-
How Long Is This War?
May 20, 2013 | 15 comments
-
Next: The Benghazi Select Committee
May 13, 2013 | 94 comments
-
Nobody Died in Watergate
May 9, 2013 | 148 comments
-
Benghazi Bullchips
May 6, 2013 | 184 comments
-
Obama’s Thin Red Line
April 29, 2013 | 207 comments
Loose Canons
Romney’s Reflexes
Like a jet pilot in an OODA loop, he needs to seize on the opportunities Obama is giving him.
We know Mitt Romney can be a tough campaigner. With a few weeks’ exception, he stayed above the fray most of the time, leaving the harsh words to his opponents. On occasion, he gave as good as he got in the debates, but he managed to avoid going over the top in response to the many outrageous things his opponents said about him, either directly or in their televised ads. And he played rough enough — mostly through his supporting “super PAC” and its ads — to cause Newt Gingrich to implode after Iowa.
The campaign against President Obama is different because Obama and the media will not stop at anything to win. Romney will have to be much tougher in his own right, and ready to respond with the appropriate level of vehemence to Team Obama’s attacks. Importantly, he will have to be prepared and quick on the draw. That’s one set of skills he has. But there’s another that he has yet to demonstrate.
Campaigning against Obama — and the Obama-cuddling media — Romney will also have to act like a fighter pilot to seize the opportunities he’s given. In fly-guy terms, it’s a process called the “OODA loop.”
When you’re buzzing along enjoying the ride at Mach 1 or so, and some warning system starts beeping or buzzing — or you see something miles off — you have to Observe it, Orient yourself (and your aircraft) to it, Decide what you’re going to do, and Act. All of this, I’m assured by several bashful former pilots, has to be done in a few fractions of a second.
Presidential candidates have more than a fraction of a second to seize an opportunity to attack (or prepare to defend), but it’s something that has to be done quickly, reflexively, and well. Last week, there were two opportunities Romney could have seized upon but didn’t.
First was the National Journal report that a senior State Department official said that “The war on terror is over,” and that “Now that we have killed most of al Qaida, now that people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al Qaida see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism.”
If our war on terror is over, it’s good news for the terrorist organizations, especially the Islamist ones, that are actively seeking to kill Americans anywhere they can. (The State Department lists fifty foreign terrorist organizations on its website, and not because they’ve all settled quietly in the Retired Terrorists’ Home.) If our war against them is over, and their war against us isn’t, the “senior State Department official” was stating we’ve surrendered. (According to the same report, the White House confirmed that the “war on terror” concept has been dropped.)
What did Romney say about this? Nothing. He could have seized on this as proof that Obama’s national security policy is a danger to our national security. The business of embracing and legitimating “Islamism” is as well, a far-reaching attempt to institutionalize the tolerance of terror sponsorship by enemies such as Iran and Syria.
Deciding that there is a legitimate Islamism is the end of the march of the euphemisms. We’ve gone from calling it Islamic terrorism and jihad, to radical Islam, to Islamic extremism and now to Islamism. Those words are nothing more than progressively weaker terms to describe the same thing: the ideology of Islam that requires violence. Now Obama is apparently prepared to say that there is such a thing as acceptable, legitimate terrorism. Romney still could seize on this, but will he?
Another opportunity was in the growing furor over the Labor Department’s proposed regulation to ban children from working on their parents’ farms under the child labor laws. Exposed in a report in the Daily Caller, the regulations would have banned most children from working “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.” The report added a quote from a Labor Department press release that said, “Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”
The regulation would also have revoked government approval of safety training programs by 4H and Future Farmers of America and replaced them with a 90-hour government-training course. It was a perfect example of the in-your-face and on-your-back government that is Obama’s preferred method of governing. Romney should have seized on it to say just that. But he didn’t. A few days after being battered in the press and on talk radio, the Labor Department canceled the proposed rule.
Those are but two of the low-hanging fruit that Romney could have grabbed easily and turned to his considerable advantage. There are more, and will be more, throughout the campaign. In the primary campaign, Romney ran as the calm technocrat, dodging bullets on Bain Capital, taking hits on Romneycare and more. But he wasn’t looking for openings to attack his rivals. That has to change.
