For months, Mitt Romney has argued repeatedly that President Obama raised taxes. It's not really true -- Obama has cut taxes repeatedly -- but it's a standard line of attack.
Yesterday, unprompted, Romney was accidentally honest.
For those who can't watch clips online, Romney, campaigning in Ohio, said in reference to the president, "His idea, now, he's got one new, he's got one new idea. I admit this, he has one thing he did not do in his first four years, he's said he's going to do in his next four years, which is to raise taxes."
The Weekly Standard wasn't pleased with Romney's accidental honesty, which contradicted everything he's been saying all year, leading the campaign to issue a statement saying Romney was "clearly communicating about an additional tax increase President Obama is proposing."
First, the only thing Romney was "clearly communicating" was his belief that Obama didn't raise taxes during his first term. If the candidate had been "clearly communicating" something else, this strange statement from his campaign office wouldn't have been necessary.
Second, have you noticed how common it is for Romney to say something publicly, only to have his campaign follow soon after insisting that Romney meant the exact opposite of what he said?
Romney said he hadn't met with Kris Kobach; Romney's aides said he had. Romney said he intends to extend health care coverage to those with pre-existing conditions; Romney's aides said he has no such intention. Romney said he has the same "red lines" as Obama when it comes to Iran; Romney's aides said he has entirely different "red lines." Romney said he would make an exception on an abortion ban for the health of the mother; Romney's aides said the candidate would make no such exception.
And now Romney both believes and doesn't believe that Obama raised taxes. With 41 days to go, the Republican campaign really should be sharper by now.
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Because everything relates to the West Wing...
Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting the distinct feeling that Rawmoney is trying to sabotage his own campaign. Course I am getting a good laugh out of the whole thing!
Oama/Biden 2012!
Team Romney is really Team Obama!?
This would explain Ryan's stench remarks?
"That's right! And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
Heaven forbid a political candidate says something true about their opponent. That is definitely grounds for the campaign team to retract the truthful statement.
Just like when he said something positive about "Obamacare". The campaign had to walk that back as well.
If Mitt has shred of dignity he would quit, knowing if he can not handle the campaign without seriously effing up, he probably would put the country in danger the first time something unexpected happened.
Moments like this -- Romney's "accidental" honesty, his constant shifting of positions, his easy lying, even little things like trying to get a crowd to chant his name in addition to Paul Ryan's -- make me wonder if Romney is developing Early Onset Alzheimer's. It would explain his growing detachment from reality.
I am seriously starting to wonder that, too, Allyn. The constantly withdrawn, vacant expression worries me - is he on some kind of heavy medication? - becoming quite ill?- what is the deal?
When your campaign is entirely manufactured lies, it's difficult for anyone to keep track of what they've said. At this point, it's a question whether Mitt Romney (or any Republican for that matter) knows what the truth of any matter is. These people have been down the rabbit hole for too long.
What FUBARRomney thought would be a cakewalk has turned out to be a pie fight and he HATES, HATES, HATES to get messy.
FUBARRomney has been anointed and coddled his whole life. He's in shock. Lost. On autopilot but losing altitude. Wait 'til the debates. He may not make it through all three.
A quote from a master politician who so conducted his affairs that the word "honest" was incorporated into one of his better known sobriquets is pertinent:
Lincoln figured out at an earlier stage in life that being honest is sometimes harder in the short term, but that lying successfully is always harder in the long run and had both the vision and the courage to live his life accordingly. He saw that it is always harder to lie because when you lie, you have to remember the lie, and who you told it to, and keep it up always. Which no one can do and, as a result, every once in a while, you'll forget and tell the truth.
And then they invented video and it got even harder.
Not sure about Alzheimer's here - seriously, his obvious difficulty relating to people in a "normal" way seems to me much more reminiscent of Asberger's (which can be misdiagnosed until the patient is in adulthood):
Personal Experience of a late Asperger Diagnosis
Diagnosis for adults
Diagnosing autism and Asperger syndrome
If the symptoms fit, it might be Mitt...
Get Enraged and Engaged:
Mooch the Vote 2012!
;-)
"Always tell the truth. You will please some, and astonish the rest."
Mark Twin
At least with little Bush, he admitted to alcohol abuse outright, and only refuses to discuss his prior drug problems. If he couldn't speak clearly in public, I understand; the really good stuff messes you up forever. So Mitt, wtf were you trying in Gay Paree in the sixties ??
