Tag Archives: Mitt Romney

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What was so super about Super Tuesday? Nothing except for Romney’s “passion deficit”

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I kept waiting for Super Tuesday to live up to its hype. But it never quite did. Super Tuesday? From a not-so super Wednesday perspective, Tuesday was simply the same dreadful Republican candidates going after a larger number of states and electoral votes. But not really enough to make a difference by driving out pretenders, never mind coronating a presumptive winner.

Was it really that thrilling to see Romney nose out Santorum in Ohio? The fact that Romney wasn’t able to cream Santorum in that state only highlighted Romney’s weak candidacy. Ohio is a state of bread and butter Republicans, the kind like my wife’s Uncle Joe. They are the traditional soul of the party. Hard-working, upper-middle-class to affluent, God-fearing conservatives. White shoe, white belt, country club types who are pro-business. That was Uncle Joe. He died several years ago. A new generation is more small business than big business; blue collar, not white. More radically religious than even a nice protestant. (Interesting that exit polls show Romney winning Catholics, but not evangelicals).

It all means problems for Romney leading up to the convention, no matter how many delegates he has. The majority has a problem liking him. He’s too middle-of-the-road. Not bad enough to outright ignore. Not good enough to wildly support.

In the end, Romney may simply be the candidate with the winning look, stuck in neutral.

He needs a push. Super Tuesday wasn’t it. Maybe he should change his name and get a new political brand.

Is Lincoln taken?

Or instead of trying to please all the people, all ot the time, Romney should let people know what he really stands for.

Right now, I don’t know what he stands for. Look at that tepid response to the Rush Limbaugh situation. He’s for not pissing off Rush, that’s for sure.

Romney has a passion deficit. And it works both ways, back and forth from candidate to electorate. There’s no love connection, folks here.

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No passion for Romney and Santorum exiting Michigan and heading into Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday means we’ll get a taste of what real red-meat Americans think politically.

And it’s likely to be scary.

After Michigan, where Romney barely won his home state, there’s less passion for the GOP, and more passion to get the president. In other words, it’s less about Mitt, not at all about Santorum, but all about “Getting Obama.”

It’s  not exactly civil.

You don’t think birthers in the Super Tuesday states just packed up their tents and went away, did you?

http://aaldef.org/blog/leaping-to-super-tuesday.html

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The Nevada Caucuses aren’t the Super Bowl, Thank God: Who will win the really big game and why

Mitt Romney may have won in Nevada as predicted, but a caucus is not a Super Bowl. It’s not even the AFC wild card game. If you’re a candidate, the best thing you can say after leaving Nevada is, at least Sheldon Adelson still likes me. And if you’re Romney, you’re happy that your Mormon homies thought enough of you to back you. And then you move on to the next state before you say something dumb about poor people.

I’ll refrain today from saying any more, except that Newt Gingrich, who lost in Nevada, was on “Face the Nation” this morning referring to what he called Obama’s attack on Catholics.

What he do? Take away their rosaries?

This is a real B.S. GOP ploy, and I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

But you know it’s B.S.GOP ploy when Bob Schieffer, the FTN moderator doesn’t take the bait. Nor should you.

The GOP sure likes to take up religious wars.

No, the only war that applies this Sunday, even among Catholics (especially those who pray to “Touchdown Jesus”) is on the football field.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We are now in the middle-aged Super Bowls, where the Roman numerals require translation.  I remember seeing the first one on TV with my buddy Frankie Veracruz over on 18th Street in San Francisco, just down from the Castro. A lot has changed since then.

When your team(s) aren’t in the big game, it just feels like an obligatory thing. Like going to church. So my heart’s not into it, but I’ll genuflect to the NFL just the same.

Here’s my analysis:

I’ve been following the NFL more this year than in the past because I realized I needed a new mid-life addiction: Fantasy Football.

Because of this, I know the Giants well.  If Eli Manning can throw to Victor Cruz regularly, it’s a signal that his game is on and the Pats defense is vulnerable.  If you see Manning throwing more  to Nix and Manningham more, then the game will be much closer.

Cruz is the key to the air attack. When he gets open, Manning marches down the field. As the defense adjusts, then the running game does its thing.  On the ground, it’s all about Bradshaw. When he was hurt in the middle of the season, Jacobs filled the void well, so well that Bradshaw had a hard time getting back into it. If Manning establishes the run with both running backs, the Patriots defense will be struggling to keep up.

I like Brady to Welker for the Pats, and my days around Boston, as well as Brady’s local Bay Area ties to his Catholic high school, make me want to root for the Pats.

But I think the Giants will be too much for the Pats’ D.

Besides, actress Rooney Mara is a granddaughter of the Giants’ owner. Have you seen her in “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”?

MY PREDICTIONS

The score goes 7-0, 7-7,  heavy eating ensues, 14-7, 14-14, halftime, all toilets flush, Madonna has  a career malfunction when at least half the audience wonders why Lady Gaga has tamed her act and is singing all those old songs,  21-14, 21-21, we all eat more bad food, 28-21, 28-28, drink more here,  31-28. … done. NY Giants over the Pats.

The “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” beats “Victoria’s Secret.”

Too bad, 49ers. Coulda shoulda…

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Mitt Romney’s Tin Ear: Mr. Inevitable is evolving…into the new Rick Perry

The media and the social networks were burning up after the CNN interview with Mitt Romney where he says he doesn’t care about the poor.

I didn’t take the bait yesterday because his statement didn’t end there. I heard the whole thing in context.

If you didn’t hear the complete interview, to paint Romney as  uncaring for the poor is really unfair to the candidate.

He was showing a moderate’s concern for the poor. Still not enough, but he did say there were “safety nets for the poor,” and he’d fix them if needed. Hence, he didn’t care about the poor,  or the very rich for that matter. He cares for the middle class.

It wasn’t the most politically savvy rhetoric.  In fact, it was downright poor.

But that’s how Mr. Inevitable sounded like on the day after his sweetest victory so far.

Mr. Inevitable sounded like a loser with a tin ear.

In context or out, Romney can’t win.

The left hates him because the subtext of his rhetoric a callous arrogance.

The right hates him for the part of his statement where he talks about fixing “safety nets.”  Conservatives say, “That’s welfare, that’s not what we’re about.”

Romney’s blooper reel is filling up. (Remember his gleeful, “I like to fire people” comment?)  Romney’s blessing has always been there was someone worse than him saying something stupid–Rick Perry.

But now that Perry’s gone, Romney’s gaffes give the nit-pickers gigantic nits from which to fill the void. That they happen at all must make his  supporters wonder, if Mr. Inevitable really is.

If he can’t speak off-the-cuff and know his words are going to get parsed to death, what more if he’s Leader of the Free World discussing nukes with Iran, China, Pakistan.  A domestic gaffe is one thing,  an international one could be a real disaster.

All of it leads to this damning realization about the GOP front-runner: Romney’s a guy who started the race rounding third base, but he can’t seem to score without stumbling home.