There is an idea of a Mitt Romney; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there.

cameroncrazy1984: FlashHarry: mitt romney makes john kerry look like abe farking lincoln.

At least Kerry had a military history to swiftboat. Romney doesn't even have that. What does it say about Republicans that they nominated a true empty suit to run against someone they decry as an empty suit?

To be fair, Bush Jr. at least pretended to go to war by hanging out with the Air Force Reserve. Romney just went to France to hang out with... Frenchies.

So to summarize, Romney loves France and thus, hates America. Checkmate, Republicans.

In a sane world, we would be discussing his policies and vision.

The more I think about it, the more I think Romney is a way to get the Republican Base back in line, It won't work--that cat's out of the bag--but it looks like something a petulant and privileged ass might do if his 'underlings' pissed him off: hire someone designed to fail to teach them a lesson, to drop their ways and learn how to listen to their betters. In a very real way, Romney is designed to fail so the Republican Party can be shocked and angered back into some coherence so everything can go back to 'normal' again. And then the rural hicks will vote money out of their wallets and into the pockets of the rich, and Romney will take the fall.

It's a stupid plan--really, do you think a country based on revolution and now fully aware of the Class War will be so easily conned?--but I can't think of any other option. Romney is a feint for the Teabaggers: a lesson to be learned when they fail to do as told.

whereisian: In a sane world, we would be discussing his policies and vision.

Trouble is, they keep changing. I don't even think Romney knows what they are from day to day. Other than "Obama bad".

whereisian: In a sane world, we would be discussing his policies and vision.

In a sane world, he'd have those.

The fun will really start when he opens up, even a little, about Mormonism. Jeremiah Wright was nothing compared to some of the things Mormon leaders have said over the years, right up to the present day. The Adam-God stuff, Joseph Smith claiming to be the new Mohammed, the cover-ups, the salamanders, the anti-masturbation pamphlets, the Sisters in Zion lectures, blacks and the priesthood, and so much more. Buckle up, Mittens.

cameroncrazy1984: FlashHarry: mitt romney makes john kerry look like abe farking lincoln.

At least Kerry had a military history to swiftboat. Romney doesn't even have that. What does it say about Republicans that they nominated a true empty suit to run against someone they decry as an empty suit?

Well the Republicans are trying to figure out why everyone likes Obama so much. The first thing that came to mind was that he was black so they tried Michael Steel and that didn't work out so I guess the second thing that came to their mind was empty suit. I don't think this experiment will end well either.

FlashHarry: mitt romney makes john kerry look like abe farking lincoln.

a romney v kerrry election would be the most boring election ever! that would probably be a good thing...

Neeek: whereisian: In a sane world, we would be discussing his policies and vision.

In a sane world, he'd have those.

Glad to see somebody got there before I could.

My bumper sticker says Nobama! I don't care who the other guy is.

whereisian: In a sane world, we would be discussing his policies and vision.

Well, since we determine his policies and vision. Where do you see America's future?

Personally, I think we should allow gay marriages.

LarryDan43: My bumper sticker says Nobama! I don't care who the other guy is.

if Romney wins we will go to war with Iran,your worker's rights will be diminished as will your healthcare/retirement benefits and the income inequality in this country will grow exponentially.

There is nothing he can do to change it. But worse than that, there's nothing we can do.

ALL THESE CRAYONS ARE YOURS EXCEPT CAYENNE.

Tomasky still writes?! I used to read his blog at guardian.co.uk for lulz. What a hack.

LarryDan43: My bumper sticker says Nobama! I don't care who the other guy is.

That is really a mature stance. No wonder you feel/are screwed.

cameroncrazy1984: FlashHarry: mitt romney makes john kerry look like abe farking lincoln.

At least Kerry had a military history to swiftboat. Romney doesn't even have that. What does it say about Republicans that they nominated a true empty suit to run against someone they decry as an empty suit?

They are consistent with their hypocrisy? It's like they are a party who elected a celebrity as president then attacked a democrat for being a "celebrity" even though he never was one.

Wangiss: Tomasky still writes?! I used to read his blog at guardian.co.uk for lulz. What a hack.

I rather like Tomasky. Miss him at the Guardian.

Virulency: FlashHarry: mitt romney makes john kerry look like abe farking lincoln.

a romney v kerrry election would be the most boring election ever! that would probably be a good thing...



/hot

fusillade762: I don't see how Mitt's biography is any more underwhelming that Bush Jr's.

----------------------------

Not really true. Bush Jr didn't aggressively run from his run as Texas governor like Romney runs away from his governorship, so there's that. And while Bush was mostly a failure as a baseball owner, at least he could talk about it and people found it fun/interesting, unlike Romney who had one of the few jobs in America that gets an overwhelmingly negative reaction.

This article does a decent job of objectively identifying some of the reasons Romney seems so empty. It's really amazing that of all the things he's done in his life the only thing he brings up consistently on the campaign trail is his work with the Winter Olympics.

Let's see:
Ford: I'm not Nixon
Dole: I'm not Clinton
Gore: I'm not Clinton
Kerry: I'm not Clinton
McCain: I'm not Bush
How'd that work for those guys?

