There is more than enough silly commentary on the so-called fiscal cliff negotiations to go around, but you can’t do much better than Dana Milbank’s column today for the Washington Post. Milbank’s column emerges out of the latest trend in liberal opinion writing: now that the election is over, they have made a conscious decision to consider being more honest in their political pronouncements.
Reason magazine flagged a prime example of this on Monday, when they picked up on a quote from the New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg: “[Obama] was the champion of our side, he vanquished the foe….. [but] now liberals don’t have to worry about hurting his chances for re-election, so they can be tougher in urging him to do what he should be doing.” Milbank’s entry today isn’t quite at Hertzberg’s level, but it’s in the same vein. Now that the election is over, Milbank can admit it: the country really needs Mitt Romney.
You might think that liberals would appreciate Romney’s decision to step out of the spotlight and accept his loss to Obama with grace and dignity. After all, even though John McCain is still a senator, nearly every time he criticizes President Obama it is chalked up to an apparent case of sour grapes over the election. Romney isn’t even in office. But no matter. Milbank wants Romney back in the arena, and he’s going to taunt him out of hiding:
Never again, likely, will his voice and influence be as powerful as they are now. Yet rather than stepping forward to help find a way out of the fiscal standoff, or to help his party rebuild itself, he delivered a perfunctory concession speech, told wealthy donors that Obama won by giving “gifts” to minorities, then avoided the press at a private lunch with President Obama.
Though keeping nominal residence in Massachusetts, the state he led as governor, he moved out to his California home and has been spotted at Disneyland, at the new “Twilight” movie, at a pizza place, pumping gas and going to the gym. In warm weather, he plans to live at his lakefront manse in New Hampshire. The man who spoke passionately about his love for the American auto industry has been driving around in a new Audi Q7.
A former adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, told Rucker that Romney will “be involved in some fashion” in public service. And nobody can begrudge Romney some downtime. But his failure to engage now, at a time when he could have the most clout, reinforces the impression that his candidacy was less about principle and patriotism than about him.
That’s what you get for bowing out gracefully and spending time with your family, if you’re a Republican. But put aside the fact that Republicans are trying to move on from much of Romney’s problematic messaging during the election and rebuild their brand around some of their more popular elected officials. Did Milbank always think of Romney as a man whose involvement in public life was so important to the country? No.
In a sarcastic response to conservative complaints that the media was being unfairly critical of Romney, Milbank suggested in September that the press back off. Romney, he said, was a gaffe machine, and simply for the entertainment value the press should help him get elected. “Admittedly, this may not be the best outcome for the country, or for the world,” Milbank snickered, adding that “he could bring transatlantic relations back to War of 1812 levels.”
But the fiscal cliff is about economics, and that’s where Romney’s business experience could come in handy, right? What did pre-election Milbank think of Romney’s business experience? He summed it up in an August column in which he said that a business-oriented video game his young daughter played functioned “strikingly like Bain Capital did under Mitt Romney.” And how is that? “The game is devoid of business ethics,” he wrote.
Romney was a liar, Milbank said in the week of the election. But that might be because he’s a brainwashed zombie, as Milbank had proposed a month earlier. By the time the election was over, Milbank said, the Romney campaign had “abandoned any pretense of being a campaign for the common man.”
In some ways, Milbank’s column is actually a breakthrough in bipartisanship. It took Democrats quite some time to decide that Ronald Reagan wasn’t purely evil through and through. It only took them a few years to reconsider George W. Bush in light of contemporary Republican officeholders. And now it has taken only a matter of weeks for the left to admit that the Republican presidential candidate isn’t who they said he was; he’s not so bad after all, and their guy isn’t so great, it turns out. At this rate, it won’t be long before liberals come to grips with reality before, instead of after, a presidential election.
What Bush, McCain and Romney have is class, something notably absent among Democrat Party pols. As for MSM "journalists," the less said the better.
Well said! Missing in the current administration too.
Spare me the "our side has class" argument. Was it classy for Romney to blame his election loss on Obama's gifts to the 47%? Was it classy for McCain to continually attack Susan Rice? The party of Rove, Coulter, Atwater, Limbaugh, Hannity, Trump, Fox "news" hacks, etc. that has continually attacked Obama for his lack of "patriotism," questioned his citizenship, his intelligence and his core values has no moral ground to stand on. You lost–get over it.
