The Obama trap: Romney discovers what Hillary and McCain already know
Mitt Romney. mittromney.com
3:59 pm Sep. 13, 201243
Mitt Romney isn't going to get far blaming the media after his blundering response that mischaracterized events in Benghazi and Cairo. He screwed up, and the damage to his reputation as a foreign-policy grown-up is done.
His defenders aren't wrong about one thing, though: Running against Barack Obama is hard, and the media doesn't make it any easier.
More than most politicians we’ve seen on the national stage in recent years, Obama comes across as likeable. He doesn’t often misspeak. And while most accusations of systematic left-wing media bias in his favor are about as well-considered as they sound, the mainstream press is certainly not out to get him, either.
That's a generalization, of course. And, in general, it happens to be true.
The thing is, Obama has the ability to run smart and aggressive campaigns without looking like a hatchet man. "Negative campaigner" is simply not part of the default Obama narrative, even, at times, when he campaigns negatively.
Running against him, under these circumstances, can get disorienting.
Obama faced two very high-profile opponents in his first presidential campaign: Hillary Clinton and John McCain. They both became so vexed by their inability to puncture his positive image that they lost control of their campaigns against him.
Frustrated with their inability to win a single news cycle, their strategy ultimately devolved into a simple determination to score points wherever possible, even when it put them at odds with their original strategy. With Hillary Clinton, a campaign based on superior experience turned to accusations of plagiarism and flip-flopping. In the case of John McCain, a campaign based on patriotism and straight talk came to revolve around a random encounter Obama had with a plumber about taxes (and, in the ultimate demonstration of their anything-to-break-through mentality, Sarah Palin).
And now look at Romney, who set out in the general to focus voters' attention, with relentless intensity, on the lackluster economy. As a result of losing news cycle after news cycle, he's now throwing spaghetti, rigatoni, and fettucine against the wall, and hoping something will stick.
If there’s a teachers' strike in Obama’s hometown, it's time to pounce. If the Democrats at Obama’s convention fail to include “God” in their platform, it's time to pounce. And if an ambassador gets murdered in Libya on Obama’s watch … you get the idea. Romney is all over the place, and the economy-first strategy is on the scrap heap.
In the moment, the events in Libya must have seemed no different to Romney and his advisers than poor jobs numbers or “You didn’t build that;” they represented an unmissable chance to trip Obama up and win a news cycle.
Apparently they were in too much of a hurry, and their vision too clouded by exasperation, to consider either how their opportunistic criticism of the president might have looked to the public in those particular circumstances, or what a field day the media, without any necessary prompting by the Obama campaign, was going to have with it.
We've seen this movie before, in 2008. And Mitt Romney doesn't seem to know how to change the ending.
Blake Zeff is a former presidential campaign aide to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and a former aide to Chuck Schumer and Eric Schneiderman.
Mitt Romney's problem is Mitt Romney. He has not invested the time to understand voters or the world that we live in.
You sayRomney is " now throwing spaghetti, rigatoni, and fettuccine against the wall, and hoping something will stick."
I suggest that the metaphor would be more apt if it had described those foodstuffs at the other end of the digestive process.
Except he didn't mischaracterize events in Cairo and Benghazi.
He screwed nothing up...he commented on the disgraceful embassy apology before the Benghazi attacks occurred. The only people mischaracterizing anything are people like you desperately trying to shift the attention away from our idiot and-chief. Obama doesn't often misspeak except that he does all time. You guys are pathetic.
I think you're full of yourself there Blake. Self-certainty is the one common characteristic of most of the politically left and is evident in your conclusion that the damage to Romney's reputation in foreign policy matters is "done." Certainly it is done for the self-certain folks who knew in advance of any statement that he might make that it would be wrong.
I don't disagree that it is a bit of a waste of time and energy to complain about the main stream press - the best approach frankly is to ignore them and soon they will be something other than "main stream". That being said, sticking with his guns is the right thing for Romney to do regarding his complaints about the Obama Apology foreign tour. Call it a policy of appeasement if you want - but it isn't working is it, notwithstanding your contention about Obama's likeability? He's the modern day version of Neville Chamberlain - didn't work so well with that fellow either.
"More than most politicians we’ve seen on the national stage in recent years, Obama comes across as likeable. He doesn’t often misspeak...."
HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! ROFLMAO!
Guess you know some Corpse men, the 57th state, thinks that Austrian is a language.
>>>>>>>> MORE: http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama-isms.htm
Lol says former campaig aid to obama and hillary, turned journolister, am sure ezra klein somwhere is proud....so, yeah, you, sir, have the credibility of a damp rag. Stick to your leftist propagands and leave political commentary to those who actually have a clue. .
