The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Is Mitt Getting A Media Pass?

Posted on | November 17, 2011 | 37 Comments

by Smitty

Legal Insurrection raises some excellent points:

I also pointed to a Chicago Sun-Times article arguing that when Romney was at Bain he used a “plunder” strategy for a number of companies. This is a theme Ted Kennedy used against Romney quite successfully. While new-found Romney supporters like Ann Coulter claim Romney came close to defeating Kennedy, in fact Romney was trounced because the anti-Bain theme worked.

Read the whole thing. Jacobson falls short of saying outright that the Mitt Fix Is In, but the lack of inquisitiveness on the part of the media is startling. And what is it with Coulter? Oh, she is a Christie fan, who might, unexpectedly, find himself a VP pick. Got it.

Or does Mitt just have a lot of cash? If my Latin serves, Belvedere is saying that Romney is the lender. Another good hypothesis.

Category: Legal Insurrection, Mitt Romney

Comments

37 Responses to “Is Mitt Getting A Media Pass?”

  1. Mike
    November 17th, 2011 @ 3:14 pm

    I believe the fix is in, but it is in so that the press will mysteriously come upon some hugely damaging information after the primaries are over and thereby destroy Mitt’s chances. Quite cynical I know, but after the last two election cycles I can’t believe that the press is anything but a mouthpiece for the dem party and will do anything to destroy any republican’s chances.  mpw

  2. omega_six
    November 17th, 2011 @ 3:25 pm

    Newt is definitely getting a pass, for now. It’s going to be nasty, loud, and dirty when it does go down. They figured they could knock down Cain and save the really dirty stuff for after February I’m betting.

  3. Steve in TN
    November 17th, 2011 @ 3:29 pm

    What better candidate to neuter the anti #Obamacare voters than #Romneycare?  @proteinwisdom is right. We’re about to get 2008’d again.

  4. jb
    November 17th, 2011 @ 3:31 pm

    Hey, you guys selected these clowns. Don’t blame the media for revealing what clowns they are. Don’t forget, Fox and Rush Limbaugh are mainstream media too.

  5. Joe
    November 17th, 2011 @ 3:50 pm

    Yeah.  But in the general they will savage him as bad as they savaged McCain back in 2008.  Same for Newt, Santorum, Cain or anyone else we nominate.   I assume Mitt has no major scandals, but the anti Mormon stuff will be raised and his flip flops.  They will make up shit too. 

    It is what they do.  They are lying rat bastards. 

  6. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:00 pm

    I’m not sure Bob’s settled firmly on a hypothesis, up until a few days ago Bob was asserting Romney was some sort of land agent.

     http://thecampofthesaints.org/2011/11/11/romney-delanda-est-2/

  7. Joe
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:00 pm

    I wouldn’t call it a pass.  Temporary reprieve is a more apt description.  They will move to execute him later on. 

  8. just a conservative girl
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:15 pm

    Well, if he is getting a pass that will last only as long the primary.  As soon as he is (heaven help us) the nominee the ride will be all over.  McCain always believed he had a good relationship with the press.  

  9. Adjoran
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:31 pm

    Yup, it’s a conspiracy all right!  Get your tinfoil hats strapped on tight!

    OR, if you aren’t susceptible to the mind-control rays, you might realize that Romney was a candidate four years ago.  Whatever was going to be “uncovered” about Bain has been.

    Now, if Romney were clearly out front, or becomes the nominee, of course the media will attack him.  He’s a Republican, that’s a big target painted for them.  But the idea they are “saving” something is simply paranoid.  That’s not the way the news business works.

    Any outlet who had something juicy knows fully well that someone else may find it and go with it if they try to sit on it.  Even when national security is involved, “embargoed” news doesn’t stay secret beyond a few hours.

    But if it makes you feel better to believe the Trilateral Commission has fixed the race, go ahead.

  10. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:32 pm

    What, no hat tip?

  11. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:34 pm

    And our biggest Mittsucker omits a crucial fact: Four years ago, Mitt wasn’t remotely in a position to win… and McCain was Next In Line.