Spare me the "our side has class" argument. Was it classy for Romney to blame his election loss on Obama's gifts to the 47%? Was it classy for McCain to continually attack Susan Rice? n nClassy? Debatable. True? Completely.
We lost. True enough. What exactly should we get over? I do not recall that the Democrats behaved very gracefully after Bush won in 2004. I cannot even remember how many times Bush was compared to Hitler. But, Bush overplayed his hand then, precisely because he thought he had a mandate, but did not. So two years later the Democrats once again controlled Congress. Obama is on a trajectory to do the same. When he loses Congress, maybe you should get over it. n nYou speak of hacks yet you read Commentary. My experience is that conservative outlets, including the despised Fox News, provides fairer coverage of opinions on the other side than do liberal outlets, which are far more abundant. The media bias was so thick this year that it had even my liberal friends reeling.
Yes the election is over but you will regret it that you voted for Yes the election is over but you will regret it that you voted for Obama, look where our Country is going. Wake up man and realize that the only person that would of helped our Country get out of this debt is Mitt Romney, is sad to know that many people like you are so closed minded and all you want is free stuff. Get off been lazy and work hard and choose the right for the future of your family. But hey you know what! what goes around comes around and even thou the election is over Mitt Romney is a better man then Obama. So He still a winner. You wanted Mr. Obama, wait for the consequences that our country will suffer. I don't think our country will recover from this bad recession. Good luck to you sir and hope learn to work hard this yr.
davidlevavi ;;well spoken,,,,, nI could not have said it better myself so I did not. na joe in Texas
No, they need a boogeyman to scream at like they do every night from 5pm-10pm EST on MSNBC. Since the election all of its coverage has been alternately screaming and gloating that Obamus Maximus Gaius Sulla won and everything bad that's ever happened is was and will be because of the GOP. n nIn an interesting note though, my spouse who likes Chris Matthews noted he's becoming almost pathologically intolerant of anyone disagreeing with him on his show, even other liberals and leftists who sing the praises of Obama as loudly as he does. Pointedly he interrupted one of his regular Obamatron guests and told him "satire can jeopardize your chances of ever being asked back to this show."
I take it he likes to watch Chris Mathews for entertainment… Right?
The ignominious conduct of the politicians, mass media democrats and republicans and American people, hopefully will not be rewarded after they all decided that it is their choice to destroy this country. Romney should stay where he is and do what he wants. Furthermore he is not a true Republican (conservative). Both extremes won. Their is no place for a gentleman among crazy people.
Miss Romney, are you kidding? The GOPers are still trying to peddle his debt reduction non-plan: closing unspecified loopholes.
Some liberals may miss Romney, but they sure are scared of Rick Perry's Texas. n
Yes, just terrified of Rick "Oops" Perry and the great state of Texas. BWAHHAAAHAAA
'''Some liberals may miss Romney, but they sure are scared of Rick Perry's Texas.''' n nCan you elaborate a bit on this K2K?????,,,gimme a link or something? nJoe in Texas
Here's what I posted on the Washington Post web site: n nI am puzzled as to how to understand your [Dana Milbank's] article about Mitt Romney and I wonder how to respond. The kindest thing that can be said is that it shows immense lack of self awareness. The harshest thing is that it is entirely cynical, pretending to a position never in evidence before the presidential election. n nBefore the election, week after week, you had nothing positive to say about Mitt Romney. You mocked him. Now you ask him to take a stand on the looming fiscal cliff. Could it be that you think he has some good ideas? Could it be that you think he did not express these ideas before the election? Hardly. Much more likely you wish him to get involved in a way that helps President Obama and his tribe of liberals to achieve their aims and to hinder Speaker Boehner and his tribe of Republicans, particularly those of the Tea Party, in achieving them aim. n nI have a suggestion for you, Mr Milbank: Write the letter or speech that you'd like to hear from Mitt Romney. If you do that I presume it will take one of two forms: The first possibility is that using your words Mitt Romney will come to his senses and renounce his former positions. The second is that, in a trite phrase, he will double down in his errors. n nThen I suggest that you couple with your Romney-words your reply. You will have written them and be responsible for them. But, true to your form you will criticize Mitt Romney. If he maintains his positions you will pretend disappointment that given the chance (by you) to be a statesman he failed; you will say you knew all along that Mitt Romney was bad for America. If you have Mitt Romney renounce his positions you will emphasize that he has once again flip-flopped. Nay, it will be worse on your part than emphasis. You will not say how wise he is; you will only – I repeat only – say that as you and the other members of the Obama team said all along, that he is a flip-flopper. n
If we go over the fiscal cliff it will now be Bush's AND Romney's fault , according to liberals. (not to mention the Republicans fault too). NEVER will anything be BHO's fault.
