Yesterday was supposed to be a great day for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. It had just cruised to an easy, double-digit win in the Illinois primary; Jeb Bush had announced his endorsement; and even FreedomWorks said it would stop fighting against a Romney nomination.
As became obvious rather quickly, Eric Fehrnstrom's "Etch A Sketch" line derailed the day and put Team Romney on the defensive.
Towards the end of the afternoon, at a campaign event in Maryland, the former governor himself initially got a little testy with reporters asking about the Fehrnstrom quote, before finally delivering a brief response about the dominant political story of the day.
For those who can't watch clips on line, Romney did his best to spin the story.
"When the campaign moves to becoming a general election campaign, the nature of the campaign itself, in terms of staff, funding, the states we go to, will be different than today, obviously. It's a much larger campaign, fund-raising numbers are very different. We now work with the Republican National Committee instead of apart from any committee of that nature, so organizationally, a general election campaign takes on a different profile."
"The issues I'm running on will be exactly the same. I'm running as a conservative Republican; I was a conservative Republican governor; I'll be running as a conservative Republican nominee -- or, excuse me, at that point, hopefully, nominee for president. The policies and positions are the same."
And with that, he walked away, wrapping up his one-question press availability.
The problem with Romney's response, of course, is that there's a disconnect between his spin about organization and what Fehrnstrom actually said. Remember, the question Fehrnstrom was asked entirely straightforward: "Is there a concern that Santorum and Gingrich might force the governor to tack so far to the right it would hurt him with moderate voters in the general election?"
This wasn't about "staff," "fundraising," and a new "organizational profile." This was about message and ideology -- and Romney's communications director said the candidate would simply "restart all of over again."
The former governor's spin didn't make any sense given the unambiguous exchange from the morning. It's probably the best spin the campaign could put together, but it wasn't the least bit persuasive, and clearly wasn't responsive to the mess Fehrnstrom created.
The question, however, is whether it's too late in the GOP nominating process to make a difference. For what it's worth, Rush Limbaugh told his audience he's not sure whether the "Etch A Sketch" line was a mistake or campaign strategy intended to send the message, "Don't worry, we'll do the right things to get the moderates."
Either way, this seems unlikely to go away anytime soon.
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It's apparent that the Romney campaign has no discipline and no filter to weed out the outrageous and damaging statements and gaffes that continue to emanate from the campaign and the candidate. Once again, Romney has walked into a gaffe that reinforces a negative narrative that has been forming around his candidacy: That Mitt cannot tell the truth, is a flip-flopper, and who will abandon any position if he thinks its politically favorable to do so. Now we have a physical embodiment of the wishy-washy core at the heart of Romney's soul. He is the human etch-a-sketch! http://www.sunstateactivist.org
The video is also good because, as much as Romney lies, he is really not comfortable lying, and he always has an extremely obvious "tell." In this case, nervous swallowing as the question was asked and rapid blinking as he responded.
If Mittens is not comfortable lying, then why does he do it on what seems to be a compulsive, pathological basis? I would argue that he is either a pathological liar and/or very comfortable lying. That he has "tells" does not change that.
Romney only wishes he could shake, shake, shake, and all his previous words would disappear. Now Ferhnstrom has made that a little harder to do.
I know that this should go away! Everyone knows that MSNBC is the liberal channel and that its political director, Chuckie Todd, is a democratic plant. Chuckie Todd told me last evening on the Tweety Matthews Show that Mitt's spin is not spin, but the truth and besides that it doesn't matter because everyone does it.
So?
LOL, SOV...
"Either way, this seems unlikely to go away anytime soon."
Oh, Steve, that is just precious!
I give it three days, tops, or until the next bright and shiny object distracts the Simple Folk.
Simple FolkCorporately Owned Media"bright and shiny object" = the next embarrassing Romney gaffe. So probably less than 3 days. But Noot and Ricky Sweater Vest will keep the Etch-A-Sketch thing alive for us.
The thing about the GOP election this year is that it teaches us that people will vote for ANYBODY. It is amazing. One need not have to be qualified in the least to become President of the United States. Can you imagine walking into a voting booth and actually pulling the lever for Romney? I would think you would need a long hot shower afterwards. In any event, I feel so strongly that Romney is the wrong guy, that I made a Youtube video about it Called "Why I Would Hate To See Mitt Romney Win"
Rachel, last night’s TRMS was one of the BEST EVER. The “Sketchy” segment was absolutely BRILLIANT. It made me so happy to hear you call Romney out for his lies. No pussyfooting involved – he has lied time and time again. I thought it was devastating. BRAVO Rachel!
Hi guys!! check out on youtube 'will the real mitt romney please stand up (feat.Eminem)'!! you guys will get the REAL on MITT!!
Saw it and loved it - Good Job.
Wondered around the house doing my typical things for the day, but each time I did something I couldn’t help but think about Trayvon. Cooked a meal and thought Trayvon is not going to be able to do this today. Cleaned the dishes and Trayvon will not be able to do this today. Brushed my teeth and Trayvon will not be able to do this today. Took a shower and Trayvon will not be able to do this today. Called on the phone and Trayvon will not be able to do this today. It is just simply everyday things that we take for granted, but Trayvon will not be able to do any of these things anymore. Never thought this one sad and reckless moment of Trayvon Martin’s death would affect me so much. Many people die, but this case has had so much wrong in it. A young man and many other similar men that cannot even live to their fullest in a free world as they have to watch their every move.
