A Candidate can only fake it for so long

[SAT]

Political Animal - A candidate can only fake it for so long

The former Massachusetts governor effectively called for a trade war with China, which is hopelessly insane, and is based on Romney’s confused understanding of what’s procedurally possible at the WTO. He also called for U.S. support for “the insurgents” in Iran, apparently unaware of the fact that there are no such insurgents.

Romney went on to say he would never negotiate with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which is naive and at odds with the assessments of all U.S. military leaders, and added that he’s both for and against withdrawal timetables.

For all the jokes about the clowns that make up this year’s Republican presidential field, the conventional wisdom is flawed. Romney, we’re told, is the “serious” one, in large part because he speaks in complete sentences, and isn’t bad at pretending to be credible. Ultimately, though, Romney’s efforts don’t change the fact that he’s faking it — and those who understand the issues beyond a surface-level understanding surely realize the GOP frontrunner just doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Worse, Romney keeps failing these tests. Remember the time Romney told ABC News he would “set a deadline for bringing the troops home” from Iraq — but only if it’s a secret deadline? How about the time Romney, more than four years into the war in Iraq, said it’s “entirely possible” that Saddam Hussein hid weapons of mass destruction in Syria prior to the 2003 invasion? Or the time Romney pretended “Hezbollah and Hamas and al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood” were all the same thing? How about my personal favorite: the time Romney made the bizarre assertion that IAEA weapons inspectors were not allowed entry into Saddam Hussein’s Iraq?

More recently, Romney tried to trash the New START nuclear treaty in an op-ed, prompting Fred Kaplan to respond, “In 35 years of following debates over nuclear arms control, I have never seen anything quite as shabby, misleading and — let’s not mince words — thoroughly ignorant as Mitt Romney’s attack on the New START treaty.”

None of this may matter much to voters, whose attention is focused on the economy, but for voters who take foreign policy seriously, Mitt Romney is a bit of a joke.

 

[jillian]

if the repubs were serious about picking someone qualified, jon huntsman wouldn't be in the cellar....

given the field, romney can learn foreign policy... he's not an idiot. he'd moderate once the general election gets underway. and he's already shown he has no qualms about flip flopping.

and it could be worse:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/cain-says-most-u-s-muslims-hold-extremist-views/

When asked his thoughts on the president’s policy during an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, he leaned back and appeared to search for an answer: “O.K., Libya.”

“President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Qaddafi — just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say ‘Yes, I agree,’ or ‘No, I didn’t agree.’ ”

Then, Mr. Cain said he disagrees with the president’s approach “for the following reasons.”

“Nope, that’s a different one,” he said. “I gotta go back and see.”

“I’ve got all this stuff twirling around in my head,” he said.

go to link for video

 

[California Girl]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

 

[jillian]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

yep... like dubya...

 

[candycorn]

if the repubs were serious about picking someone qualified, jon huntsman wouldn't be in the cellar....

given the field, romney can learn foreign policy... he's not an idiot. he'd moderate once the general election gets underway. and he's already shown he has no qualms about flip flopping.

and it could be worse:

Cain Appears Flustered When Asked About Libya - NYTimes.com

When asked his thoughts on the president’s policy during an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, he leaned back and appeared to search for an answer: “O.K., Libya.”

“President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Qaddafi — just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say ‘Yes, I agree,’ or ‘No, I didn’t agree.’ ”

Then, Mr. Cain said he disagrees with the president’s approach “for the following reasons.”

“Nope, that’s a different one,” he said. “I gotta go back and see.”

“I’ve got all this stuff twirling around in my head,” he said.

go to link for video

Which really makes you wonder why they don't give Huntsman a look.

Five candidates (Bachman, Trump, Perry, Cain, and now Newt) have all came at Romney from the right and all five have been or will be dispatched without Romney so much as breaking a sweat. You come at him from his left, make him take the leftward stance, then cast yourself as the centerist-right candidate which is where the GOP actually is despite the more vocal idiots on this board.

