f*********g 发帖数: 1637 | 1 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/mitt-romney-s-worst-we
Mitt Romney’s Worst Week Ever: Three Explanations
Mitt Romney has been under siege this week, not just from reporters but from
some fellow Republicans. His troubles have three main sources.
First, the candidate himself. One example suffices here: his perplexing
failure, many years ago when he first decided to run for president, to move
his fortune out of Switzerland and the Caribbean, two places synonymous with
financial subterfuge, and invest it in Treasury bonds. Had he done so,
Romney would have subsequently released to the world the most boring tax
returns of the 2012 presidential field.
Henceforth, U.S. politics should have what we might call the Romney Rule: If
you want high returns on your capital more than you want to be president,
you'll probably end up working closer to Wall Street than Pennsylvania
Avenue.
Second, the campaign itself. It has made some odd mistakes, including this
week's hapless attack on President Barack Obama over violence in Egypt and
Libya. The attack was bad form, displaying a naked opportunism. It was worse
politics. As Foreign Policy blogger Dan Drezner tweeted Sept. 12:
What's so stupid about Romney's overeager response to Cairo/Benghazi is that
had he held back, the press would have done his work for him.
In other words, without Romney going off half-cocked, focusing attention on
his own mistakes, the news media would've instead been asking pointed
questions of the Obama administration.
Romney and his campaign have both performed subpar. But subpar is hardly
disqualifying. Romney's third problem, however, may be. And it is a problem
he cannot shake, ameliorate or compartmentalize.
Most of Romney's troubles stem from his inability to shed a broad range of
toxic Republican dogmas. The rhetorical and policy workarounds required for
him to be both a loyal Republican and a viable candidate for the presidency
have stretched him thin and pretzelly.
Why is Romney unable to discuss health care policy -- his most significant
government success -- with any coherence or conviction? Because Republicans
told their base that Obamacare was the devil's spawn and Romney (who
originated the role of the devil in this theater of the absurd) must
maintain the fiction.
Why is the most salient aspect of Romney's budget the gaping hole at its
center? Because contemporary Republicans like to play fantasy league
politics, in which vast swaths of government are magically excised by a
legion of Randian Harry Potters. Voters, however, lack a similar imagination
. If they saw real numbers signifying real cuts, they would punish Romney.
So the numbers stay hidden and Romney's rhetoric and budget documents appear
untrustworthy.
Why must Romney, a multimillionaire, push for highly unpopular tax cuts for
the wealthy in an era of guilded inequality? Because his base demands it. If
such cuts are bad economics (see the Bush administration, 2001-2009), bad
fiscal policy (ditto) and unpopular with the broad electorate, so what? The
Republican nominee must support tax cuts for the wealthiest -- no matter how
much it costs him in credibility or votes.
The list goes on and on. Indeed, Romney's ill-fated foreign policy attack
this week may be derived from the same impulse to appease the fantasies that
have taken root in the Republican base, which clings to its belief that
Obama is anti-American and vaguely in cahoots with terrorists (though
presumably not the ones he has had assassinated).
Romney was a fairly successful governor who made a valuable breakthrough in
an extremely complex policy arena: health care. His particular brand of
business success would probably not be an unmitigated political boon under
any circumstances. But any positive political effects have been buried amid
Republican protests that the very wealthiest require additional tax breaks
and the poorest need more "skin in the game."
Democrats would've painted Romney as a corporate marauder in any case. But
Republican policy demands turned the effort into a simple paint-by-numbers
exercise.
Apparently some Republicans think Romney is dragging the party down. He's
not. The party is killing him.
(Francis Wilkinson is a member of the Bloomberg View editorial board. Follow
him on Twitter.) | z****0 发帖数: 3942 | 2 good article! right to the point.
from
move
with
【在 f*********g 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/mitt-romney-s-worst-we : Mitt Romney’s Worst Week Ever: Three Explanations : Mitt Romney has been under siege this week, not just from reporters but from : some fellow Republicans. His troubles have three main sources. : First, the candidate himself. One example suffices here: his perplexing : failure, many years ago when he first decided to run for president, to move : his fortune out of Switzerland and the Caribbean, two places synonymous with : financial subterfuge, and invest it in Treasury bonds. Had he done so, : Romney would have subsequently released to the world the most boring tax : returns of the 2012 presidential field.
|
|