Obama and his campaign team will be working hard to deny Romney opportunities like these, but they won’t be able to do it because Obama’s policies and actions — and those of the emboldened bureaucracy seeking to implement them — will inevitably create a series of them. Romney and his team need to start thinking of how best to identify those that present political openings, seize on them and create quickly some political firestorms around them.
How much money is Obama sending to the International Monetary Fund to help bail out the Eurozone’s worst socialist economies? How much money have we sent to the UN so far this year? Which Obama bundlers and other major supporters are getting government support in the form of loans, grants, and other crony capitalism? There are a lot of people out there — we used to call them “Reagan Democrats” — who would like to know.
The problem for Romney isn’t reacting to Obama’s attacks, which Romney inevitably will do. It’s about changing the focus of the campaign from the “Bin Laden is dead and GM is alive” mantra launched a few days ago by Joe Biden. It’s about fighting politically in a way that will weaken Obama and force the media to cover what Romney is saying from now through the Republican convention and Election Day. Romney will get coverage only grudgingly, and he will have to be willing to create controversy about Obama’s actions to do it.
Romney is a methodical guy. Maybe he needs a small “OODA Loop” team to identify these opportunities for him, orient him to them so he can decide and act quickly. I know a few politically minded former fighter jocks who would love to be on that team.
About the Author
Jed Babbin served as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum and In the Words of Our Enemies. You can follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (86) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Jed Babbin
More Articles From Loose Canons
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/04/30/romneys-reflexes
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Hannah and Her Friends
- The Demise of Money and Credit
- A Nation on the Edge
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Seapuss| 4.30.12 @ 6:34AM
Did anyone see the irony in Bill Clinton speculating that Mitt Romney might not have ordered the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden? Slick Willy would know, wouldn't he? After all, Clinton turned down multiple opportunities to kill or capture Bin Laden when he was president.
Jack in Wi.| 4.30.12 @ 7:34AM
Romney is a hack who would do nothing but keep this country on a downward slide. He would turn the Middle East policy of this country over to Netanyahu. Most of the military and intelligence leadership in Israel has called Netanyahu and his allies, extemists leading Israel into a dangerous war, that should not be fought. They want an end to the setlements and peace with Palistine. Our military and top intelligence heads want the same thing. We can only say that Willard Romney is way out of touch on both domestic and foreign policy. Besides we don't need a candiate who can't blink or close his eyes at night because he has had so had many facelifts. The poor guy has to sleep with blinders on.
David W| 4.30.12 @ 8:26AM
Romney out of touch? Compared to the butt-kisser-in-chief Obama? Oh sure, Obama "killed" Osama, but he was dragged kicking and screaming to do so (and had someone else give the order). Obama has no clue as to what drives the "unrest" in the Middle East. It isn't settlements, it is the existence of Israel, pure and simple (if you actually read history you would know that).
Out of touch on domestic front? Obama wants to raise taxes, not to gain more revenue to reduce the deficit but to screw over those who have worked to earn their money and give it to those who haven't. A man who, when he had a chance to reduce racial tensions, did nothing. As a candidate Obama pledged to be the most transparent presidency. What a lie and a joke. A man who tells us, while many are suffering, we should spend money in Vegas while his wife spends millions on vacations around the world.
I see a bumper sticker for Obama and I can't believe how someone could be stupid enough to vote for a man who hates this country and most of its citizens as much as Obama does.
I'd vote for a syphilitic camel before I'd vote for Obama (I stole the camel bit from someone, can't remember who).
Mattled| 4.30.12 @ 11:58AM
The camel bit was Glen Reynolds at Instapundit.
Occam's Tool| 4.30.12 @ 2:37PM
Israel does not drive the unrest in the Middle East; the fact that Islam is an uberviolent religion fractured into uberviolent sects does that all by itself. The Iran-Iraq war has killed many many more people than died in all of Israel's conflicts, Jack to to the contrary.
Clint| 4.30.12 @ 7:16PM
Now, Tell The American Spectator Readers How Many Israeli IDF Were KIA Or WIA In The Iraq-Afghanistan War On Terror, Israel Firster BibiBot, Tool Job.
Answer :
ZIP.
TrueBlue | 5.1.12 @ 4:29PM
But do you know WHY? Because them being there at all would have caused a ridiculous amount of unrest in the local population that we were trying to get one our side. They have hatred of Israel so ingrained in them that it wouldn't have mattered if Israel had come as liberators, they would have immediately gone after their soldiers.
