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Subscribe to RSSRon Fournier on “how and why the Romney campaign is playing the race card”: After opening with a powerful anecdote with a Detroit firefighter, he writes, “Working-class whites, in other words, are already more prosperous and secure than working-class minorities, but they’re less optimistic because they don’t believe they’re climbing anymore. They’re simply trying to hold on to what they’ve got, and see others grabbing at it. Thanks to Romney, they see minorities grabbing at their way of life every day and all day in the inaccurate welfare ad. It opens with a picture of Bill Clinton (a man obsessed with Macomb County and Reagan Democrats) signing the 1996 welfare reform act, which shifted the benefits from indefinite government assistance to one pushing people into employment and self-reliance.”
More: “Why ignore fact-checkers? First, internal GOP polling and focus groups offer convincing evidence that the welfare ad is hurting Obama. Second, the welfare issue, generally speaking, triggers anger in white blue-collar voters that is easily directed toward Democrats. This information comes from senior GOP strategists who have worked both for President Bush and Romney. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution. Furthermore, a senior GOP pollster said he has shared with the Romney camp surveys showing that white working-class voters who backed Obama in 2008 have moved to Romney in recent weeks ‘almost certainly because of the welfare ad. We’re talking a (percentage) point or two, but that could be significant.’”
He concludes: “That ad is exploiting the worst instincts of white voters – as predicted and substantiated by the Republican Party’s own polling. That leaves one inescapable conclusion: The Romney campaign is either recklessly ignorant of the facts, some of which they possess – or it is lying about why (and how) it is playing the race card.”
McKay Coppins: “In its first sustained and organized attempt to woo Hispanic outreach this election cycle, the Romney campaign is preparing a major post-convention blitz aimed at wooing Latinos in Florida. … The effort will include a dramatic increase in Spanish-language ad spending, an aggressive bilingual mail program geared toward early voter turnout, and an ambitious ground game led by 13 full-time field staffers dedicated solely to courting Hispanics — more, the aide claimed, than ‘any other Republican presidential campaign in history.’ The stakes are high: Swings of a few percentage points among Hispanic voters in Florida, as in other crucial states, could easily swing the election.”
The reason for doing this is obvious. According to the NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll, Romney was down nearly 40 points with Hispanic voters. Further, in Florida, Obama won Florida because of Hispanics, more so than any other group, be it African Americans or young voters. In 2004, George W. Bush won Latinos in Florida. In 2008, Obama won them. It was a 27-point reversal, a larger swing than with any other group. If Romney can’t cut into that margin, he’s going to have a hard time winning, especially in a place like Florida.
Political Wire clips: “Mitt Romney helped secure a federal bailout to keep Bain & Company from collapsing, according to government documents obtained by Rolling Stone. ‘Even worse, the federal bailout ultimately engineered by Romney screwed the FDIC - the bank insurance system backed by taxpayers - out of at least $10 million. And in an added insult, Romney rewarded top executives at Bain with hefty bonuses at the very moment that he was demanding his handout from the feds.’”
There’s a headline the Romney people didn’t want: “Jane Romney: My Brother Won't Ban Abortion.” “A ban on abortion is ‘never going to happen’ under a Romney administration, Jane Romney said. ‘Women would take to the streets. Women fought for our choice, we’re not going to go back,’” she told National Journal.
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Why is this buried in an article titled, "Romney: The Race Card." I've read comments from Republicans who just don't see any racism in anything the GOP does these days. Okay, fine! Mr. Romney was in the business of piling on debt - is that what you want in the White House? Read the Rolling Stone article - it'll make you take a closer look at Romney's business acumen.
I don't believe that Republicans in general are any more or less racist than Democrats or Independants. Their policies hurt people of all races and faiths. Rather than saying they are racist it is more accurate to say that they hate poor and elderly people. If most of the poor people happen to be people of color that is too bad. Incidently there are more white people on welfare than there are people of color. Also the welfare to work only is effective when there is work available. When jobs, normally available for many of those who are currently on welfare, have been sent off shore to India, China, The Philippines, Viet Nam and so forth, the problem is exaserbated and the welfare rolls stay high and states ask for flexibility on the work to welfare law so they can extend welfare until the job creators create jobs. We have been told that trickle down (voodoo) economics will create jobs because the job creators pay less taxes and therefore can afford to hire more people. Well that is sort of true when we factor in the fact that those hired are not in the US.
Unfortunately the once grand old party has been hyjacked by extremists. These Fascist wannabes have taken control of the Republican party and nearly killed what was once a party one could believe in and support.
Democrat policies hurt EVERYONE!! A bankrupt America certainly isn't going to help anyone. And Democrats play the race card because they believe people of color are too stupid to know they are being bamboozled. Seeing how they keep electing Democrats, I guess they are. Charlie Rangel has them fooled in Harlem. Democrats love dependent morons.
Kenva, That is true a bankrupt America can't help anyone, however the republicans are the ones that did the bankrupting. (You know, 2 wars, 2 tax cuts, No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D---All of which were unfunded).
No democrats do not love dependent morons, they believe everyone should have an equal chance to achieve all they can---unlike republicans who believe only the rich are entitled to thinks like healthcare and a good education.
Rolling Stones magazine as a news source? lol
Calling one party racist, lazy, extremist etc is pretty short sighted in my opinion. I'll grant you that most people probably vote R or D and thats all. With former President Bush and President Obama it really looks to me like both parties are doing the same thing just in a different format. Since one can use a R and the other a D you get a bunch of people pointing the finger at other people.
As an example lets just use the deficit. Bush borrowed 5 trillion (roughly) that we didn't have. Obama borrowed an additional 5 trillion (roughly) that we still don't have. Who's right in this case? Well my answer is they are both wrong.
It's too bad we don't actually have any leadership in DC (Congress, Senate and the White House). If you want to keep saying one party is doing great and the other is wrong keep being fooled by those that are supposed to represent us. They have not done that this century. All of them.
You're damn right women would take to the streets Jane!
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much
to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down
there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again
CHORUS
Oh
yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But
look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong
(strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
You can bend but
never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve
my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any
longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my
soul
CHORUS
I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to
toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an
embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother
understand
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've
paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face
anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am
woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
FADE
I am
woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman
Hey Mitt: while you want to play the race card, just keep in mind that there are more whites on welfare than anyone else, count that, and while you're at it, if you weren't outsourcing jobs ppl would not be on welfare, for everyone on welfare do not want to be there, but it is ppl like you (outsourcer) who make ppl need assistant, plus if everyone that is on welfare wanted to get off would you have a job for them????