posted by Justin Hart | 12:36 PM |
permalinkDean Barnett wonders aloud why the press has mustered so much energy against Romney. He suggests several reasons:
To start with the obvious Mitt Romney is most conservative candidate in the field who has, at present, a chance of winning. The press doesn’t like conservatives, or at the very least, is more hostile to conservatives than it is to liberals. The press sees everything regarding a conservative in the worst possible light; liberals are more likely to get the benefit of the doubt.
This is one thing that conservative forget. Regardless how you think Romney REALLY feels about the issues his public stance is THE conservative candidate in the GOP candidate slate. Dean continues:
A second reason is that Mitt Romney doesn’t look like a politician should, or at least the way the media thinks a Republican politician should. Given that Romney is constantly praised for his patrician demeanor, his impeccable manner and his smooth-as-silk politicking...
The press has come to expect Republicans to fit certain molds. They are supposed to be inarticulate and not quick on their feet. The press has stereotyped every Republican presidential nominee since Ford in this way. They are also supposed to be intellectually unimaginative or downright unintelligent. Again, every Republican presidential nominee since Ford has had to live with this label. They are further required to be creatures of politics who have accomplished nothing or next to nothing outside of the political world. Lastly, all Republicans ought to have a bit of Elmer Gantry in them. They should preach about morality and piety, but they should always be obliging enough to have at least a few skeletons jangling in their closet.
Think about our past slate of presidential candidates: Bush (inarticulate), Dole (dour), Bush 41 (unimpressive). Romney exudes something very different. As one press person put it: "Romney is straight out of central casting!" Dean summarizes this point:
Mitt Romney fails to live up to any of these stereotypes. Intellectually, Romney graduated Harvard’s Business and Law Schools with top honors. Furthermore, it seems like he’s completely unfamiliar with the media dictates that Republicans should wrestle with English like it’s a hostile foreign language and make themselves available for lampooning as dullards.
So why else are the press shooting at Romney?
Lastly, and probably most frustratingly for the media, the Romney closet is depressingly barren. When Mitt Romney talks about family values, he’s able to point to his own wife of 40 years and a brood of children and grandchildren that seems too good even for a Christmas card.
Barnett makes a great defense elsewhere on why this approach just won't workLabels: anti-romney, bash, dean barnett, flip-flop, mitt romney, press
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