The Other McCain

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Rick Santorum Distances Himself From Newt’s Lefty ‘Hit Job’ on Mitt Romney

Posted on | January 12, 2012 | 48 Comments

Newt Gingrich’s “super PAC” has unleashed its 27-minute documentary about Bain Capital, When Mitt Romney Came to Town, which a Daily Kos blogger calls a “hit job” that “you’d expect from a lefty operation.” It’s as if Newt hired Michael Moore. Avowed lefty Steve Benen calls it “devastating”:

Desperate to gain some traction in South Carolina, Rick Perry has joined in on this weird left-wing beatdown of Romney. The fact that the latest South Carolina poll shows him in sixth place — behind Jon Huntsman, in what was supposed to be Perry’s “firewall” state — perhaps explains Perry’s willingness to engage in an “Occupy”-style attack on free-market capitalism. Rick Santorum refuses to go down that road:

“It’s this hostile rhetoric, which unfortunately – I don’t want to stand here and be a defender of Mitt Romney, but unfortunately even some in our party now, even some running for president will engage in with respect to capitalism,” Santorum said to a town hall of nearly 200 people. “It is bad enough for Barack Obama to blame folks in business for causing problems in this country. It’s one other thing for Republicans to join him.” . . .
Even when prodded by reporters to take a shot, Santorum instead has only said he believes in the economic model that allows people to be successful.
However, that does not mean Santorum has shied away from taking jabs at Romney. The candidate trying to portray himself as the only true conservative in the race has elected to use Romney’s record as a governor, not a businessman, to go on the offensive.
“The other side is going to look at my record and look at Gov. Romney’s record on health care and say, ‘You want to attack me on health care? Who are you to attack me on something that I used your plan to build my health care method?'” said Santorum. “He’s taking away the biggest issue that we have in this election.”

Good on ya, Rick. The problem with attacking “vulture capitalism” (to use Perry’s rhetoric), is that shutting down inefficent and unprofitable segments of a company’s business is essential to maintaining economic viability. Romney did some stupid things at Bain Capital — e.g., his crony capitalist moves in the “My Twinn” debacle — which are subject to criticism. But closing down inefficient operations in an effort to turn around companies that were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy is just the way business works. Perry’s rhetorical appeal to economic ignorance is backfiring disastrously in South Carolina:

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (AP) — Presidential candidate Rick Perry’s criticism of Mitt Romney’s business past has cost him the support of a prominent South Carolina Republican.
Investment fund executive and top GOP donor Barry Wynn told The Associated Press Thursday that he’s leaving the Perry fold to endorse Romney. Wynn says he was irritated by Perry’s attacks on Romney’s time at the helm of the private equity firm Bain Capital.
As Wynn put it, “It’s like fingernails on the chalkboard.”

Isn’t it time somebody stuck a fork in the Perry campaign?

UPDATE: Linked by Protein Wisdom, The Rhetorican, Wake Up America and The Lonely Conservative — thanks!

Category: Economics, Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, South Carolina

Comments

48 Responses to “Rick Santorum Distances Himself From Newt’s Lefty ‘Hit Job’ on Mitt Romney”

  1. richard mcenroe
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:09 am

    I came to this campaign season looking for an election.  I’m getting a roadshow company production of John Galsworthy’s Strife,
    http://tinyurl.com/6nmtvz3  
    with personal ambitions and vendettas being masked by self-serving worship of the Workers and Capital, that in the end bring down both protagonist and antagonist.

    Bravo to Rick Santorum for staying out of that sewer.

  2. “It’s as if Newt hired Michael Moore.” « The Rhetorican
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:25 am

    […] “It’s as if Newt hired Michael Moore.”“It’s as if Newt hired Michael Moore.” […]

  3. ThePaganTemple
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:26 am

    So if I criticize phone solicitors is that going to be construed as an attack on the free enterprise system? It is what it is. There are good capitalists, and there are bad ones. Far be it from me to defend Perry, who I think should get the hell out of this race now, but what the hell is all this defense of Mitt about? Do you guys swallow every spin out of the RNC without even thinking about it?

    So now we’re supposed to jump to the defense of Wall Street, an institution that jumped on board the Obama bandwagon four years ago. Now I’m supposed to feel sorry for them because they got stabbed in the back? Not in this lifetime.

