of a car elevator. It's a pretty darn plain car elevator when it comes right down to it....."
Romney would have to have been a candidate who didn't shy away from the wealth question, and who was determined at every chance to make an argument about earned success and the bounty thereof to convincingly carry off a line of argument like that. He wasn't, and he couldn't have.
Edited on February 6, 2013 at 8:34pmFeb '12
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Tommy De Seno
Unfair to beat me down and not provide me the answer! · 20 minutes ago
Augh, you're right! Peter beat me to it, so I'll just apologize for my incomplete critique. Sorry dude!
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Peter Robinson
Tommy De Seno
Peter Robinson
(As he himself explained, by the way, "Reince" rhymes with "pints.")
What's Priebus rhyme with?
No snark intended I really don't know. · 31 minutes ago
PREE-bus.
(Rhymes, alas, with "Toyota Prius.") · 12 minutes ago
Here's to hoping he has more horsepower.
Edited on February 6, 2013 at 8:42pmSep '10
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
OK, Obama won the 12 anti-car-elevator voters. So the effort now is to try and sway 5 or 6 of them over to the GOP? Glad to see the party has it's priorities in place.
Edited on February 6, 2013 at 9:21pmFeb '11
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Bill Whittle had a fabulous defense of Mitt Romney's wealth a few weeks after the election, but I think it has gone into the Members Only section of PJTV.
Oct '10
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
You don't correct the record by fighting back on their terms. You correct the record by fighting back on these terms. Otherwise, you're wasting your breath, your time, and your effort.
Oct '10
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Has anyone ever seen Mr. Reince Priebus and Mr. Mike Murphy in the same room at the same time? Just sayin'...
May '10
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
I appreciate the honesty, but Peter's point is also correct about the house itself. I add a couple of comments:
1) There was no viable alternative this year to Mitt Romney as nominee.
2) He was an excellent person, and a perfectly solid nominee (see Jay Nordlinger and James of England for more details).
3) He did as well as he was going to do under the circumstances as we now know them- the Twitter 240 Character Deep Thought Society doesn't welcome serious discussions or long answers, no matter what the question. No cute new media tactics or revised aggressive campaign approach would have made any meaningful difference.
4) Romney could have won- but by one method only: not being himself. He could have started in 2007 creating a new phony persona. Close all retirement accounts and put everything into T bills paying max taxes, sell all vehicles except for a 5 year old Ford Explorer and a 3 year old Chevy, get rid of all real estate except for a 3500 square foot two-story in the Detroit suburbs, and be a volunteer community college business instructor.
Only lefties get to define themselves via earned media.
Dec '10
Re: Now, About That Car Elevator
Well, I'll give Mr. Priebus points for facing the critics here at Ricochet after that "disappointing" (dispiriting, pathetic, embarrassing...) performance by the RNC. But then, sometimes it's hard to distinguish between courage and folly.
Any chance I can get my money back? /pshaw - just kidding. sort of.