No Conservatives, That's Not The Good News You Think It Is

Anyone who thinks the Romney campaign isn't in trouble just hasn't been paying attention. While Mitt's 47-percent controversy is the first thing to come to mind, this is the old one-two -- one disaster following another. His comments on the unrest in Libya that claimed the lives of US personnel have caused four in ten voters to think worse of him, according to one poll. So he was still recovering from one blow when the second landed. The past seven days have not been kind to the Republican nominee.

The New York Times' Michael Barbaro writes that a "palpably gloomy and openly frustrated mood has begun to creep into Mr. Romney’s campaign for president." Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan calls the Romney campaign "incompetent" and calls on "activists, party supporters and big donors" to pressure them to make radical changes to their approach. And remember, this all comes after a "reboot" that was supposed to reinvigorate an election campaign that seemed to be running out of steam. After the reboot, things are actually worse. Much worse.

So any not-so-bad news is excellent news. The problem is that, from where conservatives stand right now, pretty much everything looks like not-so-bad news, even when it's not. The desperate wanderer in a desert might be more likely to see a mirage and the desperate partisan may be more likely to spot good news. So it is with Mother Jones' release of the full video of Mitt's 47-percent controversy.


[Legal Insurrection:]

David Corn of Mother Jones released the “complete” audio and video of the secretly recorded Mitt Romney speech at a private fundraiser.

Yet the complete audio and video is not complete. There is a gap in the recording immediately after Romney’s now famous discussion of the 47% of voters who don’t pay taxes. The cut in the audio and video comes while Romney is in mid-sentence, so we actually do not have the full audio of what Romney said on the subject.

The next audio/video (Part 2) picks up with Romney talking about China.


Yes, one or two minutes are apparently missing. Given the nature of the recording, this isn't surprising. Still, good news! Mittens may have been taken out of context! (This despite the fact that most of the wingnut blogosphere is arguing that Mitt's comments where the smartest thing anyone's ever said about anything; exhibit A.)

But what context could there possibly be that would make this all right? Unless the gap has Romney saying, "Of course, only a dick would say those things, which is why I completely disavow the argument I just made," he's screwed. And Romney hasn't said he was taken out of context, he says his argument was "inelegantly stated" -- as if it was merely the words he chose and not the argument he made that offended so many. If Romney did not argue that 47% of Americans are freeloaders with a victim mentality as he seems to have, why is he defending that argument now?

No, Mitt Romney said what he said. The video cutting out doesn't change that and the candidate isn't playing along with your clumsy attempt to create a new narrative.

This is not the not-so-bad news the rightwing blogosphere seems to believe it is. That's a mirage you're seeing out there, not a lake.

-Wisco

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