Romney Surrogate John Sununu Channels Rush Limbaugh (UPDATED)
Once again whatever Rush wants, Rush gets. On his show yesterday, conservative talk show titan Rush Limbaugh angrily said Camp Romney needs to go after Obama on the college-age drug use Obama admitted to in a passage in his biography. So today Romney’s high profile surrogate John Sununu — yew guessed it! – raised the drug issue and also told reporters Obama needs to learn how to be an American.
“He has no idea how the American system functions,” Sununu said on Fox News Tuesday. “And we shouldn’t be surprised about that, because he spent his early years in Hawaii smoking something, spent … another set of years in Indonesia.”
In a brutal campaign conference call Tuesday organized by Mitt Romney’s campaign, several of the candidate’s surrogates went after President Obama with fiery attacks accusing him of socialism, and being un-American.
“I wish this president would learn how to be an American,” said former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu said toward the beginning of the call. Asked later to explain his comment, Sununu said he was referring to Obama’s economic philosophy, and apologized for not being clearer.
Some thoughts:
1. There are MANY independent voters (I know because I met a lot of them in my Sept through June national tour where I drove some 40,000 miles all over the country) who would vote for a thoughtful, serious, foward-looking, specificity offering Republican candidate for President. Clearly, the GOP is not offering one this year. Is it too late for a Romney course correction?
2. Calling Obama a Socialist, or suggesting he is not as American as someone registered as a Republican who loves Sean Hannity is — again — preaching to the choir. It will NOT win over a big chunk of independent voters and will, in fact, lose them.
3. It does smell of the Romney campaign trying to do something — anything — to move the media narrative off of Bain Capital and Romney’s tax returns.
4. Over the top rhetoric which is more suitable for a fill in host for Michael Savage is bound to alienate the chunk of the non-monolithic independent voters that are a)moderate Republicans who feel exiled by their party, b)conservative Republicans who are unhappy with talk radio and Tea Party influence in their party (center-right), c)independent voters who will not join a party due to the demonizing political polemics partisans indulge in d)centrist or more conservative Democrats who don’t like their party’s liberal wing.
5. Calling Obama in effect un-American and a former druggie is so over the top many editors and reporters will harden their feelings towards the Romney campaign since this will be coupled with the questions about Bain and Romney refusing to issue more tax returns.
6. It now neutralizes an issue that was lingering out there: Democratic suggestions that Romney committed a felony on the Bain matter — an unsupported charge that Democrats tip toed back because it was clear that had started to crystalize a new narrative of a ruthless, demonizing Obama campaign. That narrative will now wither due to this two-pronged Sununu festival (which will is now bound to be vomited up by other radio and cable talkers and partisan bloggers).
7. The youth vote is questionable in value (very unreliable in terms of realizing its potential) but going on about Obama smoking when he was college age won’t help the GOP’s image as a party of well-fed old guys among younger voters.
Rush will love it, Sean will love it and many bloggers will applaud it. And the Romney campaign will respond from the love sent their way by the powerful talkers and do more of the same.
But it’s going to turn off a chunk of voters.
P.S. Mr. Sununu: Did you get the news? Joe McCarthy died years ago.
UPDATE: Time’s solid Mark Halperin has a straight report on Sununu’s comments. He frames it this way:
In a Tuesday morning Romney campaign media conference call, the always quotable former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu hit the President hard on political cronyism — and talked taxes, Bain, jobs, campaign ads and more.
He offers a collection of quotes and most of them are good, tough surrogate type quotations.
He also gives this response from the Obama camp:
“The Romney campaign has officially gone off the deep end. The question is what else they’ll pull to avoid answering serious questions about Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital and investments in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts. This meltdown and over-the-top rhetoric won’t make things better — it only calls attention to how desperate they are to change the conversation.”
