{"id":8274,"date":"2012-10-23T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8274"},"modified":"2012-10-23T06:00:29","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T13:00:29","slug":"mitt-romney-taking-america-back-to-the-future-horses-and-bayonets-and-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8274","title":{"rendered":"Mitt Romney: Taking America Back To The Future – Horses And Bayonets And All"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final debate of the 2012 presidential campaign is history, which is ironic because that’s where Mitt Romney appears to want to lead America.<\/p>\n

\"Obama\/Romney<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

There was almost nothing that Romney said that described a vision for the future of America. The entire focus of his remarks centered on either what he regarded as Obama’s failures in the past four years or his own proposals that closely mirrored those of the Bush administration – or even farther back. When Romney raised what he surely thought was a killer point comparing the size of today’s Navy to that of the Navy in 1917, Obama shot back<\/p>\n

“But Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The President topped that observation by noting that Romney’s backward looking analysis failed to take into consideration the capabilities of a modern military force. While it may be true that the number of certain defense assets fluctuate, Obama zinged “We also have fewer horses and bayonets.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mitt<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

Romney was clearly uncomfortable talking about foreign policy, an area in which he has no experience. He was so uneasy that he repeatedly attempted to shift his answers to the domestic economy. Unfortunately for him, he lost debate points on that field as well. Romney’s dodging resulted in a lackluster performance that even his conservative colleagues noticed. Many of them lamented that he didn’t bring up Libya and the tragic murders in Benghazi. In fact, the only time Romney could be said to have gone on offense was a lame criticism of Obama’s travel itinerary in the first few months of his presidency.<\/p>\n

On many other issues of substance Romney resorted to agreeing with Obama’s policies – on Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, and the killing of Osama Bin Laden – even though Romney had previously excoriated Obama on those matters in stump speeches throughout the year. With regard to Romney’s past criticisms Obama blasted his judgment saying “I know you haven’t been in a position to actually execute foreign policy, but every time you’ve offered an opinion, you’ve been wrong.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Audiences were keenly aware of Romney’s failings. The polls that have been published this morning all give the win to Obama. CNN put it at 48-40. CBS has 53-23. Public Policy Polling gave Obama a 53-42 advantage. It’s what is commonly known in polling circles as a blowout. Although it remains to be seen what impact this debate will have on broader presidential preference polling that will be conducted over the next several days.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most devastating misfire by Romney is the one that Fox News has been trumpeting all morning as a success. Romney had the gall to chastise Obama for the fabled “apology tour.”<\/em> The folks at Fox and Friends were nearly giddy in their recitation of that segment of the debate. However, the charge is one that has been examined and repeatedly debunked. PolitiFact gave it a ruling of a “Pants-on-Fire” lie.<\/a> And that is emblematic of the Romney campaign. If this remains the core talking point in Romney’s favor for the rest of the day, he’s in big trouble.<\/p>\n

As of this morning the race is still pretty close. But if substance matters, voters should begin to swing back to the President. He has now decisively won two out of three debates, and he has demonstrated his superior grasp of both domestic and foreign affairs. And any objective analysis would have to conclude that the country is way better off now than it was in 2008, after Republicans, executing the same policies that Romney advocates today, created an economic calamity of historic proportions. Obama’s best message is that, after all we’ve endured, we must not allow the party that steered the nation into the rocks to regain control of the helm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final debate of the 2012 presidential campaign is history, which is ironic because that’s where Mitt Romney appears to want to lead America. There was almost nothing that Romney said that described a vision for the future of America. The entire focus of his remarks centered on either what he regarded as Obama’s failures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[152,1],"tags":[183,260],"class_list":["post-8274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election","category-general","tag-barack-obama","tag-mitt-romney"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-29s","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8277,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8277","url_meta":{"origin":8274,"position":0},"title":"Failing To Score Points By Criticizing Obama, Romney Flips To Agreeing With Him","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/23\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After watching last night's debate I was struck by how often Mitt Romney agreed with President Obama on a string of the most significant foreign policy issues. It's hard to fathom how Romney can go out on the campaign trail and lambaste the President for a foreign policy that he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8069,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8069","url_meta":{"origin":8274,"position":1},"title":"Mitt Romney: The Master Of Mangling Context","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/21\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The GOP's candidate of the of the one-percent, Mitt Romney, has built his campaign around a unique strategy: Take everything President Obama says out of context and then try to use it against him. 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Murdoch Tweeted: \"Easy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7759,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7759","url_meta":{"origin":8274,"position":3},"title":"PASTROMNEY ON RYAN: Mitt Romney Caves In To The Tea-Publican Wing","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/11\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Capping a month of monumental failure, international gaffes, and plunging polls, Mitt Romney did precisely what the far-right fringe of the Republican Party demanded of him. He chose, Paul Ryan, a VP running mate straight from the bowels of the Tea Party, whose well-documented agenda of gifting financial benefits to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7062,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7062","url_meta":{"origin":8274,"position":4},"title":"Fox Nation Hyperventilation: Obama Flip Flops, Declares War On Marriage","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/9\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Good grief...another war. Fox News is the most war happy confederation of dunces since the Huns. For Fox it is absolutely impossible to have a position on any subject without it being an official declaration of hostilities. Whether it's Christmas, Easter, Halloween, light bulbs, the Constitution, hybrid cars, salt, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7859,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7859","url_meta":{"origin":8274,"position":5},"title":"Mexican Anchor Baby Mitt Romney: No One’s Ever Asked To See My Birth Certificate","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/24\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In keeping with his promise to change the tone of the campaign, Mitt Romney just dove head first into birtherism in a speech to supporters in Michigan: \"Now I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. 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