Spesh
09-13-2012, 03:32 AM
Romney was referring to a statement issued by the American Embassy in Cairo condemning an obscure anti-Muslim YouTube video that had set off the demonstrations. But the embassy's statement had been an effort to head off the violence—not released after the assaults on American diplomatic missions, as Romney's statement suggested.
Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain's 2008 campaign, told Yahoo News that Romney's decision to stand behind his initial criticism of Obama could damage his image with voters.
"For people who are running for president, this is a test where people evaluate their mettle as commander in chief, and the Romney campaign put out a statement before the facts were in that politicized the matter and gratuitously attacked the administration for something they did not do," Schmidt said. "The decision to double down on the initial mistake has put them into a potentially very dangerous political situation. During a foreign policy crisis, you can't build a position on a foundation of politics. … The situation remains serious, it's volatile and Romney is appearing to be very political."
The danger for Romney is that his response to the Middle East attacks feeds into a consensus among the news media that his campaign to unseat Obama is in serious trouble. For the fourth time in recent months, prominent conservatives have gone public with fretting over the direction of Romney's campaign—a panic set off most recently by conservative radio host Laura Ingraham's suggestion Monday (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) that if Romney can't beat Obama then the Republican Party should be "shut down." On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal editorial board piled on (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), suggesting Romney could lose the election because he's been too vague when it comes to explaining his policies.
"Mistakes like this happen when a campaign begins to feel under pressure," Schmidt told Yahoo News. "The Democrats had a more successful convention, the president's opened up a lead in the polls, there's been a lot of criticism by conservative commentators about campaign strategy. … They acted too quickly, too rashly, too politically—looking obviously for a way to change the narrative, the dynamic in the race."..............
Romney did have defenders, including Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina—who issued a statement calling Romney's response "absolutely right"—and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, who penned an op-ed declaring "Romney Is Right." (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)
But their efforts were largely overshadowed by other members of Team Romney who didn't agree with the candidate's response. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), a top Romney surrogate, told National Journal's Major Garrett that the campaign "probably should have waited" to issue its response. Meanwhile, Tom Ridge, a Romney ally who served as secretary of Homeland Security under former President George W. Bush, disputed Romney's suggestion that Obama was sympathizing with the enemy. "I don't think President Obama sympathizes with those who attacked us (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)," Ridge told the liberal site Think Progress. "I don't think any American does."
And plenty of anonymous Republicans immediately pounced, with one "very senior Republican foreign policy hand" telling BuzzFeed's Ben Smith (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) it was Romney's "Lehman moment"—a reference to McCain's bungling of the looming financial crisis during the 2008 campaign.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Dont agree that Romney cant salvage this situation. But his doubling down on it certainly hurts his efforts.
My only question is, what does this have to do with the economy? Romney kept insisting thats what we focus on, then comes out with this idiotic move shortly after saying "Obama wants to remove the name God from coins!". Its starting to sound like his campaign is just throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Debates, which should be hilarity(hoping for a drunk Biden), cant get here fast enough.
Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain's 2008 campaign, told Yahoo News that Romney's decision to stand behind his initial criticism of Obama could damage his image with voters.
"For people who are running for president, this is a test where people evaluate their mettle as commander in chief, and the Romney campaign put out a statement before the facts were in that politicized the matter and gratuitously attacked the administration for something they did not do," Schmidt said. "The decision to double down on the initial mistake has put them into a potentially very dangerous political situation. During a foreign policy crisis, you can't build a position on a foundation of politics. … The situation remains serious, it's volatile and Romney is appearing to be very political."
The danger for Romney is that his response to the Middle East attacks feeds into a consensus among the news media that his campaign to unseat Obama is in serious trouble. For the fourth time in recent months, prominent conservatives have gone public with fretting over the direction of Romney's campaign—a panic set off most recently by conservative radio host Laura Ingraham's suggestion Monday (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) that if Romney can't beat Obama then the Republican Party should be "shut down." On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal editorial board piled on (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), suggesting Romney could lose the election because he's been too vague when it comes to explaining his policies.
"Mistakes like this happen when a campaign begins to feel under pressure," Schmidt told Yahoo News. "The Democrats had a more successful convention, the president's opened up a lead in the polls, there's been a lot of criticism by conservative commentators about campaign strategy. … They acted too quickly, too rashly, too politically—looking obviously for a way to change the narrative, the dynamic in the race."..............
Romney did have defenders, including Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina—who issued a statement calling Romney's response "absolutely right"—and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, who penned an op-ed declaring "Romney Is Right." (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)
But their efforts were largely overshadowed by other members of Team Romney who didn't agree with the candidate's response. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), a top Romney surrogate, told National Journal's Major Garrett that the campaign "probably should have waited" to issue its response. Meanwhile, Tom Ridge, a Romney ally who served as secretary of Homeland Security under former President George W. Bush, disputed Romney's suggestion that Obama was sympathizing with the enemy. "I don't think President Obama sympathizes with those who attacked us (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)," Ridge told the liberal site Think Progress. "I don't think any American does."
And plenty of anonymous Republicans immediately pounced, with one "very senior Republican foreign policy hand" telling BuzzFeed's Ben Smith (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) it was Romney's "Lehman moment"—a reference to McCain's bungling of the looming financial crisis during the 2008 campaign.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Dont agree that Romney cant salvage this situation. But his doubling down on it certainly hurts his efforts.
My only question is, what does this have to do with the economy? Romney kept insisting thats what we focus on, then comes out with this idiotic move shortly after saying "Obama wants to remove the name God from coins!". Its starting to sound like his campaign is just throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Debates, which should be hilarity(hoping for a drunk Biden), cant get here fast enough.