I wonder what took Mitt Romney so long to return to Nevada. It couldn't be...
If we follow Mitt Romney's advice to "let it run its course and hit the bottom", our economy will be in an even deeper hole that will be even more difficult to escape from. Housing has nearly always been the starting force in turning an economy from recession to recovery. So how do our communities benefit from empty homes? And yes, Romney's "do nothing and let the banks foreclose" policy prescription would lead to even more empty homes if implemented. And this leads to a "domino effect" of depressed home values, scared consumers, fewer home goods purchases, less construction, and fewer jobs. Properly addressing the home foreclosure crisis is not about "re-inflating the bubble", but rather restarting the economy.
Nope, it couldn't be...
The function of companies like Bain Capital and other alleged job-creators is NOT job creation. The purpose of the $60 billion under management Bain operation is to maximize shareholder value. Give Mr. Romney his due, he was a pioneer in revamping private equity management to the purposes of (1) growing earnings, (2) increasing dividends, and (3) increasing share prices. If jobs are created in the process, fine, but if jobs are sent off shore or eliminated entirely that is of no particular concern to the Financialists. Their bottom line is the shareholder value NOT the value of a trained workforce, an economically healthy community, or even an economically vibrant nation.
For the Wall Street investors who are supporting the Romney campaign, if the shareholders are happy, their proprietary trading desks are profitable, and the fees and commissions are rolling in All Is Well. What happens on the factory floor, in the local restaurants, at the local car dealership, or in the local barber shop is of no particular concern.
As the arguments are refined we may see that in some cases Bain Capital was a venture proposition, in others a vulture, and in still others a combination of both. The epithets will fly because this is a campaign season, but the political spiels should not gloss over the fact that the 2012 elections will highlight the very different economic perspectives of the GOP and its Wall Street financiers, and the Democrats who place more emphasis on the capacity of consumers to keep the demand side of the classic economic equation operational.
Oh no, that can't be it. It must be...
Mitt Romney is reaching for his Etch-A-Sketch because he's desperate to shake up and reset his campaign. His trouble with Latin@ and other minority voters is real, especially in key swing states that he would like to wrest away from Obama. PPP recently showed that Obama's support among Latino voters both here in Nevada and in Colorado is especially strong (so strong, in fact, that Obama now has healthy overall leads in both states), and now even PPP's newest Florida poll shows the same over there. Mittens now realizes he's in deep trouble, so he's grabbing that Etch-A-Sketch in a desperate move to reset his own campaign.
But seriously, can Willard make all of us forget what he was saying during G-O-TEA primary season? Remember that early this year, Willard's BFF Kris Kobach, the man behind such extreme, xenophobic "Papers, Please" state statutes like Arizona's infamous SB 1070 and its "copycats" in Alabama & Georgia, praised Mittens' commitment to anti-immigrant extremism. In fact, he exclaimed that "Romney stands far to the right" of the other G-O-TEA contenders on immigration.
Nah, that can't be it. After all, the local Latin@ comunidad is staging a welcome ceremony for Mittens! It must be...
Oh fuey, Romney has been doing so much to endear himself to LGBTQ voters, women, green collar workers, college students, and so many more Nevadans. Whatever could have taken Mittens so long to return to Nevada?
It couldn't be...
And even worse, Romney couldn't even count all the folks in John Ascuaga's Nugget this past weekend as his base! Even now, the bulk of Ron Paul's supporters refuse to endorse Romney... Even in the general election. And now that some of Ron Paul's biggest supporters are taking control of the Nevada Republican Party, big donors are threatening to bolt. And while that likely means money that would have gone to the Nevada GOP is instead being directed to pro-Romney SuperPACs, that still means money that can't be invested in the kind of GOTV (or "get out the vote") operation that Romney, along with down ballot GOP candidates, will need to win.
And since Ron Paul's campaign is still hellbent on causing even more trouble on the road to Tampa, it's denying Romney the chance to fully unite the base and redirect them from the primary fight to the general election. This is why Romney is in more trouble than some of the national polls suggest. With OFA building a strong field operation here in Nevada and throughout the country, Romney simply has no ground game to competently compete. And Ron Paul supporters are intent on keeping it that way [despite the fact that Paul has all but officially suspended his campaign!].
Or could it?
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