Israel didn't send people because it would have made things WORSE! Which anyone who actually thought for half a second, instead of always trying to find why Israel should be ditched or destroyed, would understand.
Occam's Tool| 4.30.12 @ 10:53AM
"Palestine," you pungent piece of purulent fromage.
Clint| 4.30.12 @ 7:17PM
Again,
Tell The American Spectator Readers How Many Israeli IDF Were KIA Or WIA In The Iraq-Afghanistan War On Terror, Israel Firster BibiBot, Tool Job.
Answer :
ZIP.
Alan Brooks| 4.30.12 @ 1:20PM
What would Romney do that Bush couldn't do? Bush wasn't a bad guy, or a bad president.. he was middling-- and so is Middling Mittens.
Occam's Tool| 4.30.12 @ 2:42PM
I can see why Bibi would piss you off, Jack. He's super bright, super brave, and super decisive. Unlike you, he also opposes child molestation. A request of you, Jack. Please, please, please do exactly to Bibi what you did to Johnson, and let's see how Bibi's bodyguards react.
Jack in Wi.| 4.30.12 @ 3:26PM
Bibi is so bright that the whole Israeli military and security establishment is speaking out against him Barak and Lieberman. They think he is leading Israel over a cliff that could destroy the place.
TrueBlue | 5.1.12 @ 4:30PM
That's why he's still in office, and isn't likely to be voted out, because Israel thinks he's such a bad guy. You do realize that all those polls you love to reference specifically sought out people they KNEW would answer the way they wanted, right? Happens over here all the time too, which is why nearly all poll info is bogus!
Appleby| 4.30.12 @ 6:39AM
Romney is used to paying other people to do all that stuff for him. He's supposed to move in for the kill at the end, when all the hard work is done. I sincerely believe that Romney doesn't have a clue what to do now that he has been picked by the Usual Suspects to stand out front and wait for the swimsuit competition to begin.
Vern Crisler| 4.30.12 @ 10:25AM
I agree. Also, Babbin is incorrect that Newt "imploded" after Romney's nasty campaign against him in Iowa. Newt went on to win South Carolina.
Newt lost in Florida because he was outspent by this snake, Mr. Etch-a-Sketch, and because Republicans preferred to behave like political whores this time around.
Obama's worst enemy is himself (and his campaign staff). This is Obama's election to lose, not Romney's to win. An empty suit like Romney cannot win. He can only hope to be president if his opponent loses. And the Obama team is off to a bad start, so Romney might become president after all.
And it will be the end of the Republican party as a conservative party. Thanks a lot Florida, bunch of geriatric whores and addlepated sunbathers and love-bug worshipping orange suckers.
Alan Brooks| 4.30.12 @ 1:22PM
Newt lost because he is a megalomaniac who thinks God chose him to colonize Mars.
Vern Crisler| 4.30.12 @ 1:44PM
This is incorrect.
Alan Brooks| 5.1.12 @ 3:39AM
Which clause?:
"Newt lost because he is a megalomaniac"
or because he "thinks God chose him to colonize Mars"?
SpiralArchitect| 4.30.12 @ 4:16PM
The GOP convention could be really interesting if RP has things working out according to his plan.
No calls for Paul to drop out, just everyone else, that is fairly strange.
He is planning on big things still for the convention.
Paul would surely secure the crown for 0bama if chosen the GOP - Romney or bust. :/
Gary B| 4.30.12 @ 6:44AM
In other words Romney will have to do something very few Republicans have ever done: not be stupid.
I hope shortcomings in Romney's campaign are compensated for by others outside his campaign - people like Palin, West, Bachmann and Newt who can sling the unvarnished truth back in the faces of Obama and the enemedia.
JP| 4.30.12 @ 8:21AM
Great points. Above all, Mitt needs to steer clear of the obvious (and not so obvious) political ambushes this President and his minions will set.
Mitt should let loose the SuperPacs and bloggers to fight in the trenches (something McCain and Bush refused to do). In the meantime he also needs to give the voters a few good reasons to choose him over Barry O'Bammy.
Gary B| 4.30.12 @ 10:30AM
Yup, exactly so.
Chuck| 4.30.12 @ 7:52AM
Romney enjoys bashing conservatives at every turn but not liberals. Why? Because he and Obama are political brothers, the health care siamese twins of Romneycare/Obamacare.
