Outsiders vs. Insiders: The Struggle for the GOP's Soul
By Joe Klein
TIME
"Barack Obama has failed America," Mitt Romney said unequivocally at his first New Hampshire town meeting, repeating the signature line of his presidential-campaign announcement speech a day earlier. Unequivocal is not a word that traditionally has been associated with the former Massachusetts governor, but that was then, and the retooled edition of candidate Romney is much improved. He proceeded to lay out the economic case against Obama: 16 million out of work, home values collapsed, higher gas and food prices.
In other words, Obama is the grandson of Herbert Hoover and the son of Jimmy Carter. "He's tried," Romney said sorrowfully, a lock of his less-slick-than-last-time hair falling over his forehead. "[But] what he did simply was wrong. He extended the downturn and made it deeper ... How is it that President Obama was so wrong? I happen to think that in part he took his inspiration from Europe," Romney continued, citing a litany of Obama's proposals like deficit spending and "federalizing" health care. "He has been awfully European. [But] you know what? European policies don't work there. They sure as heck aren't going to work here. I believe in America! I believe in free enterprise. I believe in capitalism. I believe in the Constitution." (See Mitt Romney's first real test: the New Hampshire debate.)
Well, O.K. It wasn't exactly exhilarating, but it was the best of all possible Mitt Romneys. The crowd responded with respectful applause, but not rapture — I've never seen a Republican crowd actually blown away by Romney — and the respect grew as the candidate gave detailed answers to questions from the surprisingly sparse audience. When asked what he'd specifically do about the economy, he had a seven-point plan ready to roll. His answer on budget cutting was standard-issue GOP, but with a humane gloss: "There are lots of programs that I like, that we all like, but we can no longer afford." He barbed the Chinese for manipulating their currency, which was downright brazen for a free-trade Republican. He even challenged Limbaugh Law a bit by suggesting that climate change is real and perhaps even man-made, a little. (King Rush responded by dismissing Romney: "Bye-bye, nomination.") Romney's answers did not seem pretaped, though they obviously were. They seemed thoughtful and interesting — and far more nuanced than the current conservative repertoire, which allows for no "likable" government programs, no man-made global warming, no assumption of decent intent by a hardworking but wrong President Obama. It is this appeal, which he effectively repeated on June 13 in the first real Republican debate, that might actually attract some independent voters.
(More here.)
TIME
"Barack Obama has failed America," Mitt Romney said unequivocally at his first New Hampshire town meeting, repeating the signature line of his presidential-campaign announcement speech a day earlier. Unequivocal is not a word that traditionally has been associated with the former Massachusetts governor, but that was then, and the retooled edition of candidate Romney is much improved. He proceeded to lay out the economic case against Obama: 16 million out of work, home values collapsed, higher gas and food prices.
In other words, Obama is the grandson of Herbert Hoover and the son of Jimmy Carter. "He's tried," Romney said sorrowfully, a lock of his less-slick-than-last-time hair falling over his forehead. "[But] what he did simply was wrong. He extended the downturn and made it deeper ... How is it that President Obama was so wrong? I happen to think that in part he took his inspiration from Europe," Romney continued, citing a litany of Obama's proposals like deficit spending and "federalizing" health care. "He has been awfully European. [But] you know what? European policies don't work there. They sure as heck aren't going to work here. I believe in America! I believe in free enterprise. I believe in capitalism. I believe in the Constitution." (See Mitt Romney's first real test: the New Hampshire debate.)
Well, O.K. It wasn't exactly exhilarating, but it was the best of all possible Mitt Romneys. The crowd responded with respectful applause, but not rapture — I've never seen a Republican crowd actually blown away by Romney — and the respect grew as the candidate gave detailed answers to questions from the surprisingly sparse audience. When asked what he'd specifically do about the economy, he had a seven-point plan ready to roll. His answer on budget cutting was standard-issue GOP, but with a humane gloss: "There are lots of programs that I like, that we all like, but we can no longer afford." He barbed the Chinese for manipulating their currency, which was downright brazen for a free-trade Republican. He even challenged Limbaugh Law a bit by suggesting that climate change is real and perhaps even man-made, a little. (King Rush responded by dismissing Romney: "Bye-bye, nomination.") Romney's answers did not seem pretaped, though they obviously were. They seemed thoughtful and interesting — and far more nuanced than the current conservative repertoire, which allows for no "likable" government programs, no man-made global warming, no assumption of decent intent by a hardworking but wrong President Obama. It is this appeal, which he effectively repeated on June 13 in the first real Republican debate, that might actually attract some independent voters.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home