Mitt Romney

Thursday May 11, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 11, 2023

Words can sink campaigns, while Trump’s actions fuel his support

April 26, 2023

The verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case against Donald Trump was a momentous win for survivors of sexual assault, as well as women who have suffered due to lack of belief in their claims. The jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll and awarded her $5 million for battery and defamation. Although the jury didn’t find that Carroll proved rape, it still marked a significant victory. As a former president, Trump enjoys considerable goodwill with GOP voters, despite scandals that would have doomed most politicians. However, as his legal woes increase and primary debates begin in August, his support will be tested.

This ruling marks a new chapter in the #MeToo movement, which has empowered survivors to come forward with their stories. The verdict demonstrates that no one is above the law, not even a former president of the United States. In his response to the verdict, Trump stated that he plans to appeal the decision, calling it a “disgrace” and a “political witch hunt”. However, this should not detract from the fact that this ruling sends a powerful message to survivors of sexual assault and shows that justice can be served.

News: Jury Finds Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation  

September 24, 2022

Trump’s legal troubles continue to mount, with probes in New York, Washington, DC, and Georgia still underway. His willingness to deny allegations and call the case against him a political witch hunt undermines the bravery and courage of those who speak out about their experiences of sexual assault. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump faced backlash for comments made on the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he bragged about sexually assaulting women. Despite this, he managed to survive the scandal and go on to win the presidency. However, as the Carroll case has demonstrated, times have changed, and Trump’s actions are finally catching up with him.

The ruling against Trump is a momentous win for survivors of sexual assault and women who have suffered due to a lack of belief in their claims. It sends a powerful message that no one is above the law, and that justice can be served. Trump’s continued denial of the allegations against him undermines the bravery and courage of those who speak out about their experiences of sexual assault. It remains to be seen how this case will affect Trump’s popularity, but it’s clear that his support will be tested as his legal woes continue to mount. (AI) 

A short history of gaffe disqualifiers 

July 26, 2016

In the 2016 US presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton referred to some of Donald Trump’s supporters as “a basket of deplorables,” causing controversy and backlash. Clinton later apologized for the comment, but it was used by her opponents to paint her as elitist and out of touch with working-class voters.

During a 2012 presidential debate, Mitt Romney claimed to have received “binders full of women” as part of his effort to hire more women for his cabinet. The phrase was criticized as insensitive and objectifying, and became a memorable moment of the election.

(It was Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live who paraphrased Palin’s foreign policy on Russia)

In a 2008 interview, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, claimed that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gave her foreign policy experience. She stated, “You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” The remark was widely mocked as evidence of her lack of foreign policy expertise.

In a 1999 interview, Al Gore stated that he “took the initiative in creating the Internet”. While he played a key role in supporting legislation that helped fund and develop the internet, his comments were widely criticized as an exaggeration of his contributions, leading to the popular misquote “I invented the internet”.

(The infamous Howard Dean Scream)

In 2004, Howard Dean was a presidential candidate and during his campaign, he gave an impassioned speech after a disappointing result in the Iowa caucuses. At the end of the speech, he let out a loud, guttural scream that was dubbed the “Dean Scream”. The moment was widely parodied and criticized, and is considered a major factor in his campaign’s ultimate failure.

(Rick Perry’s Oops Moment)

In a 2011 Republican presidential debate, Rick Perry forgot one of the three government agencies he wanted to eliminate, famously stating “Oops” when he couldn’t recall the third. The moment became a defining moment of his campaign and is often cited as one of the most memorable debate gaffes in recent political history.

Thursday November 8, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday November 8, 2012

U.S. budget crisis could push Canada into a recession

Budget monster lurks behind victorious Barack Obama

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is urging U.S. politicians to get back to work quickly on resolving their budget crisis now that the election is over, warning that failure would plunge both America and Canada into recession.

The minister has voiced concern before about the so-called “fiscal cliff,” but the re-election of both Democrat President Barack Obama and a right-wing Republican House on Tuesday has led to new fears of the risk becoming reality.

“Of course we’re worried because it would mean, were the entire fiscal cliff risk to come to reality … (it) would put the U.S. economy into a recession quite quickly and the Canadian economy would follow shortly thereafter, and would have a significant effect on the global economy,” Flaherty told reporters Wednesday.

Flaherty said all his colleagues at the G20 meeting of leading economic powers last weekend in Mexico expressed concern about how U.S. policy-makers would deal with the threat.

