When Mitt Romney Stops Being Polite ... And
Starts Getting Real

Assuming the Republican convention doesn't get cancelled altogether, the GOP will be trying to "humanize" Mitt Romney, so that American voters will come to realize that he is, in fact, a human. And apparently, Republican bigwigs are concerned that the Romney campaign hasn't yet, and may not ever, put the proper effort into this task. According to Politico, they're grumbling about Romney's inability to respond effectively to attacks on him for not releasing his taxes, and are worried that the convention won't be enough about Romney the man. As for Mitt himself, he seems to be attempting a kind of jiu-jitsu on this question. Here's my favorite part:

In a Saturday interview with POLITICO, Romney rejected what he suggested was a sort of political cosmetic surgery advocated by political or media commentators who say he needs to overhaul his image. Paraphrasing Popeye, Romney said, "I am who I am."

It was a line that suggested a kind of genial freedom from artifice ? an impression that was offset a bit by the fact that he repeated it nearly word for word in another interview the same day.

This reminds me of something I used to say about John McCain: he has an act, and not having an act is his act. But that act just isn't going to work for Mitt, since there may be no politician who has been less "real" than him. He can't just say, "Hey, this is me, take me or leave me," because his identity has varied so much over his career.

And the humanization effort can only go so far. Sure, you can have Ann testify that he's a great husband, and have Tagg and the sub-Taggs testify that he's a great dad, but once you get past that, what exactly is the story of Mitt Romney? Well, it's a story of a guy born into wealth and privilege, who succeeded pretty much as you'd expect someone from that much wealth and privilege to. It isn't exactly an inspiring tale, leading parents throughout America to say to their kids, "Come here, Billy, and watch this convention video about Mitt Romney, so you'll understand how great our country really is." Because here in America, even the son of an auto company CEO and governor can grow up to be a private equity CEO and governor.

It isn't Mitt's fault that he didn't have more obstacles in his way, and he seems to have made the most of his talents, given the field he chose for himself. But it'll be interesting to see what they come up with for that convention video that is supposed to give us a window into the man. I'm guessing it'll be less like "The Man From Hope" and more like this:

 

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

 

Mitt RomneyThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsPratt?Romney familyLatter Day Saint movementBain CapitalUnited StatesRomney familyGeorge W. RomneyMitt Romney presidential campaignPolitics

Read The Full Article:
http://prospect.org/article/when-mitt-romney-stops-being-polite-and-starts-gettin
g-real

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Top Adviser Says Romney Will Back Away From
Self-Deportation Policy

TAMPA, Florida — Mitt Romney will reverse course on his campaign pledge to pursue an immigration strategy of “self-deportation” — whereby society makes life so harsh for undocumented immigrants that they deport themselves — according to one of his top Hispanic Steering Committee advisers. Mel Martinez, the former Florida Republican senator and chairman of the [...]



Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com/c/34726/f/638927/s/22d40617/l/0Lthinkpro
gress0Borg0Cjustice0C20A120C0A80C280C7596710Cmel0Emartinez0Emitt0Eromney0Eimmigration0C/story01.htm

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Anti-Gay Methodists Seek Censure Of Pro-Gay
Bishop

In May, the Methodist Church ruled at its General Conference that same-sex couples are “incompatible with Christian teaching,” but many ministers did not agree with this decision. One in particular, Bishop Melvin Talbert, called on ministers to perform pastor duties, including enacting marriages, to gays and lesbians in “An Act of Biblical Obedience.” Now, anti-gay [...]



Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com/c/34726/f/638927/s/22d41521/l/0Lthinkpro
gress0Borg0Clgbt0C20A120C0A80C280C7599810Canti0Egay0Emethodists0Eseek0Ecensure0Eof0Epro0Egay0Ebishop0C/story01.htm

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

The Facts Dont Matter to the Romney Campaign

It would appear the Romney team is now fully banking on their ability to run a campaign focused around things that are simply not true. The campaign admitted that their highly racially tinged ad that falsely accuses Obama of gutting the work requirements[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/md9SSl_3pOk/

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

GOP remembers to insert anti-pornography language
into platform. That's nice.

I didn't have much luck searching for a family-friendly picture to go with this,
so for no particular reason here's an old picture of Rick Perry.Well, thank God. Republicans have been so busy adding things to their platform about what medical coverage women shouldn't be getting, what rights gay Americans shouldn't be getting, and a bit more stuff about what medical coverage women shouldn't be getting that I was afraid they had forgotten the real threat to America: Pornography.

The Republican Party is calling for a crackdown on pornography in a move that could pit social conservatives against hotel operators, television providers and other businesses that profit from the sale of sexually explicit material.

"Current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need to be vigorously enforced," the platform says, according to a draft obtained by Reuters.

Well all-righty then, I'm glad we got that cleared up. You wouldn't want to be watching a perfectly nice program about the legitimacy of waterboarding people only?BAM!?to accidentally flip the channel, accidentally press all the necessary buttons for pay-per-view, and accidentally start watching something with naked people. That happens far, far too often.

Wait?there are no laws against that, so I guess that's still all right? I'm not clear on what they're actually going on about. I think I'll just mark this one down as a bit of meaningless, boilerplate moralism. This is nice, though:

"It's a growing problem for men in their 20s," [Anti-pornography activist Patrick Trueman] said. "It's changed the way their brain maps have developed. This is the way they get sexually excited."

I think "brain maps" is the most science-ish thing said by any Republican in at least a week, so there's that. Now if we could just get them to believe in "climate maps" we'd be getting somewhere.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/7GQC4kk9FiU/-GOP-remembers-to-inse
rt-anti-pornography-language-into-platform-That-s-nice

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Bobby Jindal wants more big government money for
Louisiana

A president whose disaster response Bobby Jindal did not complain about publicly.Hurricane Isaac is keeping Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal away from the Republican National Convention, but a hurricane will not be enough to keep him from being partisan in the news. Jindal is assailing the Obama administration for supposedly not giving Louisiana enough federal aid.

