From the transcript at TBO.com.
Blockquotes are Mitt’s words, followed by my response to the quote.
I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division.
It was neither his promises nor the disappointment that gave way to division. We did that ourselves, and continue to do so, with the political culture/climate we keep alive. The division is caused by our tendency to perpetuate the following:
- Constantly attacking and demonizing the other side, without ever praising their noble efforts, accomplishments or qualities (think I now need to express what I like about Romney)
- Assuming the other side is incompetent
- Assuming the other side is evil
- Assuming the other side just doesn’t get it
- By having unrealistic expectations about what can be accomplished in 4 years given this political culture
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My children deserve better! My family deserves better. My country deserves better!
I don’t like this sentiment where people feel they deserve something because of their hard work, or because of their long-term hardship, or because of some other reason. The reason I don’t like the sentiment is that it’s in opposition to the quality of humility, representing a gross inflation of self-worth. Requiring people to explain why they thought they deserved better might make them realize how selfish they sound.
Regarding the notion of being deserving, would people that suffer the most be most-deserving of the prosperity some of us demand? More-so than the Americans going through hardship, or those working late nights? What’s the metric that determines what one deserves?
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“He convinced my mom, a beautiful young actress, to give up Hollywood to marry him.”
Wow, how patriarchal. What was Romney’s dad’s compromise? Romney really should have worded that differently because to me the story doesn’t suggest devoted love or willing sacrifice is equally present in both of his parents.
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If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn’t you feel that way now that he’s President Obama? You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him?
What’s wrong is that we put too much hope in one man, and expect quick fixes to our most difficult problems.
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Jobs to him (Obama) are about government.
Pretty sure your only evidence of this is the stereotype that Democrats want big government. It may appear that way because when Democrats want to get big things done they see the need for large coordinated efforts, overseen by something such as the government. It’s not the same thing. You’re attributing malice where there is none. More government isn’t the goal, it’s a means.
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These are American success stories. And yet the centerpiece of the President’s entire re-election campaign is attacking success.
He’s trying to equate critique of Bain Capital with attacking success in general? What a leap! Nobody can deny that Bain was successful financially. But Romney’s statement implies that no successful company should ever be criticized. What a stupid statement.
And for Romney to generalize Obama’s entire re-election campaign as being focused on attacking success is nothing but lazy words and fuzzy logic.
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In the richest country in the history of the world, this Obama economy has crushed the middle class. Family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums are higher, food prices are higher, utility bills are higher, and gasoline prices have doubled. Today more Americans wake up in poverty than ever before. Nearly one out of six Americans is living in poverty. Look around you. These are not strangers. These are our brothers and sisters, our fellow Americans.
FactCheck.org has found this paragraph to contain exaggerations.
“In Romney’s case, we found a few bits of exaggeration and puffery. He exaggerated the loss in family income that has occurred under Obama, for example, including 13 months of losses that actually occurred before the president took office. And he made a back-handed accusation that Obama has raised taxes on middle-class taxpayers, when in fact the president has lobbied for and signed several temporary reductions.” Source.
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And it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of healthcare by repealing and replacing Obamacare.
Pretty sure it’s not Obama’s healthcare plan that is making costs go up. They were rising before then. There’s never been a time when they haven’t.
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Today, women are more likely than men to start a business. They need a president who respects and understands what they do.
What?! That’s all you’ve got to say about that? And now he’s jumping to taxes …
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In his first TV interview as president, he said we should talk to Iran. We’re still talking, and Iran’s centrifuges are still spinning.
Romney implies that talking is all the government has been doing. What of our efforts to convince nations close to Iran (geo and relationally) to put pressure on Iran? What about the cyber-sabotage operation that infected Iran’s plants with what is effectively a virus in order to damaged the equipment? That’s more than talk. That’s downright clever, albeit a worrisome tactic.
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And does the America we want succumb to resentment and division? We know the answer.
He’s implying no, but all of his rhetoric charges his base against those on the other side. He never once mentions the great things Obama has done. Candidates demonize. Without making Obama look like a human with good intentions, he demonizes. This is the main reason I can stomach politics only occasionally.