The Moment All the Doubts About Romney Resurfaced on the Right

DVPTEXFLA

Ms. Saul….I am sorry to tell you…no matter what you say the news media will never like you…..See John McCain for the best example…

Ms. Saul’s comment comes from the weak minded moderates who think the news media will like them…..Sorry Ms. Saul…When Mr. Romney is elected….Getting rid of Obamacare has to be one of the top priorities…..if not 2012 will be a terrible year for republicans….

WA_Cowboy

.

WA_Cowboy

one has to wonder if this is the official opinion of the Mittster or just how one of his campaign staffers thought would be a good idea to deflect from a dem. talking point.

either way, not smart.

sarg01

Campaigns spin. It’s what they do.

I guarantee you at this point the campaign is more worried about swing voters than the base. And at this point, they’re right to be.

Romney just doesn’t matter any more. Obama has to be defeated or there’s not going to be much America left. Until recently, taking the Senate might have been enough, but lately the dude is just making up his own laws.

DVPTEXFLA

if not 2014 will be a terrible year for republicans …..

littlehouse18

Let’s not make a big deal of Team Romney’s mistakes, unless we want to lose.

OTOH, he’s got idiots working for him! Someone needs to tell him privately to stop it – now. We’ve had stupid surveys to ask and everything is being run out of Boston with squishy moderates. They can’t even grab the easy win on Chik-fil-A.

NBS claims it’s down to Portman,Pawlenty, or Ryan. Of those three, if he doesn’t pick Ryan, we’re toast.

veritaseequitas

did not even deserve comment by anyone on the Romney team. However, because some nitwit opened her mouth to spew equally inane crap does not signal the end of the Romney campaign.
I know Americans can have the attention span of a gnat sometimes, but really, do you think when it comes down to a choice between Comrade Obama and Mitt Romney, thinking people are going to choose Obama and all he represents because of this remark?

veritaseequitas

very pessimistic and really, look at the alternative.

http://bobnew.com robertnew

And the Mitt Romney we all knew would be back has returned. The guy who manages to defeat himself election after election. The guy who surrounds himself with the most inept staff a candidate could find. The one guy who can make John McCain look good.

boonerdan

If Romney is not focused on the base, this election is already over and he will be McCain v2.0. Romney’s ineptitude and liberalism will never make me vote for Obama, but it could make me NOT vote for Romney. I can easily write a name in for that line.

dragan

We are going to pay for having Romney as the nominee. All the while we had resigned to the fact of holding our collective noses and voting for Romney. This message seems to be a confirmation that Romney will NOT repeal Obamacare. If OCare is the law for 2 or more years, it will NEVER be repealed.

sarg01

Portman is a downright terrible pick. The whole campaign we’ll be hearing about Bush’s budget director. Maybe if he’d make Ohio a slam dunk that’d be less important – but the truth is it’d be surprising if he got us even a 1% bump in Ohio.

Pawlenty’s not a disaster, but he brings nothing to the table Romney doesn’t already have.

Ryan’s the only positive in that group, and I don’t really think it will be Ryan.

I continue to hope for Ayotte or Rice. Rubio’d be fine, but I think that’s another not-a-chance pick.

dragan

I have donated to Ted Cruz, Richard Murdock and Todd Akin. I will NOT donate to or work for Romney. I will vote for him. That is the MAXIMUM I can do

earlgrey

the campaign can’t or does’nt want to fight back. This staffer should be fired as should a whole lot of others. romney is running a lousy campaign. I’ll support him, but my $$ are gong elsewhere to senate and congressional candidates.

sarg01

Romney just has to not veto it. I’m convinced the guy can at least manage a signature.

edintexas

This is pure stupidity, and it is engendered by the fact that they believe this crap. They still believe in “Romneycare”, and THAT is a problem.

And the response to the Chick-Fil-A Day push back was it isn’t part of our campaign. Well, belabor the obvious, it wasn’t part of their campaign. And the campaign isn’t smart enough to recognize that they would be standing with their base by even a neutral comment. But nooooo, they have to distance themselves from the pushback and in the process let what should be their base know “we don’t want any part of you people”.

I refer everyone to Erick’s item on Republican Consultants – it isn’t just millionaires who are being taken to the cleaners while obtaining nothing, no – worse than nothing – harmful advice and services from these so-called “consultants”.

veritaseequitas

n/t

gekster

It wasn’t Romney who said it.

edintexas

At this point in the campaign year those who are paying attention are the people who contribute their money and time to the campaign. You don’t go out and say things which cause despair (at least), or even pi$$ them off. Every person you lose at this point is a big loss. Ask Bush 41, who listened to Lee Atwater’s advice that “The gunnies have nowhere else to go on election day.” They forgot that going straight home after work is a place to go on election day.

dragan

nt

mt2az

He may be smart enough not to say it out loud, but he believes the same thing.

Didn’t you watch the debates? He thinks Romneycare is good policy. His only objections (supposedly) to Obamacare are states rights related. And that position, as I just said, is pretty much purely for our benefit.

sarg01

It matters what they do after we put them in office.

Will Romney introduce and gain passage through Congress of Romneycare on a federal level? Not a chance – even if he is personally deluded into thinking it’s the right thing to do.

Will Romney veto an Obamacare repeal? His stance has been a very clear “no”. There’s no way he could veto a repeal politically. His own party would impeach him.

