In the fierce battle between Next Gingrich and Mitt Romney for second place in this year’s presidential campaign, the two top Republicans have become the president’s best aides for his reelection. By attacking each others’ weaknesses, they damaged their image in the eyes of potential voters and provided an invaluable script for how to bring down the eventual Republican nominee.
The most useful attacks (for President Obama) have involved the giant mortgage lenders Fannie Mae (The Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Mortgage Corporation). Many people, especially anti-government Republicans, falsely believe that Fannie and Freddie were the causes of the mortgage meltdown. Until the Republican nominating campaign, these two lenders, who controlled 90% of the secondary mortgage market in 2003, have been viewed as a Democratic problem. However, Republican accusations over the lenders during their campaign for the nomination show that Republicans are complicit in the mortgage meltdown and both parties have been involved with these controversial lenders.
First, Mitt Romney pointed out that Gingrich earned $1.6 million lobbying for Freddie Mac and thus by association is partially responsible for the mortgage meltdown. This ad by the Romney campaign could just have well been produced by a Democratic media consultant.
The ad also accuses Gingrich of being a beltway insider, something he has been running from since the campaign began. If Gingrich wins the nomination, this ad will make it harder for him to project the “outsider” image that he is trying to cultivate.
For his part, Gingrich has accused Romney of profiting from Fannie and Freddie, “Ironically, apparently his tax return indicates he owns stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…” Gingrich wants to hide his role in Freddie Mac by making Fannie and Freddie an issue of the elite rich guy, Romney, making money off the mortgage brokers. Newt has been labeled a corrupt insider and Romney an elite opportunist, “I think someone who owns stock in a place that forecloses on Floridians has a lot of gall to start raising the issue,” he told reporters.” All this plays well for the President and his campaign who will use these labels to discredit whoever wins the Republican nomination.
Then there were the attacks on Romney from Rick Perry along with Gingrich for his involvement in vulture capitalism. Editor of the Nation, Katrina Van De Heuvel puts it well,
With their eyes set on Bain’s bane and Mitt Romney’s career, Perry and Gingrich have been astonishingly and appropriately brutal. “There’s a real difference between venture capitalism and vulture capitalism,” Perry told Fox and Friends last week. “I don’t believe that capitalism is making a buck under any circumstances.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Gingrich sharpened that point further on Bloomberg: “…Show me somebody who has consistently made money while losing money for workers and I’ll show you someone who has undermined capitalism.” Sing it, Brother Gingrich.
Gingrich further challenged Romney by releasing his tax returns early before the South Carolina Republican debate. This pushed Romney into releasing his own tax returns that show he paid less than 15% in taxes (half of what Gingrich reported). Obama gained yet another talking point that has resonance with the American people, the 99% versus the 1%. If Romney gets the Republican nomination, Obama can use the framing of the people versus the corporate elite represented by Romney to defeat the former CEO of Bain Capital. So much for Romney’s business acumen being an asset in the general election.
Romney counters by attacking Gingrich and his time as speaker of the House, “…Members of his own congressional team after four years of his leadership, they voted to replace him,” Romney said of Gingrich’s time as House speaker from 1995 to 1999. “This was the first time in American history that a speaker of the House has resigned.”
And Romney and other Republicans have criticized Gingrich on his appearance with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a climate change ad. There is no worse sin for Republicans than cavorting with the enemy, and Pelosi is enemy number two, right after President Obama. This might not hurt him with Democrats who will never vote for Gingrich, but Republicans may turn away from him in the general election for this sin.
The longer the Republican nominating process continues, the longer Gingrich holds on and convinces Republican voters he is the true conservative left with a chance, the better it will be for President Obama come November. And the more Romney has to spend attacking Gingrich, the less money he will have to go after Obama in the fall.
Peace,
Tex Shelters
I haven’t been following the primaries very much this year. This was a great blog to get caught up with.
Thanks Mile. I hope all is well.
PTxS
Creep Show
In case there exists
post-death awareness
let us pray for
Barry Goldwater
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Everett Dirksen
Frederick Douglass
Susan B. Anthony
and
Abraham Lincoln
These Republicans
are certainly mightily appalled
by the creep show
currently calling itself
The Republican Party
~
The automatic response to anything
this Democratic president suggests
is
“No”
The tongue and palate get into position
to form the consonant
before President Obama
has concluded the sentence
What comes to mind
is mechanical people
hard-wired to repeat the same
thirty or forty phrases
while shaking their heads
“No”
No
We will not cooperate
No
We will not accept laws
to benefit poor Americans
Such benefits are not their right
The unemployed poor are lazy
The lazy bums need to
get a job
Health care is not a right
No
We will not talk
to leaders of nations
which do not like us
because that will show
that we support terrorism
~
Following the manners of his host nation
President Obama bowed
before a Muslim king
The whole world saw our shame
President Obama made America
look gracious
generous
and nice
President Obama
gives comfort to terrorists
We must never
let America be seen
as
a nice nation
We need
to let other countries know
that we are more important
than they
And uncompromising
America will never ever
compromise
~
Due process is all well and good
for real Americans
but when you’ve got scumbag terrorists
and people that did certain really bad crimes
you have to get justice
right away
The death penalty
should be carried out quickly
with none of this phony
appeals business
Reasonable doubt
with a grain of salt
~
President Obama’s plans
are wrong
and bad for this country
We opt out
We want to hold meetings
guns and children in tow
to discuss how wrong
and un-American
certain democratic principles are
in action
~
Real patriotic Americans
want to see
corporate America in control
and advising government
on allocation of resources
Who better than
the former chief executive officer
of a vast organization
to advise on
governmental
budget allocation
A former
chief executive officer
who had responsibility
for thousands of employees
can be counted on
to advocate
for the little people
~
Don’t try the ploy
of reminding us
that President Obama
has enacted
some of the policies
we wanted
That tactic is transparent
and we see right though it
~
UnAmerican
The President of the
United States of America
is unAmerican
We will not resort
to the low tactic
of mentioning
birth certificates
even though
we will never accept
any record of birth
provided by
The State of Hawaii
which has the earmarks of
conspiracy
to tell the truth
~
The Corporation as Individual
Mining fossil fuels
Mining minerals
Mining rain forests
Mining coral reefs
Mining Antarctica
Mining the last pristine ecosystems
We will not be undermined
~
The Creep Show is on
Leeza, 01/22/2012
Copyrighted
May not be copied
May not be republished
without author’s consent
Great! I’d love to hear this at a poetry slam. Political angsts is great!
PTxS
I’m a Newt guy Tex as are most of the Republicans I know are. We’re Blue color Republicans / Reagan Democrats. I see 1/3 of my friends voting 3rd party if Mitt’s the pick, 1/3 will stay home and the last third hold their nose on vote for Mitt. Me? I’ll vote Libertarian long before I will ever vote for Mitt but I would never stay home. As far as Mitt’s money running out before he gets to Obama? Don’t count on it, I see one of the dirtiest campaigns from both sides come November and it will make what’s going on now look like a nice game of dodge ball.
I think these couple of Bozos are bringing comic relief to the political system. It’s hard to believe that anyone takes them seriously.
I think you are way too confident about Obama beating either one of the 2 top dogs. I look all across the internet & see so much dissatifaction with Obama that I really am thinking he’s probably going to lose to whoever the GOP puts in there.
Of course I also see a lot of internet support for Ron Paul that isn’t translating into really strong positions in the primary results, he’s always 3rd or 4th so maybe Obama can win this thing.