the most important election of your lifetime: 2012 american general election thread

I can't release my tax returns, it will just give Obama more ammunition against me!

lol

honestly it almost doesn't matter what the details are, the more Romney talks about his money (and accompanying arcane financial matters that us poors can't even begin to comprehend) the deeper hole he digs himself

love the implication: "look, if i hadn't done anything wrong, i'd release them right away, no problem!"

I think he's getting some mileage from the "Obama doesn't really want people to be rich, look at how he demonizes me. You all want to be rich, so he hates you too. And America"

the more Romney talks about his money (and accompanying arcane financial matters that us poors can't even begin to comprehend) the deeper hole he digs himself

Yeah, one problem he has is that actually explaining what the hell he did for all that money -- even if you think it's the greatest thing in the world -- is pretty complicated. Whereas "He sucked companies dry like a vampire" has a nice simplicity.

all of it, really. oh, you retired in 1999 but were still getting paid more than nearly everyone in america for doing . . . nothing? oh, your 'blind' trust 'invested' $10m in your son's new venture?

having that much money attracts even more money from everywhere, which is just not an experience most americans have, whether they think they're soon to be the 1% or not.

it attracts only pennies, can barely bootstrap a business with $10m these days

"We've always encouraged young people – take a shot, go for it, take a risk and get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business."

god bless u tagg

unbelievable

He added: "The world of finance is not as simple as some would have you believe."

"We've always encouraged young people – take a shot, go for it, take a risk and get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business."

this remark is a really special gift imo

isn't that 3 months old? fresh copy, people.

The tax issue has been put to rest by Charles Krauthammer: "I believe in the honor of John McCain. He looked at them, he said they were okay, that's enough for me."

release the danged taxes!

omg @ "John McCain served this country. If you don't take his word about Romney's taxes you hate America"

please let this line work, we need a McCain interlude

"John McCain had his team look at Mitt Romney's tax records, and then chose Sarah Palin"

no, nothing to worry about there

hahahahaha

It is for public safety that he hasn't released the records, anyone attempting to fit their head around the arcane measures* within is subject to temporary insanity for a week afterwards.

* including but not limited to One Weird Trick.

my god the Corner comments on the post to Krauthammer's wisdom...

it's like October '08 again.

does any thinking person doubt the Obama camp has those records already. They can just go ahead an release them themselves.

Guys, Obama is the president, I'm sure he just had Romney's returns sent over, that's what presidents can do.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/how-the-romney-campaign-decided-to-take-the-gloves

I saw W. Post columnist (and former Bush sppechwriter) Michael Gerson on Face the Nation Sunday express shock that that the Obama campaign (with the might be a felony line) could be so vicious, and more Republicans do the same here, and are now vowing revenge via attacks on Obama's younger years experimenting with substances you can inhale. It's amazing how they pretend that swiftboating never happened and that Karl Rove is out there today doing nasty stuff and the late Lee Atwater did so for years.

Indeed, facing what the candidate and his aides believe to be a series of surprisingly ruthless, unfounded, and unfair attacks from the Obama campaign on Romney's finances and business record, the Republican's campaign is now prepared to go eye for an eye in an intense, no-holds-barred act of political reprisal, said two Romney advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity. In the next chapter of Boston's pushback — which began last week when they began labeling Obama a "liar" — very little will be off-limits, from the president's youthful drug habit, to his ties to disgraced Chicago politicians.

"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. It has so far failed, however, to quiet the growing, bipartisan chorus of voices demanding Romney release more of his personal tax returns. Obama campaign officials privately admit that the Republican has, at times, been effective in beating down attacks on his business record — but they've yet to see a way out on the tax issue.

David Brooks, moist towel:

Romney is going to have to define a vision of modern capitalism. He’s going to have to separate his vision from the scandals and excesses we’ve seen over the last few years. He needs to define the kind of capitalist he is and why the country needs his virtues.

Let’s face it, he’s not a heroic entrepreneur. He’s an efficiency expert. It has been the business of his life to take companies that were mediocre and sclerotic and try to make them efficient and dynamic. It has been his job to be the corporate version of a personal trainer: take people who are puffy and self-indulgent and whip them into shape.

Let’s face it, he’s not a heroic entrepreneur. He’s an efficiency expert.

There's the slogan they've been looking for.

Can you feel the erotic charge? Take people who are puffy and self-indulgent and whip them into shape.

maybe mitt romney can finally be the leader who sells the country on efficiency!

vote romney 2012 ya'll

take people who are puffy and self-indulgent

http://www.charlierose.com/images_toplevel/content/11/1152/segment_11522_460x345.jpg

a, the v-word. can't wait!

sorry, from the buzzfeed piece: the king of all conservative memes these past 4 years

"But I think the governor himself believes this latest round of attacks that have impugned his integrity and accused him of being a felon go so far beyond that pale that he's really disappointed. He believes it's time to vet the president. He really hasn't been vetted; McCain didn't do it."