If ever a man was caught in s lingering delusion it is the author of this ridiculous article. The quoted author was definitely pointing out the dame glaring faults the governor put on display during his six year campaign, specifically MEGALOMANIA. There is never a serious call for the poor dejected flip-flopper to come rescue the Union from that durned ole fiscal cliff. Only a hard-core Romney apologists would describe his post-election behavior with the words “grace” or “dignity.” Good riddance to voMitt Rmoney.
I am beginning to think that media liberals are worried that Obama is coming off as arrogant and bullying and that he will lose the fiscal cliff battle after all, particularly since Boehner has offered a far more balanced proposal. Americans rfespond poorly when thety think they are being buliied. That is probablt why the Democrats get clobbered in 2010. Just because the electorate responded to the Democrat negative campaign of demonization doesn't mean they are thrilled with Obama's agenda.
Romney , locked into a lifetime of initiative and productive living, had the monstrous idea that people in this country wanted to get back to work, to establish comfortable homes for their families, to prosper again, …NOT!!! the electorate or at least a majority of it its seems have lost everythin only to find the government has padded their fall, they have food stamps to feed their families, they have rental homes welfare supported, free healthcare i for the whole family, heat allowance i so that the do not feel the cold. those who have outlived their 99 weeks unemployment hundreds of Lawyers are there will get you a lifetime of disability checks, all paid for by those who are stuck paying these moochers fair share. and the frosting on the cake is that alot of these people are working off the books of course so that the life style they have now rivals the one they had when they were actually productive citizens. tax paying cistizens
Dana is out of touch with reality. It is up to Obama, not Romney to make the case. Why does a man that once had 78% approval ratings perceived as being so weak ? Because he has failed to be an effective leader. Stop blaming the other side. Could it be that math does not work for a democratic solution to solve debt and infuse economy with incentive based growth.
You're right, David — even though you brought up MSM journalists in your original post, you did so dismissively and didn't directly link them to Democratic pols. So there's no justification for lumping Fox News hacks into a discussion of McCain, Bush and Romney's class. Instead, let's discuss these three paragons of class on their own merits. n nMcCain showed that he was devoid of any core convictions during his 2010 Senate primary fight, reversing course on numerous issues and generally pandering to the right wing to ward off a conservative challenger. For an independent, principled maverick (albeit one that has disowned that label now that it doesn't suit his purposes anymore), it was a truly depressing performance. You may find that his heroism in Vietnam and his long service to his country as an elected official give him automatic class status and absolve him of all wrong-doing. I disagree. He has proven himself to be a crass politician when circumstances require it. n nIn the case of Bush, I think you mistake his reticence since leaving office for class. In any event, if McCain's heroic biography contributes to his classiness, what are we to make of Bush, a Draft-avoidant child of privilege who was an alcoholic (and possibly a cocaine-abuser) until roughly age 40? Does his (laudable) sobriety since then confer class upon him? Does the fact that private equity investors put him in charge of the Texas Rangers, finally giving him an executive position where he didn't run the company into the ground, give him class? Perhaps it's his Presidential record (Iraq, Katrina, financial crisis contributions)? If none of those points on his resume do the trick, here's a better idea — ask McCain, one of your three paragons, about Bush's classiness, especially in South Carolina in 2000. I guarantee you that one of the paragons will not escape the ensuing discussion with his reputation for class intact. n nAs for Romney, I believe that he's a rugged capitalist who put aside his business ambitions (and opportunities to make a lot more money) to serve his country. He distinguished himself in running the Salt Lake Olympics and then governed Massachusetts ably. He tried his best to win the Presidency. Blaming his loss on Obama's gifts seemed petty, but really his was just an unfortunate way of describing the highly successful Democratic strategy of appealing to different parts of a fractured electorate. I suspect you will agree with all of this and that you believe that Romney is a patriotic fellow who has indeed dealt with his loss gracefully (yes, with class). But if you're willing to believe the best about Romney, how can you honestly state that Obama's patriotism is undemonstrated?
A vote for Romney is tantamount to a vote for the gambling industry and all the vice that comes along with it because his biggest campaign contributor is Las Vegas Sands Casino. He will be beholden to them and soon you will find a mini-casino in every neighborhood.