Campaign aide that is....
It isn't true "He doesn’t often misspeak." 57 states, "corpsemen," honoring "some of you in the audience" at a Memorial Day event, "I'll have more flexibility after the election" to Medvedev, insult to Special Olympics on Leno, etc.
The reason Clinton, McCain and Romney have a problem winning a news cycle is the MSM won't show the gaffes, missteps, insults, etc that could affect Obama. When Stephanopolous and the head of CBS news states they aren't biased, you know they don't see them as the problem. When 87% of them vote a straight democratic ticket, it is easy to watch them report the same way.
The lady at the protest in Virginia had it correct when she blasted them saying "I think you've got your embroidered kneepads from the White House."
I am so glad Romney had the courage to tell like it is. Obama is a blundering fool and many Americans are afraid to call like it is. His entire foreign policy is collapsing. Romney will win this election and thank God he will. We have been through enough with Obama these last four years. I cannot bear another FOUR!
Ridiculous reasoning. Romney was right about the Cairo embassy's messages after the takeover. The Obama administration admitted those messages were a mistake. Obama, not Romney, is responsible for the disastrous handling of this denouement to the Arab Spring.
The admin has failed, and you propagandists are tearing out your hair in an effort to cover for them. We on the right are embarrassed by the thoroughly corrupt manner in which you attempt to reframe every policy disaster. By all measures the narrative must be maintained in your world.
Simply embarrassing.
"after his blundering response that mischaracterized events in Benghazi and Cairo. He screwed up, and the damage to his reputation as a foreign-policy grown-up is done."
You people are out of your minds. Romney's press conference was a model of presidential bearing and sanity and lucidity. His defense of the First Amenemnet in the face of the self-abasing bilge put out by the administration was a tonic. It was this stark contrast to the boy-king Obama that set the media into such collective fear-rage, that and the need to distract from the violent unraveling of Obama's incoherent and appeasement-based policies. The need for a distracting narrative was overwhelming, and so the "Romney-blundered" narrative was born.
This is what Romney is up against. He's not running against Obama, he's running against a corrupt and besotted media. It's not Obama's trap (without the media, or with an honest and scrupulous one which observed its core responsibilities, Obama wouldn't have gotten close to the presidency in the first place) -- it's the media's trap.
Yes, the media is a bunch of crap, they are the pravada, not even news worthy to watch. Just watch obamas webpage to get your news I just hope enough people are as sick and disgusted with the media that I am that they get their news from other locations. I have always felt he was very unlikeable. More like a used car salesman that turns me off instantly.
. Obama makes many many mistakes, commits more than his fair share of gaffes, and misspeaks as much as any politician. The press doesn't go hard after him because they like him, they agree with him, and they are queasy about holding an African-American politician to the same standards as a white one. This is why much more experienced and capable opponents can't win a news-cycle. His "likeability" is a quality that the media trumpets, knowing that most Americans do not follow politics with the nearly the amount of attention that news junkies on both the left and right do. A closer look at the man would reveal a thin-skinned narcissist, who's abundance of self-regard is matched only by his refusal to yield on any point. Blake Zeff is in love with Obama and just can't help himself. It's no deeper than that.
Seriously? There was nothing Romney said about Benghazi or Cairo that was in the least bit inaccurate. And I've got news for you: the only people in this country who think Obama is likeable are those who are so blinkered to who the man has shown himself to be that they are little more than worshipful rats to his Pied Piper. President Downgrade has spent the last four years insulting the majority of this country. He doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Hades of winning another honest election, which is of course why his minions and enforcers are so intent upon preventing voter ID laws which are supported by over 70% of the population.
Seriously? There was nothing Romney said about Benghazi or Cairo that was in the least bit inaccurate. And I've got news for you: the only people in this country who think Obama is likeable are those who are so blinkered to who the man has shown himself to be that they are little more than worshipful rats to his Pied Piper. President Downgrade has spent the last four years insulting the majority of this country. He doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Hades of winning another honest election, which is of course why his minions and enforcers are so intent upon preventing voter ID laws which are supported by over 70% of the population.
When exactly did Romney blunder? When he said the same thing as Hillary? The blunder is you thinking you have any credibility left.
