Mitt Romney’s much-ballyhooed overseas trip to Great Britain has so far been an unmitigated success – for the Obama campaign. It’s been one screw-up after another, all of which should give Americans pause as to whether Romney is up to the job of representing the United States to the world.
Screw-up #1: As we’ve already noted, Romney was barely off the plane before offensive quotes from an unnamed Romney advisor questioned President Obama’s ability to connect with America and Great Britain’s shared “Anglo-Saxon heritage.” Romney has tried to disavow the comments, but has done nothing to identify or remove the person who made the comments, so it’s hard to think that he takes the matter very seriously.
Screw-up #2: This was a really dumb move. Shortly after arriving in London, Romney caused an “international stir” by publicly voicing doubts about whether London’s preparations for the Olympics were adequate. He said, in an interview with NBC, that some of the problems were “disconcerting,” and he questioned whether the British people would “come together and celebrate the Olympic moment.” In response, British Prime Minister David Cameron pushed back, expressing confidence that the Games would come off splendidly, and hilariously observing that “of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.” The whole debacle led a British newspaper columnist to comment that “Mitt Romney is perhaps the only politician who could start a trip that was supposed to be a charm offensive by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive.”
Screw-up #3: If further proof were needed that Romney is a genuine rookie when it comes to foreign affairs, he provided it today. A Guardian reporter tweets:
And another Mitt Romney blunder: confirmed outside No 10 he met head of MI6. Aspiring US presidents not meant to say that
The Guardian elaborates:
For our American readership, this isn’t like bragging you just met David Petraeus. The British take on the national secret intelligence service comes with an extra-heavy dollop of the whole secret thing. The very existence of the MI6 was not officially acknowledged until 1994.
Romney should have known that. He should have been briefed about that kind of thing. Obviously he didn’t, and he wasn’t.
He’s also scheduled to hold fundraisers with British bankers, most of whom are neck-deep in the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal. So that should go well – stay tuned for additional screw-ups!
Discuss
73 Comments . Leave a comment below.The common theme: Romney answering questions or discussing any topic where he does not already have a canned two minute answer. Candidates like Romney and Brown hide from the press because they are simply unready and unprepared to answer questions on most topics. When they “debate” they memorize short predigested soundbites and then simply insert them into any answer. Given his background, Romney’s general lack of interest and knowledge in the world is especially remarkable. The beauty part: a large part of their base takes this for authenticity.
Ask Obama to release his college transcripts and compare the intellectual firepower of the two.
Romney looks like a moron. He has embarrassed himself and his country in the course of his roughly 24 hours in Great Britain.
I don’t need to see your college transcripts to know how you stack up with other posters here. Maybe you graduated summa cum laude from a top-notch college, but all I ever see from you are lame attempts to redirect the conversation every time someone points out a misstep of your candidate.
I don’t think Romney is probably a very smart guy in general, but his political instincts are highly suspect. He is clearly someone who is used to working behind doors and delegating tasks to others – that is what business executives do. However, that is *not* what Presidents do. Presidents have to have a much better understanding of how to relate to both the US and foreign public, and that is not something that you can just delegate to someone else.
I gave written many posts, said many things, even received yellow cards for personal insults (one which I disagreed with), but i don’t call anyone stupid or moron. I think calling Mitt these names does a disservice, reminds me of all the bull thrown at George W. Bush. Sarah Palin, yes, she is dumb, but if you mute the volume when she is on TV, she is fine.
Romney delegate when running Bain? You don’t do what he did and make the money he made by delegating everything.
Just like Chief Justice John Roberts.
As for this:
Um … that’s exactly what his campaign is now saying he did between 1999 and 2002, when he still made a shitload of money. So you might want to check your talking points with the campaign. You’re off message.
What’s your favorability rating?
Mitt is capable of doing both the Olympics and Bain at the same time. You do agree he was a millionaire before 1999. That is my point.
