Some of you might have seen the rather devastating ad from a pro-Obama SuperPAC below, but I doubt you could have predicted that it would so effectively lay a trap for the Romney campaign.
Looking for a response, Fox News invited Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul on the air to discuss the campaign's rebuttal. This, according to the Washington Post, was the result:
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul, responding to a harsh new super PAC ad featuring a man who blames Bain Capital for his uninsured wife’s death, broke new ground for the campaign by praising Romney’s health insurance mandate.
“To that point, if people had been in Massachusetts, under Gov. Romney’s health care plan, they would have had health care,” Saul said on Fox News. “There are a lot of people losing their jobs and losing their health care in President Obama’s economy.” (These comments are around the 2-minute mark in the video above.)
Similarly, at an event in Iowa today, Romney seemed to suggest his bill qualifies him to tackle reforming Obama’s bill: “We’ve got to do some reforms in health care, and I have some experience doing that as you know, and I know how to make a better setting than the one we have in health care.”
It’s a very novel strategy. And it’s fraught with danger.
Obama’s health-care law remains perhaps the biggest arrow in the GOP’s 2012 election quiver, because it so motivates the GOP base against the president.
Romney has been criticized for enacting a very similar law in Massachusetts. He was largely able to finesse the issue in the primary season and gather conservatives to his side for the general election. But there remain some concerns that his own health-care law may make it harder for him to prosecute the case against Obama’s law.
Top conservatives, including radio host Rush Limbaugh, were quick to criticize the move.
“Andrea Saul’s appearance on Fox was a potential gold mine for Obama supporters,” Limbaugh said. “They can say, ‘Romneycare was the basis for our health care.’”
RedState.com editor Erick Erickson agreed: “OMG. This might just be the moment Mitt Romney lost the election. Wow,” he tweeted . He added on his blog that this might be the moment of Romney’s “Read My Lips” betrayal of his right-wing supporters.
You want to hear something funny? I actually decided NOT to post the ad on this blog when it first came out because I kind of thought it was a stretch laying the blame at Romney's feet for the death of that man's wife. (Which I still do by the way.)
However if their response to this ad has the kind of devastating effect on the Romney campaign that the conservatives seem to fear that it might, then the ad might go down in history as the trigger for a response that ultimately doomed Mittens presidential aspirations for good.
Shows what I know.
I always wonder why no one presses Mitt on the whole Romneycare/Obamacare issue??!! Can someone explain this to me?
ReplyDeleteEtch-A-Sketch Mitt.
DeleteMitt is all shook up.
#1 He only talks to Fox.
Delete#2 If anyone manages to shout a question at him, he gets all huffy and refuses to answer such a 'rude' reporter.
#3 See #1.
Personally I think the Romney campaign was already doomed to failure because of HRH King Willard himself, but this is certainly another welcome nail in the coffin.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work, Andrea.
I also consider the ad a stretch. I heard the man say they could not afford health care after he was laid off. It has been pointed out the wife had access to insurance for one year.
ReplyDeleteOn Morning Joe they said many conservatives now think Romney is not ready for prime time. The R campaign clearly has a strategy to say anything to win and do not seem to consider people hear the contradictions and lies. The R summary was Romney's campaign is about "nothing".
I only saw the portion in which they voiced disgust about this ad. They acknoweledged the Obama campaign has not stooped to this level before. I agree with that.
Question: Since when did "Access" become "Affordable"?
DeleteInsurance companies have always SOAKED the individual policy buyer! (At least, as far as I have experienced, anyway.)
The man, despite an impressive pedigree, education and record of private sector success and political ambition, has been running for President for 8 years. . .and he's not ready for prime time.
DeleteIronically, this puts he and Sarah Palin (despite her lack of pedigree, education, and private sector success that has never matched her audacious political ambition) on the same page.
The stoop is still miles higher than the Rmoney campaign has sunk to, sweetie.
DeleteWhat Leland said.
DeleteI lost my job over a year ago. COBRA payments for two people (spouse and self) were $1,050 a month. A month! For two people! We were fortunate that we could pay it until the benefits for spouse's new job kicked in. Many, many folks are not as fortunate.
