Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
The headlines just hours after Mitt Romney's trouncing of Newt Gingrich in Florida could be better. Romney is getting a lot of attention for a line from his interview with CNN this morning. He said:
"I'm not concerned about the very poor."
So of course everyone is flipping out. Two points in defense of his comment. The full context absolutely makes it better. The full quote:
"We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."
Reporters should stop ripping lines out of context and publicizing them under the banner "This could look bad." They should just report the news, not tell people what to think about it. Further, the idea that the very poor are taken care of by an extensive safety net is what the vast majority of Democrats have been saying for decades. That the media would be so upset when Romney says it annoys me.
And yet, this line also shows why so many of us are not exactly excited by a candidate Romney. Even if it weren't ill-advised to let these words come out of your mouth, ever, it's the underlying sentiment that gets me.
It bothers me both that a president would say "if" the safety net needs fixing, he'll look at it, suggesting that he believes the welfare state actually does a good job taking care of the poor.
As The Weekly Standard's John McCormack points out, "The safety net DOES need repair. The poor DO need jobs. The Obama economy and debt hurt the poor too. Stupid thing to say. As Paul Ryan says, when a debt crisis hits the elderly and the poor are hit the worst and the first. If it needs repair? Like we're not on the verge of a debt crisis? Like Medicaid in its current form is smart?"
I want a president who wants to reform our welfare state because he is worried about the very poor in our midst and he recognizes how poorly the federal government has handled their plight, frequently making it worse. I want a president who always thinks that a man should have a job over a safety net and remembers to talk about that at every opportunity.
I know that Mitt Romney didn't mean to sound cavalier and heartless. I don't think it was a sparkling moment of presidential politics to announce on national television that he's not concerned about the poor. But just last night he gave a speech with a powerful message about jobs and the future of the country. He should have remembered a few of those lines for his morning interview with CNN.
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Comments:
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
nitpick every minute aspect of Rmnys campaign.
Speaking of nitpicking, there's an O in Obama and I notice you're missing one in that last line. Just sayin'.
Jan '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Fixed it already. :p
May '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
BThompson: .
I guess I should look at it this way, the reason stupi triua gets packed up ad run with is precisely because the competence and discipline of Romneys campaign gets all the important stuff right. · 4 minutes ago
Edited 2 minutes ago
Here's the point BT. Whether looking at the gaffe, or the substance which reveals a lack of understanding of what is going on both in the short term (in terms of recession, where the poor are hardest hit) or in the long term (the fracturing of society,) this soundbite is all about pandering to a perceived electoral stronghold. And even on that basis it is poorly done. He is playing Obama's game at the JV level.
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Trace Urdan
BThompson: .
I guess I should look at it this way, the reason stupi triua gets packed up ad run with is precisely because the competence and discipline of Romneys campaign gets all the important stuff right. · 4 minutes ago
Edited 2 minutes ago
Here's the point BT. Whether looking at the gaffe, or the substance which reveals a lack of understanding of what is going on both in the short term (in terms of recession, where the poor are hardest hit) or in the long term (the fracturing of society,) this soundbite is all about pandering to a perceived electoral stronghold. And even on that basis it is poorly done. He is playing Obama's game at the JV level. · 0 minutes ago
Our long national nightmare is just beginning.
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Slogan for 2012:
Moat, meet drawbridge.
Mar '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Not only is there no excuse for this utterly unforced error -- he's done the same thing in the past ("corporations are people too"). What a completely subpar candidate.
Aug '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
I like firing people.
Jan '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
How can reassuring people that he's not going to dismantle the safety net, be both pandering to the poor and showing that he's out of touch with the problems of normal people, Trace? The answer is that it cant. You just exemplified the type of strained mental gymnastics and distortion of the actual statement I was just was pointing out. If you have to extrapolate that far out from the words Mitt actually said to come up with a motive and message that bears so little resemblance to the plain point he was obviously making, I think you need to examine why you want to work so hard.
Edited on February 1, 2012 at 5:40pmMay '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
That's not what I see behind Romney's mask. I see this:
It's Bob Dole2. A campaign held up by the Viagra of "electability."
May '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Sheesh...when did Ricochet become the suicide hotline? I think I'll come back in a few months...
Obama is not invincible...and he's sure not perfect. Give the American electorate a little credit...enough of them realize we screwed up electing this incompetent jerk. Romney's far from perfect, but he's also infinitely preferable. Just be ready to pull together in the fall so that we can begin to turn this ship around.