But that he has poor political instincts. Perhaps you could say he has poor social intelligence or perhaps it is just when he is interacting with people in public.
Yes, Mitt absolutely delegated at Bain, and arguing otherwise would tend to run against his claims to not be involved after 1999. Executives have to delegate, and those that don’t ultimately find themselves mired with small details and lose the big picture. But regardless, it is clear that his experience at Bain has provided him absolutely no insight as to how he should act on the public stage.
Here the better comparison for ability to represent the US is better measured by comparing Obama’s 2008 trip with Romney’s trip. Obama was a huge success – Romney is doing worse than anyone would have predicted. All of these were self inflicted wounds – and from comments in the British press he has seriously damaged his image there in a way that can’t really be corrected easily.
As to Obama’s grades, he was voted by his peers to be editor of the Harvard Law Review. That shows that he was a very competent student and a person they wanted to lead them. His Columbia grades had to be good or he would not have gotten into Harvard Law School. It’s not like he had strings to pull.
Then show them, thank you very much.
Did not Obama take Air Force One down south and made a case to bring the Olympics to Chicago? Epic failure, and a waste of fuel. That is the real comparison.
Romney had nothing with getting the Olympics – he was brought in after others from SLC bribed their way to getting them.
As I said, the grades are not of any importance at this point. If Obama got a “C” in French or calculus, would that change his ability as the country’s head diplomat or his ability to make decisions – such as giving the green light to the Seals to get OBL?
Here, as a British paper said. “Romney started a trip that was supposed to be a charm offensive, by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive. ” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/mitt-romney/9428764/Commentary-if-Mitt-Romney-doesnt-like-us-we-shouldnt-care.html
Not a left leaning one.
I will stipulate that both Obama and Romney are generally intelligent guys, but the fact is that the American voter really doesn’t care all that much about who is smarter in any abstract sense and they definitely won’t care about either candidates college grades. Obama has already proved that he is smart enough to be President. If mere intelligence was all that important we would never have had 8 years of GWB.
Or Mitt Romney’s birth certificate? Or the result of Scott Brown’s military PT tests? What do they have to hide?
It’s funny how certain types are never satisfied. They screamed for a birth certificate, and when it was released, they started whining about transcripts. If Obama released his transcripts tomorrow, they would start asking, “Where’s Obama’s credit report?” And when the credit report is released they will beg, “Where is Obama’s blood work panels?”
This transcript obsession is hilarious. It’s as if people don’t believe a Black man could earn two Ivy League degrees and feel the need to show that the President’s achievements, even the achievements from his twenties, are illegitimate.
It will never be enough.
Where is Scott Brown’s varsity letters? What is he hiding?
Reagan’s transcripts? Love it!
I’m starting to imagine Dan sitting by his computer with a 6-sided die. When he makes a post, he rolls the die. On a 1 or a 2, he brings up John Tierney. On a 3 or a 4, it’s Obama’s grades. On a 5 or a 6 it’s taxing Harvard’s endowment.
Item 2: Only Romney could incite the ire of his otherwise twin. Cameron’s government spending on the Olympics in the age of British austerity proves finance capitalism is alive and kicking
Item 3: What would Romney say if shown pictures os a dead bin Laden?
If he creates more jobs than disability checks in a given month?
Has Mitt revealed his grades?
3.97 GPA at BYU. Top 5% at graduate school.
http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Romney/Education.php
It claims that Romney got his law degree “cum laude” and “in the top 5% of his class.” Those two things are inconsistent, because at Harvard Law you graduate “summa cum laude” if you exceed a certain very high GPA; “magna cum laude” if you’re in the next 10%, and “cum laude” if you’re in the next 30%. That is, you only have to be in roughly the top half of your class to graduate “cum laude.”
Wikipedia, in fact, reports that Romney graduated “cum laude” and “in the top third of his class.” That seems much more likely, though it’s not all that impressive – probably means he generally got Bs and probably a few As and a few Cs here and there. However, he did much better in business school, where he was apparently in the top 5% of his class.
