The criticism of Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital doesn’t appear to be leaving the headlines. And thus some political reporters are, as Jamison Foser notes, drawing an unusual comparison: Romney is being Swift Boated.
The latest example comes from Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen (7/17/12):
In a sense, Romney deserves the Swift Boating he’s now getting from the Obama campaign and the president himself.
In case you missed the 2004 campaign: The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was formed to cast doubt on John Kerry’s Vietnam War record. TV commercials were cooked up to expose Kerry as a fraud who didn’t deserve his medals. The press too often passed along these baseless smears instead of challenging them.
Nothing about the Swift Boat attacks on Kerry resembles the Obama attacks on Romney’s Bain record. The analogy would only make sense if Obama and his campaign surrogates were making wild claims about how Romney didn’t actually run Bain at all.
Oh, wait–that’s actually closer to what Romney is saying. Romney is Swift Boating himself.
Kidding aside, there’s actually something profound going on here. For political reporters, the term “Swift Boating” has come to mean simply attacking your opponent. In 2008, Wesley Clark was accused of Swift Boating John McCain because he said, “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.” He did not suggest McCain wasn’t actually a prisoner of war or a pilot; in fact, he celebrated McCain’s military service.
The tendency to see political attacks–even sharp ones–as “Swift Boating” is to diminish the mendacity of the actual Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry. It is perfectly emblematic of a press corps that prioritizes campaign strategy over truth.
So Romney denies responsibility for that which he brags about as being his highest qualification to become president.
I don’t think any of these corpo types have a clue about the devastation they have inflicted on America.
Effete aristocrats all.
He like the person in the joke about the hostess that served x number of guests with x-1 number of steaks. The comedian would say “You should have heard the yelling, screaming and tossing of things going on. I don’t understand why, my Three steaks were delicious.
He takes his three steaks regardless of what the consequences are, and so he never takes risk. So he has no connection to what his decisions do. I can’t not understand the people that follow him blindly; this man is the perfect black/white thinker. He is “For/Against” it, before he will be “Against/For” it.
I fervently hope that Romney drowns in his birther-clone attack on Obama and his drowning is swift and painful on this 1/4 of the 1%
What we must remember is that Grover Norquist just wants a president who doesn’t think, only one that can just sign his name. The Fascists ARE Coming!
News children…..This Bain crap is not working.Look at the polls.I hope and pray that Obama keeps pounding along these lines.A man who never held a job trying to judge someone who always has.Trying to attack attack attack because there is nothing at all to run on.The biggest failure in our history trying to tell us the reasons we should not throw his butt out and hire a very successful brilliant guy.Sweet dancing Jesus.
By this point in the election Bush had done 9 fundraisers.Obama in the last 6 months 106!!!Ten golf vacations and his job council has not met once in six months!Say that 7 times.Obama has never created one job.He has never in a sense run a popsicle stand.A complete nothing in every sense trying to point fingers at Mitts running of Bain,the olympics,and everything else.Good God man have you no shame?Run on your record.You had nothing at all coming in and disaster going out.Mitt will run on what he hopes to do.That is an election.This Chicago politic personal attack is crap.Non aligned fact checkers are giving Obama zilch for his claims against Mitt.Total lies and fabrications handed to the massses in the hope of deceiving some.Run on your record,and on what you hope to do if you win again.Mitt has so many accomplishments it is boring and bragadocio to trot it out.He will of course.That is the game.Obama has an unbroken trail from his earliest days of money down a rat hole, and leaving every place he has ever been worse off.What am i missing
@michael e. – just about everything!
re: mr. m. e.,
Hmm.
So Mitt runs on un-detailed assertions.
[In the words of Whitfield & Strong, “Vote for me and I’ll set you free!”]
And the incumbent gets to run on the G. W. Bush / 112th Congress House Republican economy.
Nice way to stack the deck.
Oh, and IMHOP, you badly need a new editor.
Shalmenezor,I did not really understand your point.
