A few weeks ago, just as the Republicans' "war on women" was capturing national attention, the Republican National Committee decided to argue President Obama was the one who was actually waging a "war on women." It was silly; it was impossible to take seriously; and the RNC dropped the line pretty quickly.
That is, until yesterday, when Mitt Romney and his campaign team picked this up and ran with it -- or at least tried to.
Mitt Romney, who was all-but-crowned the Republican Party's nominee on Tuesday after Rick Santorum suspended his campaign, sought to reframe the battle for female voters by accusing the Obama administration of waging "the real war on women" through its failure to jump-start the economy.
"During the Obama years, women have suffered," Romney told a crowd in this town just outside Philadelphia. "This president did not cause the recession; he just made it worse and made it longer. And it's been harder for the recovery to occur. And, as a result, women have suffered." [...]
Romney said that 92.3 percent of the jobs lost during Obama's years as president were women's jobs.
It wasn't just the candidate -- Romney surrogates also began pushing this line yesterday, suggesting this is a coordinated offensive.
There are a few interesting angles to this new tack. The first is that Romney and his team are using wildly misleading figures. Romney obviously isn't running a truth-oriented campaign, but for those who take details seriously, it's worth noting that the data the presumptive Republican nominee is using isn't accurate.
The second has to do with causality and intentions.
Is Romney saying the Obama administration is trying to force American women into unemployment on purpose? Because that would be a "war on women." In contrast, the Republican Party agenda recently has been deliberate, featuring efforts to cut off Planned Parenthood; impose state-mandated, medically-unnecessary ultrasounds; force physicians to lie to patients about abortion and breast cancer; etc.
Blaming job losses on Obama is tough, but no one can seriously argue the president tried to make unemployment worse. In contrast, the GOP agenda to attack women's health is not an accident.
And finally, the campaign's strategy is familiar, but misguided. In recent weeks, Romney has gone to almost comical lengths to identify his faults and project them onto President Obama. Romney wants to end Medicare, so accused Obama of wanting to end Medicare. Romney is trying to keep his proposals secret until after the election, so accused Obama of wanting to keep his proposals secret until after the election. Romney has two post-grad degrees from Harvard, so he accused Obama of spending too much time at Harvard. Romney is an out-of-touch elitist, so he accused Obama of being an out-of-touch elitist.
Rachel calls this Romney's "I'm rubber, you're glue" tactic.
But this new tack is especially odd since it moves the argument to Democratic turf. Dems are eager to talk about the "war on women," and Romney is inadvertently making their job easier, in part by endorsing a far-right agenda, and in part by validating the underlying rhetorical frame.
Should the 2012 race come down to which candidate is more committed to protecting women's interests? Is that really what Romney wants?
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Bullsh!t Benen...
Every good ameriKKKan knows and understands that Obama has destroyed the economy with the intent of hurting women and that only old white males can fix things for the weaker sex.
Remember that when you hear republican politicians talking about the government in D.C. being broken, they are not complaining; they are bragging about what they have accomplished!
from the national journal article
Romney said that 92.3 percent of the jobs lost during Obama’s years as president were women’s jobs, a figure that has been rated “mostly false” by the fact-checking website Politifact for failing to take into consideration the full picture of unemployment during the recession.
While it is true that women have lost significantly more jobs during the past three years, the reverse was true in 2007 and 2008, when the larger number of jobs lost were men’s, particularly in the construction and manufacturing fields. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that since the recession started in 2007, women account for just 39.7 percent of the total job loss.
Worst team of political advisors ever assembled and paid big bucks by a major candidate. They lurch from mistake to mistake. Romney's inablility to manage his team and his unthinking willingness to take their advise without question demonstrates he is singularly unfit to be President.
I don't understand why you say that. They have a terrible candidate from a terrible party, and they won the nomination. They lie and lie and lie and face no consequences. Pretty good, IMHO.
Remember, what strategies aren't being developed directly by Karl Rove are being conceived by his disciples. In Rovian practice, you attack your oppenent's greatest strength. So, with safe stateside National Guardsman George Bush facing decorated Vietnam vet John Kerry, Karl et al. derived Swift Boat attacks that quite successfully destroyed Kerry's genuine historic war record.
In other words, look for the GOP (and their "unaffiliated" friendly groups) to drive a wedge between women and Obama. Don't think that can happen? Stay tuned ...
I don't understand how a person can be such a serial liar and look his kids in the eye. Does Romney tell them some variation of, "don't worry about it, it's just politics"?
Further to Romney's pack of lies, how in the world would his policies of "let Detroit go bankrupt" and "let foreclosures bottom out" and "I'm not concerned about poor people" have been good for women?