Obama, in contrast, graduated “magna cum laude” from Harvard Law School, and did so while serving in the very labor-intensive job of President of the Harvard Law Review in his third year. So at least where law school is concerned, Obama was the far superior student.
grades but what he did with one of the finest law degrees one can acquire.
But he got A’s in bullying and gay-bashing in high school, at least!
We’re in a presidential election campaign and some of us are talking about grades?
Jeesh!
Then I won’t bring up Obama’s grades, and lack thereof.
If Mitt is so smart then why does he keep putting his foot in his mouth in public?
You clearly aren’t going to stop bring up the grades non-issue regardless of what we do because that is one of your only talking points. I personally would be quite happy if Republicans waste all their time talking about stuff like this instead of real issues.
I said that Romney has looked like a moron on his overseas trip because of the dumb (or “stupid,” if you like) things he’s done, and I stand by that. I also stand by my characterization of Scott Brown’s post-Aurora comments on gun control as “stupid,” for the reasons I stated in the post on that subject.
There’s a difference between saying that someone just did a stupid thing, and calling that person stupid. Similarly, there’s a difference between saying that a person looks like a moron for having just done something dumb, and that the person is a moron.
I do think you’re making a mountain out of a mole hill (Nothing new).
I’m actually starting to think Romney can win this thing. I have been supporting him so far but with the feeling of it being a half-court shot. Now I’m thinking more 3-point shot and if the economy keep stumbling and falling, then Romney may win this thing.
Sorry to digress… you can get back to what Romney said about the 2012 Olympics security problems (where they have ONLY 5,000 security people instead of the 10,000 they need).
but everyone from the Queen to the masses in London were charmed by the President and Michelle. Looking at a few UK papers, words like “devoid of charm” appear.
It is really not good diplomacy to go to a country and suggest that they cannot provide security or that they can’t successfully run an Olympics. The fact is the UK has dealt with the issue of terrorism much longer than the US. Not to mention, the SLC Olympics had the most scandals – which continued even after it ended as the skating scoring was corrupt.
What were his grades in Barber School?
I did, guilty as charged. To err is human, to forgive, well, that’s right on!
about what you did in high school Dan
Lord knows Mitt stayed away from drugs, unlike u know who.
does not act at all like someone who had an out-of-control drug habit in high school.
By contrast, Romney does act the bully part. Think of him touching Gov. Perry at the debate. So the bully anecdote is revealing and, as a Democrat, I want it to be used effectively.
Um … that’s exactly what his campaign is now saying he did between 1999 and 2002, when he still made a shitload of money. So you might want to check your talking points with the campaign. You’re off message.
This is exactly how all these moneyed clowns make more money…and they call it work.
johnd – I’m glad when anyone tells Cameron he is doing it wrong
Right after his campaign boasts about how only Mitt understands the special relationship and our Anglo-Saxon heritage he ticks off the British in multiple ways. It’s a scary thought having him conduct sensitive diplomacy one-on-one if he can’t even handle the easy international events.
European Liberals are always talking about the Anglo-Saxon model, by which they mean USA capitalism. How come it’s racist now?
Serious question.
Isn’t this a reality-based forum?
I have never believed there is an Anglo-Saxon model or heritage or whatever. We fought two wars to free ourselves from that kind of thing.
Free market capitalism is so simple it should be available to anyone from any culture.
we know a thing or two about the Anglo-Saxon model
My people are from Ireland, and we can only talk about what it means to be a Celt. Things were fine until those ASes showed up
Since you have brought this up more than once, both here and in other posts, that have absolutely nothing to do with grades or transcripts, why don’t you, write a posting explaining exectly why it is that you are making this idiotic, ludicruos demand in a location that no one from the Obama Team will EVER EVER see.