I think my point was clear.Mitt for his faults is not even in the same category as Obama.Obama came in with little to no qualifications for the job of President.He has done a horrible job while there.His main focus has been jobs (he says).Yet he has not created even one job ,after spending trillions.He has not even met with his job council in over six months.He simply asks you to re-elect him so he can continue on this path.It is almost comical ,but of course it is tragic.
At the end of his ridiculous last rant (the first was equally ignorant), Michael E asks… “What am I missing?” It’s obvious, Michael…you’re missing the antidote for your severe case of Obama Derangement Syndrome.
Ed
No derangement at all.He seems a nice guy.Love to have a beer with him some time when he is a private citizen.Hope to this November.Tell him Im available.I sincerely hope and pray he is also.
Am reading an interesting book. Kevin Phillips’ “American Theocracy.” It’s interesting historically and in the current situation (although it was published in 2006). Our drift toward more religion in government is not a healthy sign. I note that one of the Presidential qualities a few people are listing as Mitt’s plusses, are his experiences in France doing missionary work. Is this something akin to Obama’s community service? My answer: NO. It is converting people to a religion that is dogmatic and, in many instances, unsubtantiated. Usually I don’t care what religion the presidential hopeful has, but Mitt may be the exception, especially since he is a Bishop in the LDS Church. We had way too much religion in the White house with GWBush. Unfortunately, Bush used his to invoke laws that, I believe, are unconstitutional. They are poor science at best. Both lean to fundamentalism. Read Phillips’ book and decide for yourself just how religiously impartial a candidate Romney is.
And Michael e. – you should try it. Reading a book, I mean.
Thanx Liz…… I WILL try to read a book some day.
Lets try not to delve into Mitts or Obamas religion unless you truly believe it will adversely effect how they will conduct the office of president.And you damn well better have proof.We still guard religious freedoms here.And we have always had a strong religious component within the halls of power here.I dont think it is stronger now than when our founders created this country.Mr Phillips has written a tome to Liberal fears.Especially those who are without religion or have a bone to pick with christianity.He has borrowed from a great many in that ilk.I do know of this/his book.It would you may think be unbiased because he once was a Republican.It is anything but that.It has been soundly mocked in the conservative community.Im sure many on this sight would love it.It plays to all their hatreds.
Michael – If you read my post I suggest that Mr. Romney’s position in his church may skew his decisions, just as Mr. Bush’s religiousity did his. I don’t believe you read Phillips’ book. If you had and understood it, you wouldn’t have such a misinformed opinion of it. He presents a very balanced discussion of many issues, both historical and current. He doesn’t mention Romney, however, he does deal with Bush’s decisions that were based on the tenets of his religion, not science or even common sense. The major ones had to do with science and at what point a zygote becomes a person. He decided when many in medical and religious fields have serious quesitons about his decision. I am concerned that Mr. Romney’s religious beliefs might be problematic for our democracy, especially with the current power the evangelicals and other religious fundamentalists have garnered. So far this question has not come up to Romney himself, as far as I know. I hope it will as I would like to hear what he has to say in the hope that he would put the concerns I have to rest. Everyone has the right to question presidential hopefuls on a variety of issues and this is one of them.
P.S. I’m hoping Romney will find the grace that John Kennedy had when people asked him about how much his religion would determine decisions. He assured us that he would not mix religion with matters of state. He would be a president for all the people, not just a select few. He kept his promise. Religion was rarely mention when he was in the White House. AS it should be, this has been consistent throughout the history of our country. The tenor of the Bush administration has given me cause to be concerned and believe that all Americans should be mindful of the separation of church and state.
I have no disagreement with what you just wrote Elizabeth.Except that you give Obama, and his involvement in his church a pass.As if his natural brilliance(never shown or proved)lifts him above the stupidity of being a person of faith.Also i wonder why you think the basic tenants of Judeo christian ethics being applied within the halls of our government a bad thing.Certainly it was seminal in the humanistic approach to our constitution.Prayer has become a thing of derision within the liberal community.Faith a sign of mental instability.Comparisons are made to those people -filled with hate who have twisted their religious beliefs to compliment their homicidal tendencies.As if it goes hand and glove with faith when the complete opposite is true.In this country we have people who chain themselves to trees,outside an abortion clinic that means nothing to them(the photo was surreal).My point is we don’t want a nut in office.Not religious or otherwise.Bill…George…Barrock,and Mitt are all men of faith.I think they all pray(ed) for the wisdom to lead .I would not call any of them “nuts”.Religion is not a bad thing Elizabeth.When did it become so?
