Mitt Romney's run for the presidency is based on one thing, the economy. Gov. Romney seems to believe that he is the savior of the US economy. Recently, he set the bar high for President Obama, saying that under normal circumstances a recovery would include multiple months of 500,000 plus job growth. However, this goal is unobtainable, noting that we have only had five such months in the past 50 years. Coincidentally, two of those months occured during the Obama and Clinton administrations. Romney, like many other members of the GOP, is trying to erase history and create an alternative Republican history where George W. Bush saved America from a depression. The only problem with Romney's plan is that the America people, although very forgetful, do not have collective amnesia. Not to mention, the American people will be reminded constantly of who was in office when the economy took an nosedive and who came to the rescue.
Romney is basing his entire run for the presidency on one major talking point: "Obama did not cause the recession, but he made it worse." The problem with this talking point is that it does one thing that Romney would rather it not do, it makes his listeners remember. By saying Obama did not cause the recession, he is passing the guilt to George W. Bush, something Romney would rather not do. He would rather make the election a referendum of Obamanomics, not a reminder of what happened under the previous Republican administration. Understandably, this talking point is something Romney needs to distance himself from in the general election.
Not only does Romney's main talking point shift blame for the harsh economic times back to Bush, but it also makes the case against Romney. How does it do this? Well, you can thank RNC spokeswoman Alexandra Franceschi who candidly told reporters that the Republican platform will be the same as Bush's policies "just updated." So, if you remember the harsh economic conditions that began under George W. Bush, it makes you wonder what "just updated" would mean exactly. Does it mean that instead of a recession, Mitt Romney will put us in another depression? Or does it mean we will have a better, longer lasting recession?
Romney clearly believes that voters are idiots. He believes that Fox News can deliver him an electoral win just as long as he keeps lying and they keep drilling that misinformation into the heads of their easily beguiled viewers. Romney forgets that, unlike him, we are not robots with erasable memories. We do not have collective amnesia.
Romney's main talking point will never work because it does not stand up to criticism. He says things are worse. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the economy contracted by 8.9 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2011, however, the economy grew by 3 percent. So from the last quarter of the Bush presidency to the fourth quarter of 2011, the economy went from -8.9 percent to positive 3.0 percent. That does not sound like things are getting worse. Not to mention, we have had two years of private sector job growth. Despite these pesky things called facts, Romney keeps telling voters that things are worse under Obama, even after admitting that the fault of the recession should go to someone other than the president. In Republicanland, they believe these kinds of talking points. Come November, I believe the GOP will see that these kinds of attacks can never work because we do not all suffer from collective amnesia. Former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said it best when discussing Romney's main talking point. Governor Romney wants us to believe that we should all vote for him because President Obama "didn't clean our mess fast enough.""