Dennis Bergendorf| 4.30.12 @ 8:33AM
The biggest problem facing Romney is the 800-pound gorilla over in the corner, and that's Obama's perceived personal popularity. It would be easy to go after Obama's ridiculous record of mistakes, gaffes, twisted logic, and failed economics. But by branding him as incompetent and dangerous, we run the risk of alienating people who like Obama personally.
Then there's the matter of "piling on." Anybody who spends an hour or two listing the valid objections to the worst administration of all time will be seen as being mean-spirited.
Nyfarmer| 4.30.12 @ 8:34AM
Any 'poltical points' made now will be largely forgotten by the time November rolls around. I'd like a reprieve till way past Labor Day.
Pecos Pete| 4.30.12 @ 8:48AM
Nyfarmer: Excellent point. The public at large has a one week memory. Better to slowly escalate in order to peak the week before November 6. Let the Republican primary BS die off, allow the public to enjoy high gas prices, high unemployment ... for awhile. We all know the economy is tanking and will get worse as the year progresses. King O, and his bureaucrats, will continue to make stupid mistakes. Recognize the basic stupidity of welfare voters and build to a powerful close in the months of September and October. And remember, McCain was ahead until October ... King O trailed until McCain failed.
Scorpio51| 4.30.12 @ 8:49AM
Mr. Babbin I happened to catch your fill-in show for Michael Savage a few days ago and that show was absolutely disgraceful the way you spoke to the conservatives.
Now that I see that you were a member of the Bush41 administration, it all falls into place why you did that.
Your guy Mitt is nothing but a moderate liberal RINO who is now trending more to the left after he threw the very conservative Kris Kobach, Secretary of the State of Kansas under the bus recently. Kobach has been an advisor and strong advocate of Governor Romney.
Now that Mitt THINKS he has the nomination, he threw Kobach under the bus on immigration policy for the more moderate Marco Rubio and his DREAM ACT.
In the words from the famous comedy show Maude played by the wonderful Bea Arthur....GOD WILL GET YOU FOR THAT!
Everybody and their dog (pun intended) has been endorsing Mitt Romney until it's sickening. Now, we will be seeing the REAL Mitt Romney who was always a liberal from day one. The GOP is going to fall into the abyss being led by the Bushies and elites of Washington. Don't say we conservatives didn't warn you.
http://www.debbieschlussel.com.....e-latinos/
Vern Crisler| 4.30.12 @ 10:36AM
Dittos.....
Al Adab| 4.30.12 @ 4:08PM
Bush 43 was to the right of Romney. So for that matter was McCain. Not that it is any great reccomendation for either of them. It still says a lot about Romney and the sorry state of the accomodationist GOP.
Tom| 4.30.12 @ 5:42PM
Amen to that!
Person of Choler| 4.30.12 @ 5:53PM
"Don't say we conservatives didn't warn you."
Point taken. How will you vote?
Dan| 4.30.12 @ 9:06AM
Obama didn't order the killing. He created a construct wherein he could take the credit, and if things turned south, could excoriate the men under him for exceeding their authority.
Panetta, Gates, Hillary, Daley and Patreius {spellings?} effectively circumscribed and circumnavigated obama, jarrett and his wife.
Go check out the White House insider over at Ulsterman, which long ago detailed for us what went down.
SpiralArchitect| 4.30.12 @ 4:25PM
No body, no pics...this would not hold up in court.
OBL was said to have died many years ago - this was repeated often throughout the years.
Dan| 4.30.12 @ 5:59PM
No. OBL is dead alright.
It's just that the creature in chief dodged giving the order, and instead blocked, delayed and thwarted his underlings getting about killing OBL. Jarrett urged the skinny jerk to delay and dodge, so that's what the skinny jerk did. Panett and Gates really pushed it, and were backed up by Daley and Hillary.
Obama NEVER actually gave the order to go get him.
That authority was left to be assumed, to be arrogated, to effectively be usurped by his supposed subordinates.
Now the skinny jerk can't get enough of running all over God's creation braying about "his gutsy call."
fmm| 4.30.12 @ 9:44AM
Romney didn't respond to those two items because he probably doesn't see anything wrong with them.
Won't Vote For RMoney| 4.30.12 @ 10:07AM
RMoney has ecellent reflexes. All weather vanes instantly react to changes in wind direction.