p.s No I did not read his book so I don’t want to comment too deeply on it.I only pointed out that is has been trounced in the conservative world as a massive over kill.Certainly pointing to Bush in that way is incorrect.Along those lines Have you noticed how most of his(Bushes) “zygote”moves were not overturned by Obama?Drove the libs insane didn’t it?The reason was he was actually very pragmatic.Obama talked a good game,but once in the drivers seat he saw the wisdom of many of Bushes actions.Maybe they are both being deluded by the same God.What can we point to where the religious road erased the pragmatic calls of a president?I can’t think of any.
Michael – if liberals thought and did half of what you suggest, I would not be one.
Your interpretation of liberals is typical of the nonsense spewed by the far right.
I have no problem with people believing what they wish. It is when they force those beliefs on everyone – think Terry Shiavo and abortion, birth control and other issues. There are plenty of conservative people who stand with me on those issues, including the Supreme Court when they ruled on Roe vs Wade.
We are not a “Judeo-Christian” nation nor should we be. Also, Christians don’t have a monopoly on prayer. People of all religions pray in one form or the other and, I posit, there are even people who aren’t not religious who indulge in some form of prayer.
It would be difficult for Obama to overturn anything by himself. If you understand our government you know it is Congress that must make those kinds of changes. And, yes, it has been congress who supported Bush and went along with his agenda, albeit by a small margin.
Michael – I never, never, never said that I thought having Judea-Christian ethics in our govt. was unacceptable. After all, those ethics stem from the Greeks and other earlier societies. If you study religion, you will know that the basic tenets of Christianity come from Judaism which come from the Greeks and Egyptians and other societies that functioned quite well without a Bible. The idea that we shouldn’t kill one another, at least our friends, is as old as mankind. This is true of most social prohibitions and the often misquoted Golden Rule.
Your ideas about Obama are hogwash probably derived from listening to Rush too much.
Elizabeth…..when I was a younger man I was a liberal.I worked for Bill Clinton.I Come from a political family of candidates and people who served.Had an uncle who held one of the highest union offices in the country.I know the rot from the inside out.The liberal Dem party has changed in huge ways.A John F Kennedy would never recognize it.I am a conservative who within reason(no late term exept for medical reasons)… agrees that abortion must be kept as a viable medical procedure,giving woman and Drs a choice.But lets not disseminate facts here.Abortion is the killing of babies….Period!Yesterday a 24 year old woman died having one in Chicago, at a planned Parenthood facility.Want to know the sickening thing?It barely made the news.Yet when certain donors cut their funds to PP they were soundly attacked and hundreds of stories appeared in attacks on their company.Imagine if that girl died because a Dr would NOT abort her child.Every paper in the country would carry it.The left would bring in the crucifixion squad.but this THIS is business as usual.Happens.Two people dead in a botched hack job.Move along nothing to see here.No story for FAIR to write about.
The owner of Chick fil-a gets hundreds of attack stories because he like millions of faith based people- stick with the traditional definition of marriage. Just an opinion.Nothing more.Liberals are literally thee most non-inclusive people I have ever met.You agree with them or you are stupid…deluded…uneducated…A religious freak….A hate monger…a racist….Infringing on people rights.Save a tree- kill a baby..It is always something.Always.Have you seen the stories appearing trying to tie the Colorodo shooter to the tea Party?We call them the Hate Righty crowd.Always it is the immediate reaction of the left.You are not allowing free expression at all.Well we are all free to express YOUR beliefs so that is not totally true.
As far as religion -we are ethically speaking a Judeo christian country.We have been since our inceptionThat has nothing to do with our ability to free worship.It is just a fact.The only nick in that armor has come recently.Liberals tend to mock faith .Sad really.A country built on this fundamental right has become a point of derision for a portion of the left. Watch as the campaign develops.You will see Romni attacking Obamas record……..And Obama attacking Romni personally.It is always the way.