    Companies like Bain have thrived under our current oppressive system of over-regulation. I’m still waiting, probably in vain, for somebody to explain to me just why I should trust Romney to reform that system to any significant extent.

  4. William_Teach
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:37 am

    “Isn’t it time somebody stuck a fork in the Perry campaign?”

    Perry did that himself with his “heartless” comment and inability to say anything more than “I created jobs in Texas.”

  5. At Least Rick Santorum is Still Sane | The Lonely Conservative
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:40 am

    […] taking away the biggest issue that we have in this election.” (Read More)Update: The Other McCain has the Michael Moore style video released by Newt’s supporters, if you care to see it. The […]

  6. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:47 am

    I’ll put my criticism of Romney’s “business experience” in shorthand — he’s no Hank Reardon. He’s been a money man, searching out profits for himself and his investors. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but there is something very wrong with his claims to be a “job creator.” Any jobs created were secondary or even tertiary to his aims, as were the nations in which said jobs were created.

  7. Wake up America
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:48 am

    Winning Our Future SuperPAC Releases 28 Minute Documentary: ‘When Mitt Romney Came To Town’…

    Democrats have signaled that they intend to make Mr. Romney?s history at Bain a central part of their case against him if he wins the Republican nomination…

  8. Mike Rogers
    January 12th, 2012 @ 11:59 am

    He’s Texas Toast, as predicted a few days ago:
    http://granitegrok.com/blog/2012/01/campaign-weather-report-toasty

    Gingrich had plenty of reason to attack Romney, and plenty of ammo, but he disastrously chose to attack the creative destruction of capitalism instead. For Perry to pile on such an ill-advised attack shows the stench of desperation which Stacy had detected some time ago:
    http://kxm.209.mwp.accessdomain.com/2012/01/03/desperate-hours-in-the-hawkeye-state/

  9. Finrod Felagund
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:04 pm

    Perry will be gone after South Carolina.

    I said a month ago on RedState that after South Carolina, anyone that wasn’t in the top three in either IA, NH or SC would drop out.  Gingrich can still make the top 3 in SC, but Perry won’t.

    Then it’ll be on to Florida, with the race between Romney, Gingrich, and Santorum, with Paul hanging around as a gadfly.
     

  10. Dave
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:08 pm

    Far be it it from me to defend Romney, but this entire flap is, from what I’ve seen, rooted in ignorance as to what exactly PE firms do. PE firms take over failing businesses. The jobs at these companies are gone when the company folds, as it it about to absent the PE firm taking over. Yes, roughly 25% of the companies that Bain acquired were liquidated and their jobs lost. That is a damned shame, and I’m sure Romney feels terrible about it (objectively), but 75% of the companies that Bain acquired were restructured and those jobs saved, in some cases massively expanded. Romney’s time with Bain should be a huge positive for him! Why he can’t just explain it as simply as I’ve just done is beyond me. 3-4 sentences. 30 seconds if that, that’s all it would take, and yet it doesn’t occur to Romney or his handles to do that one simple thing. Oh how I yearn for a Reagan, explaining things simple. Palin comes close, but a)she’s not running and b) half the country won’t actually listen to what she says, they raise a hue and cry if she is quoted as claiming the sky is blue.

  11. rosalie
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:10 pm

    I agree, especially after saying he ” just did what Obama did”.   And wait until the media get a hold of Romney; I mean really get a hold of him.  They’re playing somewhat nice now because that’s who they want.  Let him be thoroughly vetted now because it’s going to happen for sure later.

  12. Parnassus
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:16 pm

    RSM. Tell me how this aspect of Bain’s MO fits your construct “that shutting down inefficent and unprofitable segments of a company’s business is essential to maintaining economic viability”:

    The Leveraged Buyout model that Bain helped legitimize, usually changes critical financial metrics of the acquired entity. Why and how? First, the LBO fund model (aka rip ’em and flip ’em) by definition loads the target company with debt. This debt basically makes the company finance its own acquisition. Consequently, the firm’s balance sheet is significantly weakened (a higher proportion of debt to equity than prior to the deal) and internally generated cash is diverted to make interest payments. Moreover, the LBO fund general partner extracts huge fees for “managing” the deal and often requires the target to pay out significantly higher dividends than they had before.

