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The Spectacle Blog
Last night Ann Coulter, in her usual shy and retiring fashion, appeared on Sean Hannity’s TV show and let loose in a burst of frustration about Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman.
The subject was the Romney response to the flat-out lie that Mitt Romney had killed the wife of steelworker Joe Soptic. Here’s the segment, with Coulter boiling over at about 5:52 into the tape.
What set Coulter off — and she is decidedly not alone — was Saul’s response to the ad. Instead of sharply pinning the lie to the wall and nailing the Obama campaign for the responsibility, Ms. Saul blandly replied that had Soptic’s wife lived in Massachusetts she would have had insurance — meaning RomneyCare.
Well aside from reminding conservative voters — aka “The Base” — of the major league specific they dislike about Romney — RomneyCare — the seriously concerning issue here was Saul’s failure to take the fight straight to the Obama campaign and the President himself.
Precisely as Coulter said, the ad is “despicable.” Romney was long gone from Bain, not to mention that Soptic’s wife had her own health insurance. The ad is a lie. And as Hannity noted, it is now blowing up in Team Obama’s face because they have denied any connection to the ad — now also proven to be a lie, as Hannity also discusses with Coulter. Airing a taped conference call from earlier in the year with Soptic and Onbama campaign aide Stephanie Cutter.
I should say here that somewhere along life’s trail I’ve met Andrea Saul. She’s a good person. That, alas, is not the issue. I’ve never met Romney aide Eric Ferhnstrom either, and surely he’s a good guy.
This isn’t the point.
These people are now going in front of cameras representing the soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee. For two-plus months, other than Governor Romney himself and his soon-to-be running mate, they will be the face of the Romney campaign.
Again, Coulter from last night:
“It is not worth fighting for this man if this is the kind of spokesman he has who responds to an ad like this by citing health care in Massachusetts…. No, I’m serious about this!…. There’s no point in your doing your show, there’s no point in us going to a convention and pushing for this man if he’s employing morons like this. This ad is the turning point. And she has nearly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!”
One needs to remember here that Ann Coulter quite famously walked herself waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out on a limb during primary season to enthusiastically support Governor Romney. So these comments are not coming from some still-disgruntled supporter of another candidate.
Presidential campaigns are about as close as one can get to war. Minus the physicality, they are a war — of ideas. They are stark fights for raw political power. To change the metaphor, they are the Olympics of politics. Either one is trained to get that gold medal — the White House — or one will lose to a superior competitor. Period. There is no do-over.
By Labor Day each campaign has to be sharp as a knife, Ideologically, strategically and tactically honed as close to perfection as it is possible to get. There is no room for intellectual or political sloppiness.
Three times now, the Romney campaign has come face to face with a crucial moment and stumbled. The first time was Ferhnstrom’s televised remark that really the Romney campaign was just like an “etch-a-sketch” ideologically. Still in the primaries, the remark gave Romney opponents days of material. The second time came with the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision. This time Romney aide Ferhnstrom blithely went on television to say that Romney agreed with President Obama that the individual mandate was a penalty, not a tax. Coming within a hair’s breadth of removing one of the best gifts any presidential candidate could get — a Supreme Court decision that officially turned Obamacare into the biggest tax increase in American history. Romney himself had to take to the airwaves to undo the damage.
Now comes the third time. Ms. Saul and her response to the Soptic ad.
Politics, as they say, ain’t bean ball.
Clearly, the reason for Ann Coulter’s passion last night is because she, like millions of Americans, understands the stakes. There simply is no margin for error anymore.
Somebody needs to fix the Romney press operation. Pronto.
Ann Coulter is right.
View all comments (19) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Jeffrey Lord
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/08/09/ann-coulter-is-right-fix-romn
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mike 3/505| 8.9.12 @ 11:13AM
We need to put his entire operation in a cage for a week, not feed them & every few minutes or so, poke them with a stick to make them mean...then turn them loose.
mike 3/505| 8.9.12 @ 11:14AM
Edit Button Please.
Paul McGrath| 8.9.12 @ 11:24AM
I agree with this. That response was pathetic.
And I must admit that I was very disappointed that Romney made no comment about the Chik-fil-a thing. He didn't have to say a word about gay marriage; he only needed to mention that it was despicable and unconstitutional for government officials to attempt to stifle free speech. He would have gotten a HUGE boost by doing this. The base would be fired up. But he chose to remain silent.
Troubling. Very troubling.
mjs_pa| 8.9.12 @ 11:35AM
romney whore anne coulter hasn't been right about anything regarding romney.
How about we dump romney's progressive ass at the convention and pick a real conservative.
That gets rid of romney, his incompetent campaign, and GOPe whore ann coulter.
Dai Alanye | 8.9.12 @ 11:39AM
Brilliant rhetoric and profound political analysis by mjs_pa.
JD| 8.9.12 @ 12:01PM
The Democrats have managed to turn every question into "Are you still beating your wife"?