North American markets also seemed to take the threat seriously. The Dow Jones Industrials plunged more than 300 points at one point before recovering slightly. There was also a significant, but more modest, sell-off in Toronto.

Flaherty’s comments came amid warnings that gridlock in Washington could prevent a deal to extend about $600 billion in tax cuts and spending programs beyond Dec. 31. That would represent about a four-percentage-point hit to an economy only growing at 2 per cent.

Economists have considered the issue a no-brainer, but Obama and the Democrats have insisted that taxes on the rich rise as part of the deal, something Republicans have balked at the past two years (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday November 1, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 1, 2012

Romney tones down Obama attacks

Mitt Romney campaign affected by hurricane damage

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney pledged Wednesday to deliver the “real change” he says his Democratic opponent promised but has not achieved.

With President Barack Obama in New Jersey surveying storm damage, Romney softened his line of attack against the president. He did not mention Obama’s name in his first two rallies in Florida — a third was planned in the evening — but in a race that polls show to be extremely close, he found an avenue to challenge Obama nonetheless.

“I don’t just talk about change,” Romney told an estimated 2,000 supporters at an airport rally before outlining general plans to improve the nation’s economy. “I actually have a plan to execute change and make it happen.”

Romney aides concede that the political balancing act is not over as the nation continues to focus on Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath. The day before, Romney canceled some rallies and converted one into a storm relief event aimed at collecting donations for those in need.

Back on the campaign trail Wednesday, Romney encouraged Floridians to donate “a dollar or two” to storm victims across the East Coast.

“Today we wanted to make sure we kept a positive tone and talked about what the governor would hope to do on Day One of his presidency,” adviser Kevin Madden said aboard Romney’s campaign plane.

That’s exactly what Romney did in campaign speeches in Tampa and Coral Gables that were stripped of his standard anti-Obama political jabs (Source: CBC News) 

 

Friday October 26, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday October 26, 2012

How ‘Moderate Mitt’ might steal this election

Hope and Change offered by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

What’s welling up in America’s ruling Democrats is not yet a full-throated scream of desperation.

But as Samuel Johnson famously remarked, the prospect of being hanged in a fortnight concentrates the mind wonderfully.

For the most part, Barack Obama’s supporters are still clutching the cloak, woven of equal parts optimism and moral certainty, that they wrapped around themselves four short years ago.

But the fear that their world is falling apart has begun to take hold. As it should.

Four Novembers ago, they were marching, led by the first biracial president-elect, a man who would, by his very appearance and preternaturally calming nature, restore the world’s faith in America and end the hateful, paralyzing polarity into which this country had descended.

I was in Chicago’s Grant Park to watch him accept the nation’s resounding verdict last election night. I count it among those rare moments of history that reporters occasionally get to witness.

Barack Obama fairly glowed with an aura of triumph and generational change, and soon after would promise to preside over a great “healing.”

How, then, did he arrive at the place from which he debated Monday night in the third and last of this election’s televised debates?

Resorting to rehearsed zingers and smallish attacks, as the rather awkward fellow who couldn’t even capture the Republican nomination four years ago sat, taciturn, across the desk, politely deflecting him? (Source: CBC News) 

 

Wednesday October 3, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday October 3, 2012

In the first U.S. presidential debate, will Romney deliver under pressure?

When it comes to pre-game talk, the U.S. presidential candidates are involved in an unusual display of talking down their own skills.

“Governor Romney, he’s a good debater. I’m just okay,” President Barack Obama told a Las Vegas rally Sunday ahead of Wednesday’s much-anticipated first televised debate.

Over in the Mitt Romney camp, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan was also setting expectations low, telling Fox News Sunday that he doesn’t believe “one event is going to make or break the campaign.”

But, in fact, debates matter – and the TV audience for the first of three presidential debates could exceed 60 million viewers.

The Globe invited two strategists – a Republican, who worked with Mitt Romney, and a Democrat, who has worked in the Clinton White House and in presidential campaigns – to share their expectations for what each campaign needs to do this week in order to win the White House on November 6th .

This week in American politics represents a key pivot point in the campaign, and the debate really matters. In our primaries, debates were ultimately the arbiters of the outcome, as voters judged with their own eyes and made determinations about who should be our standard bearer.

For the Romney campaign, the stakes of the week should be viewed through the prism of three key elements that dictate the success, or lack thereof, of any campaign.

They are what I call the 3 M’s of politics: message, momentum, and money. You need all of them in healthy portions at key times to win. This race is no exception. (Source: Globe & Mail)