    It’s a vicious circle, but wait, there’s more! Since the LBO fund needs to “exit” the deal fairly quickly (usually within five to seven years at most), the value of the target must be raised significantly. How can you do this when you’ve been bleeding it for cash during your “stewardship?” Well, you do two things: you try to figure out if you can monetize some of the target’s assets by selling them off to someone else, and you go on a cost-cutting binge. Very often this means reducing staffing to the lowest possible level and outsourcing as much as possible, usually off-shore. The goal is to raise EBITDA (earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization) as high as possible, since most transactions are priced at a multiple of EBITDA. Whether or not such actions result in a company that is sustainable long-term, you (the fund) now have an attractive asset to sell. This process is often called “putting lipstick on a pig.”

    Assuming you’re able successfully to flip the target, you’ve achieved your goal, whatever the impact your tender financial mercies have wreaked on the company and its constituencies.

  13. The state of things: GOP presidential nominee edition
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:16 pm

    […] Or state-run health care! 4. GOP presidential Mitt Romney 5. GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum defends capitalism, defends Mitt Romney’s earlier engagement of capitalism on capitalist groun… (as opposed to Romney himself, who appealed for a defense to progressive corporatism), and yet the […]

  14. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:24 pm

    It’s not necessary to defend Romney’s candidacy (in toto) to point out that these particular attacks are rooted in flawed, counterproductive, possibly self-destructive arguments.

  15. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 12:29 pm

    Unfortunately, no Hank Reardons in the race. Besides, I’m not sure that Hank Reardon would be very good at forging, articulating, and leading a governing vision that makes the nation safer for its Hank Reardons.

  16. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 1:17 pm

    This is a great post RSM, so I linked you and added some video and photos.

  17. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 1:20 pm

    Correct, but the “jobs creator” myth is simply one more case of Romney attempting to reinvent himself, along with his claims to be a true conservative, that he’s not a politician, to have had a successful term as governor, and that Romneycare is both successful and significantly different from Obamacare. He’s more phony than most of them.
     
    Santorum, flaws and all, is our best bet this time around.

  18. Anonymous
    January 12th, 2012 @ 1:29 pm

    Newt is just throwing cold water on Mitt’s BS job claims (more pious baloney, doncha know)… Palin is asking him to come clean now too

    A poll at The Hill today has Gingrich closing FAST (within 2) in SC and another in NC has Newt out front

    The (counter) attack ads are working… what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, eh Mittens?

  19. ThePaganTemple
    January 12th, 2012 @ 1:29 pm

    I don’t really have anything against private equity firms, but then again, Bain has invested in green energy companies, then voila, Romney talks up renewable energy. Oh well I guess that could be a coincidence. But the point still is, Bain thrives under the current system, so why should Romney reform it? I guess that’s my main point, that people should consider that, and if they are going to criticize Romney’s work with Bain, maybe that would be the most legitimate point they could make.

  20. God Bless Jeff Goldstein « The Cranky Conservative
    January 12th, 2012 @ 1:46 pm

    […] GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum defends capitalism, defends Mitt Romney’s earlier engagement of capitalism on capitalistgrounds (as opposed to Romney himself, who appealed for a defense to progressive corporatism), and yet the […]

  21. Stogie Chomper
    January 12th, 2012 @ 2:22 pm

    R.S. McCain continues to be on the cutting edge of truth in politics.  Quoted and linked at:
    http://saberpoint.blogspot.com/2012/01/newt-gingrich-is-toast-uses-far-left.html 

  22. Tennwriter
    January 12th, 2012 @ 2:32 pm

    I aggree with your point about Wall Street betraying us, and then we’re supposed to come to their rescue.  Bah.

    Wall Street is a fair weather friend, at best, to conservatism.  Many of them would be perfectly happy with a Fascism & Orgies Regime for themselves.