Most people won't be able to afford the COBRA costs, especially if they are out of jobs. I mean, DUH! $1000/month is devastating to most middle class families when you do have jobs.
DeleteFunny how the GOP has been the masters of manipulation and lies during campaigns for years, but when a Democratic PAC puts out a damning ad that's TRUE, somehow they are 'stooping' into sad territory. I for one , am glad that we care counter-attacking and pointing out lies as they are said. These people are out to ruin America, and we have to stop them this fall.
DeleteThis isn't from the Obama camp, it's from a pro-Obama superPAC that's not allowed to coordinate with team Obama.
DeleteThe death was due to unemployment and the link with health care. Mitt Romney caused the unemployment & has NO idea of the repercussions - that is what the ad is about - why do liberals always think it "a stretch" to tell the truth. President Obama understands the unemployment lack of health care link which is what he wants to remove - Romney says he will recall the ACA - he's thus happy that no job = no health care.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO reason that you should think the ad is a stretch.
Agree...the ad never says Mitt killed this dudes wife, it explains what life is like for workers who fell victims to the greedy , profits at all costs business model of Bain Capital, the firm that Mitt founded with South American blood money. This is the business model that Mitt wants to use as a blueprint for governing, and it is more than fair to point it the repercussions of that type of economy. The Romney campaign walked right into the trap, which has become a predictable pattern for them. The ad is brilliant.
DeleteMitts only response was to tell people to move to Massachussets...classic and epic fail, once again.
I agree.
DeleteThe point of the ad isn't to "blame" Romney for the woman's death but to vividly illustrate the enormous impact of Bain's actions upon average people. When a corporation closes plants and fires workers, real human beings are affected and their lives change as a result.
Does the ad play on the emotions? Of course. Might it cause a viewer to make a subtle or even subconscious association between Romney and an uninsured woman's death? Maybe. But that's politics, baby.
There's nothing dishonest in the ad. The man worked at the steel plant and Romney's Bain closed it. The man lost his job and his health insurance and he thinks his wife didn't seek help even though she knew she was ill because she knew they couldn't afford it. She later died. The man doesn't think Romney is aware of the consequences of his actions at Bain. These are facts.
We are all capable of evaluating these facts and coming to our own conclusions. Some will dismiss these facts as having no bearing on Romney's suitability for the presidency. Others will decide that a guy who didn't care about people like this while he worked in the private sector isn't likely to suddenly care now. They might even conclude that the sort of person who really cares about average people wouldn't have been able to stomach the "work" Bain did at all.
Blaming Romney for the wife's death is the Rethuglican spin. The ad points out the repercussions of Romney's callous vulture capitalism ethics which he wants to bring to the White House.
DeleteThe GOP has gone so far to the right with hate towards President Obama that they have become cartoonish in their idiocy. People pillaring the Romney campaign because their candidate actually did one thing right in his past is insane! Their party is a joke of monumental proportions.
ReplyDeleteThat they aren't shocked that Romney started Bain with death squad money or that he is a prolific liar with no core does not move them in the least. But when they are reminded that he got health care for people shocks and offends them. Really . . . what happened to the GOP?
Oh yeah . . . Black President.
My impression is the Republican party has been opposed to health care reform, especially in the federal level. They needed Romney and his campaign to etch a sketch Governor Romney's health care reform in Massachusetts.
ReplyDeleteMitt leapt to defend his capital vulture self without thinking. Way to go Team Romney! Now the repubs are regretting their nominee. I laughed when Ann Coulter pointed out Saul worked for McCain's campaign therefore not a good choice.
When Romney tells whopping lies about Obama they hammer lies home with talking points. This morning they suddenly got a moral consciencee after being on board to play ball with the lies. This is why they still live Palun for she is a pathaligical liar ...excells so she was awarded all star status.
Since when has the Republican Party "been opposed to health care reform? Oh yeah. That's right the nineties. Prior to that it was one of THEIR planks! (That is, if my memory serves me right.)