DTOM!| 4.30.12 @ 10:21AM
Voting for Obama?
Don't be stupid.
Won't Vote For RMoney| 4.30.12 @ 11:10AM
Not voting for either. I don't live my life in fear. Stupid is labeling those you disagree with. Have a nice day.
LIBERAL TROLL ALERT| 4.30.12 @ 11:59AM
`
Cpm| 4.30.12 @ 1:21PM
Then you are casting your vote for Obama. Face it, RINO.
DTOM!| 4.30.12 @ 2:23PM
WVFR - I didn't label you, you thin-skinned crap weasel! (I've labeled you NOW!) I simply showed the logical consequence of your failure to perform your civic duty of voting for the next President of the United States.
It's your freakin' duty, you stupid cry-baby! (Labelled you again! HAH!
DPOM| 4.30.12 @ 12:06PM
and tell me its raining, RINO boy
Bill| 4.30.12 @ 10:31AM
Romney's VP :
1. Bob McDonald: Southern "solid" fiscal and social conservative
2. Kelly Ayotte: Women votes, articulate and charismatic next "Iron Lady" from New England
3. Chris Christie: Straight talker, no apology, may be "Ronald Reagan" in the east coast
4. Pat Toomey: Anti-tax crusader, Swing state PA
5. Rob Portman: Budget Guru, Swing state OH
6. Jeb Bush: Sunshine Guru & the Latino votes
7. Paul Ryan: Articulate charismatic fiscal hawk Genius
Declined: Marco Rubio, Mitch Daniel, Bobby Jindal,
And the VP is...............you decide.
FYI: Marco Rubio supports DREAM Act, very troubling
Al Adab| 4.30.12 @ 11:07AM
It doesn't matter Bill. The entire thing is about electoral votes. All a VP can do is deliver his own state/ Not worth the effort.
Bill| 4.30.12 @ 11:55AM
Actually, it matters if Romney picks Sen. Kelly Ayotte for his VP nominee:
1. She can unify the women votes
2. She is articulate and charismatic figure
3. She was endorsed by Sarah Palin when she ran for her senate seat in 2010
4. She was a "tough" AG, who sough death penalty for murder cases
5. She is a Catholic with Irish decent, only 42
6. She has a brief legislative experience being a freshman senator from liberal stronghold New England
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 11:49AM
"That nigger lover President Clinton had the pen and vetoed so many good bills passed by the Gingrich-led Congress."
- Written by Billy the Bigot, in the Time for Newt to Do the Honorable Thing thread:
http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403
"[Miami] is infested by millions of uneducated Cubans and Haitian whores."
- Written by Billy the Bigot, in the Rubio's Nuanced Neoconcervatism thread:
http://spectator.org/blog/2012.....ent_805157
You're a moron and a racist, Bigot Billy from Florida.
GO AWAY!
Bill| 4.30.12 @ 11:53AM
BIGOT RACIST NICKY FROM HELL.
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 12:27PM
But, you're still a RACIST PIG.
GO AWAY, Billy the Bigot from Florida!
Nobody likes you.
Bill| 4.30.12 @ 1:29PM
NICKY IS A LIBERAL MORON FUCKING MALE WHORE.
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 2:11PM
Aren't you capable of telling the truth, Billy the Bigot from Florida? What a sad, little man you truly are.
You, and all your tranny friends, just GO AWAY and listen to Laddy GagGag, will ya'?
Bill| 4.30.12 @ 2:45PM
NICK IS A RACIST PIG FUCKING MORON WHORE LIBERAL FAG. GO AWAY, GO BACK TO HELL, NICKY THE BIGOT LIAR.
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 3:10PM
I will never leave you alone, Billy the Bigot from Florida.
Never.
You RACIST PIG.
Now, GO AWAY, and listen to Laddy GagGag with your tranny friends.
John| 4.30.12 @ 5:57PM
Nick, you're a stupid whore, and you go listen to those stupid black music, Nicky the bigot. You RACIST PIG. Nobody likes you.
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 6:23PM
So, now you're John? Or, is it Billy John the Bigot? Or, Johnny Bill the Bigot from Florida?
Or, are you a john? For all those trannies hustlers you pick-up listening to Laddy GagGag? Pervert!
Now, GO AWAY RACIST PIG!