UPDATE II: This song really seems fitting in terms of Rush Limbaugh and many Republicans. All you’d have to do is change a few lyrics. Just imagine Rush Limbaugh singing this song (and doing this choreography):
UPDATE III: Ed Kilgore:
One of the prevailing assumptions about the presidential campaign has been that there would be a division of labor between the Romney campaign and the big conservative Super-PACs, whereby the former would promote some sort of “positive” message and the latter would savagely attack the president (much as Mitt’s Super-PACs did to his opponents during the primaries—or at least opponents not named “Ron Paul”)….
….Now even if you figure the Bain attacks are an existential threat to Team Mitt, and are appropriate for the campaign itself because they strike at the core of Romney’s Bain-centered “positive” message, this is pretty uninhibited stuff. And even if Sununu went off script (which is unlikely), you don’t put a guy like him out there unless you want some really hammer-headed talk. So the mystery remains: what kind of messaging might conceivably be off-limits to the campaign but not to the Super-PACs? The mind reels.
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Did anyone ever think a campaing could outdo Kerry for ineptness.
Everything Romney is being attacked by Obama came up in the primaries. They should have been ready.
The GOP has a knack for their ability to pick sure losers from a winner position and then run incompetent campaigns to go along with their chosen candidate.
Romney (and his advocates such as Mr. Sununu) judges a person’s qualifications to lead based on the depth of one’s wallet rather than the depth of one’s wisdom. He evaluates a person’s net worth based on the value of one’s portfolio rather than one’s value to their community.
And unlike many self-righteous conservatives, progressives do not believe that some political parties and regions of the nation are more “pro-America” than are others, and we do not wrap ourselves in the flag and indignantly proclaim that patriotism is an attribute exclusive to those who share our ideologies.
Below is a list of the GOP’s 2012 talking points (compiled from several sources), as elucidated by various conservative politicians and pundits:
- Corporations are people.
- Voting is a privilege, not a right.
- Federal workplace standards and business regulations are unAmerican.
- Women who use birth control are sluts.
- A chicken in every pot, and a spy-cam in every uterus.
- College students are snobs.
- Students who must obtain federal loans are unworthy of a college education.
- Public education is part of a left wing brainwashing conspiracy.
- Critical thinking leads to heretical and treasonous behavior.
- Gay Americans are an abomination.
- Poor people deserve to be poor.
- Union workers are socialist thugs.
- The unemployed are lazy parasites.
- Latinos are illegal until proven otherwise.
- Naturalized citizens with heavy accents are not true Americans.
- The Bible trumps the Constitution.
- America is a Christian nation.
- Secularism equals Satanism.
- Global warming is a hoax.
- Environmentalism is unpatriotic and an attack on the will of God.
- The U.S. auto industry should go bankrupt.
- Cutting taxes for the ultra-wealthy and subsidizing corporations is patriotic.
- Cutting taxes for the middle class and providing funding for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the Food Stamp program is unpatriotic.
- If you cannot afford to pay for your family’s health insurance coverage or preventative health care, then all of you are simply taking up oxygen and deserve to die anyway.
- All progressives are communists.
- Liberal Democrats hate America.
- Secession from the Union is the ultimate expression of patriotism.
- The U.S. President is a Muslim socialist agent from Kenya.
Politics has always been petty and dirty, but I would balk if Obama’s people decided to sink to the lows that have been achieved by Republicans. FactCheck.org has been steadily dissecting the claim that Romney remained at Bain in an executive role well after his purported resignation, but, the people at FactCheck suggest that it is, in fact, normal for an executive’s name to be on company documents even after leaving or retiring, so Obama’s credibility is also at stake.
One thing that is absolutely true, though, is that Romney could quickly put to rest questions about his business activities and whether solid ethics were part of the package. His refusal to do so, really does beg the question, “What is he hiding?” I wouldn’t doubt that,if sufficient taxes were examined, Romney would pass as another Gordon Greco, since he was also a practicing hedge fund manager.
It’s strange how many conservatives feel that the word “Capitalism” is the only accurate way to define Democracy. Many of them think the only issues with unregulated greed and Corporate mentality, is that the Executives on Wall Street need more and more power to maintain dominance–not a balance.
