Nowhere has Mitt Romney’s pursuit of the presidency been more warmly welcomed or closely followed than here in Utah. The Republican nominee’s political and religious pedigrees, his adeptly bipartisan governorship of a Democratic state, and his head for business and the bottom line all inspire admiration and hope in our largely Mormon, Republican, business-friendly state.Read the entire editorial, which makes the case for the newspaper's endorsement of Barack Obama quite well. The following words from the endorsement are spot on.
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Sadly, it is not the only Romney, as his campaign for the White House has made abundantly clear, first in his servile courtship of the tea party in order to win the nomination, and now as the party’s shape-shifting nominee. From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: "Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?"
Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear.Shameless. Exactly. Romney and his entire campaign team have been shameless in saying anything, anything at all that would garner votes with no apparent regard for truth. The Tribune's endorsement is a big deal...at least I believe it is.
I'd wager a good many Mormons are embarrassed by Romney's campaign.
Photo from PoliticalTicker.
Bravo Salt Lake City Tribune! Now for a ditto by the Deseret News ... but maybe I'm just asking too much.
ReplyDeleteGenette, we can but hope.
DeleteThe 3100+ comments (and counting) reveal the unfortunate divide in our country. I am flummoxed by our political debate. It is driven by emotion instead of substance. I feel manipulated by both campaigns. So the Tribune is a welcome voice. This endorsement is one of the fairest assessments of Romney and Obama I've read. Neither man is without his flaws, but one is surrounded by question marks. The known quantity may not be perfect, but Obama has been consistent and he has demonstrated concern for the middle class in pushing, pushing, pushing for small steps out of the gigantic mess of our economy. There's so much left to be done, though, and I hope the focus will shift from semantic missteps to the real issues. Sad that every competition in this country--even in political races--has to be such entertaining blood sport.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, there is much for which I would call Obama to account, but he has also done much good. First-term presidents begin to run for reelection on day one after the inauguration. My hope is that if Obama is reelected, he will push harder on issues that were not addressed in the first term when he is not focused on reelection.
DeleteRomney appears a flim-flam man with his many changes of positions on issues and (I'll say the word if Obama is too much the gentleman) outright lies. "Who is this guy...."
Romney will not give details of his policies. He wants us to trust him. What reason has he given us to trust him, and what will he do if he is elected?
Dear Grandmere - He will do exactly what you've suggesteed - start running for re-election, and to do that willl have to cater to the extreme right to whom he is beholden: enact their policies, be the digits capable of signing their legislation (as Norquist demands), appoint ever more activist ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme Court, let Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce have the unregulated feeding frenzy they want that will do even more harm to both the environment and people made ever more helpless to defend themselves against the "boss class" ... but I rant a bit. "Animal Farm" comes to mind - the rules look fine until someone starts altering them in the dark, in the "quiet rooms" Romney calls the best places for sensible decision making, in the privacy that hides the real ugliness of their selfish intentions.
DeleteMarthe, a Romney presidency will be a waking nightmare, a horror show, and may drive us down a path from which it will be near impossible to change direction.
DeleteI agree that Obama would have all the opportunity in the world to rise to the occasion of a very bold presidency that could reset some of the stunning inequities in our society today. The constant campaign mode of our politicians is a huge problem. And the "base" that Romney must satisfy has a frightening agenda, as both you and Marthe have said here.
DeleteBy the way, did you catch the Frontline program, The Choice 2012? (You can stream it from the Frontline website if you can't find it on your local public TV station.) It is really well done--particularly in how it reveals the formative life events for both candidates. I'd be more optimistic about our electorate if more people watched more programs like this.
Prairie Soul, I did not see the Frontline program, but I will check it out. Thanks for calling it to my attention.
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