Explsin why you want to put forward some bizarre conspiracy theory about affirmative action or some other crap along the lines of the idiot supreme Donald Trump, so you can receive the public ridicule that this garbage will insire. Until then, your demands appear to be NOTHING but a dog whistle for what has been referred to for years as the “Southern Stratety”. If, as I suspect, your are trying to use the “Southern Stratety”, BMG is a pretty stupid place to do it.
I knew this stone would be hurled at me. Again, stop calling Mitt stupid or a moron. Tell Obama not to say one needs to be transparent then hide your grades.
The left called Bush dumb for eight years and I am so sick of Dems thinking they are so much smarter than everyone else. I am not accusing Obama of benefiting from affirmative action, that was Geraldine Ferraro who said his candidacy would be a joke if he was a white woman, or something like that. I believe Mitt is smarter, that is all. Doesn’t mean the smarter one is, the better a POTUS one makes. Just mark your words a little better. K?
Expllain – Not Explsin.
exactly – Not exectly.
D’OH.
Ironic – I think? I need to preview more often.
His eagerness to see America a failure for his personal ends has resulted in an embarrassing situation where he appears to be putting words in the mouth of one of our allies:
Poor Mitt — if only foreigners were as disappointed in America as he is!
As soon as the President calls, I will tell him!?!?!?!? – Seriously?
The Bat Signal is in the sky.
Doing only one thing: running for President.
So why he is he so spectacularly uninformed on so many topics? Why he is unable to answer any question unless he can cram his memorized fill-in-the-blank minute soundbites?
Mitt seems genuinely uninterested in anything himself, and, if he becomes President, will be easily played by anyone who can get close to him.
At one point the darlings of the right had to muster up some actual charm to win over the perpetually aggrieved, but now it appears any sort of tall man in a suit will do.
The guy’s been unemployed for what, 6 years? And we’re supposed to give him a really important job?
Some people have trouble getting hired because they haven’t held down a job for six months.
In which we can learn how birtherism birthed gradism–it’s so refreshing to learn that it does not matter at all if multi-millionaires pay a lower rate on their taxes than struggling middle class families.
is a stupid moron.
so there
(( The Irish, sir, are a FAIR people . . . . ))
However, we do undeniably tend to exhibit what has been unkindly called “an instinct for the capillaries,” as anybody not from darkest W*lth*m is welcome to confirm by looking over here.
¡Abajo Neill Ferguson!
Happy days.
President Obama just called. I asked him to get right on those transcripts ASAP, and I believe he was quoting Ann Romney when he said, “WTF – You people have got everything your gonna get!”
Sooooo Sorry. I did my best. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
feed trollish behavior like this.
Had Obama not been charming, the Democratic base would have been quite displeased. The Republican base doesn’t feel much need to charm foreigners. (See Bush, G.W.) So this disaster of a trip may yet play well to the right-leaning side of the country. After all, to such people Romney is “telling it like it is.”
could expose himself on the front page of the Daily Mail and the right-leaning side would say he’s tellin’ it like it is
Exhibit A- historian claimed Mitt can’t remember minute sound bites, he is uninformed, not interested, etc, gobbledygook. I guess Mitt is just like George w. Bush….. Keep dreaming my friends.
Again, I said Mitt was hands on when he ran Bain. To his credit, the team he left behind, or delegated, at Bain when he saved the Olympics (more impressive than Harvard Law Review) is a credit to Mitt. Conversely, Obama delegated way too much to Pelosi and Reid and played too much golf. Work before play, right?
I was pleased to read some admit Mitt is intelligent. Both men are, just one has worked in the dreaded private sector and was darn good at it. Why I lean toward Mitt, at this point.
I’d be more interested in your preferences for toothpaste.
It’s all about you, isn’t it?
I confess the error of my ways and have been reeducated because of the superior power of the arguments of your acolytes.
Truly you are not only a most intelligent man, capable of earning high grades (unlike that dastardly Obama who is hiding his transcript under a rock in Kenya), but you are also most adept at answering questions, releasing a partial year of tax returns, and at needlessly insulting your hosts. All these achievements are sufficient to win my loyalty to you: I am ready to throw myself before a pack of wild dog liberals to defend your every virtue!