  23. Santorum Defends Mitt’s Work At Bain / Mitt Does Not Defend Mitt’s Work At Bain « The Camp Of The Saints
    January 12th, 2012 @ 2:32 pm

    […] Jeff writes: GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum defends capitalism, defends Mitt Romney’s earlier engagement of capitalism on capitalist grounds (as opposed to Romney himself, who appealed for a defense to progressive corporatism), and yet the […]

  24. adolph.stephens
    January 12th, 2012 @ 2:35 pm

    The problem is less about Bain, and more about
    1. Romney’s claims
    2. inability, or unwillingness, to articulate a competent response to the attacks which
    3. Romney’s camp seems to be caught off guard by, (are you kidding me? They didn’t whiteboard this?) regardless of where it comes from.
    4. the disconnect between the average conservative capitalist out there working every day, and the blue blood patricians of both parties who  use insider status to empower themselves (much more egregious than enrichment in my view), often at the expense of those everyday working folks.

    I’ve got no problem with anything Romney’s done in the private sector so long as it was legal.  My issue is, why should I wait until he’s the nominee to see him get vetted (more like eviscerated!) by the thugs in power, than to see him exposed as the unelectable (oh the irony!) John Kerry class flip-flopper that he is, in the primary?

  25. Liz
    January 12th, 2012 @ 2:42 pm

    Exactly. (Full disclosure: I still haven’t made up my mind about the Bain controversy.)

    Of all the things that could be used against Romney, most notably Obamneycare, I’m not sure why this is the one that people are getting stuck into.

    Since Gingrich and Perry are not attacking him on the individual mandate, does that mean they don’t have plans to go after it in the generals?

  26. ThomasD
    January 12th, 2012 @ 3:07 pm

    The only problem is that it relies on a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    Once a company is thought to be failing it’s earning potential gets discounted, then the stock/purchase price begins to drop.  Once the purchase price drops below asset value the company gets sold piecemeal.

    Even though it may have still had real earnings potential.

    That is not creative destruction, that is destructive destruction.   It uses manipulation of public perception to create a business failure for the benefit of short term profit.

    Is it legal?  Yes.  Is it moral or ethical?  Not particularly.

    Regardless.  The problem is no so much what Bain did.  The problem is that Romney cannot offer the same defense as Santorum offers because deep down Romney does not really believe in the same principles as Santorum. 

    Romney is caught in his own rhetorical trap and everyone knows it.

  27. ThomasD
    January 12th, 2012 @ 3:10 pm

    Florida’s closed primary will limit the Paulbots, but he’ll still have a significant impact there.

  28. richard mcenroe
    January 12th, 2012 @ 3:17 pm

    The point is, it DOESN’T MATTER if what he did was legal…

    http://tinyurl.com/86udozy 

  29. Adjoran
    January 12th, 2012 @ 3:43 pm

    Has a single criticism been, “Bain did ABC with ACME Inc., when doing XYZ would have been better”?  No.

    It’s a bunch of leftist agitprop sloganeering against capitalism, not specific criticism.  Not one has offered a better alternative that made sense.  Not one.  Because they have no clue how to do it better. 

    Whine about people in failing companies who didn’t get saved, ignore the companies that were.  Leftist agitprop, NOT constructive criticism.

    Out of 77 companies Bain tried to turn around while Romney was in charge, 60 were restructured without bankruptcy, 11 went into bankruptcy and survived, and six failed, assets sold off and Bain lost their entire investment in those.

    Were people laid off and factories and offices closed?  YOU BET!  Would you rather ALL be closed and ALL jobs be lost?  Apparently!

  30. Adjoran
    January 12th, 2012 @ 3:45 pm

    He’s been stabbing himself with forks, knives, shivs, and sharpened sticks since he entered the race.  It seems he’s no better at self-destruction than at campaigning.

    I had high hopes for him, and he dashed them all.  Every one, hard on the rocks.

  31. Adjoran
    January 12th, 2012 @ 3:54 pm

    Paul’s not competing in Florida at all barring an usually good showing in SC.  The state has several large, expensive media markets, and is far too big to cover on foot.   Anything he gets is gravy, and meanwhile he’ll be concentrating on the states with open primaries and the caucus states.

    He’s crazy, but he ain’t stupid.

  32. Adjoran
    January 12th, 2012 @ 4:01 pm

    Dream on, Chomsky.

    IA uses “registered” voters, the rest use “likely” voters.  BTW, they had Newt up 23% a few weeks ago – what happened?