 

[candycorn]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

yep... like dubya...

I was thinking it, you said it.

Sad that the right has to take the bait on every thread, is it not? I've never seen such mass insecurity on a message board....weird.

 

[Ravi]

It really comes down to which candidate the GOP thinks can win against Obama. They will make sure that person wins the primaries.

 

[DaGoose]

if the repubs were serious about picking someone qualified, jon huntsman wouldn't be in the cellar....

given the field, romney can learn foreign policy... he's not an idiot. he'd moderate once the general election gets underway. and he's already shown he has no qualms about flip flopping.

and it could be worse:

Cain Appears Flustered When Asked About Libya - NYTimes.com

When asked his thoughts on the president’s policy during an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, he leaned back and appeared to search for an answer: “O.K., Libya.”

“President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Qaddafi — just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say ‘Yes, I agree,’ or ‘No, I didn’t agree.’ ”

Then, Mr. Cain said he disagrees with the president’s approach “for the following reasons.”

“Nope, that’s a different one,” he said. “I gotta go back and see.”

“I’ve got all this stuff twirling around in my head,” he said.

go to link for video

To be honest I thought Huntsman was the best (and best qualified) candidate. If he was to take the nomination the choice for POTUS would be a hard one.

It's too bad that they were all forced to drink the "stupid tea" in oreder to appease the idiotic wing of the GOP. They had to run so far right that I don't think any of them would ever appeal enough now to average Americans.

 

[SAT]

So why hasn't he learned about foreign policy this late in his game?

 

[midcan5]

It is ironic that the only two republicans with any sense are not favored by a base of nutcase voters who live in lalaland. Any reasonable republican needs to switch parties or go independent.

Bizarre that still today the loonies rule politics on the right, any chance for this? "A final word on politics. As in economics nothing is certain save the certainty that there will be firm prediction by those who do not know. It is possible that in some election, near or far, a presidential candidate will emerge in the United States determined to draw into the campaign those not now impelled to vote. Conceivably those so attracted - those who are not threatened by higher taxes and who are encouraged by the vision of a new governing community committed to the rescue of the cities and the impacted underclass - could outnumber those lost because of the resulting invasion of contentment. If this happens the effort would succeed." John Kenneth Galbraith 'The Culture of Contentment'

 

[California Girl]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

yep... like dubya...

Yep. And Obama. Go figure.

 

[naturegirl]

I love irony in the morning. Dems are telling Republicans which candidate they should support. ROTFLMBO

 

[occupied]

The only qualification a republican candidate needs is the ability to sell trickle down with a straight face, it gets harder every year.

 

[California Girl]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

yep... like dubya...

I was thinking it, you said it.

Sad that the right has to take the bait on every thread, is it not? I've never seen such mass insecurity on a message board....weird.

Funny that certain posters assume I was being partisan. I view Bush and Obama as equally fake. Bi partisan disdain for politicians.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

and still are faking it.

 

[Full-Auto]

It really comes down to which candidate the GOP thinks can win against Obama. They will make sure that person wins the primaries.

HOW? The RNC doesnt operate like the DNC in allowing two votes and super delegates.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

yep... like dubya...

I was thinking it, you said it.

Sad that the right has to take the bait on every thread, is it not? I've never seen such mass insecurity on a message board....weird.

Funny that certain posters assume I was being partisan. I view Bush and Obama as equally fake. Bi partisan disdain for politicians.

like

 

[occupied]

It really comes down to which candidate the GOP thinks can win against Obama. They will make sure that person wins the primaries.

HOW? The RNC doesnt operate like the DNC in allowing two votes and super delegates.

The RNC has always chosen the Republican candidate, every time.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

yep... like dubya...

Yep. And Obama. Go figure.

You can still be partisan even if you say bush was a fake, when you call obama a faker, just ask any liberal they will tell you so.

 

[del]

Some of them fake it all the way to the White House.

yep... like dubya...

and the current occupant

seems to be a trend