But the usual FEMA pre-disaster protocol has been activated. The Obama administration has approved Jindal?s request for a disaster declaration. The administration?s actions thus far have earned plaudits from the state?s two senators ? including Sen. David Vitter (R-LA). And moreover, the steps the administration has taken are broadly similar to the Bush administration?s initial response to Hurricane Gustav in 2008, which Jindal did not publicly criticize.

Like any good Republican governor, Jindal has a long record of hypocrisy on federal funding, taking the "big government bad, now give me government money" approach. And when it comes to disasters, he's had problems with fishy stories and dubious deployments. And now that there is massive flooding and untold damage from Hurricane Isaac, keep a close eye out for a gap between Jindal's stories and the facts. He's already looking to turn natural disaster into partisan advantage; he's not going to stop.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/rz_MyG6Ft_0/-Bobby-Jindal-wants-mo
re-big-government-money-for-Louisiana

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

EXCLUSIVE: As Hurricane Isaac Targets New
Orleans, GOP Rep. Calls For Making Disaster Relief Contingent On Budget Cuts

TAMPA, Florida — Though many Republicans are fretting about the optics of holding their party’s convention as Hurricane Isaac slams into New Orleans, a leading Tea Party congressman is vowing to use the opportunity to extract budget cuts if Congress wants to dole out disaster funding to help victims. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told ThinkProgress [...]



Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com/c/34726/f/638927/s/22d3fffd/l/0Lthinkpro
gress0Borg0Ceconomy0C20A120C0A80C280C7591510Craul0Elabrador0Edisaster0Efunding0C/story01.htm

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Miners Say They Were Forced To Attend Romney
Campaign Event Without Pay: We Knew What Would Happen

When Mitt Romney campaigned at an Ohio coal mine earlier this month, he might not have realized that the miners were forced to be there — without pay — by the owner, Murray Energy. That’s according to accounts from multiple coal miners, who sent anonymous letters to a local radio station criticizing Murray Energy for [...]



Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com/c/34726/f/638927/s/22d420d0/l/0Lthinkpro
gress0Borg0Cclimate0C20A120C0A80C280C7591310Cminers0Esay0Ethey0Ewere0Eforced0Eto0Eattend0Eromney0Ecampaign0Eevent0Ewithout0Epay0Ewe0Eknew0Ewhat0Ewould0Ehappen0C/story01.htm

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Arizona GOP Favorite Doesn't Want Middle
Easterners In U.S. 'Legally Or Illegally'

Gabriela Saucedo Mercer hasn't even won the Republican primary for Congress in Arizona yet, but she is already facing attacks from the Democratic Congressman she is hoping to unseat in November over some incendiary comments she made in the past about Middle Eastern immigrants.

In an interview with a conservative website earlier this year, Saucedo Mercer talked in depth about her views on immigration. A Mexican immigrant herself who became a U.S. citizen, she said the issue was important because people from places other than Mexico were among those coming across the border illegally.

"That includes Chinese, Middle Easterners," she said. "If you know Middle Easterners, a lot of them, they look Mexican or they look, you know, like a lot of people in South America, dark skin, dark hair, brown eyes. And they mix. They mix in.

"And those people, their only goal in life is to, to cause harm to the United States. So why do we want them here, either legally or illegally? When they come across the border, besides the trash that they leave behind, the drug smuggling, the killings, the beheadings. I mean, you are seeing stuff. It's a war out there."

Saucedo Mercer was facing fellow Republican Jaime Vasquez in Tuesday's primary in Arizona's 3rd congressional district, with the results due later tonight. But her supporters and opponents both clearly expect her to win.

She has been endorsed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who is scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Saucedo Mercer on Sept. 12 in Tucson, Ariz. She was also facing attacks from the campaign of Rep. Raul Grijalva, the Democrat she is trying to unseat.

Before the primary polls even closed, Grijalva's campaign posted a video to YouTube highlighting Mercer's comments. It was titled "The Real Gabriela Mercer - We Don't Want Middle Easterners" and dated on Monday.

Saucedo Mercer gave the interview originally to a conservative website called Western Free Press, but it went almost unnoticed until now. On Tuesday afternoon, it had only 215 views on YouTube.

Still, she has been a favorite in some Republican circles. On her website, she boasts of numerous endorsements, including from retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin, known for his anti-Muslim views, as well as Arizona's Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R), who apologized for embarrassing the state earlier this year after he threatened to keep Barack Obama off the November ballot if the president couldn't prove he was really born in the United States.

Saucedo Mercer's Facebook page shows her posing for photos next to former presidential candidate Herman Cain as well as presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

In the interview, Saucedo Mercer also commented on the religious affiliations of some of some immigrants who were crossing the border illegally. She said evidence of Muslims crossing the border were found in the desert in Arizona.

"They have found prayer rugs. They have found copies of the Quran," she said. "So that tells you this is not just poor illegals who are trying to come to this country and find work. It's bigger than that."

Saucedo Mercer's campaign did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Watch the interview:

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TPMmuckraker/~3/HHrL92G3Nww/gabriela_saucedo_merce
r_middle_easterners.php

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Former Appalachian Trail Cheater Now Engaged to
Lover

GETTING INVOLVED with a married man seldom ends happily. Unless you’re in it for a good time and it’s more friends with benefits than courtship it’s a train wreck waiting to happen.Daily Beast chronicles a few high profile lovers who[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.taylormarsh.com/blog/2012/08/former-appalachian-trail-cheater-now-enga
ged-to-lover/

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!