Well folks, Mitt Romney took the show on the road to Europe and did not have that great a time of it. Of course, it isn't anywhere near as bad as the Bought and Paid For Media would have you believe, but they have the narrative and the narrative seems to be that it was not a successful trip. Most of the chatter stems from two statements--both of which were the truth, one of which was a self-inflicted wound and one of which is actually a plus.
Let's start with the self-inflicted wound. It doesn't matter how prepared the UK is for these Olympic Games, and it doesn't matter how much experience Governor Romney has with running an Olympics--the only acceptable response to the question (which he answered honestly) about the UK's readiness to host the Olympics was "they appear ready and excited to host a very successful Games"--and that's it. No one needed to hear the truth from a former Olympics organizer, because the question wasn't asked of a former Olympics organizer. It was asked of a current candidate for President.
On the second front, Romney spoke approvingly of the cultural differences that seem to be at work in the productivity of the Israeli people. Oh my...the Palestinians are beside themselves, some crying racism. But you know what? Mr. Romney isn't counting on a great outpouring of support from Palestinian Americans. He is however, looking to court Jewish Americans, and there is little doubt that many greeted his comparison with approval.
All this said, the plain truth is that the echo chamber is reverberating with the "it was a disaster meme". I don't think the campaign will be able to reverse this--so, change the story. Announce the VP as soon as Romney lands. Make THAT the story that they talk about. Oh, and make sure the VP is Condi... :)
Rice is not a politician she's a diplomat. And just because she's black and she happens to be a female, don't think for a minute they would give her a pass. They'll be digging up every decision she ever made, including the wars we fought under Bush. I for one would love to get a good debate going on the Afghan war. I think this is a vulnerable area for Obama and we could take some of the shine off his supposed foreign policy "successes". I think he's done a dismal job, apart from killing a few terrorists with drones. But if she could prove she can take the rough and tumble of the political arena, I think she'd be ready to step in (the main criteria) and she'd be a good choice.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm leaning toward Ryan. This election is about the economy, and Ryan has that nailed.
I disagree that he should name the VP now. And your piece bolsters my position--that the trip was not the disaster the mediots want to make it to be. Naming the VP is a good silver bullet to be used when the candidate has a particularly bad week. As you said above, this wasn't that bad, and frankly, except for pissing off our mates across the pond for a day or two, he certainly didn't do so with the same disdainful intent that his opponent did by his return of Sir Winston's bust. And I love that he made an unequivocal statement about where we stand when it comes to the PLO and Israel. I'm tired of the tweed-jacketed intelligencia coddling those murdering terrorists and berating the most democratic country in that region for having the audacity to defend itself against their attacks.
ReplyDeleteNo, save that silver bullet for a bad debate or a real slip up like when he tells American business owners that they didn't build their businesses...oh, wait...