May 20, 2011

The new anti-Romney ad "shows that Priorities USA Action... will work as something of a roving hit squad."

Says Jim Rutenberg in the NY Times:
The spot focuses on Mr. Gingrich’s suggestion on “Meet the Press’’ on Sunday that the Medicare overhaul approved by House Republicans last month represented “radical change’’...


Examining why there is an attack on Romney coming so early, Rutenberg quotes Paul Begala (who is an adviser to Priorities USA):
“The man, the moment the place, the characters, it all came together... Any good political player sees defining moments happening and helps to form them.”

The spot shows that Priorities USA Action, like the conservative group it is seeking to counter, American Crossroads, will work as something of a roving hit squad. As an independent group, it is unencumbered by the political sensitivities that a candidate has to worry about, and is free to pick its shots as long as it can afford them.

59 comments:

Lincolntf said...

Bring it on, pissants.
Mitt Romney is in a whole other category of men than Obama. Let the grubby little hit pieces keep coming, they're all the Left has got. I really hope Romney gets the nod (I know, I know...) so Americans can see the contrast between he and Obama. Mitt is ten times the leader that Barry is, and that won't be easy for the Dems to hide, even from the American Idol-type voters who voted Obama in last time.

rhhardin said...

Begala is a Roving hit squad, you could say.

Henry said...

We really need a none-of-the-above option on every ballot.

@Lincolntf -- I think Romney missed his chance in 2008 when he somehow, inexplicably let himself get passed by the wobbly McCain.

If Romney went into that White House Financial Meltdown confab right before the election, we might have seem some acumen that would have changed the outcome. Instead we had McCain looking like a man given a very hard cipher.

What Romney would have sold in that situation was confidence -- confidence that at least one candidate had some knowledge of financial affairs. I don't think he would have actually derailed the Paulson-Geithner crony-capitalism fiasco. He's so smart he would have fallen for it. And hard.

That kind of smarts is no longer so appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Romney has a rather hollow look of late, doesn't he?

Ann Althouse said...

"Romney has a rather hollow look of late, doesn't he?"

Perhaps that's his authenticity showing. He is hollow!

Ann Althouse said...

Just kidding, people. Don't let Mittsy slip away a second time.

Lincolntf said...

The black and white video makes him look like a serial killer.

Scott M said...

Let the grubby little hit pieces keep coming, they're all the Left has got.

They've, and the other GOP hopefuls, have Romneycare. I haven't really heard anything from him yet to remove the albatross effectively.

Robert said...

Mittens? Really? I think the Mass. mandate on health insurance is not prohibited by the US Constitution, and may be allowable by the Mass. Constitution (haven't read that document.) But that doesn't mean I think it's a good idea or that it doesn't show the heavy hand of government. Just because something isn't disallowed by the Constitution doesn't mean it's a good idea. If Mitt had owned up to his mistake, that's one thing. But doubling down on it finishes it for me. Can't vote for him.

Superdad said...

This is a poor ad. They set Mitt up for the kill (i.e. do a great job of 1. tying him to the Ryan plan and 2. asserting that the plan is too radical) but then they take their foot off his throat. They end the commercial buy telling you they are not sure if he still supports the Ryan plan.

Its like they can't decide what their message is. Is it Mitt is too radical b/c he supports Ryan's plan or is it Mitt is a flip flopper. Both could be successful lines of attack but they muddle them into a single ad. Very poorly done.

Phil 314 said...

Its good to know thoughtful Democrats are concerned that Republicans advance candidates who are consistent in their views.

J said...

the real question should be---when does the law preventing Mormonic-zombies or fundamentalist morons from entering public office go into effect. Just say no to the Mittens monster.

Anonymous said...

There's "roving hit squad" in the title, but no "civility bullshit" tag?

Phil 314 said...

"Romney has a rather hollow look of late, doesn't he?"

Perhaps that's his authenticity showing. He is hollow!

Just kidding, people. Don't let Mittsy slip away a second time.