Chick-Fil-A day is a trivial issue. I do believe he had a statement about Menino and Rahm and whatever nutcase is running San Fran these days engaging in oppression. That’s what Chick-Fil-A appreciation day was about. My only complaint is he didn’t take the time to tar Bloomberg with the same nanny state brush … but Bloomberg backed CFA, so I guess they felt it wasn’t opportune timing.

RichmondG30

My family and friends in Central Virginia are the base. Mr. Romney does not need to worry about me or any of my circle of family and friends.

After watching the slow motion train wreck known as the Obama Administration over the past 3-1/2 years, there is not a chance in H3LL that any of us will not be fully engaged in defeating this evil President.

Take a deep breath, Erick. Let’s not over-dramatize this silly remark from a campaign employee.

teaforme2012

They seem to be of the opinion that it doesn’t matter what Mitt says. What matters is only what Mitt says last. Which is a great strategy when you are running in primaries, and there are repeated election days. But Andrea Saul and the other bumblers don’t seem to understand that the “Etchasketch” strategy will ultimately cement his Flip Flopper image. By tomorrow, Romney will be on Fox and Friends again, saying he was against Romneycare in Massachusetts, and his advisors will think, once again, that a crisis was averted.

With that said, voters in Massachusetts love their health care as much as people around the country love their addiction to medicare. I know Mitt’s first instinct is to say he created something in Massachusetts that people are happy with. I’m not sure why he doesn’t spend more time arguing that Romneycare is different, and better than Obamacare.

veritaseequitas

Pawlenty and Portman are both too boring for words. I like Christi’s chutzpah but I wonder what else he has going for him. No to Rice – too connected to GWB, no to Palin although I like her, I think she would be royally savaged and bring the campaign down with her. How about McDonnell – don’t know much about him, but his name seems to pop up now and then. I think Allen West has a lot going for him, but maybe in 2020.
Should be interesting. Anybody have any money on this thing?

gekster

nt

DVPTEXFLA

Let’s face it given the context of the Team Obama commercial and the facts showing the commercial was a lie….Ms. Paul displayed she was not ready for prime time…I am sure she can do a good job sealing envelopes and sending out emails….

tnfriendofcoal101368

and he won the 1988 campaign – I knew this was a horrid misstep by Saul (a unforced error of like a supernova level proportion) – I think it was Sununu who actually gave GW Bush that advice (and yeah ticking off your base is a stupid election strategy). I spin a lot for Romney because an Obama win is just unthinkable (especially if you work in the coal industry like I do) but there is no way to spin this out – it was stupid. Romney is going to have to fire Saul and in my opinion Saul just took Christie, Portman, Pawlenty, Ayotte – out of the running for VP.

teaforme2012

I think Romney is right in bringing welfare reform back into the fold. This issue resonates today as much as it did 30 years ago. I’d even like to see Romney using more visual reminders of “welfare queens in Cadillacs” that Reagan used so effectively. It used to be that just the base responded to this kind of imagery of minorities getting government aid at the taxpayer’s expense, but those issues resonate in middle class America, too, especially after the economic beating this country took.

If Obama wants to saddle the 1% with higher taxes, let the people understand that the beneficiaries of this tax policy are going to be poor and lower-middle class people who are in debt, underwater on their houses, but who still want their big screen cable televisions, health care, and their expensive Nike sneakers.

edintexas

And has Romney announced that she has been fired? I don’t believe we can be hypocrites, like Democrats, and call out the Obama campaign for things Dirty Harry says, or Madam Pelosi, or the PAC – then turn around and say she doesn’t speak for Romney and the campaign – because she is a campaign spokesperson. If Romney doesn’t keep track of, and control, what his spokespeople say in his stead…

RichmondG30

Barack Obama is an avowed Socialist who has brought the economy and the country to its knees.

Do you honestly believe that those of us in the “anybody-but Obama” crowd will be going straight home after work? Really?

curtmilr

Yes, Romney’s managers are squishier than they ought to be, but the candidate himself has said that he will repeal every word of Obamacare. That’s definitive, and it’s supposedly compromised by a misstatement by an aide? That aide should be “reassigned”. Not fired, as that reflects on his judgement in hiring her in the first place, but she should no longer be an official spokesperson.
It is Congress who must repeal Obamacare, all Mitt has to do is sign it, and he has said will. ‘Nuff said!
Of the three touted VP nominees, I prefer Ryan, who is strong on budget & debt, and would help swing Wisconsin, though he lacks executive experience. He’s term limited at the Budget Committee, though those rules could be changed. Pawlenty, 2nd, Portman 3rd. Rubio is weak on constitutional issues, though a fabulous speaker. He has very little executive experience too, but brings FL and hispanic support.

gekster

It appears you didn’t.

Didn’t you believe romney when he said the first thing he wants to do is repeal Obamacare.
Guessed you misssed that part.

And I havn’t seen anything said or done that has changed that.

And is it not a correct statement.
“To that point, if people had been in Massachusetts, under Governor Romney?s health care plan, they would have had health care,?

Is that a true or false statement.

(Disclaimer: I don’t support any Government healthcare plan, Federal or State)

edintexas

What you write has nothing to do with the subject. Well, OK – the ultimate subject is Romney, but the issue under discussion has nothing to do with welfare reform, or taxes.

edintexas

That Romney is responsible for hiring this spokesperson, and if he fires her it will reflect badly on Romney’s judgement.