His kids are grown up and doubtless are just like him.
It is Mormon philosophy to be truthful with other Mormons and ok to lie to the non-believers.
I am surprised that there is a pro-fracking ad that plays before your video clips.
lies like this are only attempts to restrict people from making informed choices. That Romney is such an ass to think women can be lied to so easily, and *should* be lied to, should be insulting to everyone.
Conservatives are making it quite clear that credibility is no longer important to them. Repub candidates and pundits alike have been rewriting history at will. Recently they have been trying to rewrite what happened yesterday. Blind faith. It's not just for religion anymore.
Mitt is confusing running a country with running a company.
Our country is "run" mostly by congress, who make the laws. Laws that are carried out by a vast army of bureaucrats who toil in anonymity (until they go to vegas for a 'conference"!).
Companies, on the other hand, are run by a CEO, with occasional input from his board. A wave of the hand a "Make it So" works in the boardroom, not so much in the Oval Office.
I saw parts of Romney's speech yesterday and I couldn't help but giggle. He really doesn't understand women at all. He thinks if he can divert our attention, like children, we'll forget what caused the suffering for everyone. If he understood women at all, he'd know...we don't forget anything, especially things that made us angry.
Mom, you were much kinder than I was... I was struck by how disrespectful these comments were to the average American's ability to think. If I applied the same kinds of argumentation to other issues, it mght look like this:
"The real success of the Obama administration is its aid to women. Under the Obama administration, Americans are breathing. His pro-oxygen policies have helped women to breathe, so they are clearly pro-women."
How disingenuous can you be with your use of statistics? Do people actually buy that crap?
It dawned on me the other day that the Republican Party has became the most stereotypical, movie style characterization of a middle-aged man who has just recently divorced his wife, whose wife got custody of the kids, who no longer has to pay for a family. The last time he was single was as a frat boy in college so now he tries to relive those years out of nostalgia all the while forgetting that all the good memories he has from college primarily exclude the bad memories and involved his wife. Too much testosterone, too much repression, and too much emotion. Always a bad combination.
Hey Rach....how can we get the graphs and charts you show on TV? what a great way to use facts with our righty friends?
Romney: "blah, blah, blah blah."
Me: snore
Yeah...Preibus was just on Thomas Roberts peddling this line. When Roberts pointed out that HIS talking points were exactly the same as Mitt's, Preibus told Roberts that it was TRUE and BESIDES he KNEW where Roberts came down on 'pro-life'...he KNEW how Roberts was gonna vote. So........if you don't agree with the crap they are peddling or you try to educate the public you are a COMMIE, LIFE hating LIBRUL. My BIG question is WTF does the RNC think they are doing having THESE morons peddle the lie? Can't find any WOMEN???
I'm not sure about this "rubber/glue" analogy. Isn't it more like "I know you are, but what am I?"
Or "I don't have to watch it, Dotty...I lived it."
While I realize that politicians have never, ever been the the font on truth, it does appear that lying more often, even about the most miniscule of points has become standard everyday habit. And maybe it's just me, but at what point does this shameless, brazen immorality start to become a political detriment to the candidates?
Frankly, I'm tired of "truthiness" (aka LIES), mendacity, fabrication, and just pulling this stuff from their arse from politicians - how and when did lying become a "family value"?!
It is all for the greater good! Republicans need to use lies to slay the evil usurper and his jesus hating democrat party. Does the commandment not say Thou shalt not lie, except to save the souls of the damned?
Swiftboat. This campaign is going to be one swiftboat action after another by Rmoney because he's weak on *so* many issues. Might as get used to it. And I hope the Obama people realize it. Next up I guess will be Romney accusing Obama of trying to get out of paying taxes and liking to fire people.
Lying is second nature to Romney. His m.o. is lying about all things, all the time, all day, every day.
However, he is playing in the big leagues, now. If Romney thinks he can continue to lie without being called out on it, with the Obama re-election campaign watching every move, he is sadly mistaken. No way, no how!
When are Democrats going to start calling out Republicans for the Fascists they really are?
Rachel, will you be covering the news re Rupert MurdochNews Corporation scandal as it moves its focus to the US? British lawyers arrived in NY yesterday to meet with lawyers/prosecutors (sorry about terminology - I'm an expat Brit) about prosecuting Rupert Murdoch/James Murdoch over hacking phones belonging to celebrities while they were in the US (Jude Law, Hugh Grant, Steve Coogan) but also about payments made to foreign officials, e.g. as the British police/politicians. This could be very interesting for Fox News in election year.....