It was very wise of you also to set up your London fund raising trip with no opportunities for questions after Brian Williams, and who would have expected him to break the Olympic truce by asking uncharitable questions about a horse, taxes, or George W. Bush’s economic policies during the Olympic truce? Boris Johnson was such a cad.
Fortunately the rest of your trip will go well. In Poland you can continue your campaign against the Soviet Union, and in Israel you will shock the world by naming Bibi Netanyahu as your running mate! Take that Sarah Palin!
Aynway, I know realize that you are an official trademarked job creator. I realize as well that it is right and fair for you to pay taxes at a rate lower than contractors, nurses, or teachers because you have made such great sacrifices for the country–it is only your due.
I recognize as well that it was perfectly reasonable to drive to Canada with a dog on your car–Obama would have eaten him!
I understand that you have ever reason to hate and detest an individual mandate and to refuse to acknowledge that human activity is causing global warming. Great leaders need to have the freedom to change their minds.
Probably the only good thing from Mitt’s trips ….
#RomneyShambles
Some funny ones:
If so, we would have seen the part where they CELEBRATED the National Health Service. They consider it one of their greatest achievements, whereas we can’t even agree that caring for our people is a positive value:(
Do men with prostate cancer have a much higher mortality rate in England than in the U.S.?
The “age-standardized mortality rate” for prostate cancer in England is 24 deaths/100,000 men. For the UK as a whole it’s 23.7.
In the US, that same number is 23.6.
Do you generally consider 4 in a million (or 1.3% higher) to be “much higher”? Because I don’t. Indeed, I’ll just point out as well that the number for Northern Ireland is 20.4 which does indeed verge on being much LOWER (14% lower). If the US is so wonderful why’s Northern Ireland doing so well in one cherry-picked statistic?
Deaths from prostate cancer have fallen four times more quickly in the U.S. than in Britain since screening was introduced across the Atlantic.
Prostate screening is almost routine in America, with almost 60 per cent of men aged over 50 having the test every year – compared to under 10 per cent in the UK.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-560161/Prostate-cancer-death-rate-falls-times-faster-U-S-UK-routine-screening.html#ixzz224GvbTxP
Dan, I was tempted to demand a cite regarding prostate cancer, but realized that even if you gave me one that cherry-picked stat would not change my mind or affect the broader argument that countries with a universal system overall have better outcomes for less, or that Medicare and the VA in the US work very well and get very positive reviews generally from those who use them.
Dan is just furthering the myths propgated 3 years ago about “socialized” medicine. What next-death panels?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9086363/Man-sues-London-NHS-trust-over-failed-penis-cancer-detection.html
Hey, Dan, the plural of “anecdote” is not “data”.
what can I say: only in the UK
(please don’t make me look up all the atrocities committed in US hospitals)
Or has the thread been an entire waste of time. Look no further than his bickering advisors, some of whom are Kissinger realists the rest are neocons and his truly white (as in blank and devoid of ink worthy ideas) paper on foreign policy and it’s obvious Romney doesn’t know about foreign policy or care about it since he is banking on being the “no drama nobama” candidate as the economy nose dives. What was a mistake is making the trip at all since he is wasting a week or two overseas that could be spent here with swing state voters. Although the potential that his gaffes overshadow his successes are potently real I honestly think it makes little difference. Brits deposed Dubya and we still voted for him twice, also they will remain our bitch no matter who wins the election. Where it could hurt is next week where I’m just hoping Mitt tanks in Israel, the only leg off the trip that might influence actual American voters. Obama needs to show gutsy leadership like he did on gay marriage and healthcare to keep forward momentum, a stimulus package and strong gun control are decent places to start and he really needs to tie Romney to the failed Congress.
that I have borrowed the blimp again.
Happy days.
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