Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Big Money Turning Tables On Romney

Mitt Romney is having a bad monthl.  His record at Bain and his refusal to release his tax returns have dominated the conversation.  Romney would much prefer to be talking about the president’s record and the failing economy.  Instead the Romney Campaign finds itself defending governor’s record and rationalizing his refusal to be more transparent with his taxes.  And as they say in politics: “If you are defending you are losing.”
There is a reason that the Romney Campaign finds itself on the defensive.  Money!
Remember the days of the Republican Primaries when Romney was able to outspend his rivals 5 and sometimes 10 to one.  He would carpet bomb them with attack adds.  Their slightest mis-step would be featured in a Romney attack ad the very next day.  Each of Romney’s opponents complained about the magnitude of the attacks and the false statements they made.  But they were unable to compete with Romney financially so their protestations were barely heard.  The Romney Death Star simply blew them away.
But it is a different ballgame now.
So far the Obama Campaign has been financially able to match Romney attack ad for attack ad.  Romney’s faux pas are no longer met with a muted whisper.  They are displayed across every media outlet money can buy.  Gone are the days of carpet bombing the opponent and receiving nothing in return.  The game has changed; and Romney doesn’t like it. 
Today he explained to his Republican supporters why they were wrong in demanding that he release all his tax returns:  “Oh, I think people in my party just say, “Look, this is a non-issue, just release the returns and it will all go away.” My experience is that the Democratic Party these days has approached taxes in a very different way than in the past…Their opposition people look for anything they can find to distort, to twist, to try and make negative.”
That is absolutely correct…just like Romney did to his Republican opponents during the primaries. 
By the time the election rolls around the Romney Campaign, thanks to Citizens United, will raise more in campaign donations than the Obama Campaign by a wide margin.  But the Obama Campaign will have enough in the bank to give as good as it gets.  Romney’s days of carpet bombing opponents are over.
We should note that we find importance that money plays in our politics to be repugnant.  For the Supreme Court to rule as they did on Citizens United and then scoff at the prospect of bought elections and anonymous foreign money influencing our politics is the height of jurisprudence stupidity.
But for now, this is how the game is played.  And the Romney Campaign is just starting to get a sense of what it feels to be on the other side of big money’s influence.        

  
    

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