Mitt caught in a direct lie?

[MrFun]

I'm curious as to whether MrFun thinks nothing should be imported either.

Don't be facetious.

[MrFun]

If outsourcing 100 nonproductive nonadvantageous jobs at a distressed firm allows the continued employment of 1000 others then ...

You illustrated an ideal example of how outsourcing American jobs can help preserve a greater number of American jobs. But how well do examples like the above reflect reality?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Given the popular subject matter is Bain and its business model attempting to resuscitate distressed businesses ...

[DaShi]

Another green venture bites the dust.

So?

[DaShi]

Oh no no no! Don't you see? If he is refusing to release them, clearly he is hiding something!

By definition, yes he is.

[regexcellent]

Because it's not in his interest to spend the next 4 months talking about his tax returns which probably show that he did nothing wrong.

Let me put it like this: the man is Mormon. He doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He doesn't use drugs. As far as I know he doesn't swear. He probably doesn't fudge his taxes either.

[regexcellent]

Even if he did fudge his taxes, which I am confident that he did not, he'd still be a better president than Obama, and also would be guilty of less criminal activity throughout his life than Obama.

[DaShi]

Because it's not in his interest to spend the next 4 months talking about his tax returns which probably show that he did nothing wrong.

Let me put it like this: the man is Mormon. He doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He doesn't use drugs. As far as I know he doesn't swear. He probably doesn't fudge his taxes either.

If he didn't then it is in his interest. Let the Obama's team spend their time pouring over his records, while he talks about the economy.

[DaShi]

Even if he did fudge his taxes, which I am confident that he did not, he'd still be a better president than Obama, and also would be guilty of less criminal activity throughout his life than Obama.

Why do you go out of your way to convince people that you don't know what you are talking about?

[DaShi]

No the point was the hilarious reference to "certificate", (not Long Form) in a not so veiled way of implying birtherism.

Now pat him on the head and say good doggie and he will go away.

Aw, you haven't changed.

Obama still makes you rabid.

[regexcellent]

No, it's not in his interest to give fodder to the Democrats. Even if he did nothing wrong, it changes the the topic of conversation, and it demonstrates how wealthy he is, which apparently to some people is a bad thing, for only God knows what reason.

[DaShi]

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/from-victim-to-vicious/?hp

From Victim to Vicious
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Presidential campaigns are protracted affairs that require candidates to deftly manage the seesaws of hopes and fears, enthusiasm and foreboding, aggression and equanimity, momentum and wanderings.

Not only has the Romney campaign not been on top of this lately, it has been crushed beneath the boards.

Romney has an exceedingly simple pitch: I have the necessary business background to rescue the weak economy.

There are few specifics and he rarely wanders far afield of that point. But oddly, his campaign seems to have been caught completely by surprise that the president would put up a full-throated fight to keep his job. It seemed unprepared for even the most obvious lines of attack, like the inconsistencies in Romney’s business career and the mystery surrounding his income. It seemed incapable of fighting back with a coherent and convincing argument that didn’t sound like the trumped-up utterances of desperation.

Romney’s simple line of attack has been replaced with a defense of confusing obfuscation.

He’s struggling to change the subject, by any means.

Romney’s first response to recent questions about his wealth was an odd one: he embraced victimization. He claimed to be a victim of Obama’s aggressive, out-of-control campaign. But whining is a sign of weakness. For Romney, it didn’t work out so well.

So now the Romney campaign appears to be planning to shake the Etch A Sketch again and this time draw an angry face.

Buzzfeed, quoting an unnamed Romney campaign adviser, reported Wednesday:

“I mean, this is a guy who admitted to cocaine use, had a sweetheart deal with his house in Chicago, and was associated and worked with Rod Blagojevich to get Valerie Jarrett appointed to the Senate,” the adviser said. “The bottom line is there’ll be counterattacks.”

The reference to Obama’s past drug use seems to suggest that former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu wasn’t going off-script after all when he dinged the president for spending “his early years in Hawaii smoking something” during a Tuesday morning Fox News appearance.

Returning fire with personal attacks on Obama offers both emotional satisfaction to Romney and many Republicans, and an answer of sorts to relentless Democratic attacks on Romney’s time as an executive.
But this is a tricky proposition for Romney and may just be the briar patch that Obama wants to be thrown into. While there are legitimate concerns about whether Romney has been upfront and transparent with voters, personal attacks on a personally popular president may very well backfire.

A May ABC News/Washington Post poll asked: Regardless of who you may support, who do you think has the better personal character to serve as president? Fifty-two percent said Obama; only 38 percent said Romney.

Conservative complaints notwithstanding, most of the personal issues about Obama have been explored and the electorate has made its peace with them. That’s in part because, in cases like the drug use, Obama made the admissions himself.

And Americans do not really seem to want to hold school behavior against candidates. The same ABC News/Washington Post found that three-quarters of Americans “say it’s unfair to bring up things a political candidate did in high school.”

That said, there is presumably a difference here between mistakes admitted and regretted versus those denied. Recall the allegations that young Mitt was a bully?

Buzzfeed’s Zeke Miller reported Wednesday that

Democrats are celebrating the Romney campaign’s stated plans to reintroduce President Barack Obama’s cocaine use as a campaign issue, calling it a sign of a flailing campaign.
And that strategy isn’t likely to alleviate the problem that Romney’s cleavage from Bain remains confusing, and a cloud of suspicion hangs over him as long as he refuses to release more income tax returns. And now that a chorus of prominent Republicans seems to have turned on him, the issues surrounding Romney’s finances have gained even more weight.

As Talking Points Memo put it Wednesday:

Enough Republicans have now called on Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns that it’s starting to become notable when a prominent Republican doesn’t urge the party’s nominee to reveal more information.
Whether a Mitt the Vicious will be more effective than Mitt the Victim at shifting attention away from the 1,500-pound dressage horse in the room remains to be seen.

Not sure if I posted here, but this is pretty much what I've been saying. Since Romney outright refuses to share any policy stances, the campaign turns solely to character where Obama dominates. The additional problem that Romney has in getting out of this mess is that his party isn't really prepared for their own tactics. Character-assassination worked well for the robot-squad of Gore and Kerry. But now that they have their own awkward Frankenstein, they are ill-equipped to shift the discussion to the key issues. Obama will beat Romney like Bush beat Kerry, if this campaign continues as so.

[DaShi]

No, it's not in his interest to give fodder to the Democrats. Even if he did nothing wrong, it changes the the topic of conversation, and it demonstrates how wealthy he is, which apparently to some people is a bad thing, for only God knows what reason.

The fodder is already there. The topic of conversation is already where Obama wants it. Unless the truth is worse than people's imaginations, Romney should just share it and move on.

[The Mad Monk]

Given the popular subject matter is Bain and its business model attempting to resuscitate distressed businesses ...

Yeah, it's pretty messed up. I've been on both ends of this particular stick, and while being on the "losing" end hurt, I could see that it was making industry stronger as a whole.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Aw, you haven't changed.

Obama still makes you rabid.

How many edits did it take for that witty reply?