Forum Post: Mitt Capitulates on Everything Mitt Romney Flees From his Neo-Con Positions

Once again Mitt Romney shamelessly abandoned positions he has been preaching all across the country in one campaign stop after another, and suffered a beat down from President Obama who called Mitt as he flipped the script. Mitt’s wishy-washy posture is a reflection of the dilemma he faces; he must say certain things to keep the far right whackos in the Republican base onboard, no matter how absurd, and at the same time present himself as a reasonable man.

The problem for Mitt last night is that aside from further exposing himself as a political chameleon that has no moral or ethical core, he had to repeatedly concede the wisdom of the President’s foreign policy. One can only speculate as to what his strategy was; but using the cost/benefit analysis that appears to be his modus operandi, it seems that he decided whatever disillusionment and disaffection it might cause among the Neo-Cons it would be more than compensated for by the support he would gain among the broader electorate.

However as Beau Biden pointed out On Morning Joe earlier today, Romney disavowed the positions he held just the day before and in so doing he further demonstrated that he will say anything it takes to close the deal. While such behavior is perfect for a salesman it disqualifies him for President and commander-In-Chief due to questionable character.

Hence the right-wing Republican/Tea Party crowd is in disarray today as they lick their wounds from two injuries: Their standard bearer kicked them to the curb and he lost in the opinion polls too. It was a bad night all around for this crowd of losers. My greatest fear is that a majority of the electorate will prove too stupid to properly evaluate the candidate’s arguments on these complex questions.

If voters really understood these issues in depth, the polls would be lopsided for the President because Romney is clearly a charlatan. After coming close to calling President Obama’s foreign policy treasonous for months, Mitt suddenly became his cheerleader. That’s why nobody can say for sure just what the Republican candidate actually stands for.

Trying to get Mitt to say what he believes is like trying to nail Jello to the wall. Therefore it is impossible to predict what he would do in office. Alas, for all his public exposure Mitt remains a stealth candidate and voting for him is like buying a pig in a poke.

As usual the Republican tough guys were whining and howling like banshees. Glenn Beck has suggested that perhaps conservatives should stay home on Election Day. John McCain and his daughter Megan, who is something of a pretentious airhead, led the pack of whiners. Johnny Mack was a big loser in this debate, because Mitt ran away from his warmongering positions like a fox escaping a forest fire.

Like the pot maligning the kettle for being sooty, the Mack Man accused President Obama of cheap shots – which is the Republican stock in trade – because of the “horses and bayonets” statement. I thought it the best line of the night; just slightly behind President Obama’s accusation that Mitt was “airbrushing history.”

Al Sharpton got it just right when he observed that Mitt came out in the first round like a bully, but after getting smacked around in the second round, he stumbled out in the third round like a punch drunk pug and held onto his opponent in a permanent clinch…never landing a punch on the Chi-Town Kid.

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Playthell G. Benjamin

Harlem, New York

October 23, 2012