Romney fought bad fight badly - response to Chicago Tribune op ed
Stuart Stevens, chief strategist of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, disgraced himself right out of the gate in "Romney fought the good fight" (Tribune op ed, Nov. 29) with his insulting opening line that, "Over the years... the Democratic Party"..exhibits "a shortage of loyalty and an abundance of self loathing". After setting up his imagined despicable straw man, Stevens frets about Republicans emulating those terrible traits when interpreting Romney's "narrow" loss. That opening paragraph could be used in a rhetoric class to teach falsity, mean spiritedness and self delusion. The statement is not supported by a word of evidence or example. It's a sophistic way of saying "They are horrible; we are not, so don't be like them". Stevens use of the word "narrow" to describe Romney's loss is laughable. A margin of 126 electoral votes and over 3.5 million popular votes was a thumping rebuke of Romney and anything but "narrow".
Stevens then spends several paragraphs trying to demonstrate how close the election was because Romney's economic message resonated with the electorate. Poppycock! Virtually all post election polling indicated that Romney's economic message of continued tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and reduced regulation in spite of regulatory weakness implicated in the banking meltdown, was rejected by a clear majority of voters. Stevens completely omits one of Romney's biggest problems: Tea Party extremists winning GOP House and Senate primaries and then, along with Romney, alienating virtually every other voter group: women, gays, Latinos, African Americans, Asians, the young, the educated, the needy. To ignore that incredible self destructive stupidity and claim that the Republican Party "captured the majority of the middle class" is preposterous. That imagined middle class that Stevens puts in the Republican camp knows the President campaigned on keeping their middle class tax cut and only increasing taxes on the very privileged. They voted for the President. That imagined middle class Stevens puts in the Republican camp wants not less government but effective government; like the one that effectively dealt with the economy, the BP Horizon disaster and Hurricane Sandy. They voted for the President. That imagined middle class Stevens puts in the Republican camp does want more freedom; like freedom from GOP economic disaster and the endless funneling of middle class wealth into the upper 1%. They voted for the President.
With loser's introspection like that offered by Stuart Stevens, we progressives hope that he keeps his job as chief strategist for the 2016 GOP nominee. Let the games begin.
Stevens then spends several paragraphs trying to demonstrate how close the election was because Romney's economic message resonated with the electorate. Poppycock! Virtually all post election polling indicated that Romney's economic message of continued tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and reduced regulation in spite of regulatory weakness implicated in the banking meltdown, was rejected by a clear majority of voters. Stevens completely omits one of Romney's biggest problems: Tea Party extremists winning GOP House and Senate primaries and then, along with Romney, alienating virtually every other voter group: women, gays, Latinos, African Americans, Asians, the young, the educated, the needy. To ignore that incredible self destructive stupidity and claim that the Republican Party "captured the majority of the middle class" is preposterous. That imagined middle class that Stevens puts in the Republican camp knows the President campaigned on keeping their middle class tax cut and only increasing taxes on the very privileged. They voted for the President. That imagined middle class Stevens puts in the Republican camp wants not less government but effective government; like the one that effectively dealt with the economy, the BP Horizon disaster and Hurricane Sandy. They voted for the President. That imagined middle class Stevens puts in the Republican camp does want more freedom; like freedom from GOP economic disaster and the endless funneling of middle class wealth into the upper 1%. They voted for the President.
With loser's introspection like that offered by Stuart Stevens, we progressives hope that he keeps his job as chief strategist for the 2016 GOP nominee. Let the games begin.
posted by Walt Zlotow at 4:29 AM
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