Thought I'd include this that I also posted on my blog.
The release today of the full Q&A session Mitt Romney held with supporters — thinking no cameras were on site — seems to me to clarify something about his behavior last Friday.
In talking about the 1980 campaign (Carter v. Reagan), he discussed that all anyone was talking about was the Iranian Hostage crisis. As I recall from childhood, this was very much true, and it is part of the reason that I think blaming Carter’s failure in his re-election effort was primarily the weak economy is to miss rather important factors.
However, the subject of this post is Mitt Romney, and here is the promise that followed his discussion of that crisis: “If something of that nature presents itself, I will work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity.”
So, months or weeks ago, Mitt Romney expressed the idea a major foreign incident that would endanger or kill American citizens might “present” itself. He used a positive term for this turn of events, wherein inherently, American citizens would be endangered or killed. If such a great thing happened for him, then he would “work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity.” Again, endangered or dead American citizens are not a tragedy or to be avoided. They are a political opportunity. One that Gov. Romney is eager to take advantage of.
To me, this explains the odd smirking, inaccurate comments on Libya. He’d been waiting, watching, hoping for U.S. citizens abroad to be attacked so that he could be as awesome as Ronald Reagan. This was not a national tragedy for him. This was a political opportunity, and one which had to be ceased even in the midst of the problem.
He missed the point in the Reagan playbook, apparently wherein Reagan, whether he tried to exploit the situation or not, had the good sense not to gloat and express so openly that he cared not a whit for the citizens of the country if he could score a political hit. But Romney had promised his supporters that he would rush to take advantage of this sort of opportunity. It is one promise he kept.
For most of this election, despite disliking his policies and his flip-flopping and his clear lack of understanding of the country and the world, I found Mitt Romney to be fairly innocuous as a person. Out-of-touch, privileged, pampered, sure, but not an inherently unlikeable human being.
He has worked hard to change that for me in the past few weeks. I suppose he can take consolation in that he has not lost my vote. However, I despair for the country if he’s gained votes from this behavior.