Brian Mc| 4.30.12 @ 4:55PM
Bill,
You're an embarassment. I was willing to let you speak your piece until you dropped the F-bomb, twice. Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind trying to express itself, forcibly. I will never, ever give your shrill posts the attention you might feel they deserve after this.
Al Adab| 4.30.12 @ 5:47PM
Great dialogue gentlemen. It really helps the cause.
John| 4.30.12 @ 5:58PM
Brian Mc, I'm sorry for using the word, but Nick assulted my First amendment over and over, and he's getting my nerve.
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 6:26PM
GOOD, I'm glad, Billy John the Bigot!
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 6:24PM
Brian Mc,
So, it is Billy the Bigot's profanity that bothers you, and not his racist rants? I'm confused.
John| 4.30.12 @ 6:29PM
Nick, you're a stupid liberal whore racist pig. Nobody likes you, and you never contributed anything to this intellectual blog. Go to Hell.
Nick| 4.30.12 @ 7:04PM
Go pick-up your tranny hookers, Johnny Bill the Bigot.
You love Laddy GagGag, and she's a man, baby!
GO AWAY RACIST PIG!
Tim| 4.30.12 @ 10:35AM
Romney will have no choice but to engage in trench warefare with Obama.
Unlike Santorum or Gingrich, Obama like Romney will stop at nothing and has the money to slug it out with Romney toe to toe.
In an ugly ruthless A-Moral campaign of two Globalists.... God only knows what the result will be.
Its all about turn out in the key States and of course the Obama Care Court Decision in June that will settle the score of who wins in November.
It should be interesting as it becomes clear that the war will be fought between the rich global socialists and the rich global mormon church
with the vast millions of conservative working class folks watching the show from the sidelines.
It will be a thirty pieces of silver war......and the winner is?????
Occam's Tool| 4.30.12 @ 10:54AM
One hopes Mitt has junkyard dog in him.
Al Adab| 4.30.12 @ 11:15AM
Would that he did O/T. Sadly he represents that wing of the GOP, like Dole, Ford, McCain, who still see political debate in gentlemanly terms. That is how it should be, but sadly is not.
With what is at stake we needed a energetic leader not a representative of the same old acomodationist GOP. We needed a candidate who, when he spoke, people marched. What we got was a poser without a firm compass of positions.
Lesser Weevil| 4.30.12 @ 4:07PM
It's not their manners, it's their ideas. The sainted Gipper maintained a gentlemanly demeanor while making incisive points; no matter how he poses, Mitt doesn't really have much to say.
Al Adab| 4.30.12 @ 4:09PM
Also true.
gearjammer| 4.30.12 @ 11:11AM
No, he needn't be overtly vicious. Charming, handsome, self assured, witty, intellegent and deadly-Bond, Willard Bond at your service.
DPOM| 4.30.12 @ 12:07PM
LOL!
Dmac | 4.30.12 @ 12:42PM
Roney will need to do three things and the elction is his.
Be agressive without any name calling.
Don't make any blunders.
Grow a pair of balls. They don't even need to be big balls. If they are at least half the size of Hillary's balls then he can win this thing.
ABO= anyone but Obama
Dave Williams| 4.30.12 @ 12:48PM
...what he said, in spades...
Harry Nhadzack| 4.30.12 @ 1:10PM
sadly, it's beginning to look like McCain 2oo8 all over again.
Dmac | 4.30.12 @ 2:13PM
Actually thats okay. There's going to be a very large portion of people who voted for Obama last time that won't be fooled this time. Also, Romney is not near the hawk that McCain is. This election is very winnable. Those of us who wanted someone besides Romney need to realize it's Roney or Obama. I didn't want to before, but I'll gladly jump on the Romney bandwagon now. I hope everyone else will to.
ABO= Anyone But Obama
Owen K| 4.30.12 @ 2:24PM
Absolutely. We can criticize Romney for not being a true conservative. But that is a secondary issue. The primary concern as well as the greatest issue is to beat Obama and vote him out of office. If we cannot unite and do this, then nothing else is going to matter. I was a supporter of Herman Cain. I am not particularly a huge fan of Romney either. But, I will vote for him and support him. Why? Because there is a stench in the White House that reeks of Socialism and corruption that needs to be voted out in 2012. God help us all if we cannot do this.
Boar Hunter| 4.30.12 @ 2:08PM
Dear Mr. Babin
"The problem for Romney" is that Obama was raised, mentored and continues to appoint communists to his inner circle of government and Romney has been silent.
