It’s official. Mitt Romney is skipping the controversial GOP debate moderated by Donald Trump later this month in Des Moines.
Romney announced on Fox News this afternoon that he will not be participating, saying he told Trump in a call today that he’s already agreed to two other debates in Iowa in December.
“The rest of the month is going to be spent campaigning, doing the political work you’ve got to do to get the support of political people in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida. So we’ll be hitting the trail,” Romney said.
Trump apparently greeted the rejection with graciousness. “He understood my perspective and wished me well,” Romney said.
In the next year you will rarely hear me give Romney any credit for his decision making, but THIS was a smart choice. It is also an illustration that he is a serous candidate and not in this thing to sell books like Herman Cain, nor increase his speaking fees like Newt Gingrich.
By the way, despite Romney's portrayal of Trump's response to his decision as gracious, in fact Trump was anything but.
“It would seem logical to me that if I was substantially behind in the polls, especially in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida, I would be participating in the debate. But I can also understand why Gov. Romney decided not to do it,” Trump said in a statement released by his office.
Romney is smart to stay well clear of this megalomaniac, and his sideshow approach to politics.
So thus far we have Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney showing some Presidential credibility. Unfortunately for the GOP none of them have a snowball's chance in hell against President Obama.
Update: This from Norah O'Donnell's Twitter account:
MT @SarahB_CBSNJ: Gingrich on CNBC: I helped make Romney rich. He shld be thanking me bc I did economic things that made his career possible
Jesus, the word "arrogant" does not even BEGIN to describe this asswipe.
I am beginning to think that in the end Trump might do even more harm to the Republican party than even the Teabaggers have managed to do.
What's next from Trump Enterprises? New Reality Shows? Game Shows? Let's tune in for:
ReplyDelete"Who Wants To Be A President?"
"Name That Speech!"
"The Debating Game"
"Celebrity Politician"
"Wheel Of Shame"
"The Amazing Race~GOP-ers"
"America's Got No Talent"
"Are You Smarter Than A Teabagger?"
"Last Conservative Standing"
"The Biggest Loser~Debate Edition"
...or "Jackass" (oh wait, that's been done)
Chris Matthew's had a nice commentary on this in his Let Me Finish segment.
ReplyDeleteAT least give Palin credit she kept the running for POTUS scam churning up the bucks a whole lot longer than her boy Herb.
ReplyDeleteAgree w/you that it's a smart move on Mitten's part. Trump is in Newt's pocket. The Donald as a moderator is beyond belief. I'm get fat from all this popcorn :)
ReplyDelete"Unfortunately for the GOP none of them have a snowball's chance in hell against President Obama."
ReplyDeleteActually, that should probably be: Fortunately for the GOP....
Because if they had a winning candidate who actually did what they wanted there would a revolt to end all revolts. My 8th greatgrandpa was hanged, at 106 y/o, from a tree because during the Revolutionary War he was on the "wrong" side.....good lesson for us all to think long and hard and these people (GOP witless wonders) are about to get a hard comeuppance if they don't get a clue.
Of course, it took Willard a few days to decide he was serious about running for president. Jon Huntsman, and Ron Paul declined Donald Trump's invitation right away.
ReplyDeleteGingrich is a repugnant POS.
ReplyDeleteMitt should be thanking him?! (I can't stand Mitt either),
but he's just disgusting and cowardly.
Its true, Gingrich will scum his way out of the nomination. He is truly vile.
Well Romney may have done himself some good by skipping this bullshit debate but make no mistake he is a horses ass also.We do not want this man in the white house.Obama 2012.
ReplyDeleteAre the Republicans into this arrogant talk? Is thus why NewT pulls this megalomaniac BS? The GOZp is full o'sheep and they just may back him. They left their oratory skills under Sarah Palin's bus and they are into tawkin' tuff. They may vote for this idiot whose gift is not public speaking as it once was, nor is it diplomacy. Is it early onset Alzheimers?
ReplyDeleteI'm not impressed. There's nothing smart about what Mitt Romney did. It's a no-brainer, really. He's just doing what he always does: hiding to avoid negative headlines, or any scrutiny. Showing up at this debate would have just given him more negative coverage, after the bad week he has just had. Yet, earlier, he was meeting with Donald Trump to get his stamp of approval.
ReplyDeleteThe coward already ducked a one-on-one debate with Newt Gingrich. He's already trying to do damage control because of the negative media coverage that followed after his "disaterous" Fake News interview, and stories about his campaign staff trying to keep reporters away from him.