DeleteUsed to be they were gradually moving away from it - until Obama got into office. Now they are vehemently against it BECAUSE of Obama. And will deny EVER being in favor of it!
My apologies for typos. The print is tiny on my iphone and my thumb clumsy.
DeleteWhen Hillary took it up, that's when the GOP decided they were against it. The only people the GOP hates more than Obama are the Clintons. Again, educated, classy people who earned their accolades...the GOP can't stand it.
DeleteAnon 4:57, when you say "the wife had access to insurance for a year" are you rferring to COBRA benefits, which employers are obligated to offer? Have you ever had to buy COBRA coverage? Most people who lose their jobs or take jobs paying half what their previous job paid cannot afford an average of $1800.00 per month for coverage.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's true that COBRA is an option, it's not (in my opinion anyway) a terribly realistic one for most people and THAT is what Romney fails to understand. A man who has had access to unlimited amounts of money throughout his life simply cannot grasp the concept of having to sacrifice or do without something. That lack of empathy alone makes him a very frightening and (again, my opinion) unfit choice for President.
Correction. “There were a lot of people losing their jobs and losing their health care in Mitt Romney's Bain Capital economy. And they would again under a Romney Administration also too.”
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with TS on this one...the Ed show on MSNBC made this same point. This guy is saying....Bain made millions ruining this steel mill, putting it in debt and bankruptcy for only 1 reason...profit. The negative effects on this man and his family were long, years long. The mill closes and everyone that thought they had a decent job, healthcare, pension, etc is gone, the entire economy of the town is effected....stress is the killer here, stress, depression. His wife suffered in her own way watching her husband being thrown away like an old shoe. The point of this ad is what Robme is all about...he doesn't give 2 shits about anything but money. The healthcare thing is just icing on the cake and Andrea just made that point crystal clear. This man is the ultimate poster boy for the 1% greedy bastards and its my guess, when its all said and done...the Mormon church is gonna be really pissed off that he has showcased their religion for what it truly is....a cult rich in blood money.
ReplyDeletePeople also make plans/do into debt on reasonable assumptions about continued employment - take that away and you tank housing (who will get a mortgage is one's job is so precarious) auto industry, student loans and credit cards, too. It would be a painful return to a cash economy.
DeleteAfter listening to that ad once again, I find it very valuable to make the point that Mitt Romney is not for the people. He's for corporations, period. Unlike many politicians who run for President that go into law, and become advocates FOR the people, Romney chose to advocate for big money, damn how it affects the little people.
ReplyDeleteSo, even if it is a stretch to blame him for that man's death, which I don't think is the point of the ad, it still reveals the truth about how Bain Capital, and it's methods, just plow down a whole community in one fell swoop just because the plant isn't as profitable as it should be.
Romney, as a runner for President, doesn't reveal he's into helping redirect the country to help ease the suffering of the middle class, rather he's in it for the competition. Once he won, he'd be rather bored with the whole thing, IMO.
Anon. 5:35 here again. Correction: meant to write "for that man's wife's death".
DeleteI must have missed the part of the ad where the guy says "Mitt Romney killed my wife". He's telling a very personal story about his experience after being fired by Romney. The ad is fair. The ad is not "out of bounds" or a "stretch". Spare me the pearl clutching.
ReplyDeleteI think the ad is a stretch, but I actually thought that was the point. They put zero dollars behind running the ad, so why make it?
ReplyDeleteWhat if they did it so the Prez could say publicly that the SuperPac behind the ad should cut it out? The President looks like the big man he really is, and Romney looks little for letting his pacs run wild.
They did it all without coordinating, of course ;)
?????
DeleteThe ad is to point out the effects of vulture capitalism at a personal level. It is to show the collateral damage. Romney is running on his business acumen, and wants to bring this philosphy to the White House. Is this how we want to run this country? I believe the human cost to his "success" is egregious. The ad is poignant and appropriate. It really nails his callousness. He never seems to bring the devastation of the "human" factor to the table in his business deals. It's all about money, not people. If Romney is elected and allowed to throw the middle class under the bus, our economy will collapse.