  12. DaveO
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:38 pm

    Correct: Senator McCain assumed, incorrectly, that he had a good relationship with the MSM because they were good people. No – it was  McCain was an incredibly venge-taking fellow who never missed a moment to beat down Bush. Because of the smackdown McCain received in the 2000 SC Primary, he was always the go-to guy whenever the MSM wanted a Republican counter-Bush quote; or whenever Harry Reid wanted to screw up Bush’s legislative agenda.

    The MSM is the proverbial scorpion on the Republican frog’s back. It’s busy stinging other candidates today, but come the actual campaign, it will sting Romney for all it’s worth.

  13. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:43 pm

    It’s not that MSM outlets are possibly sitting on juicy material right now. It’s that they’re waiting for the Dem machines (e.g., Chicago) to manufacture some new material, which will be dissiminated via JournoList 2.0, and then turned into a media feeding frenzy.

    I’ll wager with you that, if Mittens wins the GOP nomination, he is hit with a hitherto unmentioned (or lightly mentioned) “scandal” that the MSM treats as an epic bombshell. What stakes?       

  14. Danby
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:44 pm

    If you think this, it’s time to go back and read the JournoList archives. A section of the press, particularly the DC-based commentariat, believe it is their job, not to report news, or to examine the candidates, to make money, or even to express their thoughts, but to manage the debate and the news in order to elect Democrats, specifically Obama.

    These are the same news organizations that have mostly refused to report on Fast & Furious, and have cast the Solyndra scandal as a nothingburger. And since Romney’s business tactics as head of Bain Capital are not news unless someone makes hay of them, by publicly accusing Romney of destroying American Companies And American Jobs, and Shipping Our Jobs Overseas, there’s nothing to report. Until they decide to report it.

  15. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 4:56 pm

    Moreover, perhaps you’re reading people’s comments (here) too literally and not fully appreciating the nature of postmodern politics (elsewhere).

    A “juicy” scandal is anything that makes MSM hacks hyperventilate.

    Part of the reason that MSM hacks have not spent much time attacking Romney yet is that they don’t yet realize how much they despise him; as soon as Romney becomes a threat to Obama, they’ll catch up mighty quick.       

  16. Joe
    November 17th, 2011 @ 5:21 pm

    Give SDN his hat tip!  We are not communists! 

  17. smitty
    November 17th, 2011 @ 5:41 pm

    Sorry, I found the Legal Insurrection post in my RSS reader.
    That said, I don’t skimp oh hat tips when due; it’s the Proper Thing To Do.

  18. Joe
    November 17th, 2011 @ 6:37 pm

    http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/17/dennis-miller-im-off-the-cain-train/

    Going bad to worse. 

  19. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 7:55 pm

    Oh, that notorious RINO Ann Coulter!

  20. ThePaganTemple
    November 17th, 2011 @ 8:13 pm

    I bet you never imagined you’d ever say those words, huh? I wouldn’t have, but after she endorsed Christie, she can’t do or say anything to surprise me. The second Christie endorsed Mitt, I knew it was only a matter of time before Anne would endorse him too.

  21. Bob Belvedere
    November 17th, 2011 @ 8:49 pm

    Why can’t he be both?

  22. Bob Belvedere
    November 17th, 2011 @ 8:52 pm

    Thanks for the link, Admiral Daddy-O!

    Mandate Mitt actually reminds me of a used car salesman.

  23. Anonymous
    November 17th, 2011 @ 8:55 pm

    Indeed he could, the hypothesis thickens.

  24. Joe
    November 18th, 2011 @ 12:09 am

    Ann is a whore.  She boffed Bill Maher. 

  25. Jacob
    November 18th, 2011 @ 12:36 am

    There’s no “fix”, if Democrats thought they could derail Mitt from getting the nomination, they’d do it now.  The DNC is already running ads against Romney, how many ads have you seen them cut for the other candidates?

    Every polling outfit shows a clear trend that Romney does the best against Obama, they’d MUCH rather run against a Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, etc.