This will not be the last time Mitt will fumble, as have all the others in the primaries. And we all know that Obama's money will be spent turning those goofs into big negative ads. Barry has some goofs too...in his case, we are reminding people why he's in over his head.
I still say Mitt wins in November and the Pubbies control Congress. That's when the tough decisions will begin. Mitt remains the most likely to beat Barry and makes at least some of the changes we need. Meanwhile, let's focus on those down-ticket races as well. Yes, he's not a movement conservative. But then a movement conservative isn't electable...right now...
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
EJHill: That's not what I see behind Romney's mask. I see this:
It's Bob Dole2. A campaign held up by the Viagra of "electability." · 12 minutes ago
Its a clear case of Electoral Dysfunction and I hope they prescribe a fix shortly.
May '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
BThompson: How can reassuring people that he's not going to dismantle the safety net, be both pandering to the poor and showing that he's out of touch with the problems of normal people, Trace? The answer is that it cant. You just exemplified the type of strained mental gymnastics and distortion of the actual statement I was just was pointing out. If you have to extrapolate that far out from the words Mitt actually said to come up with a motive and message that bears so little resemblance to the plain point he was obviously making, I think you need to examine why you want to work so hard. · 3 minutes ago
Edited 2 minutes ago
I don't have any better answer than Mitt. I just think it's very weak sauce. I would like to have an election where I didn't have to hold my breath every time my party's candidate was interviewed. The President is the most articulate spokesperson for his side. We haven't had a candidate like that in a long time.
Mar '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
To give credit where it is due, the CNN article recapping the interview (which was also on CNN) only mentions the quote toward the end, and even then includes the entire context. Kudos to them for resisting the temptation to make a sensation out of the quote, despite having been the first to air it.
Mar '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Trace Urdan
BThompson:
I would like to have an election where I didn't have to hold my breath every time my party's candidate was interviewed. The President is the most articulate spokesperson for his side.
Then again, George W Bush was also elected twice.
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Reporters should stop ripping lines out of context and publicizing them under the banner "This could look bad."
Mollie...did you know I do Wheel while drunk?
Aug '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Trace Urdan
Whether looking at the gaffe, or the substance which reveals a lack of understanding of what is going on both in the short term (in terms of recession, where the poor are hardest hit) or in the long term (the fracturing of society,)...
Sorry, Trace the poor are not hardest hit. They have subsidies in income, housing, food, and portable electronics (cellphones) to the point where their standard of living is not materially affected. Romney's point that the safety net is well crafted is both relatively and absolutely true.
As a Ricochet founding member of ABR, I am proud he said it.
Edited on February 1, 2012 at 6:12pmMar '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Pat Sajak
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Reporters should stop ripping lines out of context and publicizing them under the banner "This could look bad."
Mollie...did you know I do Wheel while drunk? · 8 minutes ago
I used to watch it while drunk, but that spinning wheel made me lose my fortune all over the couch.
Nov '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
However clumsily, Romney is trying to make a "forgotten man" appeal to the middle class. His campaign seems to be anticipating (correctly, I think) that the dominant theme of Obama's campaign will be class warfare, and that the effective response to this is to give voice to the concerns of the people who don't want to become a part of the left's constituency of government dependents. His strategy seems sound, despite his poorly worded argument. He needs to fix it, and fast, or risk that a very positive message goes unheard.
FWIW, James Pethokoukis at AEI blogged on this today (sorry, no snazzy embedded link):
http://blog.american.com/2012/02/mitt-romney-economic-growth-and-the-myth-of-american-poverty/
May '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Trace Urdan: Even in context the statement is bad because the poor don't need a repaired safety net, they need jobs... and education.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010 Census · 4 minutes ago
Edited 3 minutes ago
Thank you, Trace. That is what I was trying to say. It's not the ripped-from-context line that bothers me. It's the completely-in-context part that bothers me. · 2 hours ago
Government has been trying to fix that for decades and the only change is the increasing scope of the failure. The rising tide is still the best approach, together with local \groups such as churches in the rough neighborhoods- the latter being an area where our side does an horrendous job.
Somehow, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, etc. always end up with mega-churches in the suburbs instead of building near Eugene Rivers or Geoffrey Canada in the central cities. WWJD? He'd be in the Bronx, not Long Island, he'd be in North Minneapolis, not Plymouth.
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
And on top of all that, Liverpool just crushed Wolves yesterday, 3-0. Wolves are now deep in the relegation zone.
A couple more clueless moves by the Republicans and lousy sports weekends like we've had lately and I'll exile myself to a jungle hut in Belize with no Internet connection.
Edited on February 1, 2012 at 6:32pm