But you are also saying that Romney can’t be held responsible for what a person appointed to be a spokesperson actually says while speaking for Romney.

OOOOkay.

westcoastpatriette

without Romney’s unforced errors tripping him up for good. Intense pressure seems to be the only thing that will keep him in line when he colors outside the lines — which he seems unable to see himself do. It is already starting to feel like he is losing control of his campaign. We cannot afford to let him nauseate the base any more. But who can stop him?

mt2az

Romney has defended Romneycare and it’s supposed effectiveness over and over again, both in the debates and elsewhere. I honestly have no idea how you missed that. There are dozens of instances out there, and I’m fairly certain I remember at least some of them being criticized in front page posts right here.

annas

The minute I saw this I sent an email to Romney camp. I hope they read it…..(it was not pretty)

sarg01

Fine by me. I don’t live in Massachusettes.

Bill S

He’s criticizing Andrea Saul, super-moron. Notice the italics where he says “and his campaign staff”

We need to put the pressure on Romney to hire staffers that can discern their anus from a hole in the ground. Clearly, Ms. Saul is incapable of this.

acat

I trust the Red State (and Ace of Spades) articles calling Coleman both “on the short list to run HHS for Romney” and “saying obamacare will stay but will be ‘fixed’” can still be found.

I’ll say what I’ve said before – we need to elect conservatives in the House and Senate. Romney can only sign what is sent to his desk, so if we want conservative laws .. go to where the buck *starts*, not where it *stops*.

Mew

Bill S

you’d note that differentiation. The criticism is of Romney’s staff and his selection of an idiot. It is fair game to smack Romney over his lack of hiring expertise.

Criticism of Romney is not off limits. We have 3 months to improve Romney and his staff to the point where he can win.

acat

It’s about appealing to the squishy middle .. and they don’t like pastels near as much as they tell pollsters.

Mew

gekster

It has been explained over and over, and now once more.

The MA health care bill is what the people of MA wanted, the Democrat controlled legislature wanted, and Romney signed it because it was what the people and legislature of MA wanted.

It has since morphed into a beast because of the Dems changeing it after Romney left.

And I will say it again, Romney said he will repeal Obamacare if elected.
Now you show me where he has changed his mind.
He also said that the MA law “could” be a model for the other states,
but not a model for a national law.

As of yet I have not seen any other state try to impose a state healthcare law, but that could be because of Obamacare, and hence no need for one.

Duke

would have been to describe the timeline, call the perpetrators of this lie dirty liars, and then ask if anyone could describe Obama’s involvement in Fast and Furious. Well if he won’t tell us about F&F, perhaps you could describe what happens to the bystanders when a drone bombs someone, most of whom aren’t standing out in the middle of a desert. Now, could we perhaps discuss Obama’s “kill list,” and how many innocent Mrs. Soptics he actually DID kill while dropping a bomb on an occupied house?

Oh, look…, there’s a pony…, look over there!

gmscan

The chick is a total ditz. But Romney seems to hire a lot of ditzes, including most of Charlie Crist’s staff. Is he in a race with McCain to see who can hire the worst staffers in history?

mt2az

Given that that’s what he believes, I think we can all be quite sure that spokesman’s statement is an accurate description of Romney’s beliefs- if the steelworker had been a Massachusetts resident, his wife would have been fine thanks to Romneycare.

The only misstep here, at least as far as the campaign goes, is her saying this out loud and in public.

acat

about a Romney loss, that is.

The Tea Party clearly are still the motive force in electing Conservatives to Congress… and the GOP is on track to take a majority in both Houses.

If Romney wins, we’ll get some good reforms signed easily.

If Romney loses, on the other paw, we’ll get a much-needed lesson in realpolitik as the conservatives in Congress and *some* of the statehouses work to reduce the power of the executive branch.

My read on the Roberts court is that this will not be easy, but .. in the long term, the stare decisis that results may resonate longer than easily-signed and easily-overturned laws.

Mew

gekster

ntnt

mt2az

Most importantly, the fact that I never said Romney said he supported Obamacare. You seem to be arguing against something I never said. You should probably go back and both watch some excerpts from the debates, and re-read my comment that you were replying to.

sarg01

The subtitle on the article talks about it being a “Read my lips” style betrayal.

That’s pretty much the biggest Republican sell-out since … well, as long as I’ve been alive anyhow. A remark by a staffer defending a past position well known by Republican primary voters just doesn’t amount to the same thing. It’s not in the same order of magnitude, and probably not in the next order down either.

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

… we can overreact in January if and when an admin flunky decides they should ‘mend not end Obamacare’.

The point is …
1) this was a very weak response when a full “shove-it-back” is needed to counter this horrible lie.
2) It’s sadly admitting the phony false premise that somehow we ‘need’ an obamacare like system to take care of these situations. (um, no we dont.)
3) We could so EASILY do better.?There are a lot of people losing their jobs and losing their health care in President [Barack] Obama?s economy.?
Yes good Andrea … but STICK TO THAT AND PUT AN EXCLAMATION POINT ON IT…
“Millions have lost jobs under Obama and his policies have crippled families and Obama doesnt even care enough to meet with his jobs team for six month. millions long-term unemployed and he says no to keystone pipeline and no to Republican jobs bills. He doesnt care!”