Mitt Romney may have said NO to Donald Trump, but I bet he wouldn't say NO to Rush Limbaugh.
Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich epitomize everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. Their culturally tone deaf rhetoric puts the arrogance of the GOP on display for the world to see. It's as if the Republican Party is hell bent on self destruction and nobody can stop them. They've been in lockstep for so long that the lemmings are just going to follow each other off the cliff.
ReplyDeleteSince his debaters are dropping like flies is it really going to be Newt, the two Rick's and Shellie? Why not call the queen and see if she'll fly on down from AK for a surprise guest spot? Then they can all sit around a nice fireplace in leather arm chairs and bash POTUS while they wait for the Donald to anoint one of them or declare himself the candidate.
ReplyDeleteHow special that would be.
I think Trump thinks he's a Rush Limbaugh. This debate will be a joke. Trump's and Newt's gigantic egos will leave no room for dummies Bachman and Santorum to actually debate. Bachman and Santorum would be smart (lol) to drop out. Then Newt and Trump could talk about how great they are by themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhatever, Romney is just another moron "running" for office. Until either side gives a just and sane candidate choice then I'll not vote for any of them.
ReplyDeletePalin has probably already called Trump to ask if she could be an 'alternate' so the stage wouldn't be so empty. She would even help MB pour water and lint check the guys.
ReplyDeleteThis whole silly GOP/TP roster must have her frustrated as hell. After all she's just as nutsy and uninformed as the lot of them and would fit right in.
What's the allure with The Donald? I don't get it. Yeah, Romney made a good decision by saying no, but he kissed Donalds ass whild doing it.
ReplyDeleteHuntsman, on fox news, straight out of the gate, said No, I'm not going to kiss Donald's ring, or any other part of his anatomy.
Even Rove lambasted toupee man.
Funny, there's crickets chirping with Sarah, afterall SHE got free pizza and got to run her claws through that polyester mess on Donald's head before anyone else.
It's a sad time to be a Republican, but hey, they can fix that, and switch to a sane party, as President Obama's speech so eloquently pointed out.
I've been skeptical that the GOP race has been fueled by a voracious gossip-driven media, but now I'm beginning to think that the 2012 election could be historically chaotic.
ReplyDeleteTweet from @WestWingReport:
Tidbit: Newt Gingrich could be the only person to resign from leading one branch of the U.S. govt. - and then seek to lead another branch
Re: this article:
http://decoded.nationaljournal.com/2011/12/newts-reach.php
Tweet from @Ron_Fournier:
Brownstein: Romney's gotta be worried about these Newt numbers
Tweet from @EzraKlein:
"As of today, at least, Gingrich is positioned to compete in a broader range of states than Romney."
Tweet URLs:
http://twitter.com/#!/WestWingReport/status/144255189002629120
http://twitter.com/#!/ron_fournier/status/144175869114585089
http://twitter.com/#!/ezraklein/status/144198847281889280
Also too don't insult asswipes by comparing them to The Newt. The Newt and The Donald, what a pair of douchebags.
ReplyDeleteThe gop should be careful what they wish for. They are backing ANYONE to beat Pres. Obama. They would back the devil himself. They hate him and his elitism, but they conveniently forget his criminal record when it comes to getting the non-white from the highest office in the land. Some of the crazies even think that there will be no election by order of the president in 2016 if Obama wins. And a percentage of those think there will be no America.
ReplyDeleteThese are voting citizens. gahhh
I don't care if you have a problem with President Obama (and I sure don't) GET OUT AND VOTE. The alternative is an unthinkable regression for this country.
Anon 7:30
ReplyDeleteWhat?
Criminal record?
WTF?
Who does Donald Trump think he is?
ReplyDeleteThere are people in this world far richer than he, if that is the parameter we are using.
He is an obnoxious loudmouth, a legend in his own mind. As is Rush Limbaugh.
Frankly Mitt Romney's campaign made the right call. No candidate should be associated with him. Sarah paid his highness a visit and look what happened. Now Newt? They insist on feeding the ego of this guy, and for what? Does he believe he's a kingmaker or something?
According to Forbes, there are 127 Americans who are wealthier than Donald Trump. Internationally, he ranks 420th. So what's the deal here? Why does he think he is the Pope of the Republican Party, and everyone should kiss his ring? He's not even the wealthiest among American entertainers.