What has happened to the 4th estate. Please make note of these names (and boycott their work and their employers at every opportunity): Ari Shapiro (PBS) and Jan Crawford (CBS) they are the ones that colluded in that ambush of Mitt Romney -morphing their collusion into six questions with only the verbs moved around. When the only question that should have been asked is " Why were there NO Heavily Armed Marines protecting the Libyan Embassy/Consulate on the ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11
LMAO. Obama doesn't 'often' misspeak? Reality would beg to differ, but if Obama misspeaks in the middle of a crowded room and the media chooses not to report it, did he make a gaffe? The notion that something doesn't happen because members of the 'elite' media have a vested interest in preserving their narrative about the first black president will go down as one of the biggest contributing factors to the decline of legacy media.
The fact that sub par pundits like Joe Scarborough blamed Romney for the media's inability to focus on the actual crisis was another low water mark for the credibility of a group who continues to abuse the trust some people still have in them.
It's not hard to run against Obama after all, it's his offensive talking heads and defending media pundits that do all the heavy lifting for the leadership lightweight and who make it an uphill slog for anyone with an (R) beside their name. It's never been more blatant or reeking of more desperation, and that's going to leave even more people in tears and shock when election results roll in on the evening of Nov 6. Don't trust the polls because they're not conducted in a trustworthy fashion. Its the old saw of figures lying and liars figuring. This time around they just figure they can delude enough people into ignoring the truth that's all around them, that is inescapable outside the media bubble, that things are far worse than anyone imagined they would be at this point, and they're poised to get even worse very soon without a real adult in charge.
"Mitt Romney isn't going to get far blaming the media after his blundering response that mischaracterized events in Benghazi and Cairo. He screwed up, and the damage to his reputation as a foreign-policy grown-up is done."
1) "blundering response" -- you mean, agreeing with the Administration, only doing so eight hours before they did?
2) "mischaracterized" -- what part of Romney's statement was incorrect? (Note: impolitic is not the same as incorrect)
3) "screwed up" -- how? By going to bed AND skipping his intelligence briefing, while the fate our ambassador was yet unknown? By ignoring the warning the Libyans gave THREE DAYS before the event? Oh, wait...that wasn't Mitt, that was Obama and Hillary.
4) "damage to his reputation" -- I don't know what you're basing that on, but the folks 'round here -- on the right and the left -- were yelling at the morons asking the questions at the press conference, not at Mitt. And that was BEFORE we found out they media morons were collaborating on how to "get Mitt".
Your first paragraph proves everything the Right is saying about the media: Obama slept thru his 3AM phone call, an ambassador died, his mideast policy (arm and support rebels with ties to Al Queda and Hope the Change turns out well) is in shambles...and the media has successfully changed the subject to whether Mitt screwed up. So much that your article takes it as a given that he DID do so.
Hmmm, I guess I'm just a complete idiot. I still don't understand what Mitt Romney said or did that was a " blundering response that mischaracterized events in Benghazi and Cairo." It seemed pretty much on the mark to me. I guess that's why I'm not a pundit or politician.
Oh! My! The article is full of crap until I read the author's credentials. Never mind.
Obama doen;t misspeak,what about when he said 57 states or the big one this week when he said that Egypt wasn't an ally.The difference is that the press covers for him and he never gives press conferences.And if he does happen to give a speech he has a teleprompter.So pleaasse save the Obama never misspeaks.
How does one respond to such delusion. Liberals like Zeff obviously don't get around much. It may be universily beleived by the media that most Americans accept that Romney made a gaff with his statement about Eygpt, but middle America agrees with Romney. Does any person with common sense not put 9/11 and the events together? Does anyone with any common sense believe the drivil about some film being the cause? Romney will win the election. Why? The Curtin/Bradley effect is going to put Romney over the top in a substantial way. Once a voter pulls the curtin in a voting booth, he is free from the pressures of Political Correctness and charges of racism. If the media really believes that the majority of Americans are going to vote for four more years of Obamanomoics they are going to be thunderstruct the evening of November 6.
If Romney can't call out Obama on his immense failures, and they are immense, on what can he critique him?
Romney is correct, we have a president who apologizes constantly for our country and criticizes its virtues; he has intemperate language in his ordinary remarks and you say he doesn't misspeak? Let me count the ways . . . .
Off teleprompter, he's a stumbling bumbler; probably because it's hard to lie extemporaneously.
"He doesn’t often misspeak."
Ha-Ha! Ha-Ha! Ha-Ha! Ha-Ha! Ha-Ha!
AAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
BWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To be sure, Obummer lies more than he mispeaks, but his ignorance of history and economics has led to volumes of verbal f*ck-ups catalogued as "Obamateurism of The Day" on Hot Air.
Dude, Blake, you have GOT to get out more often.
In the world I live in, Obama is the scre up and Romney is the adult.
In the world I live in, Obama is the screw up and Romney is the adult.
