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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Why Mitt Romney Will Prove To Be a Feeble Presidential Nominee Why Mitt Romney Will Prove To Be a Feeble Presidential Nominee by Michael Tomasky Jan 15, 2012 7:15 PM EST Mitts getting hammered in the King of Bain attack ad, but thats just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Michael Tomasky on why Romney will be stunningly weak in November. This weekend, social conservative leaders from around the country are gathering in Texas (where else?) to see if they can coalesce around a Mitt Romney alternative. That will wrap up Saturday. The next day, the Tea Party groups of South Carolina will convene in Myrtle Beach to, uh, see if they can coalesce around a Mitt Romney alternative. A week ago, all these people seemed like cranky sore losers. Theyre still probably cranky sore losers, but one thing has changed: now that Romney is known as the King of Bain, their reservations about his electability dont seem quite as crazy. In fact, theyre not crazy at all, because Romney is a stunningly weak candidate. I started on this theme of Romneys weaknesses last week when I wrote about his reactionary tax plan and his refusal to release his own taxes, and what an unfortunate (for him) cocktail those two ingredients will make for him. I then noted, after New Hampshire, how his victory speech was all wrong, and how easily rebuttable his arguments against Obama are. Now, the Bain attacks put into sharp relief another reason for his weakness. He has just one argument, and the Bain creative destruction narrative comes close to killing it. Romneys argument, of course, is that he has the know-how to fix the economy and put people to work. But as more and more people learn about what Bain did in private equitythe story will fade a bit now, but return with a roar this summer and fallmore and more people will come to realize the truth of the matter, which is that Bain wasnt about creating jobs, it was about making investors who were usually already rich even richer. Jobs were sometimes created as a side effect, and they were sometimes destroyed as a side effect. But jobs were an ancillary consideration. Profitfor shareholders, yes, but mostly for Bainwas the idea. Romeny Supporters listen to Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, speak during a campaign stop at Cherokee Trikes & More on January 12, 2012 in Greer, South Carolina., Mark Wilson / Getty Images Romneys team has started its Bain pushback, and well soon see gauzy testimonials from regular Americans who work at Staples and other places Bain helped. The "King of Bain" documentary has, of course, been seriously challenged, and the filmmakers incredibly used some stories that took place after Romney had left the firm. But there's still enough material in one or two of those stories to make for some wrenching ads that are bound to pack more emotional wallop. And theyll resonate more because of who Romney is and how he comes acrosshis gaudy net worth, his difficulty connecting with people, all of that. In some ways, the most damning thing in that documentary is that he tore down a $12 million beach house in La Jolla because it was inadequate to his needs. Toss in that ghastly remark about it being all right to discuss inequality in quiet rooms, which I feel certain we havent heard nearly the last of. Which quiet rooms did he mean? Not churches or funeral parlors. He meant corporate board rooms, where everyone would agree with him. An astonishingly frank moment, like the comment about liking to be able to fire people. I know he was talking about insurance companies, but here in the 99 percent, we dont fire insurance companies, or usually doctors and certain other service professionals. We change them. It was a word choice that really did reveal a world view. Is this really the man to make the case to middle America that he is their rescuer? Its a joke. What Romney is depending onthe only thing that can elect him, really, along with I suppose a terrorist attack or some unforeseeable revelation or scandalis a lousy economy. That can maybe elect him. But let me pose this question. What if the economy is in pretty decent shape by the fall? The creation of 200,000 private-sector jobs in December is nothing to scoff at. In fact, Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution, emailed me Monday morning in response to my question about the unemployment rate in this election year to say: Based on the growth in the adult population, employment levels in Dec. 2011, and a couple of alternative assumptions about how fast the labor force will grow over the next 10 months, it appears to me than employment growth will have to average 155,000 to 170,000 over the next 10 months to hit a jobless rate by Election Day of 8 percent. He cautions that the labor force participation rate (LFPR, explained here) could affect that a bit, requiring a somewhat higher number. Fair enough. But Burtless also told me in an earlier conversation that the LFPR rose over the last quarter of 2011, meaning more people participated in the work force and looked for jobswhich in turn means that yeah, but people are taking themselves out of the labor market is slowly becoming a smaller and smaller asterisk. So170,000 jobs a month? Consider this: We averaged 133,000 jobs per month in 2011, and the year gone by was certainly pretty crappy, especially the first seven or eight months of it. Is it insane to think well average considerably better than that in 2012? Romney is already a uniquely bad messenger for this particular year for the reasons laid out above. But if by Election Day weve been adding that many jobs a month every month for basically a year, Romneys message will be irrelevant. Oh, hell get 47, 48 percent of the vote, because were a divided country, and hell take back a couple of states Obama picked off because of the singular historical circumstances of 2008. But a majority will not want to change horses, especially when the other horse is carrying Romneys kind of personal baggage and is promising policies that are warmed over versions of the policies that created the economic crisis in the first place. I have no great confidence in the brilliance of Obamas political team, but this should not be too hard, even for them, and Mitt can find himself a nice quiet room in La Jolla to go ponder the what-ifs. Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long. Newsweek/Daily Beast special correspondent Michael Tomasky is also editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com. Poster Comment: Romney is already a uniquely bad messenger for this particular year for the reasons laid out above. But if by Election Day weve been adding that many jobs a month every month for basically a year, Romneys message will be irrelevant. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 11.
#2. To: TwentyTwelve (#0)
Good article. Romney is this (s)Election Cycle's McCain - a candidate who cannot win.
I agree.
0:28 sec. YouTube video: McCain, is it Romney or Obama?... Romney, another Obama. Uploaded by VoteDrRonPaul2012 on Jan 9, 2012 Vid comment: haha! Ron Paul 2012
Nancy Pelosi: GOP knows Mitt Romney cant win - Seung Min Kim - POLITICO.com
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