Erick is over-sensitive on a single soundbite, but someone’s got to do the job of being the canary in the coalmine. Giving in to liberal premises is bad politics and bad policy both.

mt2az

But Romney’s been out there all week touting his expertise on healthcare matters based on his prior experience in Massachusetts, ie. Romneycare. He hasn’t stepped in it quite the way Saul did, but I think it’s silly to believe Romney has a different opinion on this than her.

The bottom line is that he still thinks, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Romneycare was a good thing. And he will tip-toe right up to the line , stopping just short of saying it the way Saul did.

tnfriendofcoal101368

and it is as bad in context as out. The interview was a layup – friendly reporter basically hitting the talking points on the ad word for word. I honestly don’t know what Saul was thinking, here is all she had to say:

“I am honestly not surprised, the Obama administration has shown they are willing to sanction any filth that will distract the election from the issues like jobs and education that voters actually care about.”

If she can’t handle that interview – she can’t be the voice of the campaign – it’s really that simple.

westcoastpatriette

para wrt a “lesson in realpolitik”? Still learning here, you know.

kipling

When Romney refused to stand behind Chick-fil-A last Friday, he raised doubts about his candidacy for many conservatives. When asked about the controversy, he now famously responded, “Those are not things that are part of my campaign.”

I initially attributed the response to message discipline and a determination to focus on the economy. Andrea Saul may have just blown the message discipline theory out the window.

http://www.redstate.com/kipling/2012/08/07/message-discipline-or-tin-ear-mitt-romney-and-social-conservatives/

wintermute

cue the “omg we just lost!” concern trolls. from the comments above its clear there are already lots here.

xymbaline

He seems to have an almost mystical understanding of when Romney should be believed and when you should simply plug your ears and go la la la, pretending you didn’t hear anything.

To the rest of us, he sounds like just another liberal Republican. Only shows how unenlightened the rest of us are.

tnfriendofcoal101368

on law by executive fiat, on the flexiblity promised Vladimir Putin, on the coal industry going out of business, on Obama tax – I don’t believe Romney will veto bills sent by the conservative congress but I know Obama will and then he will execute his fiats when he doesn’t get his way. What Breitbart said at CPAC is as true today as it was when he said it.

Also the odds are long, Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy and Scalia make it 4 more years – do we really want a court where Barack Obama selected 6 of it’s members?

Electing Barack Obama will give us a lesson in the wisdom of CS Lewis’ statement: “Experience is a brutal teacher”.

kentucky

“Oh, gee. Well, you know, what these mean people are saying about Mitt Romney isn’t exactly true.”

Will someone please have some spine? That’s what is concerning. They should be using this to shine a light on some of the real life and death consequences of the administration’s policies, not like they need a grownup to make the other side be nice.

julianusrex

If Romney fails to follow up and fails to void obamacare then Job #2 will be to replace the Republican Party by the Tea Party in 2014.

gekster

Honest question.

If he has, that I did miss.

acat

Mind, it’s going to suck to live through.

Should he win re-election, Obama will not be changing his stripes. He hasn’t changed them yet, after all.

It seems likely, to this cat, that the Dems will lose control of Congress.. and that we *might* get a more conservative if not larger majority in the House.

The realpolitik comes in when one posits what the Congress must do to stop the Executive. The Congress has the power of the purse, but the Executive is relatively unfettered.. and has generally grown moreso since the great depression. (spits on Alf Landon’s grave)

The clash of the Obama executive vs. a Conservative House and Senate will change the relationship between the branches, and just where the Roberts court comes down will be very interesting. If this happens, I expect some who have condemned the obamacare finding to heap praises upon Roberts for keeping his powder dry. Hypocrites piss me off quite a lot.

Given the historical respect shown to court findings (stare decisis) I suspect that, long-term, the Libs would really rather Romney win so they can start over in 2014, much as Clinton started over in 1996… The liberal and GOP-insider hope (based on the diary and some other comments, the hope of ex-Sen. Coleman and Ms. Saul) is to make things look a bit better so the conservatives will go home and D.C. can get back to business as usual.

Far too many “conservatives” – read the rest of the comments here and see how they sort of jump out – seem to think replacing Obama is sufficient. I .. disagree. What would help most, long-term, is for the outer bounds of Federal power to be identified.. and that’s going to come from the court decisions in the battle between Obama and Congress.

This isn’t the … too early for “gloaming” I suppose .. suppertime? .. of life that I’d wanted… but it seems we’re cursed to live in “Interesting Times”.

Mew

* realpolitik is, of course, borrowed from German and generally pertaining to international law; I’m using it here both in the original “art of the possible” and the more accurate pejorative “compromises today sowing the seeds of future strife” connotations…

gekster

1. My eyes are wide open. I don’t plug my ears for anything.
2. It’s a ‘she’.

And though I havn’t seen you for awhile, I still remember you.

westcoastpatriette

Interesting take. If there wasn’t so much at stake, it would be worth it to watch the show if we were to win both houses in Congress and Obama stay in the administrative branch.

OTOH, if we win both houses and Romney gets in, I am not so worried about his moderate/liberal tendencies undermining conservatives. I think whatever legislation makes it to his desk, he signs. The real battle will be between RINOs (or moderates/liberal Republicans) and conservatives.

chbroussard

Maybe a little “prep” time is in order before any campaign staffer is allowed to go on TV. No excuse for Ms. Saul being caught off guard on this issue and not being prepared for an intelligent and fact-based response. If she’s being paid, there needs to be a serious deduction from her next paycheck.

sarg01

It is, however, mandatory.

