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Monday, March 19, 2012

2012 Mitt Romney Says the Economy Is Coming Back

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 10:24 AM

According to Politico, Mitt Romney said this in Springfield earlier today:

“I believe the economy is coming back, by the way," Romney said. "We’ll see what happens. It’s had ups and downs. I think it’s finally coming back. The economy always comes back after a recession, of course. There’s never been one that we didn’t recover from. The problem is this one has been deeper than it needed to be and a slower recovery than it should have been, by virtue of the policies of this president. Almost everything he’s done has made it harder for this economy to recover.”

This is a pretty huge shift in the Romney talking points, obviously, and it's a huge problem for Romney. All he's been able to say over the last year or so is that the economy is terrible and he's a businessman who can improve the economy. Now his case is that the economy should've bounced back (from the worst decline since the Great Depression) way faster than it did? It forces him to deliver a compliment, however backhanded it may be, to President Obama in every speech.

Worse than that, I don't think Monday morning quarterbacking is the way to win the hearts and minds of America. You need promises of something greater. The only thing that Romney could promise before was a recovery. The rest of his schtick was a series of attacks on the president. Now his promise is that he could've given us a faster recovery. The rest is all negatives. He needs to find a new promise, and fast.

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"I promise to be a white president"

Posted by ryanayr on March 19, 2012 at 10:33 AM

Or maybe he's banking that there will be another period between now and the election when economic data becomes negative again. Then he can say that the economy had been trying to get out of the recession -- "cuz hey, even I said it was getting better last spring, remember!?" -- and that it's Obama that is pushing us back into recession. It's all BS of course, but by acknowledging now that the economy is improving he'll appear to be less of a predictable hack -- and more of an "honest analyst" or something to the casual swing voter -- next time he exploits poor economic news.

Posted by G g on March 19, 2012 at 10:38 AM

He needs to find something people fear. The next big worry. Terrorism, gay marriage, these things have run their course. Maybe he'll get really lucky and extraterrestrials will make contact before the election. You know people will want a Republican in the driver seat for that. The ultimate expression of xenophobia and he'll sew that race up. Of course, we'll all die in the war he starts or become love slaves to our Martian overlords, but that is entirely besides the point.

Posted by NateMan on March 19, 2012 at 10:38 AM

Romney's qualifying his acknowledgement (finally) that the economy is improving with this slap at Obama:

"The problem is this one [recession] has been deeper than it needed to be and a slower recovery than it should have been, by virtue of the policies of this president. Almost everything he’s done has made it harder for this economy to recover.”

Yeah, it's all Obama's fault and Republicans have always been completely blameless in driving the economy off the cliff.

What a fucking liar!

Posted by tniel on March 19, 2012 at 10:43 AM

Time to promise more massive tax cuts

Posted by decidedlyodd on March 19, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Romney is exactly correct.

The policies of Obama -- stimulus, TAARP -- redirected needed assets for growth to his cronies and failed businesses.

That money could have set in motion a New Wave of start ups and small businesses that can provide the needed employment and a Path To Wealth for more Americans than ever before.

Obama suppressed the recovery.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on March 19, 2012 at 10:55 AM

I never honestly thought we'd see a worse candidate than Dubya. The wingnuts found him!

Posted by The_Shaved_Bear on March 19, 2012 at 11:10 AM

He's toast! The only thing the Repugnantcans have to offer is more wars.

Posted by Vince on March 19, 2012 at 11:25 AM

According to @6, Obama suppressed the recovery by forcing George W Bush to sign the TARP program into law back in 2008. Fascinating!

Do you have any other bullshit for us?

Posted by shabadoo on March 19, 2012 at 12:03 PM