The real GOP plan all along may be to have a right wing bush appointed prosecutor indict Willard a few days before the election and then give Jeb the nomination, saying the GOP will never, ha ha, support a criminal.
ReplyDeleteReading everyone's comments - Mitt just comes across as a cold fish. He doesn't seem to care about anyone - from dogs to employees to family even. He doesn't even think about anyone except himself at this point in time. The way he spoke about Miss Ann's horse in the Olympics was beyond weird - if the horse was bad for his career he was going to disown it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he has a clue why he is running for President - shame there are no media folks with the guts to ask that one question. His campaign staff obviously have no idea about the man, his policies or what on earth they are doing.
Also too - I want to see some pictures of the "crowds" at his campaign events - are the media not allowed to take photos? We sure see the ones from the President's events.
I'm reading the comments and feeling the same way. It's like Mitt lives in a bubble or something. He's been rich for so long he has no "base line" to judge economic disparity.
DeleteMany politicians are rich, I don't think it's that we're "jealous" or that there's "class warfare". The Obamas weren't born rich, they are closer to the plight of the poor and middle class, because they remember living it while growing up.
Mitt is from old money, and feels entitled, the rules don't apply to him, and he just doesn't care.
Your point about not allowing photos at his events is so true, after the speech in a stadium with two people, they've kept the shots close up and rarely show the crowds.
It worked so wall for Sarah, he's doing the same thing, fox or nothing.
This ad is a hallmark of how liberal progressives respect the thinking ability of others - we give you the dots, you can connect them.
ReplyDeleteBain actions to outsource/dismantle companies = job loss
Employment linked healthcare
People die/are otherwise hurt when the don't have healthcare
Those are the premises.
Draw your conclusions.
We have.
Obama/Biden 2012
Exactly right. Thank you.
DeleteAnytime - I love logic.
DeleteOne other thing we and President Obama needs to emphasize:
ReplyDeleteEmployer linked health insurance stifles entrepreneurs.
There are many people who can't risk being without health insurance either for themselves or their families, so they never bother to explore self-employment. Without "Obamacare" we may never know the next Steve Jobs, a because his child was born with diabetes, or his wife had breast cancer.
You are soooo right. My husband wants to start his own business and believe me it would be much better for us financially. What's holding us back?? He gets HEALTH INSURANCE through his employer!!!!
DeleteHowever we have decided to go for it and are making a plan of action. Hoping the benefits of ACA that are coming in 2014 will make this transition easier!
Slightly off topic - watch the Colorado campaign event where Sandra Fluke introduced the President.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/DenverCo
That young woman knows how to dress for a campaign event and knows how to give a positive message to those who are listening.
She is good...it's why the right with their stupid spokeswomen like Palin and Coulter hate her so much...lovely, educated, class. Take notes, GOP. Women matter, and we vote.
DeleteHow many ppl can afford the corbra insurance payments after they lose a job? It wasn't until this last go around that Obama made some adjustments for the unemployed (cobra payments) more afforable,for a certain length of time. Generally insurance is the first thing ppl let go of when they are having trouble paying bills. This whole insurance thing has changed greatly. I guess these younger ppl don't realize this. ( 1960-1970's) Used to be if you worked for a union, you had a really good plan. You never saw a bill, none ever came.Around the time of Regan, they thought that because if 2 ppl worked, one plan was mostly used( most would go with the one that had best benefits), they got the idea, if available the second worker had to take the plan at their job. Now there were balances on hospital stays and such, so it would pick up any remaineder that the first plan didn't pay. Wasn't long before insurance co would only pay what the first plan did, so that there still was a bill for ppl to pay. benefits have erroded over the yrs making ppl pay more and more. That's why single payer is the way to go. Insurance co make so much money. They use every trick in the book to not pay and now you have fight the insurance co the billing dept the doctors everybody is out to soak the indivual. Do you really think it's fair that the doctors office bills and even if your deductable is not paid, your insurance co still bargins down your bill. The person that has no insurance is billed the higher amount? How yrs have we read in magazines, bargin with the doctor. Well they turned all their billing over to 3rd parties so their is no barginng with the doctor. How come most of us older ppl their is never any dental or eye glass coverage? Everybody knows when you get older you have to see and have to have teeth to eat. I don't understand ppl who don't want healthcare for all, but I guarantee they are getting some assistance, . They are just afraid that they will have a monthly premium to pay. There are so many ppl in the south that don't even pay their medicare monthly payment, are so dense they don't realize medicade pays for that.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband was laid off we couldn't afford the cobra as well. When you are on unemployment, how to you pay 900 bucks a month for something you may not need between jobs? I feel you, we still don't have insurance.
