I've got to admit it. I am a sucker for the latest round of Obama's adds regarding Bain Capital and Mitt Romney's role in dismantling the American middle class. Yes, he is the problem, and that statement is something that will fit on a bumper sticker, maybe even in the minds of some Tea Partiers.
Folks, let's see how many concise, but brutal, rhetorical questions we can come up with for the next Obama ad against Mittens that hammer home this theme of us versus them. The middle class versus the ruling class. The 99% versus the 1%. Our rules versus theirs.
Please don't get too snarky ... I know, I know, that is monumental challenge given Mitt's complete disconnect with America, or even human beings in general, but maybe we can actually come up with some useful rhetorical ammo to be used in the campaign ahead.
I've been thinking of a very simple, but damning umbrella under which we could couch all our other questions for the Mitster: "Why not play be America's rules?". I've taken a stab at a few and have pieced them together with suggested footage to support the ads.
Here goes...
Mitt Romney, is it true that you get paid for doing nothing at all?
Mitt Romney, why not play by America's rules?
Footage: Quotes from the recent kerfufal with Mitt Romney claiming to have left Bain to focus on the Olympics during the 1999-2002 years. Denial after denial. A last, close-up look the Boston Globe article that says Mitt Romney made at least $100,000 as an executive at Bain during 2001 and 2002. The "at least $100,000" grows to fill the screen then switches to the phrase "for doing nothing" as we are left with Mitt's voice saying
"...if you're looking for free stuff you don't have to pay for vote for the other guy".
Mitt Romney, why do you deny our troops the funds they need to fight our wars by hiding money in foreign countries? Don't our troops deserve the tax revenues they need to keep us safe?
Mitt Romney, why not play by America's rules?
Footage: Our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, with thousand mile stares. Gritty, slow motion. Newspaper headlines about a lack of body armor and Donald Rumsfeld's delivering his famous line about going to war with the "army you have". Headlines about IED attacks and casualties. A review of Mitt's tax haven's overseas all tropical beaches and bank fronts We then fade in to
the photograph of Romney in France during the 1960's with his now famous quote "Many French people at the time were not happy to see Americans, because we were in Vietnam at the time. That was tough" - Mitt Romney commenting on his missionary work in France
Mitt Romney, will you agree to stop using your wife's dressage horse as a tax write-off if he wins an Olympic Medal?
Mitt Romney, why not play by America's rules?
Footage: The dancing dressage horse ridden by a top-hatted rider in tall black boots, white breaches and a red tail coat. Jaunty music plays while the dancing horse does its dressage act. Forms showing Mitt Romney's $70,000 tax write off in business losses for the horse. Another headline about how Mitt only paid 13.9% in taxes in 2010. After the question is asked, we are left with Mitt Romney's chat with Sean Hannity about horse preferences
"What kind of horses do you have?" asks Hannity. "She has Austrian warmbloods," says Romney, "It's a dressage horse ... for the sport she's in." "Me? I have a Missouri Fox Trotter. So mine's like a quarter horse, but just a much better gait -- it moves very fast."
Americans may contribute up to $6,000 per year to an IRA. Mitt Romney, how is it that you've managed to squirrel away over $100,000,000 into your retirement account?
Mitt Romney, why not play by America's rules?
Footage: A modest American neighborhood in the morning. Old cars and trucks pulling out of driveways to go to work. The sun sets as the cars and trucks pull back in. A man in denim gets out of a truck and heads inside, tossing a bit of spare change into a coffee can labeled "retirement funds" before putting a lunch pail and coffee mug on the counter and turning on the sink to wash off the day's grime. A gentle fade-in to the famous Bain picture with Mitt in the middle, hundred dollar bills sticking out of his clothes. Zoom in to Mitt.
Mitt Romney, why have set up nearly a half dozen corporations in the Duchy of Luxembourg while main street America struggles?
Mitt Romney, why not play be America's rules?
Footage: SEC documents signed by W. Mitt Romney regarding companies he set up in Luxembourg. A kaleidoscope of cafes and typical luxembourge streets ... foreign and affluent. A sterile post office box with foreign words, a telephone on an empty desk in a shell office. The phone is ringing, but no one is answering. After the question is asked, we are left with Mitt Romney's voice over
"Corporations are people, my friend".
So, please use the comment section to add your own or comment on mine, but stay polite Kossacks, Mitt is a fragile flower and we wouldn't want to bruise his tender sensibilities.