The General Election Begins
Troy Senik, Ed. ·
May 14, 2012 at 6:06pm
We've all known this was inevitable for months. But today it starts:
The real question here is whether Romney learned anything from the beta version of this attack that he faced during the primary race. Will he attempt to dismiss these charges with a wave of his hand? Will he offer a narrow, specific defense of his time at Bain? Or will he turn this into a broad, thematic defense of capitalism and call out the economic illiteracy of those attacking him? The response he chooses will go a long way towards determining how this issue plays out over the next several months.
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Re: The General Election Begins
If Romney is in any way defensive, this will hurt him. He should give a talk about creative destruction and the workings of the market.
One of the ways in which Barack Obama is a gift to Republicans is that he forces them to think about what they profess to believe and to articulate a full-throated defense of commercial society.
Jun '10
Re: The General Election Begins
Paul A. Rahe: If Romney is in any way defensive, this will hurt him. He should give a talk about creative destruction and the workings of the market.
One of the ways in which Barack Obama is a gift to Republicans is that he forces them to think about what they profess to believe and to articulate a full-throated defense of commercial society. · 5 minutes ago
Amen and amen.
Jan '11
Re: The General Election Begins
He needs to go full Newt. Which states have problems right now and are insolvent? Heavy D states or heavy R states? Which states have shows the road to fiscal stability? Romney/Ryan aren't going to end Social Security as we know it. Math is.
Jan '11
Re: The General Election Begins
Bain Capital's story under Romney's tenure is very positive and I also, hope Romney will tell that story. It is really the story of how capitalism works. But I do like the push back that Obama is getting over his own hypocrisy:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/299858/hypocrisy-obama-s-bain-bundler-robert-costa#
and
http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/299841/president-obama-auto-dealer-layoff-king
Mar '11
Re: The General Election Begins
Interesting story on this ad over at Breitbart's Big Government.
Feb '11
Re: The General Election Begins
I find this interesting because I used to work at a steel mill.
Knowing what I know I find the ad pathetically weak. Those ex-steelworkers in the ad should know what I know too. Hence they're either lying political shills or ignorant oblivious fools.
By the time this mill closed scores of others had already been shuttered, with dozens of companies bankrupt. Hundreds of thousands of jobs went away, along with their associated pensions.
This wasn't happening in secret. It made the papers. If these guys want to blame Romney for all that they're just idiots.
Mar '11
Re: The General Election Begins
Oh, dear, I hope Rob's gloomy prediction of Mr Romney's decline in the next two weeks doesn't come to pass.
I am cautiously optimistic that it will not. Mr Romney is starting to find his voice, I think (hope).
Dec '10
Re: The General Election Begins
Basil has got the goods here. It's time to hit our own steady theme. The Obama dems play fast and loose with the truth. Once again a vicious attack ad is factually incorrect. Romney wasn't at Bain when it happened.
A deeper message we need to send that will take some real preparation to do well is to link shallow anti-growth fear mongering to the dems (green fear). This is the real truth that the those old steel workers need to face. It wasn't Bain or any other management company that destroyed their jobs. It was green anti-growth hysteria that vilified heavy industry and wrecked their company.
Regards,
Jim
Edited on May 14, 2012 at 10:49pmOct '10
Re: The General Election Begins
Per Basil and Jim, getting the truth behind this ad out should be a priority , but a few WV coalminers, Gulf oil workers and some pipeline builders weighing in on Obama would also be enlightening.
Dec '10
Re: The General Election Begins
Errr, Romney did fire back, with speed and effect.
Jun '10
Re: The General Election Begins
James Gawron
Basil has got the goods here. It's time to hit our own steady theme. The Obama dems play fast and loose with the truth.
There's an obvious balance between staying on your message and spending time responding. I agree that this one requires a response. The best way to confront the "Big Lie" tactic is to hit back early, and even harder, not just pointing out the factual errors, but making it clear that the American steel industry was uncompetitive across the board and Bain, even under different management, did what it had to do.
Jun '10
Re: The General Election Begins
Loved the last 15 seconds. They take Arthur Brooks' advice to make a moral argument: this is how people move up in American society--it's the American way. I liked it.
Remember when we all (including me) thought the Republican primary process was the worst thing in the world. Had Gingrich not taken Mitt on about Bain, I'm not certain he'd have had this ready. I'm not seeing lasting harm, and a lot of upside come out of that process.