Either Romney's constant change of positions is making me very, very
dizzy or I'm suffering from a serious inner ear infection.
They way he's supposed to say it, is that Obama has been trying to raise taxes. And that is true at least in the sense that he would have let the Bush tax cuts expire for wealthy Americans. And various "deficit neutral" bills, such as the Veterans Jobs bill, must also get their revenue from somewhere.
But of course, none of those proposals have made it into law, so Obama has not raised taxes on anyone in the last 4 years. And payroll taxes have been significantly lowered.
I feel sorry for Mitt. It really is so much easier to tell the truth than to remember which lie you told when and where.
And this is the guy pundits really believe has a chance of "resetting" his campaign by out-debating Pres. Obama? Seriously?
Actually, and ironically, they're all lying about that. They know full well it's impossible, but maintenance of the pretext is necessary both to avoid being accused of having called the election before it was over (the Great Journalist Assburning of 1948 persists in their tribal memory even as individual journalists manage to forget anything that happened more than three weeks ago) and to keeping people tuning in and reading.
Fair enough point, Steve.
Great Journalist Assburning of 1948 ....love that! For our younger participants who were educated in the current public school system. :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Defeats_Truman
The Nooze . Please this is a business and we need to sell pharmaceuticals and Cheerios. No one tunes into the football game if it's a blowout. We need eyeballs man, eyeballs.
I wonder if Romney is talking about the Bush tax cuts set to expire Dec,31. So he's going to blame that all on Pres. Obama. Let them expire!
But he consistently says Obama has no new ideas??? WTF Mitt?
This video isn't real and FUBARRomney didn't say anything about Obama not raising taxes. We think we see this video and that we heard FUBARRomney say that because of the psychological damage caused by inaccurate polling data.
Loved Ryan's double-take in the background.
I think he should just skip the step where he SAYS anything at all. Have his campaign issue all of his "statements" first. Oh, right; that hasn't worked either.
"I said it before I didn't say it" As muddled a message as I voted for it before I voted against it and likely the same result.
Does no one else think it's significant that Romney referred to Obama's first term in office? Wouldn't someone who expected to win drop the "first?"
Good point. It was a bit surprising. He sees the writing on the wall. Can he keep the campaign funds and run for governor of Utah?
Only if gets his tax returns straight, first ! Maybe he could run for president of the Caymans, too !
Romney sure has a lot of interpreters, he probably has a special team that has to follow him around and quick cover for him when he speaks the truth.
Basic definition of a "gaffe" - a politician is accidentally honest.
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He's Schrodinger's Candidate. He's a Quantum-Romney, a "Quandary" if you like.
He holds all possible positions until he's actually "observed" at election time.
:)))))))) that is the best possible desciption of Romney i have heard yet
Cute, except Schroedinger's cat's condition is set by observation. Mittens just crawls back into the box after he's observed, and once again holds all possible positions.
His true nature is a rudderless riddle, wrapped in a meaningless mystery, inside an enduring enigma, draped with lies.
Or, as a wise friend on another board put it:
"He's an enigma wrapped in an a suit stuffed with money"
Mitt would do better to take his foot out of his mouth and put a sock in it. If he didn't speak his mind and stuck to the script he wouldn't make such fun reading every day. The debates are gonna interesting. How will they keep him muzzeled?
Ohnoez! Someone forgot to remove MittBots honesty chip before he grabbed the microphone!
Still..he looks so life-like.
Yes, Steve. If you read the comments, you'd know that several of us have been puzzling over that for weeks.
What Ryan's face is saying: God, I am going to lose my Senate Seat and the V.P. we are not even carrying my home state. I wonder what kind of Lobbyist I'll make?
Ryan still has a little time to go home and run his butt off for the Senate re-election. Pathetic, but funny if he does.
House of Representatives, not the Senate. He has yet to win a statewide race, let alone a national one.
Minor correction: Lyin' Ryan's a member of the House, not the Senate (thank goodness).
Get Enraged and Engaged:
Mooch the Vote 2012!
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.
Shades of G. Dubya Shrub.
.
Imagine just for a moment what this campaign would be like if Mitt Romney was allowed to just be honest. Imagine if you will if the Republican Party choose to run the good old fashion way, a little dirty politics but let the facts speak for themselves.
Cutting taxes (done), booming private busness (done), highest profit in history (done), employment (none). It is been a great 30 years hasn't it! Who needs a future anyway?