He needs to go away and be quiet.
He is P.T. Barnum and he wants publicity - nothing more and nothing less. He's attempting to build his brand by associating himself with the presidential election, and these candidates are too stupid to realize he is using them to make money.
Except, apparently, Mitt. Ironic.
So what is it with the republican party, do you think?
ReplyDeleteDo you think it's more they've sold their souls to the monied interests?
Or do you think it's more they've lost their collective minds because we had the temerity to elect a man of mixed race (to them, according to the "even one drop" idea, he's black) to the White House?
One or the other or both, what's the difference?
They've lost their minds.
Hubris, thy name is Newt.
ReplyDeleteBTW, off topic, but this blog link has been posted here before, whose is it?
http://sarahpalinandcommondecency.wordpress.com/
Sarah's, Bristol's? Some sycophant who has access to the Palin family snapshots?
O/T
ReplyDeleteSarah is going to be on Hannity tomorrow. Wonder what she will talking about? With Shailey hopefully getting her laptop and phone back Friday we might be in for a "tale" spin.
Alicat
LOL so let me get this straight...
ReplyDeleteMitt's major negative (besides being a stepford human) is that he made himself rich in an amoral fashion by buying up failing companies, firing people until they looked profitable on paper and then selling them off to other poor suckers before they collapsed.
Now Newt is taking credit for making it possible for Mittens to do this? I thought Newt was supposed to be "smart"?
How about if we just don't have any more presidents? Let's just eliminate the top two jobs and reassign the work to some other salaried people that were hired, rather than elected.
ReplyDeleteBelgium has already proven that nothing happens when you don't have a head of government for 18 months.
They were trying the American model, but everybody started going broke:
"Elections in June 2010 yielded a power struggle between the richer Dutch and industrially depressed French region, a stalemate that was only broken when a cut in Belgium’s credit rating and surging borrowing costs forced the feuding political elite to compromise." --Taiwanese enews
"The prime minister, 12 ministers and six state-secretaries were sworn in by King Albert II at the Royal Palace today, bringing to an end a record 541 days without a federal government.
It took eight rounds of negotiations between political parties to reach an agreement on forming a new government.
The government faces two main tasks. One is to reduce its budget deficit and get its debt level under control." --European Voice
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2011/december/belgian-government-sworn-in/72858.aspx
...and as always, American news isn't covering this...we just wanna know if there's Britney Spears shenanigans, and who our president slept with.
Donald Trump hosting a debate sounds absurd to me. Trump may surprise us. I fear the country has gone celebrity crazy.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on with Newtie? You are right, arrogant does not even to begin to describe this guy.
ReplyDeleteHe makes a statement that he helped make Rommney rich?
Does he think that will appeal to voters? That he helped make a rich man richer?
Doesn't that make him the ultimate inside the beltway politician? A republican making another republican richer?
He also shutdown the government which did not make the rest of us richer or help us any!
he continues making statements like that and he will sink his own campaign.
He has NO concept about how most Americans live or struggle to survive. He may have grown up middle class, but he has forgotten his past.
Big Juicy for President: Go Broad Go.
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Todd Palin, are you still screwing around with those hookers? Don't get mad at me, your wife told us to ask you.
Ratings must be down for T rump's show, so he has to find another idea to keep himself in the news. There are some GREAT photos of him with Gingrich, by the way. They have as many chins as they have ex wives. Limbaugh should join them, he has had 3 wives. Here is a show for Trump "How having money can BUY you a wife, even when you are butt ugly" Even the money has not managed to keep most of the wives around, though.
ReplyDeleteAnon: 7:30 P.M. Your post is psycho. Are you in a mental institution?
ReplyDeleteTo Angela 8:20P.M.
ReplyDeleteObviously Anon 7:30 P.M. is some nut
Here's a remarkably adept portrayal of Donald Trump... but be warned, you should pee, and push your coffee out of the way prior to clicking play. Mock the Dummy is one of my bookmarked favorites.
ReplyDeleteTrump is an enormous joke, and while I agree that the current crop of candidates is a running joke as well, Romney at least displays some foresight in declining the invitation. I may watch it solely for its high comedic value, though. That all said...
Please enjoy.
http://mockthedummy.com/2011/04/13/when-dummies-forget-why-they-have-handlers/
@7:30 PM...Hello? What are you talking about President Obama's criminal record...blah, blah, blah?
ReplyDelete