When they talk about a “happy warrior” in politics, the video below will be one that will be shown for many years. President Barack Obama and Democratic bigwigs seem unable to figure out how to communicate Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s abrupt swerve to the center starting with Romney’s monster debate win over President Barack Obama last week. (In fact, if you read the book “The Real Romney” its clear Romney has in the past changed his positions on a dime before and insisted he hadn’t changed them. Didn’t Obama’s advisers read that book?).
Former President Bill Clinton has figured out how to communicate it: use politically pointed ridicule that contains political truths (all documented in “The Real Romney,” or by doing a search of Romney’s positions on issues on Google or You Tube). This clip of Clinton talking about Romney in Florida is as good or better than the clips shown of FDR ridiculing his opposition. Much can be said in fact based humor:
Here’s one FDR riff that could be applied to Romney’s assertions in the debate:
Here’s another FDR riff from 1945, when a clearly ailing FDR used humor to go after GOPers:
One of the most fascinating issues in this campaign is how movement conservatives have limited the political leeway of the national tiecket. If the GOP loses it’s because they would not allow Romney to move to the center earlier and embrace some of his term as Massachusetts Governor (as “The Real Romney” documents, once Romney decided he was going to run for President he jettisoned some positions with almost as breathtaking speed as he seemingly did in the debate: anyone who doubts it, go to You Tube and find one of the GOP primary debates and you’ll hear a totally different Romney). Now they’re letting Romney move the center. If they had let him do it earlier, his prospects would be greater.
All during the primary season conservative talkers and new and old media conservatives thumped their chests and insisted this year there had to be a REAL conservative who without any apologies would advance and argue conservative positions — not backtrack into the kind of mee-too-ism that conservatives feel GOP nominees have done over the years. They suggested there was nothing to be ashamed of when it came to conservative ideas and stands and that Americans wanted their positions.
Now Romney has adjusted his articulated positions (not necessarily policies) more towards the center (which is where Time’s Mark Halperin has suggested the real Romney is and the book “The Real Romney” suggests Romney’s heart may be).
At times during last week’s debate, Romney sounded like Arlen Specter.
But not a peep from conservatives, by and large.
For conservatives, it all comes now down to what Charlie Sheen said — principles and ratings-gaining chest-thumping about needing a real conservative be damned:
Yep. It fits.
Not that there’s anything wrong with expediency and tossing your principles away to try and win.
That’s American politics.
But recognize it for what it is, and kindly spare everyone the high sounding talk and writings about unflinching principles that will be litigated after being proudly, unapologetically laid out to voters and proven to have wide appeal.
The attempt now is to soft-pedal real policy plans in order to win more support from specific groups needed to win, rather than fully reveal and whole-heartedly embrace the kinds of principles championed in the Republican primary debates and in the Republican Party platform. A win won’t be a win for these ideas; it will be a win for successfully blurring general and specific policy intent.
UPDATE: But in pure political terms, no matter how it is analyzed, whatever Mr. Romney is doing is politically working. Read Nate Silver — who keeps adjusting his forecasts more and more to greater chances of a Romney win.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.