Mitt Romney was interviewed on CNN's The Situation Room by Jim Acosta and was asked the following question:
JIM ACOSTA, CNN: African-Americans have a tremendous sense of pride that there is the first African-American president in the White House. If you were to somehow beat the first African-American president, what would you say to the black community to assure them that you would be their president also?
His focus was naturally on African American voters, and the questions Romney's incriminating '47% of Americans are lazy and shiftless' statements bring up vis a vis the first black President. Which IMO is more offensive than anything that the RW nutjob sites got their knickers in a twist about. And never mind that he'd have to convince African Americans
before the election, not after.
Newbusters (and other RW sites) got very offended at CNN Reporter Jim Acosta's use of the word 'somehow'. They focus on the choice of words as extremely objectionable and ask after describing their evidence that Romney has a chance at winning ("the polls are very tight"):
The first thing that should grab your eye is the word "somehow."
Somehow?
The economy stinks, the right-track/wrong-track numbers are upside-down, and the polls show a very tight race.
As such, how does Acosta think Romney winning is a long shot?
Yes, how indeed is Romney winning a long shot? Well, for starters, no Republican has ever won the Presidency without winning Ohio. And Romney is tanking in Ohio.
Perhaps Jim Acosta helped in writing CNN"s story 'Why Romney is Losing Must-Win Ohio'. That article is absolutely brutal to Romney and his strategists and is a must-read. Some of the choice excerpts:
Romney's favorable rating is underwater. Almost two-thirds of voters approve of Obama's decision to bail out the auto industry, a staple of Ohio's manufacturing economy. The president leads Romney by a wide margin on the question of who would do more to help the middle class.
And when voters are asked which candidate would do a better job handling the economy, Obama has a sturdy lead, undercutting the thematic premise of Romney's candidacy.
[...]
Some pointed to the Obama campaign's aggressive effort to hang Romney's opposition to the federal bailout of Chrysler and General Motors around his neck. Others said a hangover remains from the divisive 2011 battle over collective bargaining rights that hurt the GOP's standing with working class voters.
A handful of GOP strategists blamed Romney's standing on campaign staffers who aren't Ohio natives.
One longtime Republican strategist griped about the "arrogant top-down" approach of the Romney team and said they have done a poor job listening to the advice of savvy Ohio strategists
Still others cited Romney's lackluster political skills and said his stiff CEO demeanor as a turnoff for Ohioans,
[...]
The main criticism that emerged, though, is that Romney is a man without a message.
Or maybe he consulted a news site he doesn't work for, such as Bloomberg that said today 'Romney Negativity Muddies Message As Obama Leads in Poll'. Another unflattering
piece.
Or maybe he saw the poll where Romney has captured 0% of the black vote. Or maybe he saw the secret video where Romney disdainfully writes off 47% of Americans. All valid reasons for his premise. Or maybe he just inhabits Planet Reality.
Some scenarios have been suggested under which Romney could possibly win.
We can all come up with fantastical scenarios involving international or domestic crises that would cause a plurality of Americans to say "no more four years" for the president. Occasionally, these things happen,
And Matt Taibbi
tells it like it is:
Matt Taibbi, contributing editor with Rolling Stone Magazine, appeared on CNN on Thursday where he discussed the state of the presidential race. Taibbi said that, of the journalists he associates with, there is a feeling that President Obama has already won the 2012 election. There is a “relatively popular incumbent, the economy is not doing terribly,” and the only reason the press suggests the race will be close is that “we have to sell advertising.”
So Jim Acosta temporarily let the truth show. And these are all examples to warm the cockles of a Democrat's heart. But maybe the best part it Romney's answer where he gives his pat, practiced answer "I want to be President of all the people", contradicting his own, honest words said when he
didn't know there was a camera on him:
MITT ROMNEY: I want to be the president of all the people of America. I want to help all the people of America. You don't get into a race like this with myself and my family and do the kind of work and commitment that we've put forward without the passion to help all of America. And the people who really need the help right now are the people in the middle class, people who have fallen into poverty. I know how to get them help. The president doesn't.
Mitt Romney does not even bother to question or push back on the interviewer's premise, 'if you could somehow win this election'. He just accepts it at face value and presses on with his stock, prepared "I want to be the President of all the people" (Yeah, we know, you want to be the president and run the country). He knows he has no chance, just like everyone does.
(I couldn't embed the video but the link is here. It's the only place on the web (Newsbusters) where the video is located, all others link back to there. If someone can explain how you get an iframe starting code to embed, I can follow instructions)>