This from the one being hoisted on his own petard and marched through the streets, denounced by even members of his own party. He who has a difficult relationship with the truth and has shown disrespect for the The President, the Office of The President of the USA and the Secretary of State at a time when the safety of million is at stake.
This from Willard (I can't even refer to him as a man because that word has meaning and he does not fit it).
"Well I think he’s going to say a lot of things that aren’t accurate. And you know, I’d be tempted to go back to that wonderful line by Ronald Reagan, 'There you go again,'"
"But I think the challenge that I’ll have in the debate is that the president tends to, how shall I say it, to say things that aren’t true. And in attacking his opponents."
"I’ve looked at prior debates. And in that kind of case, it’s difficult to say, 'Well, am I going to spend my time correcting things that aren’t quite accurate? Or am I going to spend my time talking about the things I want to talk about?'"
This, as my Mom would say, stuck out like a sore thumb.
'spend my time talking about the things I want to talk about' Isn't that exactly what Palin did during the debates?
Romney quoted St. Ronnie 'There you go again,' but added that he did not think it would be necessary because St. Ronnie was "one of a kind." You bet he was and apparently they are two peas from the same pod:
Reagan's relationship with the truth was pretty complicated, and he would regularly say things that were just not true. I mean, regularly: after every press conference someone would have to clean it up (back then they cared about such things). William Safire attributes "misspoke himself" to Ron Ziegler talking for Nixon, but I think (although I could be wrong) it was really popularized for ordinary things with Reagan's presidency. The thing is that Reagan's genius was for believing what he wanted to believe, and once he was set on something it was nearly impossible to break him from it.
At any rate: during the Bush years there was a fair amount of pushback by Reagan supporters, but at the time one of the lessons that Republicans learned from Reagan was that facts just get in the way; what you want are politicians with strong beliefs, not a complex grasp of details.
Grover Norquist:
"All we have to do is replace Obama. ... We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. ... We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don't need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate. [...]
Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared."
This is where I hope Willard goes:
http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.ca/...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...