    The big “dirt” on Romney is that some of the company’s his firm bought, they had to make layoffs.  But far more jobs in this country were created than destroyed with Bain under Mitt’s helm (that’s why Romney made so much money, the companies were, gulp, successful)

    Still, even with this Gordon Gekko persona created by the Dems, Romney was still able to win in Massachusetts as a Republican Mormon. 

    We can argue all you want about how Romney is not the ideal conservative, but looking at this solely through a political lens, I’ll take my chances with Romney.

  26. Joseph Fein
    November 18th, 2011 @ 12:36 am

    If Romney comes close to a win, expect a floor fight in Tampa. 

    Heck, if NH, NC and Iowa do the smart thing and not choose one candidate (and Super Tuesday is a wash), Floor Fight. 

    Romney is not Trustworthy to the Local Activists. 

  27. Adjoran
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:19 am

    I’m uncommitted, but Romney is still on my list of possibles until there is a reason to strike him off.

    McCain was in no way a clear winner until South Carolina.  Romney had been favored in New Hampshire, and also  in Iowa after winning the Ames Straw Poll.  McCain’s campaign went broke and was in a shambles.  If you believe they passed on bringing Romney down then because they “knew” McCain would come back to win, you’re just wrong.  That’s not how media works.  You get a story, you develop it as much as you can BUT you run with it before anyone else does.

  28. Adjoran
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:23 am

    Oh, you mean like Kennedy accused him of?  In 1994?

    The fact they downplay Democratic scandals has nothing to do with it.  They don’t downplay or delay Republican scandals.

    If any of you had an actual example of this instead of your imaginations, it might give you some credibility.

    Instead, because you don’t want Romney, you insist there is some scandal lurking with nothing to back it up.

  29. Adjoran
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:25 am

    Of course he will be viciously attacked, as ANY nominee will be who dares oppose Obama.

    I am only disputing the bull-chit claim that there is some scandal regarding Bain they are holding back to hit Romney with. 

  30. Adjoran
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:26 am

    What?  With a strap-on?

  31. Adjoran
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:28 am

    You mean SOUTH Carolina, I assume, not those Obama-loving tar-heeled inbred morons to the north, right?

    Since South Carolina began holding  a Republican Presidential Primary, we have always picked the winner of the nomination.  Every time.

  32. Joseph Fein
    November 18th, 2011 @ 3:05 am

    Thanks for the correction!  Yes, SC!  Go SC! Do not pick Romney!

  33. ThePaganTemple
    November 18th, 2011 @ 8:36 am

    This year might be different. I can’t see Mittens winning SC. But I can see him going on to win the nomination. If it comes down to between Mitt and two “conservatives”, say Perry and Gingrich, or Perry and Bachmann, etc.,  its going to be a long hard slog. I wouldn’t be too damn surprised to see a brokered convention.

  34. Tennwriter
    November 18th, 2011 @ 10:02 am

    I don’t gamble, but maaaan, that’s not really a gamble.  Its a sucker’s bet.

  35. Anonymous
    November 18th, 2011 @ 12:49 pm

    Brain Bleach, stat!

  36. Quartermaster
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:14 pm

    It’s been 4 years since Romney started running for the 2008 contest. It is entirely possible that there is something out there they haven’t discovered yet. No ons is claiming it is a certainty.

    Do you also doubt that the MSM will not fabricate something if there is nothing out there?

    I personally dislike Romney. The man is already emasculated because Romneycare and the compromises he made as MasGov. Excuses can be made that he was a blue state Gov, but I see nothing that would eprsude me he is not a liberal himself.

    When Bush started running for POTUS in ’99 I looked at hopw he governed in TX and saw a liberal. He didn’t “disappont,” alas. You can dream all you like about how great Romney is, but like all the rest of the establishment types, he will break your heart.

    I don’t vote for establishment types, and *will* stay home if he is the GOP nominee. There is not enough of a difference between him and the TheWonWhoWon to make a real difference. In fact, he will simply make the status quo as Obama has made it stronger, and the country far weaker because these things add up, as they have since 1933.

  37. Quartermaster
    November 18th, 2011 @ 1:15 pm

    Alas, there isn’t any strong enough to wipe that image from your brain.