  33. Adjoran
    January 12th, 2012 @ 4:04 pm

    Agree they should have had a “rapid response” ready, but they never expected a Marxist OWS-style attack from Republicans, especially after McCain and Huckabee tried a lighter version last cycle and dropped it like it was hot.

  34. Pathfinder's wife
    January 12th, 2012 @ 4:09 pm

    I did not so much have problems with them attacking Romney so much as the approach Gingrich and Perry took (and for the record — Perry was a dolt for getting sucked into this ploy of Gingrich’es; Santorum showed himself far more astute and just plain smart to refrain from Newt’s advances).

    It is one thing to criticize crony capitalism/corporatism (which is not really true capitalism imho, and is a terrible threat to the small businessman and to liberty itself — yeah, this is where it might be good to listen to Paul).   The GOP must distance themselves from this and not be afraid to go after Wall St. — not all “capitalism” is good (and not all capitalists should be supported — a case for ethics and morals, ie. a social conservative issue may be made here).

    But these two did not draw that distinction, and now they are reaping what they have sown (unfortunately, so will the GOP).  This does not bode well for keeping the field of Not Romneys open — what dumbarses.

  35. ThePaganTemple
    January 12th, 2012 @ 4:46 pm

    Out of 77 companies Bain tried to turn around while Romney was in
    charge, 60 were restructured without bankruptcy, 11 went into bankruptcy
    and survived, and six failed, assets sold off and Bain lost their
    entire investment in those.

    And out of all those 77 companies, how many of them would have been put in dire straits if we didn’t have the current oppressive regulatory system we now have? I don’t claim to know, but I bet the number would be significantly less.

    The question still remains, why would Romney want to reform a regulatory system that enabled he and his company to benefit. You can not now, nor will you ever, answer that question in such a way that will make me feel comfortable with Mitt Romney as President.

    And don’t feed me any more of this hogwash about how that is out of his hands. If he can’t exercise the necessary leadership to attempt and achieve significant reform the regulatory system, then he needs to shut the fuck up about it, because he’s either an incompetent, or a liar. He damn sure is not a leader.

  36. ThePaganTemple
    January 12th, 2012 @ 5:26 pm

    Linked-

    The Romney Empire And Its Great Bird Of Prey

  37. Bob Belvedere
    January 12th, 2012 @ 7:01 pm

    If you had high hopes for him being anything but the wimpy milquetoast he is, then you obviously have not followed his public career too closely.

  38. Dave
    January 12th, 2012 @ 8:52 pm

    I would argue that the fact that the majority of companies acquired by Bain were NOT liquidated indicates that the first part of your post is not too accurate.

  39. Dave
    January 12th, 2012 @ 8:58 pm

    I can’t speak for Romney, but not everyone wishes to preserve a bad system because they profit from it. If Obamacare goes into effect as written, I’ll make a ton of money (75 million + people tossed onto the exchanges to find only 60-40 coverage affordable and then start screaming for gap policies (that pay the agent a shitload)? Oh yes please!), but I still oppose it with the hate of 1000 suns and will do anything to repeal it because it’ll ruin this country that I love. Not everything is purely mercenary.

  40. ThePaganTemple
    January 12th, 2012 @ 9:25 pm

    Let’s just condense your comment down to the most relevant point-you can’t speak for Romney.

  41. Dave
    January 13th, 2012 @ 12:24 am

    Well, not today. My turn comes in April. What, you thought his positions were all over the place just by himself?

  42. ThePaganTemple
    January 13th, 2012 @ 6:49 am

    He’ll probably come in fourth or last (if Perry and/or Huntsman are still in it. He might get ten-twelve percent as a protest vote. Romney will probably win it, unless Gingrich of Santorum one drop out and the one who stays in consolidates the conservative vote. And even then Romney might win, because it strikes me as more his kind of state.

  43. Anonymous
    January 13th, 2012 @ 7:13 am

    And you obviously haven’t lived in TX. I’m glad he’ll be here to keep the Republic going after ORomney goes off the cliff.

  44. Bob Belvedere
    January 13th, 2012 @ 7:37 am

    Oops!  I meant this to be a comment about Willard.

    Apologies.

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