Social Security and Medicare already have the country in grave risk. Once Obamacare starts in 2014, combined with the continued drains of SS and Medicare there’s no way to roll that back short of the fiscal crisis getting so bad that we’re effectively bankrupt.

These “just tax the rich” jerks aren’t going to go away. Take a look at France and its proposed 75% tax rate or Van Jones and his “100% tax rate is theoretically possible” crap.

As the fiscal crisis expands, at some point it will come down to “cut Social Security or raise taxes”. Given that choice, the swing voters absolutely will vote for the liar who tells them everyone else’s tax rates are going up.

They won’t wise up until Tax Day when they realize that to the proggies “rich” means “above the poverty line”. And by then it’ll be too late to save the economy.

tnfriendofcoal101368

The reporter did all the work for her – my 10 year old niece could have handled that interview by just smiling and Romney would have been better off.

The reason this is so asshat stupid is Saul just put her boss in a box with two options (one of which includes firing her).

1) He says Andrea Saul lost her mind, fires her and then gives Obama an opening everytime things get awkward to run a clip of Andrea Saul selling woof tickets for socialized medicine (all the while spending time and treasure convincing the base “Andrea Saul lost her mind”).

2) He doesn’t and shows the base the finger in which case he loses the election.

This was just silly and stupid and all those other s words that mean “What the heck just happened”.

naraht

As far as I can tell, in San Francisco, the Republican Party is probably third in terms of votes behind both the Democrats and the Greens…

JimmyGee

Saul is Mitt Romney?s campaign press secretary. She had previously worked on Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) communications team during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Notice anything? Lightning may strick twice, but stupid is forever!

checkmate2012

After hearing about Saul’s comment today on Rush, I was ready to unload on Romney’s amateur spokes people, especially after Eric Ferhnstrom’s, “it’s not a tax” comment right after the SCourt decision.

I’m not sure how many networks she was on and if she was given as much time, but watch this interview of her on Fox. It’s about 5 minutes and she stays on point except for that one stupid sentence. Just saying it wasn’t the gist of her entire interview to be fair.

I’m not excusing her Romneycare remark and wish that Romney would hire professionals or at least give them daily talking points if they can’t think on their feet. I didn’t think Eric Ferhnstrom would have a job after his remark!

Here’s the link in case vid doesn’t work:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1776843465001/

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

teaforme2012

campaign team, distrust, and the messages Romney sends out.

tnfriendofcoal101368

“I have been in the field, rallying support for Governor Romney among the base to support him and work for him. These efforts are poorly served when the campaign itself makes the asshatted mistake of a spokesperson going on Fox News and selling woof tickets for socialized medicine. I hope that Governor Romney addresses this issue both publically with the voters and privately with his staff in a way that serves to calm the fears caused by this stupid gaffe and to ensure that they don’t occur in the future.”

I am tnfriendofcoal and I approve of this message.

naraht

Three levels.
1) Do everything that you can prior to the election to convince people to vote for him and then vote for him.
2)Vote for him
3)Go straight home after work.

The issue here on Red State is *not* whether people are at level 2 or level 3, it is rather whether particular statements from the Campaign are likely to make Red Staters level 2 rather than level 1.

colonelflagg

“Conservatives have put aside their distrust of Romney on this issue in the name of beating Barack Obama.”

Speak for yourself. Social conservatives like me don’t trust Romney any farther than we can throw him, and now he sends us right back to square one.

Worst. Possible. Candidate. Thanks, GOP-E.

aesthete

curtmilr

I’m NOT saying it as you interpreted it.
She gave a 5 minute interview, and blew a line on a touchy subject for the campaign. Well, if she can’t avoid blowing lines, she shouldn’t be a spokesperson. Make her a speechwriter instead that sends them on to a proofreader.
If Mitt hired her, he is responsible for her. If he fires her over the one line in the interview, then why did he hire her in the first place?? That’s McCain/Palin crap! Reassignment is the solution, face-saving on all sides. It will mollify the conservative critics, but deliver the message to everyone that the campaign must stay ON message!
Mitt is a squishy, mainly conservative fiscally. He did quite well on his foreign trip. The speeches in Israel & Poland were quite strong. He is personally staying on message, but his spokespeople keep flubbing. “Etch-s-Sketch” and now this!
We need to focus on Constitutional restoration, and quit the nitpicking navel-gazing. I agree, they have to be held to account when they screw up, but this circular firing squad stuff needs to stop!

sarg01

That means everything he says is in some way part of a deception.

The same is true with Bachmann, Palin, Rubio, Cruz, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, etc.

Press Secretaries are the official liars of any organization. Campaign press secretaries are the official liars of an organization devoted primarily to deception.

Believing anything a campaign press secretary says is always a bad idea. We just had a video this morning of Robert Gibbs, who had basically the same position as Ms Saul. The principal never makes mistakes. Ever. Even when he did make a mistake, it was really just him underestimating the mendacity of the opposition.

On top of that, even if Romney said it himself in a prepared speech, all that would indicate is they believe it will net them more votes in November than it will cost them. While you may not agree, there is something to be said about reducing the “flip-flopper” charge. Why would any politician call a past action a mistake when they can get away with it – particularly in the middle of a campaign?

RichmondG30

I MIGHT be moved to Level 2 from my current Level 1.