Edited on May 14, 2012 at 11:33pmOct '10
Re: The General Election Begins
This is just what was missing from Bush and McCain. I hope Romney counters the lies at every point. After over a decade of frustration, this just fires me up.
Dec '11
Re: The General Election Begins
Troy Senik, Ed.:
Will he attempt to dismiss these charges with a wave of his hand? Will he offer a narrow, specific defense of his time at Bain? Or will he turn this into a broad, thematic defense of capitalism and call out the economic illiteracy of those attacking him?
I'll take Door #3.
Feb '11
Re: The General Election Begins
EThompson
Troy Senik, Ed.:
Will he attempt to dismiss these charges with a wave of his hand? Will he offer a narrow, specific defense of his time at Bain?Or will he turn this into a broad, thematic defense of capitalism and call out the economic illiteracy of those attacking him?
I'll take Door #3.
No no no no.
The absolute last thing Romney should do is start lecturing people about "economic illiteracy".
He needs to talk more about the jobs he created, not yammer on about the glories of outsourcing. I put it that way because in my experience talk about "economic illiteracy" just boils down to a lecture about why people should be happy their job went to China.
This is a losing political argument.
I hope the Romney camp gets that. The ad about Steel Dynamics is excellent, and I take it as a sign that Romney actually does .
More of that, please.
Dec '11
Re: The General Election Begins
Xennady
EThompson
Troy Senik, Ed.:
Will he attempt to dismiss these charges with a wave of his hand? Will he offer a narrow, specific defense of his time at Bain?Or will he turn this into a broad, thematic defense of capitalism and call out the economic illiteracy of those attacking him?
I'll take Door #3.
No no no no.
The absolute last thing Romney should do is start lecturing people about "economic illiteracy".
Yes, yes, yes, and again, yes. What the American people so desperately need is a concise reminder of basic Econ 101 principles and some simple explanatory examples from Romney's diverse financial background.
I'd save the "lectures" for the MSM who are the true illiterates and won't support him anyway.
May '10
Re: The General Election Begins
Response: a steel mill and the Girl Scouts are different things. The steel mill sells products to turn a profit. The Girl Scouts sell cookies to fund other goodies and good times. Barack Obama doesn't want American businesses to turn profits and provide jobs. He wants them to be the Girl Scouts, to sell things to fund goodies (like pensions) and good times (like impossibly early retirement).
(By the way, if they don't sell enough stuff in Obamaland, you'll have to make up the shortfall on your own dime.)
Edited on May 15, 2012 at 1:40amFeb '11
Re: The General Election Begins
EThompson
Yes, yes, yes, and again, yes. What the American people so desperately need is a concise reminder of basic Econ 101 principles and some simple explanatory examples from Romney's diverse financial background.
No, the American people already know about Econ 101. What they need to hear from Romney is how he will make their lives better and use the power of the government to help the US succeed in the global economy vis-a-vis other nations.
That's the question here, I think. The American people accept that jobs will vanish in various ways, and tolerate dislocations that send the people of other nations into the streets.
But I get the sense that too many people running the show don't see a difference between a job in the US and a job in Vietnam- to quote a comment a saw here a while ago.
That's a problem, politically, considering that most American voters want jobs here and not in Vietnam.
Apr '11
Re: The General Election Begins
I know that campaigns are driven by emotion and not logic. But Romney could easily run an ad that said I take responsibility for the businesses we ran at Bain. During that time we created X more jobs at the businesses we bought than were there before. We didn’t win every time, but we won most of the time. Since President Obama came into office we lost a net Y jobs. He didn’t lose every time, but he lost most of the time.
Apr '12
Re: The General Election Begins
Also, the industry was under massive change where mini mills took away the work of general mills which was the look of this plant. http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch12/final/c12s0501.pdf Those are disgruntled union types who do not want to change. They do not understand the math of a profit and loss statement and have been spoilt because they worked for an owner operator. When the owner operator sells one third or more to private equity, these are now private investors risking the money usually of pension plans, ironically, of teachers and government workers. The returns have to be above 20 percent a year or more, otherwise the pension will take a lower risk investment in the public market. Unions do not understand this market hurdle required of the higher risk PE investors. An owner or partners in a steel mill will take hungry years or low returns but the PE fund will not sustain too many bumps in the road but more than a bank. These union guys are dinosaurs too wrapped up their own power to realize they needed to give back more of a return than shares in GE or a bar of gold.