Pretty funny that an article about how the media really isn't as biased as we conservatives think then goes on to say that Romney "'blundered" and Obama rarely misspeakes... this in the same week that Romney's "blundering" response was echoed by the Whitehouse and the "rarely misspeaking" Obama said that Egypt wasn't an ally.
Irony...look it up.
Losing news cycle after news cycle isn't as bad as it sounds anymore, because more and more voters realize the news reporters are all totally in bed with the downgrading failure.
I'm glad to see that you are using well your personally kissed by the Dear Leader, presidential knee pads. Long may they last.
Are you living on the same planet as The One who misspeaks religiously.
Faulklands,
Hawaii in Asia,
Austrians speak Austrian,
Egypt is NOT an ally,
57 states going to go to one more,
Intercontinental Railroad,
Wishes he could rule as the Chinese do.
You can keep your current Insurance,
I saved the Auto Industry (noone told Mercedes, FORD, Nissan, Toyota and a slew of others that they NEEDED saving)
etc.
if Romney made a mistake why did Obama finally agree with him and take the embassies apology down ?
Why is this true? I can answer that.....it is because the MSM really is hard over in love with Obama. They protect and defend him so that nothing is his fault and nothing can touch him.
You started your article with a falsity.
How exactly did Romney "screw up" in his initial statement? What did he say that was false, or proved to be misplaced in light of later events? Romney said that the initial craven response by the Obama administration's diplomatic personal was outrageous. Romney's statement was right at the time he said it, and it was further vindicated when the Obama administration repudiated the content of those tweets.
Certainly non-partisan in his analysis; certainly!
You are so right that Obama doesn't misspeak. In fact, he doesn't speak at all unless it is to unload some new falsehood on the American public. Oh well, I hope you reporters have your escape plan ready when he brings the whole country down around his ears. I'm pretty sure "journalism" isn't going to be a useful skill when we end up like Greece. But of course, it will probably be worse since we don't have a Germany to bail us out when we spend even further past the point of no return. You must also be proud of Obama's strong defense of free speech this week where the DoJ has investigated a man exercising his 1st Amendment rights. Thanks, reporters!
Dream on if you think all this is going Obama's way
When it sinks it that this is a second 9/11 attack on our people voters will be more outraged.
When it sinks after the details of what really happened in Libya gets out Obama is going to have egg on his face for all his previous boasting of how HE can change the dynamics in that region because he lived in a Muslim country,
When it sinks in that the credit was downgraded AGAIN the public is going to be livid.
When it sinks in that the Fed is pumping borrowed money into propping up the economy with worthless money, possibly provoking inflation, the voters are going to be outraged again.
Just gassing up is the equivalent of a small loan.
Yeah...Obama's doing just dandy. Keep up with that schtick and see how long you have any incredibility left corrupt media.
That's great. You built an entire argument on the unstable sands of a wholly false premise. Romney's didn't put forth a "blundering response that mischaracterized events in Benghazi and Cairo" and you know it. Rather, he rapidly stood up for the American principle of freedom of speech enshrined in Amendment 1 in the Bill of Rights when the embassy statement didn't and it appeared the White House wouldn't. He was right and you and the rest of the media hate that. And knowing that, your argument collapses like a house of cards.
What, are you still shilling for Obama?
Hey Blake, you might want to Google and do some research before writing an article which is provably false. There is biased opinion and there is an actual study which trumps biased opinion. Case in point:
"Mitt Romney has publicly griped about the way the news media have covered him, but the presumptive GOP nominee has gotten better press in 2012 than President Obama, according to a study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The study found that Obama’s negative coverage exceeded positive coverage in 14 of 15 weeks examined, while positive coverage outweighed negative for Romney in six of the 15 weeks and was fairly evenly divided in four more.
Since November, nearly two-thirds--63 percent--of the coverage about Obama were framed around political strategy and momentum. In comparison, 21 percent primarily connected the president with foreign- or domestic-policy issues.
Researchers said the result "suggests the media have been treating [Obama] more as a presidential candidate than a chief executive for months."
The National Journal
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/study-obama-s-...
Mitt was right on Libya. Obama and his cronies simply lie.
This article claiming the perceived left wing bias is just the result of Obama being a smart campaigner is as hollow as hollow can gets. Why don't you go get another cup of coffee and try and write something of substance even if it if full b.s. premises ya lib.
Mitt campaign strategy.
A. Wow them with facts.
B.Baffle them with BS
o for 2
Who would believe ANYTHING Romney says, after all the flipping, flopping, evasions, misrepresentations and outright lies.