Deleteo/t Bill O'Reilly and Greta Van Susteren sued for defamation
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/bill-oreilly-greta-van-susteren-sued-fox-news-359930
Joe Soptic says he doesn't think Mitt Romney understands just how badly he damaged people.
ReplyDeleteI think Joe Soptic is wrong:
I fully believe that Mitt Romney knew and knows exactly how much he hurt people - crushed people. He knows and doesn't give a shit.
And that's what makes him the perfect Republican candidate.
The Republican Party is the party of the very rich and their philosophy is quite literally
FUCK the poor!
Not f*ck the poor. F*ck he middle class. F*ck the majority of the country. Romney is for the .05% - not even the 1%. Everyone else can fight over the crumbs.
DeleteThe more I read and listen to conservatives, the more clear it is they hold a deeply ingrained hostility for their fellow man. This is not an exaggeration. You simply don't section off people into a tiny sliver of "job creators" and then the rest as a helpless mass that couldn't get anything accomplished without the former if you didn't hold most people in contempt.
DeleteFurther, this is the party that wants everyone to produce an ID to vote; that has no problem with dignity-robbing, random drug testing of both the employed and unemployed; that thinks the current (and pathetically low) minimum wage is too high; that wants to make seniors pay for health insurance with voucher coupons; and that when the shit hit the fan with the economy immediately blamed it on poor people and social programs and wanted unemployment benefits cut off after six weeks - knowing full well that would unleash millions of desperate people in the labor force who would drive wages down even lower.
You simply cannot hold to all these policies without having some sort of pathological resentment toward humanity.
@ Not What You Want to Hear 8:36 AM:
Deleteinteresting perspective, "deeply ingrained hostility for their fellow man." I've never been able to pin-point what the hell the cons problem is, but your explanation sure is a good one. going to remember that and bring it up for discussion at the next meeting of the minds.
I have no doubt whatsoever that Romney's (et al) shutting down businesses for his (their) enrichment caused the deaths of many more people than just this poor man's wife. The depression many of those laid-off, fired, personnel probably led to more than one suicide, inability of many to pay for health care leading to more disability or deterioration of conditions and to death. It would be nearly impossible to track, of course, fortunately for the Bain raiders and Mitt. There are soooo many reasons this uncaring azzho' should not be considered for the highest office in the land. Dump Mitt!
ReplyDeleteI object to the way people are calling Romney a vulture capitalist. That is biased and slanderous. I have worked with a bird group to educate the public. Vultures are an important part of the natural cycle, helping clean up and recycle dead bodies. However, and this is important, vultures do not kill anything!!! They do not have the talons that birds of prey have, which are the main killing tool. Vultures have weak feet and wait for animals to die before ripping into the body. Do do not malign vultures by comparing them to Romney. Romney would weaken and kill a viable company to gain a little profit, when it otherwise could have survived. Vultures are more noble than that.
ReplyDeleteClap, clap, clap.
DeleteCaw, caw, caw or whatever noise vultures make.
Very Funny!
DeleteAfter much research, I've come to the conclusion they sound rather Liverputian and look amazingly similar to the Beetles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGTWmrnPdgk
'This ad is the turning point and she has literally Snatched Victory from the Jaws of Defeat!'
ReplyDeleteSnatched....Victory.. from .. Defeat. Uh, um...
Isn't that usually a good thing?
Coulter is so genuinely upset here, that she said the phrase backward. What she clearly meant to say was "Snatching DEFEAT from the Jaws of Victory" but she flips it. And doesn't even notice. And Hannity doesn't notice. And Alex Wagner and all of her guests Don't Notice. They go on talking for nearly 12 minutes and never bring up what Coulter just said - and they play the clip multiple times.