"The problem for Romney" is that Obama, continues to practice a racist ideology learned over decades, which he continues to practice to this very day through his support of the Black Panthers and Romney has been silent.
"The problem for Romney" is that Obama is destroying free enterprise, crucifying business, attacking the church, suing individual states, breaking the law or refusing to enforce, thwarting rather than upholding the constitution which he swore to uphold and spitting on America at every turn and Romney can't find his voice.
"The problem for Romney" is that the Republican party has failed to recognize the palpable anger of conservatives and their sense of betrayal at being given the ultimatum of voting for Obama or Romney.
"The problem for Romney" is that Obama's worshipers are true believers in the creation of a social utopia. They will never all be eaten by the Morlocks, but they are content as long as someone else is eaten first.
Why do people like you continue to believe that because you are reasonable and thoughtful in your debate and discourse that the liberals will be? Liberals have no morals. They have no ethics. They have no sense of honor or pride. They are willfully ignorant lovers of lies who must be defeated.
Tell me sir, when will the Republican establishment learn that the great majority of American people detest these liberal vermin and would back them if they simply showed a little courage and truly spoke "truth to power."
"The problem for Romney" is that he already lost to McCain and American's do not like to take what's second best.
"The problem for Romney" is that weak willed Republican shills selected a toy poodle for a dog fight and are now forced to tell everyone how much fight there is in the little dog since no one wants to bet on it.
Well, someone might as well kick the poodle now and at least get it to start yapping, because when he gets put into the ring all you will hear is the heart wrenching death thralls of the Republican party.
Next time lets put a honey badger in the ring. At least if the honey badger loses he will go down fighting with all his heart and soul and whatever they put in the ring against him will at least know it was in a fight. Romney's name will be forgotten in 16 months as anything other than a curse against the Republican party.
Owen K| 4.30.12 @ 2:18PM
This is the one thing that Romney is going to have to change. He is going to have to seize these opportunities and go in for the "kill." You can bet that the Obama Campaign is going to be doing just that.
Occam's Tool| 4.30.12 @ 2:40PM
Hey, I voted for Santorum. But I want to see Romney win, because Obummer must lose.
Clint| 4.30.12 @ 7:22PM
Tool Job's The Phoney Israel Firster BibiBot RINO-CINO, Who Said He Would Vote For The Ruling Elites' Frontman, Mittens Romney Way Back In June.
Aaaand,
" Presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isn't the GOP nominee and for a second day compared rival Mitt Romney to an Etch A Sketch toy.
Santorum reiterated an argument he has made before: The former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast."
PattyMor| 4.30.12 @ 3:26PM
The problem with Republicans:
1. They won't come out and tell you how radical Barack is (except for Col. West).
2. They won't be honest about how bad the debt and deficit is.
3. They don't have the guts to really cut back gov'ment to its legal limits. Oh, they'll tinker around the edges.
4. They have the same "big government" tendencies, but they keep lying about it.
5. They don't have the guts to refute the radical social policy agenda of the left. Their manta always is: don't go there, which leaves the field to the Left.
6. They've now joined in the Let's Cut the Defense Dept. strategy of the left.
7. They generally refuse to fight over most of anything, always ceding the playing field to the Left.
8. We have wimps for leaders, the Left has virtual warriors. Mumbling, bumbling leaders just won't cut it anymore.
So, Mitt fits in quite nicely with the milquetoast bunch. What's the beef, he's one of them.
cicero| 4.30.12 @ 4:51PM
The present problem for the Republicans is that, as per all of the above comments, they still are not united around the man who will be their candidate. That is the first order of business. We all are fully aware that Romney is not perfect. All right, already. He is our standard bearer, and clearly more to our likeing than Obama. I suggest that we take some of the ideas put forth by some of the other candidates who have since dropped out. Newt could still be drafted to follow Obama around to all of this campaign stops, and rebut every lie he tells in his stump speaches. It would be histerical, and Newt could pull it off. It would cause a riot among the Dems, and they wouldn,t know how to handle it. Huntsman, Perry, Santorum, etc., could be at as many places as Mitt, putting forth the same message. After all, the goal is to save the country, right?