Not that I'm a Romney supporter and assuming there's at least a kernel of true feelings in these comments, Professor these are strange words from someone who voted for Barack Obama.

Anonymous said...

Also - I may be thick, but what's with the image on Althou.se?

Shouting Thomas said...

So, the Democrats are admitting that they have absolutely no interest in cutting spending or curtailing entitlements.

No end to the borrowing and spending.

Bankruptcy or bust! If you aren't in favor, you want to push granny over a cliff.!

Lincolntf said...

I think Romney made it pretty clear where he stands on the far more intrusive, coercive and expensive Obamacare. He'd grant waivers to all 50 states. One might prefer more "purity", but it's hard to argue that he doesn't have a handle on just how bad O-care is for the country.

J said...

Night of the living MITTENs!

Yikes. with Anne Romneyoid, She Wolf of the Nauvoo.

Shouting Thomas said...

J, I don't understand why you ever take a break from the crack pipe and yanking off to post here.

If you just want to insult people for the sheer enjoyment of it, why don't you go to the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Flatbush in Brooklyn and try it out for a while.

Some of the boys will take proper offense there and you can enjoy getting what's coming to you. You can get your ass kicked just the way you like it.

J said...

you mean O-care's bad for yr pizza parlor business, don't you Lincoln yokel. But not so bad for your employees (and O-care's far more corporate and pro-business than the original HCR plans, like of Leahy). You just don't know what this game's about. Mittens is no liberal except to a few delusional moderates or do-gooder types. He's a rightist wingnut and neo-con, actually to the right of Paul Ryan-tard.

Penny said...

"Its like they can't decide what their message is."

Quite the opposite.

Begala was on O'Donnell's MSNBC show last night where the topic was the same, healthcare, and the message was the same with a different target. Gingrich this time.

"First this..........Now THIS!"

Is it a defense strategy pretending to be offense? Or maybe their intent is to present their competition as "pragmatists" TOO?

Lincolntf said...

Zip it, J. That post was even less coherent than your usual drug-addled dribblings. Now go build a secret shelter so the scary Mormons can't get ya'.

J said...

9-58.


Lying again, Shouting phaggot, aren't ya. And I suspect yr the tweeker here, aren't ya hick.

Yr about to be arrested little Tom Tom. Thats what in store for you, yid

J said...

10:09. Not on drugs perp. But you izz, s*t*nist


entiendes? New rules.

Got that Aynhouse?

Known Unknown said...

Waste. Of. Money.

Known Unknown said...

"phaggot"

Must be nice to have such a diverse and rich vocabulary.

Shouting Thomas said...

J, this is getting pathetic.

Sure, you can hijack a posting on a blog and exchange insults.

Apparently, you can't do anything else except suck on that pipe and yank your pudd.

Commit suicide and do yourself a favor. This isn't even a life for a worm.

J said...

10:09. No we're coming to get you Lincoln the survivalist tweeker-klan-morm-bot. Thats whats in store for you, terrorist

Shouting Thomas said...

10:09. No we're coming to get you Lincoln the survivalist tweeker-klan-morm-bot. Thats whats in store for you, terrorist

This really is all you have to do with your life, isn't it J?

J said...

10: 16. fuck you, satanist klan-mormon grrl. Yr pathetic, klan faggot.

YR the perp here, white trash-zionist antichrist.

edutcher said...

The Zero crowd is a little disoriented. I thought they wanted to run against the Mitt.

"Priorities USA Action... will work as something of a roving hit squad."

As opposed to all the other Demo PACs?

Ann Althouse said...

"Romney has a rather hollow look of late, doesn't he?"

Perhaps that's his authenticity showing. He is hollow!

Just kidding, people. Don't let Mittsy slip away a second time.


I think Ann is getting a little weak in the knees again.

J said...

Night of the living MITTENs!

Yikes. with Anne Romneyoid, She Wolf of the Nauvoo.


He can't read, either.

See above quotes.

Lincolntf said...