And still never notice just how badly Coulter is really losing it.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/09/1118189/-Coulter-says-Romney-Aide-Is-Snatching-Victory-from-the-Jaws-of-Defeat
It just says so much about conservatives that they have to pretend their candidate's most relevant accomplishment never happened. I am so glad I don't live in their surreal world. I could not look at myself in the mirror if I had to deny the truth on such a regular basis (and not just the truth about RomneyCare).
ReplyDeleteOn another note, man, for such a supposedly competent campaign, they sure fell into such an obvious trap! I think it says a lot about their complete infamiliarity with compassion to just respond with something like, "While we genuinely feel for the man in this ad, the fact is, this SuperPAC used him as a political pawn for a grossly misleading ad. Further, a tragic number of Americans have lost their health insurance along with their jobs in the last three years. Their situation is urgent. The need to restore a prosperous economy is urgent. The Obama administration has had almost four years to do this. It's just not working."
Thankfully, no one associated with the Romney campaign appears capable of sticking to such a message.
He's surrounded himself with a bunch of idiots. I never thought I'd say this, but he's starting to make President GWBush seem smart.
DeleteRomney keeps saying he's a successful business man and knows how to turn the economy around, but he never says how, or what qualifies him to be such an expert.
In the mean time, President Obama has defined him and continues to define him, and Romney is cowering in a corner crying foul.
I can't wait for the debates!
Let's get real, the ad was not a "trap". It just laid out some facts and let people draw their own inferences. As for that Romney spokesperson, she just didn't realize what she was saying. I would like to think the Obama campaign was THAT clever but this was just Romney ineptitude. It's funny when the Romney campaign actually tells the truth for once, EVERYONE CONSIDERS IT A GAFFE!
ReplyDeleteIt's a gaffe because the GOP HATES Romneycare almost as much as they hate the ACA. They would prefer it never be mentioned at all, because every time he touts its success, he is approving of the ACA as well. So in this case, the truth IS a gaffe...the GOP only deals in lies, bu the way...they are like a vampire in daylight with facts.
DeleteOT Donald Trump said he is going to have a major role at the convention. Could he be the VP pick to sell two successful wealthy businessman to fix the economy? This would not surprise me.
ReplyDeleteIs he that stupid?? I can't believe they would give that big buffoon a speaking role!
Delete50,000 nowadays is not middleclass, it's working poor. It's sad how so many ppl think they should have good paying jobs,pay no taxes, take no risk. But- don't want that for everyone.
ReplyDeleteErickson is wrong. Romney lost the election weeks ago when he showd his absolute disdain for anyone not in his tier of welath. And if he goes with Trump..oh boy...I can hardly wait for the Trump/Biden debate. Betcha Joe puts away the kid gloves he had on for stupid Sarah, and goes with the boxing gloves.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think this ad was pretty compelling, I honestly never considered that it was directly blaming Romney for that woman's death. I thought this guy was trying to explain that Romney's quest for money above all else can have consequences that are devastating.
ReplyDeleteRomney put his profits above the welfare of thousands of people. There has to be some response by those caught in the "Bain" crossfire. They have every right to tell how their lives have been affected by the greed of these vultures.
I don't blame Romney directly, but his actions hurt people and should be considered into the conversation, even if it pushes the line.
good comments here.
ReplyDeleteThis PAC ad was one high tech piece of absolute genius! It defines Romney, which is something he can't or won't do. It puts a human face on those adversely affected by "Vulture Capitalism" and it got the exact ironic reaction intended.
ReplyDeleteDid it go a bit too far with the wife's death? Yeah, but as Romney said during the debates, PAC ads are out of the hands of the candidate, and the candidate can't be accountable for their content (Thank You, Citizens United!).
Hey, Mitt, PAC's are people too, eh?
Could this be real? This is thought provoking knowing that Romney is sort of a challenge to Obama camp. This ad might just ruin his campaign.
ReplyDelete