Let's hope the public outcry gets the family some justice. The "girls" on Tell Me More was whining about how how many deaths there are that no one does anything about, then went on to gush over the idea of a brokered GOP convention...maybe that's why. In our current world of 24/7 opinion news, there's simply no time for the real issues any more, no time for leadership to be asked why lowering taxes for the rich is their priority when the fabric of this nation has Trayvon-sized holes in it, why journalism has been replaced with sensationalism in these cases, why human beings are only important to the GOP once every 4 years, when their rich candidates need us to vote for them...
He is nothing like his father!
Rachel, your shows are fantastic, we need people to get rid of the mentality that we have to choose between two evils and the I want my vote to count and not get thrown out attitude. We should be able to vote for whom we want without worrying about that. That is why we are all stuck having to always choose between a democrat and a republican candidate and why our country isn't going anywhere, I remember talking about solar energy when I was in grade school 40 years ago. Those two parties have ruined our country, it's time to move on. George Washington warned us about this!
A psychiatrist friend observed last week that Mitt Romney is showing increasing signs of displaying a disturbed, authoritarian personality who doesn’t cope well with stress and becomes upset when challenged. Requiring his kids to stay in the car when he had to stop at a gas station to hose down Seamus’ cage on the infamous Canadian road trip is simply one example, which he justified when asked by saying if everyone got out of the car it would put him behind schedule.
On a political level, we saw this on vivid display when Mr. Romney walked off the set of a Fox interview late last year because he didn’t like the questions, again when he told a by-stander along a rope line to move to North Korea if he didn’t like the shenanigans of Wall St. tycoons, and in the ease with which he lies about things when it’d be just as easy to be truthful.
His non-answer to yesterday’s Etch-A-Sketch question posed by a reporter and then snapping at a second journalist who complained that he was leaving after only one question is simply the latest in a long litany of items that are signalling us that he doesn’t appear to have the temperament or personality to be President of the United States. It's one thing to cut someone off when you're CEO of a business but you won't get the best advice if you do that to aides as POTUS.
This goes well beyond the simplistic “character” issue; it really goes to the much more fundamental question of whether Mr. Romney is emotionally fit to hold high office. I know it’s not politically correct to raise questions about someone’s stability – not since Thomas Eagleton’s ECT became a campaign issue – but we’re looking at the future of the country - and the world. It's time someone start raising the question.
True Grit is revealed under pressure. And that is where Congressional Medals of Honor are won.
Not that Mitt would know anything about that! (Oh, but he will- when he debates Obama)
Mitt has got to have the worst handlers and speech writers available. They either can't control his message, or they control it so much they put him into uncomfortable positions. I have to believe that a presidiential candidate who is sure of his message and comfortable delivering it must be capable of taking more than a single question from the media before rushing out of sight. Clearly Mitt is not, or his team isn't comfortable allowing him to.
The Etch-A-Sketch Candidate Test
How do you tell if Mitt Romney is lying?
Shake him up a little and see if he changes!
This Comment is about The Madison Project. I just came across an article that outlines
What the Strategy to Try and Defeat the Obama Health Care Plan. They also seem to
be concerned about loosing some special interest groups. How they plan to divide the democratic party. Their March is on March 24,2012
The Misguided Partial Repeal Strategy Continues | Madison Project.
It is absolutely amazing that a key member of the Romney campaign does not have a memorized, vetted, tested answer to the most common question about Mittens, the one about the primaries having forced the candidate to extreme positions. So much for the competent manager. Will he have a Secretary of State shooting his mouth to other governments?
You raise an extremely good and important point. If he can't staff a campaign with people who can handle predictable questions, how could he possibly staff a cabinet to make the right decisions for the future of the country?
I think his lies are finally catching up with him. I really don't know how a man with his reputation for lying can run for any kind of Government office. I know The Republicans are going to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that his total disregard for the truth is ok. They are going to accept a very dishonest man as their candidate. If he is getting away with lying now, he will lie always and forever. There is a certain amount of dignity that comes with being an elected official and this guy has none. The people that stand to get hurt the most by his deceitful tacticsthat he is using towards the American People, are his family. What on Earth could he be explaining to his children? That this is just politics. He is disrespectful to the President and the the country by being so dishonest. I would have a hard time taking a liar seriously.
One way Mitt is consistent is in supporting the greed of those who already have it made. Tax cuts for the rich is the ultimate Ponzi scheme. Give us your money and we will make a better America. Of course they will not say who it will be better for.
Romney, in the manner of Bush Junior, simply lacks the temperament to be Statesman in Chief for America. We don't need another short fused, know-nothing, bully cowboy in the White House. Only difference between the two is that Junior had to rely on others (Cheney) to set his agenda for him. Willard is convinced already that it'll be his way, or no way.
Romney thinks he is entitled to the presidency. If he loses to Obama, it will not be pretty. McCain will look gracious compared to Romney.