2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumNYT Editorial: The ‘Moderate Mitt’ Myth
The way a presidential candidate campaigns for office matters to the country. A campaign should demonstrate seriousness of purpose and a set of core beliefs, and it should signal to voters whether a candidate shows trustworthiness and judgment. Those things dont seem to matter to Mitt Romney.
From the beginning of his run for the Republican nomination, Mr. Romney has offered to transfigure himself into any shape desired by an audience in order to achieve power. In front of massed crowds or on television, he can sound sunny and inclusive, radiating a feel-good centrism. His severely conservative policies and disdain for much of the country are reserved for partisans, donors and the harsh ideologues who clutter his partys base. This polarity is often described as flip-flopping, but the word is too mild to describe opposing positions that are simultaneously held.
The best way to judge candidates is not by the popular way they describe their plans near the end of a campaign; it is by the most divisive presentations of themselves earlier on. A candidates political calculations when fewer people are watching is likely to say far more about character than poll-tested pleasantries in the spotlight.
Thats what is disingenuous about the Moderate Mitt in recent speeches and the first presidential debate. He hasnt abandoned or flip-flopped from the severe positions that won him the Republican nomination; they remain at the core of his campaign, on his Web site and in his position papers, and they occasionally slip out in unguarded moments. All hes doing is slapping whitewash on his platform. The immoderation of his policies, used to win favor with a hard-right party, cannot be disguised.
continue reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/opinion/the-moderate-mitt-myth.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121013
TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)TroyD
(4,551 posts)What will the voters believe?
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)TomCADem
(17,387 posts)It seems as of late that the corporate media has been giving Romney a free pass.