Considering what 4 more years of Obama will do to finish off this country, there is nothing (much less this silly unforced error by a staffer) that will move me off Level 1. Nothing.

I am confident that millions of Conservative patriots feel the same way.

dragan

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/08/08/housebreaking-romney-the-importance-of-being-vocal/

It is Erick in his own words. Your support to Mittens prevents the exercise of intellectual honesty. Seriously, I see that anyone criticizing Romney is seen as either a liberal or a Paulbot. This is unbelievable.

Just to make myself clear :

I am a Tea partier and I am finding it increasingly difficult to defend Romney as a candidate to independents. Feel free to call me a liberal/Paulbot and offcourse boot me off this site.

Bill S

this obtuse, or are you short of oxygen today?

My quote “Criticism of Romney is not off limits.”

Is that too hard for you to grok?

Erick: “If we cannot vocally and forcefully hold Mitt Romney accountable now, there will be a new excuse after the election for why we cannot hold him accountable”

See, it says the same thing.

What is not permitted here are snits that say “He’s a RINO and I’m not voting for him!!!11!”. Criticism that is intended to encourage Romney to change his behavior – constructive criticism, such as a strong message to can an incompetent campaign advisor. – is just fine.

californiasquish

I find myself wondering what the Romney constituency is going to look like.

Keeping SoCons and Libertarians on board is a thankless, and nearly impossible, task. That is a difficult coalition to hold together, and my heart goes out to the campaign staffers.

Bush didn’t have to thread that needle the second time around. He found the votes he needed on the right with Evangelicals. In order to win in November, Romney needs to decisively take the center, and every move he makes in that direction seems to draw the ire of the right, and vice versa.

That being said, Saul definitely zigged when she should have zagged on a softball question. No argument here. I guess I’m just wondering what the cost-benefit analysis is of publicly calling it out.

littlehouse18

They’re going to sink us again!!

Was this the price of McCain’s endorsement? The kind of people McCain likes??? Who won’t take the fight to anybody?? Who step in it?

littlehouse18

You have no business responding to me with this ad hominem. I have been on this site for three years now and I try to be polite and civil to others here and not call names.

Andrea Saul is the campaign press secretary and therefore she speaks for the campaign and for Romney. Erick implicitly and explicitly criticized Romney:

“They thought he and his campaign team had gotten the message and the hints. Consider the scab picked, the wound opened, and the distrust trickling out again.”

Now, after listening to Rush, I had been rethinking my response to Erick, but not because of your attack. Saul blurted this out on Fox for all to hear and did the damage all by herself.

littlehouse18

OK Bill, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and suggest that maybe your sentence structure was confusing and that you were referring to A.S. with the phrase ‘super-moron.’ At least I hope so (I think!).

philliesfan

Funny, since when was calling someone a “super-moron” respectful? And how is calling a fellow conservative a name like that any better than Obama’s “Romney Hood” comment?

I happen to know littlehouse18. The person you blithely call a super-moron is a former National Merit Scholar who is literally a rocket scientist.

I see you are a moderator and a Christian. Perhaps you should prayerfully consider your response to littlehouse18 in light of that.

PowerToThePeople

you hurt some fweelings and hysterical crying is coming. It is not an adult you made the comment too and they need their mommy because of you being a big ole meanie.

Fweelings was not a typo, was talking baby talk so that I matched the comment.

littlehouse18

Has Russia recovered from 1917? For that matter, have we recovered from Wilson, FDR, and LBJ?

mikew

Having MAJOR buyers remorse. How lame can you get?

It should have been Newt. They couldn?t have hit him worse than they are hitting Romney, but Newt would fight back hard, with the same tactics.

They use tanks, we use tanks. They use flame-throwers, we use flame-throwers. Get it Romney people??

When will you poly-sci majors realize that people won?t ?see through it? or ?figure it out for themselves?? You have tell them what to think today! These people are MMA fans. They see that the most aggressive wins, that might makes right! Com?on you lame-o’s!!

Go after this guy WHERE IT HURTS! Go after his college records. Go after his name change. Go after his social security number. MAKE the lamestream media cover these things! Force them into it by addressing it!

Romney: Primary = tiger, General = Nancy-boy.

littlehouse18

….

PowerToThePeople

while you wait for an apology for the mean ole comment. You know the one you demanded.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

.

raginpatriot

Romney’s record in office is that of a “small p” Progressive. He’ll be the same in the White House. This election is the quintessential “lesser of two evils” since Obama is actively seeking to wreck the United States so that we’re no stronger or richer than any other country — thus “global equality.” The most conservative Congress possible will help whoever wins in November.

But we should have no illusions but that Romney will stab us in the back — given the almost universal walking-by and ignoring of the Romney table by attendees at last weekend’s Redstate Gathering, it seems that many realize that.

commonsenseobserver

I think we’ve been through this before- the Massachusetts health reform law was an attempt by Gov. Romney, with bipartisan and popular support, to ensure catastrophic coverage, and it was an example of innovation on the state level. The legislature overreached, and Gov. Romney gave in because of the Democrats’ power in the legislature, as well as the wide support the plan received.

And the worker would have been covered under “Romneycare”, that is true.

The fact is, Governor Romney has a proven record of working to develop and implement healthcare policy based on a bipartisan consensus, unlike President Obama, and that experience will be useful in pushing through and executing, the patient-centred, free-market, step-by-step, common-sense healthcare reforms America needs, as opposed to the government takeover of healthcare Democrats passed.

raginpatriot

>>Take a deep breath, Erick. Let?s not over-dramatize this silly remark from a campaign employee.