"10:09. No we're coming to get you Lincoln"

Now that I'd love to see.

J said...

No mormons in public office. How easy is dat?


Just say no to the Nauvooo-demons

J said...

10: 26. watch me tweeker perp

Ayn's already got many people watching her and her terrorist regs, day by day (not just "lefties"). Fox phaggot news won't stop 'em. . Even Reagan would shut you the F. up.

Lincolntf said...

So I'm a tweeker, a perp, a yid, and a pizza shop owner?

"Welcome to Shmuel's Smoke n' Slice, please leave your handbags unattended."

Shouting Thomas said...

Hard to believe that this crap you do is worth anybody's effort, J.

Known Unknown said...

I think J is actually one of the most brilliant satirists here.

Shouting Thomas said...

I think J is actually one of the most brilliant satirists here.

Jesus, I just about had the dumb bastard shut up, and then you have to do that.

Don't you have any sense?

Henry said...

I think J is actually one of the most brilliant satirists here.

As a modest proposal he should eat his own head.

deborah said...

"I think J is actually one of the most brilliant satirists here."

I just scroll past him. Please give a timestamp in this thread of what you mean.

(Good one, rh)

J said...

Ah'm a talking 'bout the Midnight Rambler..the one you never seen before....

hasta la
buh bye lil Lincoln n TommyTom

deborah said...

If McCain had chosen Romney, at the time of the meltdown people would have been rallying around Romney as a savior.

Carol_Herman said...

Better bet ... Chris Cristie will be drafted.

These primaries ... From Iowa to New Hampshire ... are just a clown show. They worked in the days before the Internet!

Most of the people who will attend the GOP convention will want a candidate who can win! (McCain, and his ilk, need not apply.)

While in all truthfulness, Newt Gringrich stated the TRUTH, when it came to Paul Ryan's plan! HOWEVER, Newt broke Reagan's 11th-commandment: Thall shalt not attack any other repubican.

Letting go of Ryan's 3rd rail would also be a smart thing to do. There are plenty of GOP politicians who deserve to get kicked around ... But it's much better to focus, ahead, on getting someone who is electable ... into the nominee's slot.

Not another Bob Dole, either! Cancel the stupid line GOP "hopefuls" wade behind. Get realistic. Obama? He's a dud. But he's gonna need the GOP to field someone with TRUMP's ability to say it out loud. And, to turn Obama into a punching bag.

The amazing thing is how weak the democrapic field really is. But you need a horse who can run in shit storms.

Brennan said...

This is why I'll take the GOP field over Obama. The Dems will have to spend money attacking every GOP candidate. With no frontrunner they can't use any early money to define that candidate before the first GOP primary.

Obama is incredibly weak. He won't be able to raise funds from sources that no longer have liquid assets. He won't have wall street to bankroll him again either.

rcocean said...

We can do better than a failed one-term moderate Governor of Massachusetts, who supports Amnesty and Obamacare and who couldn't even beat Mike Huckabee in the primary.

He makes Bob Dole look exciting. He does however have executive hair.

Unknown said...

"...a roving hit squad"

So Begala wants to assassinate politicians targeted by Palin.

mccullough said...

This will be a very negative campaign . Last time Obama had no record, this time he has a horrible one.

Expect lawn signs reading HOOVER and NIXON, with the e Os with the Obama sunrise over red-white-and blue farm logo to start popping up.

Lincolntf said...

rcocean, you can concentrate on his hair if you want, I'll look at his decades of success in executive positions, his obvious grasp on the complexities of modern economics and his personal integrity. I'll leave the name-calling and making fun of his looks, Religion, etc. for you and the Libtards.

Bruce Hayden said...

Should be an interesting election. I backed Romney last time around. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to close the sale, and blew a lot of money before he retired from the field. I too think that he would have done better than McCain with the financial crisis. I also think that he would have done better against Obama overall - he is tall, has twice as many Harvard degrees, is a lot smarter than the President, and actually did something before going into politics, like make a lot of money.

