There is a title that you probably were not expecting to see on the DailyKos. But, yes, I dare write those words and am actually excited to show off why I know they represent nothing but the truth.
I am still waiting on the day I wake up, check the news or the internet and find a reason for me to say that “man, Mitt Romney is really proving to be a formidable force this summer”. Seriously, can you think of a campaign (sans maybe McGovern in ’72 with the controversy regarding a running mate) that has been completely demolished in the public relations department each passing day?
Let’s take a quick look at some of the recent follies of Mitt Romney.
1. There was the flap over his campaign advisor, Eric Fehrnstrom, referring to Mitt as an “Etch-a-Sketch“.
2. Rick Perry christening his venture capitalism career as “vulture capitalism”.
3. There was that whole “corporations are people too, my friend” quip.
4. Referring to sports as “sport” like the noble aristocrat he is.
5. His stunning rebuke of Rush Limbaugh.
6. His bet with Rick Perry.
7. The ongoing saga of his refusal to release his tax returns.
8. Let’s not forget about the ongoing saga of when exactly he retired as CEO from Bain Capital.
Those are just a few examples that popped into my head and while some of those follies are just mere gaffes or failed political attacks; it hasn’t done anything but hurt the image of Mitt Romney.
Make no mistake about it, the Obama re-election team has been well-prepared for a Romney candidacy for quite some time. When candidates such as Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush & Mitch Daniels decided against running; it seemed pretty obvious that the well-funded Mitt Romney would win the GOP nomination simply off of attrition. So you can’t blame the Obama team for launching a full-scale assault on the Romney campaign, as this barrage has been brewing for probably more than a year now.
But let’s ignore the political attacks for a brief moment. When a candidate starts to look presumptive and then “eventual”, they have a mad dash to define themselves to the nation before the opposition does. If you are going to have any shot at winning against an incumbent, it’s probably best that you don’t help the opposition in defining yourself.
Yet Mitt Romney continues to do just that. How does he combat the fact that “I have some friends who are NASCAR owners?” by doing absolutely nothing to quell speculation that he is nothing but a man who might be completely out-of-touch with the 1% for that matter.
At this rate, I don’t think Mitt Romney could even be a good used car salesman due to his inability to sell his lemming of a campaign to the general populace. He just cannot connect to anyone at this rate, and his best bet is to probably not say another word or make another campaign appearance while praying to the heavens that the economy completely tanks by November. He will not win this off of popularity nor off of a “movement”.
But how does that make Mitt Romney the best candidates for progressives, ever? Surely I must be forgetting about McGovern or Howard Dean or maybe Ted Kennedy in 1980, right?
Tell me this then my fellow progressives. When you were reading all of Mitt’s “follies”, how did it make you feel? How did it make you feel to hear, especially in the era that has seen the birth of Occupy Wall Street, to see a man who could be President stick up for the corporations in a post-Citizens United world?
Over the past four years, there has been some articles that have sprung up showing off the malaise of progressives and their distaste for some of the policies (or lack thereof) enacted by the current administration.
After the political bloodbath that was the 2010 elections, much was made about the so-called “enthusiasm gap” between the two parties. On one side you had the Republicans, with a fresh injection of anti-tax tea in its bloodstream roaring with excitement in an effort to “take this country back”. On the other hand, there were thoughts that Democrats were dismayed by their nation and just not in the mood to vote.
I’m not the biggest buyer into the whole enthusiasm issue as I think most party loyalists will vote no matter who the candidate is. But I can not tell you how much my enthusiasm dipped while watching the returns. It made my blood boil at first before it cooled into an exasperated depression.
Now though? Progressives appear more than ready to fight the most corporatist candidate the country has ever seen. The prospect of Mitt Romney as the 45th President of the United States is dark enough to drive up the enthusiasm amongst the left while depressing the GOP into joining liberals to ask for Romney to at least release some tax returns?
But yes, it appears that the tides are turning when it comes to the Race For The White House as Mitt Romney has excited progressives more than most presidential candidates in recent memory.
Let’s see how this works out.