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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4297 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Romney and Bain Capital: The Secrecy is Killing Him
I just don't think the point resonates as much as you seem to. When I hear it I think to myself, was it illegal? No? Then did it save him money? Yes? Would I do it then? Probably? Okay then.

If I were the Obama campaign I would hammer away at ads with Mitt saying one thing when he was previously running then him flip flopping now and ask "doesn't a president need convictions"? There is so much film on Romney from the gazillion times he's run for office that this would be easy and a slam dunk. But I would sprinkle some bain/tax shelter in there too. But for me its close to a non issue.

I actually respect how successful the dude was. It's not my thing, but then neither is golf and I'm still shocked by how good Tiger Woods is. The guy knows business/finance.... I should be turned off by this?





b_b  ·  4297 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Maybe you aren't turned off by it, but you don't think the average blue collar worker will be? "You work 50 hours/week for your $50k per year and pay 25% tax on all of it, and this guy only pays 17% on the part that the government knows about. The rest he hides in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands so their companies and governments can make money on it. Oh and by the way, he made that money by closing factories in the US." Who cares if its 100% accurate or if most people would also tax shelter their millions if given the opportunity? Run that in a union hall and at your average unemployment office and see how pissed the people get, maybe with a backdrop of him cheerfully bantering about his wife's several Cadillacs. I think it would be an effective strategy to get already left leaning people to come out and vote, many of whom did not in 2010. Playing the flip-flop angle doesn't sell to me, because he flip-flopped away from the President's position on most issues. Conservative people who care about social issue will think that at least he's saying the right thing now, and he's the best they have. Obama flip-flopped on gay marriage and it seems to be working for him.
thenewgreen  ·  4297 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I don't know, many of those workers would likely hope to someday be in that spot. I think one can't underestimate a persons ability to projectively empathize. Someday, when I'm wealthy I'll get where he's coming from. You're assuming that the electorate votes for those that align most closely with where they currently are or with those that will help them in their current situation the most. They don't. If they did, the poor would never vote GOP and the poor whites do vote GOP all the friggin time.

I know that this quote is all over Hubski but its appropriate here:

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -Steinbeck

b_b  ·  4297 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Well fortunately for BO, he pretty much only has to focus on the rust belt, where this message will resonate strongest. MR could flip Florida, Colorado, Virginia, NC and Iowa from 08 and still lose. Here is a refresher of the 08 results. Difficult to see which of the other blue states will go the other way.
thenewgreen  ·  4297 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin and Nevada all appear to be up for grabs as well, according the the NYTimes