But, he did RomneyCare when he was governor of Massachusetts. And, that is bad. And that may be his fatal flaw this time around, that the Tea Party crowd will just not warm to him because of that, and thus too many Republicans will stay home on election day.

Otherwise, I think he has as good a chance as any Republican to win.

I should note that the fact that he is Mormon will affect at least me. With the recent elevation of my (former) Congressman Dean Heller to the Senate, I now have two Mormon Senators, one a Democrat, responsible for much of the mess that we are in, and one a fairly conservative Republican. The two share a state, a mother church, and good ratings from the NRA, but little else.

Lincolntf said...

I lived in Massachusetts for all of Romney's term, and I watched while MA health care "reform" took shape in the decades prior to his election. Romney vetoed the most onerous aspects of the MA plan just to be overriden time and time again. I know it doesn't make much of a soundbite, but Romney did as the Constitution required and as the voters of MA demanded.

mccullough said...

Romney touted himself as a technocrat, like Obama. His ideas failed, like Obama.

Forcing people to buy a product or service is un-American. Romney doesn't get that. If we're going to have a Mormon as president, I'd rather have Huntsman. He's better looking, cooler, and speaks Chinese.

Lincolntf said...

Which ideas of Romney's failed? Certainly not his multinational business strategies or his plans to rescue the SLC Olympics. As noted many times before, and just as often ignored, Romney VETOED much of the stupid crap people keep calling "his idea". Would Obama ever veto Obamacare? No, so that stupid parallel never even makes it out of the gate.

mccullough said...

Lincolntf,

What were Romney's "multi-national business strategies"? He did a good job running Bain & Company and Bain Capital, although the LBO approach of private equity is not without its critics. When Romney agreed to run Bain Capital, he made sure none of his own money was at risk. William Bain was the entrepreneur.

He makes no compelling case to be President. Government doesn't function like a business, as Romeny's one-term as Massachusetts governor has shown.

What Romney is known for is "reforming" health insurance in Massachusetts (a state where 90% of people were insured before he was governor). Costs have soared, wait times have increased, and the E.R. is still the primary care provider for many. Romney predicted the opposite of all three of these. He was spectacularly wrong. And he won't even admit it. So he's arrogant and incompetent.

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J said...

But seriously peoples, the old timey mormon male had to have at least THREE sacred wifeys--healthy ones that is, not Nevada casino trash-- 'fore he was allowed into the celestial kingdom of the Nephites. So, Mittens here is just a boy, polliwog, ....a greenhorn

rcocean said...

A guess if you're a "comfortable" Republican, who likes the status quo and the general direction the country is going then Mitt's your man.

He will change absolutely nothing of importance, except tax a little less and spend a little less (except for defense). However, he will be good for big business.

But he has no appeal to young people, Jews, Hispanics, Blacks, minorities in general, or poor and working class whites.

He can only say, vote for me - I'm not as bad as Obama. Last time he couldn't beat McCain or the Huckster. He's a loser.

The Republicans will nominate him.

windbag said...

I wouldn't waste a dime trouncing Romney or Newt. Neither has a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination.

Lincolntf said...

"What Romney is known for is "reforming" health insurance in Massachusetts (a state where 90% of people were insured before he was governor)."

He's known that way only by idiots and political rivals who want to marginalize him. Tell me, mccullough, why did Romney fight so hard against MA health care that it took until the end of his term for the Dems to force it through? Come up with a reason that fits logically with your posts, if possible.
Your dismissal of his work at Bain is pathetic. Get a clue. You probably aren't qualified to mop the floors of the office in which he worked but you knbow better than him how to run multui-billion dollar international corporations, right?
Face it, Romney isn't a super-hero, Messiah, or the second coming of Ronald Reagan, so you'll oppose him. Just like an Obama supporter, fanatically clamoring for an Idol when all they is need a decent man.

jamboree said...

Romney puts me in the mind of Aaron Hotchner on "Criminal Minds".

Is it just me?

Dr. Spencer Reid for President.

Woof.