It’s a bit humorous to see, self righteous Republicans rage about the unfair and petty treatment of Romney–While completely rejecting the President’s objections to similar tactics and, then simultaneously approving manufactured scandals like the “birther” issue. If a Romney feels violated for making a valid issue of his tax records,not needing to become public knowledge,just imagine how Obama feels about being badgered and hounded to death about claims that he was not born in America! He finally provided both the short and long forms of his birth certificate, but, even this will not convince those who love conspiracy theories that it isn’t true!
Even though campaign strategies often sink to low levels of implied scandal and outright lies, I hope (outspent) Democrats will not be tempted to sell their souls to combat Karl Rove in a fire to fire battle. During the 2008 campaign I was very disappointed about the the lows that John McCain allowed to be part of his campaign. I never vote Republican, but, had previously admired McCain’s forthright comments about many issues–he is just beginning to redeem himself by criticizing the Citizen’s United Ruling of the Supreme Court.
Democrats need to come out swinging but, do not need to hit below the belt or use brass knuckles, especially if voter’s become aware that they are the ones following the higher road.
I do agree that because of his secretive manner about releasing his tax statements, Romney is only getting what he deserves. Still, Democrats, although not flawless, have suffered much criticize that they DON’T deserve. I hope the American People will eventually become aware of that injustice!
John Sununu: Rush Limbaugh, but without the sex appeal.
Jesus Peter, what a thought. Lol
“P.S. Mr. Sununu: Did you get the news? Joe McCarthy died years ago.” – J.G.
Died but not forgotten – and still revered by that rightwing faction whose primary contribution to political discussion is venom and lies.
PP
I’m not sure. Sununu has one wife and eight children and Rush has had multiple wives and no children. Which indicates more sex appeal?
Well folks the reality is one of the candidates was a bully in high school and the other was a pothead. Either both of their youthful mistakes are fair game or neither of them. You can’t pretend the Romney haircut story is relevant then act shocked when Obama’s drug use comes up.
I guess the difference is one was honest about his past and the other wasn’t? Does that count? One was experimenting with pot and one was a bully. Does that make a difference?
Youthful indescretions aside, and they should be aside, which has the character you would want in a President. That’s who you should vote for. Character traits are becoming clearer all the time.
The criticism of Romney went well beyond his not admitting to the episode. The inference was that the bullying incident was a reflection of his basic personality, just as someone might say Obama’s pot use reflected his personality. Of course neither man should be defined by their actions as teenagers.
“one of the candidates was a bully in high school and the other was a pothead”
Needless to say, hippies are always fair game for the rabid right. Pot smoking in HS is usually a phase, whereas bullying is usually carried on to greater heights post graduation. Just sayin..
Uh, about 70% of today’s teenagers smoke pot– should that prohibit them from going into politics as an adult??
And yes the bullying story came out — but no Democratic surrogate is mounting a campaign based on it.
They are REALLY desperate with this attack
Only Democrats have substance abuse issues. Limpbaugh and Bush 43 never abused chemicals…
People are giving Sununu way too much credit if they think his comments are going to have a significant impact on the campaign either way. He may be part of a larger effort to take the gloves off though.
For the sake of discussion and noting that Sununu put this very badly, the American economic spirit that Sununu is referring to is the traditional self-reliant, entrepreneurial, rugged individualist, Protestant work ethic/karma viewpoint. Conservatives seem to value that view more than liberals, who tend towards a more group-oriented approach. A lot of conservatives and libertarians will agree with the basic point Sununu was trying to make. Where he was foolish was in dragging in the Indonesia and pot-smoking aspects. which are irrelevant. If he would have said Obama had little practical business experience and left it at that it would hard to argue otherwise.
That traditional view still informs those who would find its success difficult in the modern world’s complexity. The frontier is long gone and any large degree of success today depends on understanding that new complexity. It’s the same misunderstanding that was prevelant, that rags to riches meme, when it was first expounded. Transportation, or now the internet, is the key to any success beyond one’s village and always has been. And the railroad barons are long gone as is the importance of their empire due to the oil barons rise to power and influence.