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Storm Clouds Gather Over Romney Campaign by John M. Curtis Copyright
Nov. 1, 2012 More smoke-blowing by Karl Rove on the op-ed page in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal promising a magical surge by GOP nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney suggest a campaign heading down to the bottom with only five days before Election Day. When questionable GOP sages promise victory when all statewide battleground polls say otherwise, it indicates bad news Nov. 6. When otherwise conservative Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera slams conservatives for hyping Obama’s guilt in the Benghazi terror attacks that killed Libya Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans Sept. 17 it spells trouble. “Criticize cover-ups [but] saying the White House watched [and] did nothing is a lie,” said Geraldo, breaking ranks with the Obama-bashing Fox News Network. Calling the Republican Benghazi strategy “GOP bloodlust,” Geraldo hinted at Romney’s demise. After Amb. Stevens was killed in the al-Qaeda rocket-propelled grenade attack, Romney blasted the president for providing too little security. White House officials attributed the attack at the time to Muslim ire over a private U.S. video making disparaging remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. When the dust settled, State Dept. officials admitted the attack was a well-planned terrorist act. Calling conservative criticism “insincere” and “desperate,” Geraldo hinted at today’s bad news that had 70-year-old New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorse President Barack Obama. While Bloomberg said he backed Barack because of his support global warming, real reason involves how far right the GOP has gone, pushing moderates like Bloomberg out of the Party. Last week’s endorsement by former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell didn’t help Romney’s fortunes. While completely ignored by the GOP, recent polls in key battleground states show Mitt hopelessly behind the president, making the electoral math all the more difficult. Rove’s statements about an inevitable Romeny victory are designed to keep Republicans showing up on Election Day to keep certain House and Senate races in play. Democrats expect to hold onto the presidency and the Senate, leaving things pretty much the way they are for the next four years. When the health insurance industry—known for its GOP leanings—admitted last week that they were worried about a Romney victory you know things weren’t well for the GOP. Since the Supreme Court approved Obamacare June 28, the insurance industry realized how much cash they’d rake in selling some 30 million new insurance policies. Romney’s promised to repeal Obamacare, not realizing it’s finally caught on. Romney’s campaign headed south Aug.19 the day he picked 42-year-old House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Ryan made a name for himself in the House bashing Obama’s economic policies, leading the GOP charge against Obamacare. Romney didn’t learn from former GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who picked former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin four years ago, only to watch his campaign unravel. What makes Palin and Ryan similar is their dislike of the president and extreme right wing views. It didn’t take long for Romney’s naïve VP pick to begin attacking Medicare and Social Security, something he said he welcomed the debate. After only two days of Ryan’s attacks on the popular entitlement programs, Romney watched his poll numbers head south. By the time the GOP muzzled Ryan, the damage was already done. Barack’s recent attacks on Romney have centered on selling 12 million new jobs without saying how he planned to pull it off. Romney hurt his credibility with voters bashing Obama on the wrong things. When he ripped Barack for the Benghazi incident, he dropped in the polls. When Mitt returned to attacking Barack on the economy he got the more mileage, except when the Labor and Commerce Departments kept reporting good economic news. Every time the unemployment rate dropped or home sales improved, Romney pretended the reports never occurred. Overtime, voters got the message that Mitt was delivering propaganda that didn’t match anyone’s facts other than his political message. Voters eventually didn’t find Mitt’s message credible, especially autoworkers in the Midwest. Romney and Ryan painted too bleak a picture, something not experienced by U.S. autoworkers. Instead of giving the president credit where it was due, Romney and Ryan chose to bash Obama in areas voters knew were false, especially that Barack shirked his duties as commander-in-chief. Voters knew that it was Obama that got Osama bin Laden and relentlessly pursued terrorists. They figured out it was Barack’s economic policies that helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial from 8,000 when taking office to over 13,000 today. Voters knew that Obama’s decision to bailout General Motors and Chrysler Feb. 17, 2009 helped turnaround the U.S. auto industry. Voters—and even insurance companies—figured out the Obamacare wasn’t such a bad thing for individuals or the insurance industry. Despite Romney and Ryan’s gloomy forecasts, voters figured out that the real estate industry was showing signs of life. Now storm clouds look ready to rain on the GOP parade next Tuesday. John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma. |
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