TPM: Romney’s Claim To Be A Job Creator Hits The Skids [View all]
Brian Beutler January 6, 2012, 5:30 AM
Mitt Romneys effort to disguise one of his biggest political liabilities has hit a major snag one that may force him to abandon his most effective but misleading talking points about his work in the private sector..
Romney makes two different, but implicitly entwined claims: That while working in corporate management he created over 100,000 jobs and that by comparison Obama his presided over millions of job losses.
This is a false juxtaposition, based on two false claims. And so far, precious few reporters have pressed Romney or his campaign about it. But in the past several days, the veneer of plausibility has begun to peel leaving the candidate highly exposed to backlash from the press.
Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent, and Washington Monthly blogger Steve Benen have been Romneys (and the press) most consistent critics on this issue. After bringing it to light, Post fact checker Glenn Kessler buttonholed a Romney spokesman about the first claim and found it to be unsubstantiated. Its true only if you count Romney-managed companies that later hemorrhaged jobs.
Read the rest at TPM.com
I'm glad at least some in the media are calling him on his absurd claim. Let's hope more join in and keep up the pressure.