Romney: I'm not Obama.

Good luck with that Mitt

Bigdogdaddy: Let's see:
Ford: I'm not Nixon
Dole: I'm not Clinton
Gore: I'm not Clinton
Kerry: I'm not Clinton
McCain: I'm not Bush
How'd that work for those guys?

Romney: I'm not Obama.

Good luck with that Mitt

First I thought your remark was dumb. Then I thought about it and went. Wait, you're right.

I would make a slight change:

Ford: I'm not Nixon
Dole: I'm not Clinton
Gore: I'm not Clinton
Kerry: I'm Kerry
McCain: I'm not Bush


But the problem is people hate Romney as much or even more than Kerry that's why his only option is "I'm not Obama" because he is even more cooked if he runs based on himself. That's why all his policies so far are "Opposite of Obama!"

if he was a real, old school moderate to progressive republican like he once pretended to be then I could tolerate that. If he could ditch the mormonism weirdness in favor of plurality even better. an even keel, as it were.

but he won't so fark that plutocrat

go for the black guy, even with the drone strikes. maybe the second term he'll remove his head out his butt when it comes to medical mj and killing without due process. although I suspect he doesn't like that much. i know I sure don't.

also, GOP, RON PAUL has your number and they're knocking and I"m laughing.

Romney screwed himself in the primaries when he tacked right to try and appease the base and compete with the whackos. He was never going to come out of that fight with any integrity. The people he was hoping to blend in with saw him for what he was and anyone who thought him being governor of Massachusetts meant he was moderate got disappointed. About the only support he has is from the default greed division of the Republican Party, but it's not like every other possible candidate of the GOP wouldn't also bend over backwards to help business first and foremost.

The GOP needed someone with broad populist appeal who couldn't be pigeonholed as a religious nut or Tea Party maniac while still giving polite lip service to both, yet moderate enough to scoop up some Reagan Democrats unhappy/disillusioned with Obama. Somebody without a Washington record, which would only paint them as hypocrites and part of the dreaded Establishment. Romney could have been that man, even with the Mormon handicap. He certainly looks the part. But even before he completely reinvented himself in order to compare more favorably with jokes like Perry or Santorum, he suffered from almost zero charisma, and what he tries to muster just comes off as weird.

The Republicans are about to have their 2004 moment, having nominated some schmuck to run against a president who is vulnerable. They will lose, just as the Democrats did with Kerry. Though the race probably won't be quite as tight as that one. Closer than Romney has any business being, thanks to desperation on one side and growing apathy on the other.

The Republicans needed a thunderstorm. What they got was the soft drizzle of Romney. Which beats a flood of Santorum, I suppose.

It's partly a privileged, sheltered life, and then the few good deeds in his life are considered liabilities by the sociopathic Republican base, so he rejects them now.

That leaves nothing.

I know this is a gross oversimplification, but . . . when was the last time Americans voted in the demonstrably more boring guy?

Maybe re-electing Nixon over McGovern. Maybe.

Will America elect the Man Who Isn't There?



Yes.

Twice.

Mitt Romney: Born with a silver spoon up his ass.

Granted, there are a lot of reasons to criticize Mittens but my personal pet peeve with him is how he's spun his time in France. He makes it sound like in incredible hardship to have lived like the average French person lived in the '60s, which not only shows how out of touch he was with the average people of France at the time, it also shows a complete lack of adaptability.

I lived for a year in a single room in Vietnam with a bathroom that would rain on my head every time we had a downpour and a tiny hallway kitchen that was barely wide enough to turn around and I'd never use that to suggest I know what it's like to be poor because of that. Mittens, however, uses his time in France to suggest he knows what poverty is like.

Garm: Romney is a draft dodger and he has said he would sign an assault weapons ban. Link On top of that Romneycare. What is left for the Republican base to latch on to as a reason to vote for Romney. Oh, he's the white guy.

And that's all it's going to boil down to. Romney is a RINO, has always been considered a RINO, should have played up the strengths of his RINOness instead of pretending to purity of political platform that doesn't exist.

Will have to see how many sit this one out because it's a Mormon cultist versus 'the Muslim'; and how many hold their nose and vote for Romney because ... you know.

bulldg4life: Several months ago, people were laughing off the polls that had Obama losing to a generic republican.

"there is nobody that bland who has idiotic policies that everyone can make in to their own" they said.

Well, who's laughing now?

Yep. And that's what I fear. But I fear the retconning of history after such an event even more.

This is vaguely unsatisfying - I would like to see America reject Romney in November, because i think he represents and advocates old, bad ideas that have been demonstrated to fail (at least for everyone but the super-rich).
I don't want to see him lose for Nixon/Kennedy reasons.
But, holy hell, the man is a stiff. And when he tries to sound tough, he just sounds whiney and hectoring.
This election is going to be a train wreck, no matter what happens.

bulldg4life: Well, who's laughing now?

I still am.

I think my parents still believe Newt is going to steal the nomination.