Romney has never disavowed Romneycare, so we can be confident that this campaign aide (along with Norm Coleman) are telegraphing Romney policy.

This is a race of Obamacare (D) vs. Romneycare (R) — heads the collectivists win big, tails the collectivists win.

raginpatriot

I’m going to vote on election day, and a straight Republican ticket (I don’t vote for Democrats, but in some races I’ll “undervote”).

That said, these days I’m going straight home from work, not going to volunteer to make phone calls or other work on Romneycare’s behalf.

Nope, I just get into my non-Romney bumper sticker’d Jeep, and drive to my no Romney yard sign home and read Redstate (and a few other sites).

gekster

ntntnt

commonsenseobserver

Find her another job where she can do better.

Same for Eric. He’s an advisor, isn’t he? That doesn’t necessitate doing interviews and all.

Replace them with John Sununu or some of the new campaign guys, perhaps…

tigerwookie

Here is another news item where Romney is alienating people on the right.
He says he supports the right of the Boy Scouts to ban homosexuals (as if he had a choice since the U.S. Supreme Court said that they could), but says that tthey should not discrimnate homosexuals from the organization.

Here is the news article:

raginpatriot

>>Didn?t you believe romney when he said the first thing he wants to do is repeal Obamacare. Guessed you misssed that part.

You’re assuming that once in office the Flip-Flopper in Chief will keep his word after he no longer needs Republican primary votes.

Methinks you assume much.

commonsenseobserver

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/romney-the-boy-scouts-should-admit-homosexuals

http://www.christianpost.com/news/romney-obama-both-disagree-with-boy-scouts-gay-leader-ban-79716/

I think Governor Romney’s views are right. I personally agree that the Boy Scouts should not, ideally, discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but I believe that they have the right to do what they deem fit to fulfil their objectives and provide the best environment for the social, physical, moral, and spiritual development of their members. I’m sure most Conservatives would not disagree.

gekster

Make sure, please.

10ab

..I am shaking my head why this STILL has to be explained and why it causes sane people to become so unhinged as to attack their own nominee!
The word “bipartisan’ has become a four letter word on this site and all reason is abandoned. Romney is the chosen nominee, excoriating him instead of supporting him has become a troublesome trend here. This is a dangerous folly.

gekster

asides from posting on the fringe of being anti conservative, you never give excepts, which would put light on your unconservative claims.

from first article, excerpt:
However, she said Romney, who served as a member of its executive board, has not pressured the organization to change its stance and does not wish to see the Scouts forced to accept homosexuals. LifeSiteNews.com revealed that some chapters of the Boy Scouts do not consider the national organization?s prohibition of homosexuals serving as scouts or adult leaders binding policy.

Second article excerpt:
“I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation,” Romney said at the time.
_________________________________

So allthough Romney says that ‘anyone’ should be able to join the Boyscouts, he also says it is the right of the orginisation to determine it’s members.

Sounds like the conservative stance to me.

But you do spend most of your time being a moby here, just flying under the radar though.

poorwilber

Romney refused to comment at all on the Chick-Fil-A kerrfuffle, to at least say that THIS is America…. and we are ALL entitled to express honest heartfelt opinions without being TARGETED for economic destruction by ELECTED officials. Cathy’s views are mainstream, so why the resistance?.

Along the same line today, Romney said he thought the Boy Scouts should allow homosexual scoutmasters to serve. Now, is anyone else wondering WTH is going on inside this campaign. Did they hire Steve Schmidt back????. What are they going to do next, endorse homosexual marriage? Condi Rice VP?

Everything conservatives, especially social conservatives, are emerging and will enervate Romney’s campaign if he continues to serve up a hot heaping bowls of PC pablum.

evilbloggerlady

It is the best I can do given the “No Profanity” rule.

Bill S

It was a modifier directed at Andrea Saul. Sorry it wasn’t more grammatically obvious.

Oh, and I should explain the structure: In the Road Runner cartoon, Wile E. Coyote used to refer to himself as “Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius” It was a somewhat subtle reference…

commonsenseobserver

“I personally agree that the Boy Scouts should not, ideally, discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but I believe that they have the right to do what they deem fit… I?m sure most Conservatives would not disagree.”

I didn’t give excerpts, of course, but I summarised his position fairly.

And I don’t exactly understand this:
“asides from posting on the fringe of being anti conservative, you never give excepts, which would put light on your unconservative claims.”

Do clarify. Thanks.

gekster

post a link 80% wont look at, and watch for crap to fly.

And tell me what is ‘wrong’ with Romneys position, as you are trying to portray it as a hit on Romney.
Your leftist slip is showing, and as far as being a moby, you are not to good at it.

commonsenseobserver

I think Governor Romney’s right here, he’s backing the Conservative stance, and I back the Republican nominee regardless of the best efforts of his “supporters” in the party to alienate others due to their petty personal and philosophical views.

commonsenseobserver

“Here are the articles” is a flame comment title,
and ?I personally agree that the Boy Scouts should not, ideally, discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but I believe that they have the right to do what they deem fit? I?m sure most Conservatives would not disagree.? is a hit on Gov. Romney?