If Romney is aggressive on any issue, no matter how right he is, left-wing media will grossly distort his response. In the case of Joe Soptic, one can be sure that any response at all will be taken as a rich guy unsympathetically picking on a poor man.
George S| 8.9.12 @ 12:03PM
Suppose it is out of the question for Romney to ask Obama to wear a Newt Gingrich mask for the rest of the campaign?
AndyDD| 8.9.12 @ 12:10PM
Romney is very protective of his people, and as is the case with many in business, he will likely stick with his poor staffing decisions much longer than he should. The very best managers and leaders admit their mistakes quickly, fix the problem, repair the damage, and move on.
I don't see that quality in the man. (Obama lacks it, too.)
There will be more of these meaningful 'misteps' out of the campaign. You need more than big bucks in the coffers. They're waging a middle-weight campaign in a heavy-weight fight.
Ann is absolutely right. It's all quite discouraging at this point; Dismal, in fact.
canuckistani| 8.9.12 @ 1:52PM
Willard dumped his gay national security advisor without so much as a mild "what for?" when the Seven Mountaineers and Third Templars populating his fundraising team turned their backs to him.
Saul is a Crist hack and protected by Fehrnstrom - who has made a multitude of foot-in-mouth blunders and the tragi-comic european debacle, so do not expect any changes.
Willard will be a gift to BHO - just as Junior's spectacular fails were a gift to ANY dem last time.
Zeppo| 8.9.12 @ 12:52PM
Right, he should "fix" his operation... but from his point of view, it ain't broke! Does Jeff Lord really think that Mitt is using an ex-Charlie Crist flack by accident? Get used to it.
deborah hunter| 8.9.12 @ 12:56PM
Romney campaign would do well to hire Monica Crowley as spokesman. She is smart, wellspoken,
and will get out in front, go on offensive. She's not afraid to say Obama & Co will lie, cheat, & steal to win. No time to waste!
canuckistani| 8.9.12 @ 1:45PM
Crowley is a Faux News hack that makes stuff up and quickly slithers back under her rock.
Her frothing at the mouth is good TV amusement, but will turn off voters in a nanosecond.
luv2ski| 8.13.12 @ 6:36AM
The fact that she irritates a libtard like canuckistani is proof enough of her bonafides.
Mike in N.C.| 8.9.12 @ 1:47PM
Ann Coulter is Jeffrey Lord's mentor. Fascinating.
hrh| 8.9.12 @ 1:48PM
You bet Ann beclowned herself re Romney, "Three Cheers for Romneycare!":
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02.....omneycare/
So now she's incensed that Saul brought it up?
Selective faux outrage.
Where was she calling for Eric Etch-a-Sketch Fernstrom's resignation?
Or for Mike State Exchange Leavitt's resignation?
They all need to go.
And the GOP Establishment should have seen this coming!
Or did they? At least, the Bush wing. Remember the January 2012 Oval Office meeting with H.W., Jeb, and Obama?
Jeb or Jeb's Son 2016?
vigilant| 8.9.12 @ 2:09PM
When this country was founded, it was a gift not only to its citizens, but to the world. Some have realized what we have, and why we have it, and have struggled to cherish and preserve it. Too many have not. Instead, they have mocked and rejected the very principles that sustain us, with the result that this once-great nation is now on life support. Many of us see the handwriting on the wall. We've gone through the stages of grief and are now at the point where we accept that if the hammer of discipline must fall, then so be it. But we still pray for miracles and never give up hope that somehow, people's eyes will be opened and our beloved nation will be revived. But as it stands, we are being offered the hemlock in our choice of chocolate or vanilla.
Nick| 8.9.12 @ 4:25PM
Meanwhile......
Here is concrete proof that San Fran Nan Pelosi is crazier than bag of rabid weasels, or, she suffers from demonic possession:
http://cnsnews.com/news/articl.....hite-house
You democrats must be so PROUD!
Shiori| 8.11.12 @ 3:26PM
Just keep putting Sununu out there - never mind weak little underlings or other 'nice' persons. My God - haven't they yet absorbed what's at stake here?! That response was infuriatingly stupid - a reminder why our country is now in the grip of a remorseless cabal of wannabe totalitarians, that is, because of the lack of strong, principled conservatives to fight them! Can we be rid of naive Republicans who still want to spinelessly give the Left the benefit of their many doubts?
luv2ski| 8.13.12 @ 6:49AM
There is nothing about Ryan that concerns me. My worries are about the incompetent press and media folks running Romney's campaign. Where did he get them? Bob Dole? JHC Mitt!! Get someone that knows how to wield a club. Take Krauthammer's advice and make it a debate about ideologies. Polls overwhelmingly show that the electorate has conservative leanings and distrusts government. Define Obama as the guy who runs to government first and wants the leviathan's fingers in every pie. Explain how this has prolonged and plagued the recession and the tepid, weak "recovery" we're supposedly having. You don't even have to bring up Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dorn. And for God's sake, you know what's coming with Mediscare spotds so get out there and tell people to expect more lies from camp Obama. If you predict it, it will blunt their impact. You have defined them.