Republican politics: smaller government for the other guy
By Richard K. Barry
When your candidate gets caught saying something incredibly stupid, there is always, of course, an attempt to either take back the stupid thing said or try to explain it away by claiming that the stupid comment was perfectly sensible after all.
As for the dueling gaffes by Obama and Romney, one about the private sector doing fine and the other about the country not needing any more cops, fireman and teachers, it looks like the President has simply backtracked, but not Romney.
No, his team appears to have doubled down. As reported by Think Progress, "former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), a top Romney campaign surrogate, backed Romney's call, telling MSNBC that changes in technology and population shifts have made layoffs of teachers and public safety officials necessary."
As Think Progress notes, this might be true if "classrooms were not busting at the seams because there are fewer teachers, and cities and towns across the country were mot closing entire public safety departments due to budget cuts."
The problem for the Romney campaign is that they haven't figured out that a lot of people like the thought of smaller government as long as it doesn't adversely effect their own lives. Good budget cuts are cuts that take away someone else's services, bad budget cuts are cuts that take away your own. Reductions in the number of cops, fireman and teachers effect nearly everyone in a very immediate way and there is no way John Sununu can spin Romney out of that fact.
Like I said, conservatives, and those who vote with them from time to time, always want smaller government for other people. The trick for Republican politicians is to convince your voter universe that this is what you are proposing. Comments about cops, firemen and teachers blow up that narrative completely.
(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)
When your candidate gets caught saying something incredibly stupid, there is always, of course, an attempt to either take back the stupid thing said or try to explain it away by claiming that the stupid comment was perfectly sensible after all.
As for the dueling gaffes by Obama and Romney, one about the private sector doing fine and the other about the country not needing any more cops, fireman and teachers, it looks like the President has simply backtracked, but not Romney.
No, his team appears to have doubled down. As reported by Think Progress, "former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), a top Romney campaign surrogate, backed Romney's call, telling MSNBC that changes in technology and population shifts have made layoffs of teachers and public safety officials necessary."
As Think Progress notes, this might be true if "classrooms were not busting at the seams because there are fewer teachers, and cities and towns across the country were mot closing entire public safety departments due to budget cuts."
The problem for the Romney campaign is that they haven't figured out that a lot of people like the thought of smaller government as long as it doesn't adversely effect their own lives. Good budget cuts are cuts that take away someone else's services, bad budget cuts are cuts that take away your own. Reductions in the number of cops, fireman and teachers effect nearly everyone in a very immediate way and there is no way John Sununu can spin Romney out of that fact.
Like I said, conservatives, and those who vote with them from time to time, always want smaller government for other people. The trick for Republican politicians is to convince your voter universe that this is what you are proposing. Comments about cops, firemen and teachers blow up that narrative completely.
(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)
Labels: 2012 election, John Sununu, Mitt Romney
posted by Richard K. Barry at
10:04 AM
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