You do know that I didn’t post tigerwookie’s original comment regarding the Boy Scouts…?

commonsenseobserver

It should be that I am backing him regardless of the best efforts of some people to make themselves look completely foolish by attributing the wrong comments to the wrong people.

Bill S

….email the Contact link. Don’t anoint yourself as the Comment Cop.

And that’s not just a suggestion.

commonsenseobserver

And see whether it was a comment by me…

gekster

And I am sorry to have insulted Homer Simpson with that statemen
Ad your post I was referring to was an attempt and a flame at Romney.

Romney opposes Boy Scouts ban on homosexuals

What would anyone else read into that.
Hey everyone, Romney hates homosexuals.
Just like a leftist would say.
Flame away homer.
Your moby slip is showing.

commonsenseobserver

That wasn’t my post. Look again.

FAIL.

commonsenseobserver

Grasping at straws.

It’s because you have a fixation on the wrong things. And probably because you don’t read enough of the right things, that you don’t understand. You’re struggling here, Gekster.

gekster

wearing lead boots.

gekster

What were you trying to prove with your links to back up tigerwookie.

It’s as if you said it yourself.

commonsenseobserver

Like I said, Romney has the right stance on this issue, I summarised his position fairly and explained my own view. I was providing the links but also correcting Tigerwookie and defending Governor Romney.

I back our nominee, and you, Gekster, will not put words into my mouth to demean the Conservative cause of this party. The Republican Party has been united behind this cause since the days of Abraham Lincoln and you, Gekster, will do nothing to undermine it. You, Gekster, will not demean Abraham Lincoln’s struggle, Ronald Reagan’s legacy, and Mitt Romney’s fight. That’s all.

jakee308

He also showed his true colors by passing on standing for the 1st amendment in the Chick Fil A nonsense.

He’s had more than one staffer say something off kilter and I don’t think it’s happenstance.

Birds of a feather and all that.

Anyone who thought or thinks that Obamacare will be repealed is living in a dream world. The establishment Republicrats are drooling in their bibs over the power this gives them.

Nobody noticed they’ve endorsed Obama’s appointing Czar’s whenever he feels like it by making it a law that the Senate doesn’t have to approved staff appointments anymore.

Whatever happened to advise and CONSENT.

The Senate doesn’t know and the House doesn’t care.

We’ll have to consider ourselves lucky that the Republicrats want to initialize the New World Order in a calm and courteous manner.

texasref

and when Newt dropped out before I had the chance to vote, I even held my nose and voted for Ron Paul over our esteemed unofficial nominee.

The old saying “elections have consequences” applies to primaries, too.

Dancin with an ugly girl is better than dancin with your pretty sister, at least. And Romney is one ugggggly girl (yes, in my twisted metaphor, Romney is an ugly girl and Obama is your sister. It doesn’t have to make sense, just smile and nod).

So in sum, I voted conservative in the primary and will be voting Republican in the general.

My car has a bumper sticker that says “One Term” with the “O” being the Obama logo. I refuse to get a Romney sticker. Especially after reading this article. Thanks again Erick, you have my attention and respect at all times.

texasref

Like Romney, I too think the Boy Scouts should not discriminate against gays. But they are a private organization. So what I think doesn’t matter much.

This gay marriage issue is about as valid as the birther issue. They’re both irrelevant and out of our hands to whatever extent they are or were valid, anyway. Gay marriage is going to be the law of the land in 10 months regardless of who wins, thanks to 6 liberals and moderates on this little society I like to call the Supremes.

Filibuster Keaton

I’m sticking with my prediction of McDonnell as running mate, but even Snowe wouldn’t surprise me now. There’d be talk the base would learn to like it, and New England would be back in play!

patriot4freedom

I truly hope that this sorry episode does not have the legs to survive two days’ media cycles.

But, just when I think it isn’t possible for this leftist train wreck of a President to win re-election, I see that his attack ads seem to be working.

I am beginning to wonder if there are enough thinking people out there to make the difference come November.

patriot4freedom

I was tempted to call for her to be replaced several months ago, when she had a previous failure to respond to a simple question in the most basically capable manner.

Now there’s this dust-up, which should NEVER have happened. Best course is for the campaign to take her off TV, but let her stay on in some other capacity. Firing her just gives the Dems more ammunition, and his campaign has been providing them with too much already, thank you.

Common_Cents

Look at the crap appointments we got with obama. Republicans are spineless to oppose much of anything. Is that going to change in one cycle?

Common_Cents

and WH Press Secretary.

Look at the difference made in a short period of time by Tony Snow. Had Bush tapped Snow out of the gate we would have had a much different result. The disaster of McClellan would have made Bush look bad for curing cancer. The blame lies at Bush’s feet for being blind and not making a change.

Spokespersons set the agenda, set the tone, and keep the media in check. They should not give them cannon fodder.

Cmon Mitt, grow some balls. America is on fire, the time for being polite is over with, McCain showed us that last time around.

poorwilber

doesn’t seem smart to me. Keeping judiciously vague might avoid repeating McCain’s performance in this regard. Moderates will not do the work to get Romney across the finish line, and never have.

Gay marriage, I do not support, but believe its a States Right issue. Marriage is not a civil right, but courts have managed to invent them.
Marriage is soley for the purpose of nurturing and educating the next generation, and not to promote love connections between various sexual identities that emerge in various forms within our society.

The day Boy Scouts must conform to Govt dictated morality that run counter to honestly held religious beliefs is the day freedom dies.

RS

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