Lastly ……Obama snuck through his healthcare as one thing, in the dirtiest bit of legislation we ever saw.Late night meetings twisting arms.Promising anything including opting out.And it turns out it is another…….A TAX.Only Congress can do that.So should Obama send it back to to Congress and the Senate for a re-vote as a TAX.Exactly what we said it was all along? Most of those who voted for it would not of if it were a tax.Slippery as an eel Elizabeth.He has sidestepped Congress on a number of issues lately.How about extending protection to his AG over Congressional subpoenas?Slippery as an eel.Unscrupulous to the core.The ends justify the means.The lefts mantra.
It’s gibberish, Elizabeth . . . you know this by now about the above poster. A mad farrago of nonsense, semi- and downright illiterate ravings, and lying. You know what really gets me about the whole thing, Elizabeth? The constant and continuous lying, the inability to ever post a claim that has a backup, a link, or anything remotely resembling the idea that when one challenges the wisdom of the ages (“Abortion is the killing of babies….Period!”)* one might want to back up wild claims and crazy insinuations.
I’m beating a long-dead horse here, Elizabeth. (M)ichael e. and his cohorts will someday rule this country; the fact that the USA lags far behind all other civilized countries in all the categories that mark a culture as worth living in indicate that the ravers and fools already have a strong foothold. People who believe that the sociopaths who destroyed the economy should now run the self-same economy are stupid, to sat the least.
*No abortion, ever, killed a baby. It destroyed a fetus, a potential human life, to be sure, but not a baby. To call a fetus a baby is the same thing as calling an ant a wasp, or a dog a cat. Stupid people, or people who don’t want to consider unpleasant things (like the fact that not all pregnancies are welcome, for instance) resort to childish and sub-adult caricature and nonsense in these matters. It’s no surprise a troll will utterly misunderstand what’s going on in the world. Too bad.
Tim I truly am stunned by the lack of understanding from a medical, as well as a humanist understanding, that your rant on abortion entails.We live in an amazing world where everyday we save babies so small they look like lab rats.One pound even.I sometimes marvel at how far we can go.From an abortionists standpoint that answer is simple.No further.Because it is not a human being until some random standard says so.For you that standard is a word…..Fetus.We have all seen late term abortions.Punching a whole in the skull before the baby crowns.Saline burning them alive.Lets start there and work backwards since I hope we are both in agreement about that horror.I suppose that what you are saying is at some point moving backwards “it” no longer “looks’ human so it does not so tug at the heartstrings to kill it.(Yeah and you lot are the science crowd).So we argue semantics.Words.Hug a tree, kill a fetus.Be a vegan, kill a fetus.Save a whale, kill a fetus.Yes you are right that some pregnancies are not wanted.I understand that.You must feel like you need a shower.I sure do
Disingenuous as usual Michael-e that procedure you butchered is very rare and its proper name, I won’t use the other given to it, DX 3 (Dilation and Extraction Third Trimester) but that is so impersonal and mechanical that the Christian Crusaders and Dominionists gave it another more sensational name. Barely 1% need it and it is a last resort. But doctors have been murdered for doing it, clinics have been bombed and burned for it and general terror from such groups out number any Islamic Jihadi types in this country. Which is on the rise? The Islamic type is becoming very rare indeed. (Not counting the FBI created ones of course.) Or own home grown religious based terror groups are on the rise. Like they can smell the blood in the water of the slow death of our Secular Republic to fall to them to make it a theocratic corporate empire they want so badly just may happen very soon.
Did you know that such interest in the fetus and abortion wasn’t touched by Christians till the 20th century? Of course as they now make it de facto illegal again more women and girls will die from back alley butchers and it is people like you Michael-e who support such outcomes by your stances.
I am disappointed in these exchanges. Michael e is too stupid and prejudiced to be given so much space. He doesn’t know more than a fifth grader. That is what being part of a racist conspiracy will do to your brain.
Both of them look pissed that somone is taking their picture