Oldefarte| 4.30.12 @ 5:29PM
In military, jet fighter termonology, Mitt needs to simply declare that if he's elected POTUS, he will issue a warning to Muslim terrorism that IF THEY EVER AGAIN ATTACK THIS NATION OR ITS PEOPLE AGAIN, THAT NUMEROUS B-52'S LOADED TO THE HILT WITH ATOMIC BOMBS WILL IMMEDIATE BE IN FLIGHT TOWARD THE DESERTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST, AND THEREAFTER UNLOAD THEIR CARGO [SIMILAR TO NAGASAKI AND HIROSHIMA]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tim| 4.30.12 @ 5:39PM
The chance of Romney delivering that speech is zero!
The real problem is the Obama Care issue.
If the Supremes strike it down the result will be that the air will go out of the masses that hate Obama for its passage thus handing Obama 4 more years do to lower turn out in key states..
Tim| 4.30.12 @ 5:41PM
.....On the other hand if the Supremes uphold Obama Care than Romney wins but we will end up with Romney care.
Its a mess!
Bob| 4.30.12 @ 7:59PM
Willard the Rat please pick NJ Governor Crisco as your despicable side kick. I will be in a state of political nirvana and so will Hollywood picking on that bulbous bovine from the Garden State.
POST American| 4.30.12 @ 10:08PM
IN this, the 11th hour of the 4 decades on
CFR--RED China handover, takedown,
TREASON, OCCUPATION
and FINAL EUGENICS OP --
-----'BAR--Rockefeller' H. Obama?
to face off with
----------'SUB--Mitt ROME--knee'?
Are you kidding?
And you idiots call this democracy!
-------------------------------much less America!
DISGRACE
PolishKnight| 5.1.12 @ 10:49AM
While the author is right and the two examples were "low hanging fruit", they weren't as useful or critical as the author might think they are.
Obama didn't directly say that the war on terror was over so Romney's shots on the statement of a "senior state department official" would largely go unnoticed. Obama didn't say it, so so what?
In addition, Romney is vulnerable in that neither he nor Obama want to go after Islam both due to political sensitivities plus we need Saudi Arabia to pump out more oil.
Next, the farming issue is a valid concern but not critical. The critical issues that win or lose this election are:
1) Economic. It took down GHB and it will take down Obama. Romney needs to start talking about realistic deficit control.
2) Economy 2: Illegal immigration. Another problem for Romney is that he's also slightly loose on this much like the Bushes. He doesn't want to bust down on H1B's and businesses that want the taxpayer to foot the bill for cheap labor are also major Republican contributors. But still, he's better than Obama on this.
3) Economy 3: Gasoline. Obama hates gasoline and he's doubling down on that policy. Romney should talk about drilling, driving down gas prices, and getting us independent of foreign oil.
The great thing about economic issues is that they're populist. Except for Obama's hard core constituencies that actually benefit from bad policies (cronies at Solyndra, wall street bailouts, etc.), most people will considering voting to recover the economy even ahead of other interests except for, perhaps, the hard core Democrat race voters. They simply don't care.
PolishKnight| 5.1.12 @ 10:49AM
While the author is right and the two examples were "low hanging fruit", they weren't as useful or critical as the author might think they are.
Obama didn't directly say that the war on terror was over so Romney's shots on the statement of a "senior state department official" would largely go unnoticed. Obama didn't say it, so so what?
In addition, Romney is vulnerable in that neither he nor Obama want to go after Islam both due to political sensitivities plus we need Saudi Arabia to pump out more oil.
Next, the farming issue is a valid concern but not critical. The critical issues that win or lose this election are:
1) Economic. It took down GHB and it will take down Obama. Romney needs to start talking about realistic deficit control.
2) Economy 2: Illegal immigration. Another problem for Romney is that he's also slightly loose on this much like the Bushes. He doesn't want to bust down on H1B's and businesses that want the taxpayer to foot the bill for cheap labor are also major Republican contributors. But still, he's better than Obama on this.
3) Economy 3: Gasoline. Obama hates gasoline and he's doubling down on that policy. Romney should talk about drilling, driving down gas prices, and getting us independent of foreign oil.
The great thing about economic issues is that they're populist. Except for Obama's hard core constituencies that actually benefit from bad policies (cronies at Solyndra, wall street bailouts, etc.), most people will considering voting to recover the economy even ahead of other interests except for, perhaps, the hard core Democrat race voters. They simply don't care.