The Romney campaign organized a press call this morning to go after the Obama administration on foreign policy, and the leading surrogate was none other than Den Senor, the Bush/Cheney flack who spoke for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq soon after the U.S. invasion.
We'll get back to Senor's role on Team Romney a little later, but something he said this morning struck me as interesting.
Hmm. So to hear the Romney campaign tell it, President Obama did the right thing, and imposed tough sanctions on Iran -- much tougher than anything we saw from the Bush administration -- but no one should give Obama too much credit for this because the president had to be "dragged" into doing the right thing.
This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, Senor is contradicting the Republican nominee himself, who's argued publicly that Obama didn't impose these sanctions at all. Team Romney can say the sanctions don't exist, or they can say they do, but they can't say both.
Second, and more important, is the fact that the Romney campaign is attacking Obama for taking a position Romney agrees with.
This keeps happening. Two weeks ago, the Romney campaign complained bitterly about Obama approving a free-trade agreement with Colombia -- which Romney also supported.
Similarly, Karl Rove's attack operation, American Crossroads, recently launched attack ads in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, slamming Obama for not doing enough for the coal industry. In reality, not only has the president invested heavily in "clean coal technology," but coal production is up over the last three years, employment in the coal-mining industry is the highest it's been since 1997, and U.S. coal exports have soared, reaching levels unseen in decades.
In other words, American Crossroads is bashing Obama for doing what the right hoped he'd do. It's not identical to the "I'm rubber, you're glue" tactic Romney is so fond of, but it's certainly close.
Given all that Democrats and Republicans have to fight about, isn't it odd that Republicans keep complaining about Obama agreeing with Republicans?
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No, they don't have a leg to stand on, Steve, so they're pretending that the President's position was theirs all along, and that the President hasn't done or said what he's ALREADY done or said.
They can do this with straight faces because they're counting on an uninformed public to discern the truth -- AND they have the big bucks of American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity to convince the public otherwise.
Does that make sense???
"Given all that Democrats and Republicans have to fight about, isn't it odd that Republicans keep complaining about Obama agreeing with Republicans?"
You know better, Steve. It's not odd. And it will work.
From the article:"American Crossroads is bashing Obama for doing what the right hoped he'd do."
NO! their bashing Barry for what they DIDN'T want him to do ... I think .... It gets really confusing when all one has to do to get the Right Wing to be against something is to agree with the Rightie on something the Rightie wants.
Right:We want 'this'.
Obama: Sounds like a good idea.
Right: Thats a horrible idea! Socialist Commie, you want to destroy our country.
Obama: But its your idea.
Right: Rabble-rabble-rabble-rabble .....
Sane People: ?
The right is beside themselves with paranoia, clinging to fears that they will lose power, and stoking up the fears of people who really believe that "White House" means a "white man" should be in it! This has led the right to say anything and everything not just hoping that it will stick, but that "their base" will not finally wake up and turn on them! Just think, they encouraged the "Tea-potty" know-nothings; and now that they cannot "control" those darlings, they are spending major dollars to try and keep the "moderates" in office!
The GOP have NO PLAN to bring jobs back to America, or even to help working Americans period! They support the Oligarchy, and the fact that they are speaking in circles, chaoticly, and sounding as stupid and ignorant, against positions that they once espoused is further proof that - they are TERRIFIED OF THE BLACK MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
Great post, as usual, except it's spelled "Colombia."
We have free trade with a university? Or is it a city in South Carolina? Wow, learn something every day.
t.
Colombia
Steve,
Just because Obama did something does not mean in the republican world that he did it. In the republican universe, Obama cannot take credit for anything that he has done because he really did not do it.
The new republican rule is that if you repeat a lie often enough and loud enough that it must be true.
Speaking of parallel universes... Sitting in the doctor's lobby yesterday and Fox Noise had Karl Rove on a segment to speak about Obama's lack of ethics for no longer doing something that he promised not to do during the 2008 election cycle.
Remember that if you hear a republican politician talking about the government in D.C. being broken, they are not complaining; they are bragging about what they have accomplished.
This is similar to the time-honored strategy of criticizing an opponent for something that's so popular that it would be political suicide to actually criticize him for it by complaining he "finally" did it.
Rule #1: Obama is always wrong.
Rule #2: Obama is actively destroying America.
Rule #3: Obama hasn't gotten anything done as President.
Now any sane person could recognise the obvious paradox that list creates. Not the Republicans.
Re the coal industry growth during the last three years...and Joe Manchin can't support the President, why?
The smell of desperation is in the air.