I think he's getting some mileage from the "Obama doesn't really want people to be rich, look at how he demonizes me. You all want to be rich, so he hates you too. And America"

Romney's obv getting the worst of it right now (lol), but this is otm i think. Obama's quote last week, however decontextualized, re entrpreneurs - "you didn't build this yourself" - definitely seems to have people in a huff. it's more hostile, and potentially much more detrimental than his "share the wealth" line to Joseph the Plumber in '08, imo. like i totally get what he's driving at, and in the proper context it's not nearly as bad as the oppo is making it sound. but this dude really needs to be smarter with his phrasing.

"efficient and dynamic" = higher profit margins, right?

We're a nation of rugged individualists who did this all on our own.

S.E. Cupp on some MSNBC thing called The Cycle (??) editorialized yesterday about Obama's "you didn't build it yourself" speech and how that meant he was going to push us towards collectivization, and then she folded in an Ayn Rand quote about how collectivation is bad and so Obama wants to destroy the American Dream.

No one helped me do well in public school, graduate from a state university, or get a job with a reasonable salary at a large corporation. I did all these things on my own. My personal effort is responsible for every dollar I make.

"No one helped me do well in public school, graduate from a state university, or get a job with a reasonable salary at a large corporation. I did all these things on my own. My personal effort is responsible for every dollar I make."

Huh huh, you said "state university." And "public school." And "large corporation." And then you said, "all these things on my own." Heh heh heh.

it just sounds *off*. the point (which is EXTREMELY important, now so more than ever) is lost in the antagonistic quality of the language

xxposts

He believes it's time to vet the president. He really hasn't been vetted.

I listen, dumbfounded, to Hannity whenever I can pick him up in the car, and last night he was going on about Obama's mentor back in Hawaii, Frank Marshall Davis. I don't remember hearing about this guy in '08, so maybe he'll be this year's Wright/Ayers/Alinsky.

Obama better not back away from his statement, man. The time is way overdue to fight back rhetorically against this Randist fairy tale. You can't actually accomplish anything in government so long as you allow it to stand unchallenged.

Did you just beavis and butthead my admittedly-weak and unnecessary post by quoting the whole thing?

lol mh certainly not my intention.

The time is way overdue to fight back rhetorically against this Randist fairy tale.

agreed. but it can be done without implicitly making an "example" of everyone who's ever owned a bbq shop. idk. maybe i'm making too much of this. or maybe i need to stop trolling local political msg boards.

I don't think it's wrong to say that like many of us Obama stumbles when asked to explain how a business works.

but I don't employ speechwriters

what do you mean?

from what i can tell dude clumsily jacked that elizabeth warren gif that floated around a while back

nah, I was referring to Vic Perry

Alfred means that his speechwriters work pro-bono

though if the best ammunition they have is an out-of-context line and some deleted scenes concerning hippies obama knew from the 2008 campaign, RELEASE THE DANGED TAXES

By now Obama, long accustomed to accusations of socialist revamping of the American free enterprise system, should be able to dismiss the idea that one creates a small business – any business – in a vacuum free of loans, tax breaks, etc. Like will, I didn't like the way his remark came out the other day either.

And now, an interlude for some LOLs from the Ohio Senate race:

An eagle-eyed conservative blogger recently spotted a photograph of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) looking cozy with a woman. And not just any woman -- a journalist, in fact.

The blogger, sensing scandal, then contacted the journalist, Connie Schultz, and asked her why she was hugging this elected official she is supposed to cover.

The only problem in this blogger's story? Schultz is married to the senator.

Schultz runs an active Facebook feed and on Tuesday, she put up an email exchange she had with a conservative blogger who was "doing an expose on journalists in the elite media who socialize with elected officials they are assigned to cover."

Schultz replied to the blogger that not only does she often hug Brown, she kisses him too. The exchange can be seen below. A source in Ohio confirmed the authenticity of the exchange to The Huffington Post.

Schultz is a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist who was based at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In September 2011, Schultz stepped down from her position at the paper, citing a conflict of interest while Brown was seeking reelection.

Schultz's email exchange:

Email from conservative blogger, dated July 9, 2012:

Dear Ms. Shultz,

We are doing an expose on journalists in the elite media who socialize with elected officials they are assigned to cover. We have found numerous photos of you with Sen. Sherrod Brown. In one of them, you appear to be hugging him.

Care to comment?

-----------------------

Response, dated July 10, 2012:

Dear Mr. [Name Deleted]:

I am surprised you did not find a photo of me kissing U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown so hard he passes out from lack of oxygen. He's really cute.

He's also my husband.

You know that, right?

Connie Schultz.

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July 17: Waiting, I'm waiting....