No Apology - No Mistake in Raising Bain Issues
Romney wanted to cake walk into the White House on the strength of being "a successful businessman." He wanted to campaign on one liners like "I created 100,000 jobs". Romney wanted to win simply by not being Barack Obama; by blaming a sluggish economy on the incumbent and being the alternative. Unfortunately Romney doesn't have either the right or the power to insert his preferred narrative into the national debate unchallenged.
It is only mid July. Barack Obama has ample time to remind voters of his own strengths later in the campaign. What voters needed to be reminded of now is how the economy got so bad in the first place, and under which party's watch the ship of state was seized by pirates and corporate raiders.
Most Americans credit FDR with helping pull the United States out of a deep Depression. They also know that doing so fully took over 8 years and World War Two to accomplish. Republicans wrecked our economy. They handed the keys over to a business elite with its own narrow and self serving agenda, an elite with more than a few people in it quite similar to Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney chose to run on his record at Bain Capital - but he preferred to keep Bain out of it. Romney wanted to run as a successful businessman without the details of his business being subject to public scrutiny. No deal. Romney could have run on his record as Massachusetts Governor instead, where he can take full credit for Romneycare, but he pushed that part into the shadows also.
America doesn't elect shadowy Presidents. We don't contract for a President C.O.D. The Obama team has been brilliant in both content and timing so far in this campaign. Americans knew a lot about Barack Obama but much less about Mitt Romney, who wanted voters kept in the dark both about the details of his past and his plans for our future.
Team Obama refused to play along with Mitt Romney's chosen game, and more power to them for that. Going so called "negative" might make a few voters think a tad less kindly toward Obama in the short run, but it was worth it, both for Obama and for our nation. This election won't be won by one guy being more warm and fuzzy than the other. Obama will win hands down among any voters who rank personality as a deciding factor, no matter what he does during this campaign.
This election will come down to the economy, and the questions: "whose fault is it that it cratered and still remains sluggish?" and "which candidate is fighting for my economic interests?" Every "attack ad" the Obama team has run raised questions about Romney's business record. What is the alternative, NOT raising questions about Romeny's business record? Seriously? It is the only thing Romney is willing to run on. It is why he thinks America should elect him President.
Obama raised the questions that needed to be asked about Mitt Romney at EXACTLY the appropriate time. The nation is better off for it as we now move forward seeking answers about both mens vision for America. Don't listen to the corporate apologizers no matter which Party they come from. Most corporations actually have little to apologize for, so the truth is not a threat to their business. Bain not only is fair game, it is essential that Americans study that business record for evidence on the priorities of a man who now seeks to lead all of us, not just a private equity firm. Thanks to team Obama, it is now all on the table.
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