Nobody Likes a Bully
2012-05-12 - by
Contrary to how things looked after North Carolina passed the marriage amendment, Gay Politics Week may end up hurting Mitt Romney far more than President Obama.
It’s telling that Republicans didn’t pile onto Obama after Joe (Gabby) Biden forced him to come out of the closet.
Then the story exploded about Romney organizing a prep-school posse to terrorize a gay student.
What Romney did 50 years ago could hurt him far more than what Obama said last week.
Here’s why: Nobody was surprised by Obama’s announcement that he supports same-sex marriages. Most people figured he did, but wasn’t ready to say it. And most every voter had already factored that into their opinion of Obama.
But the Romney story hurts him two ways.
First, it contradicts one thing we thought we knew about Romney. We thought he was a decent, religious person. Instead, he was a teenaged bully. One who had to get a group of guys to help him pick on a helpless victim.
Second, it reinforces another thing we think we know about Romney: He’s a rich guy who doesn’t care who he hurts, so long as he gets what he wants. He didn’t like his classmate’s hair, so he cut it. He wanted to make millions of dollars, so he cut people’s jobs and ran companies into bankruptcy.
Voters don’t always pay a lot of attention to policy nuances. They pay a lot of attention to unguarded glimpses into candidates’ real character.
This week, we learned something new about the man who wants to be President. And it’s not pretty.
Nobody Likes a Bully
2012-05-12/
Contrary to how things looked after North Carolina passed the marriage amendment, Gay Politics Week may end up hurting Mitt Romney far more than President Obama.
It’s telling that Republicans didn’t pile onto Obama after Joe (Gabby) Biden forced him to come out of the closet.
Then the story exploded about Romney organizing a prep-school posse to terrorize a gay student.
What Romney did 50 years ago could hurt him far more than what Obama said last week.
Here’s why: Nobody was surprised by Obama’s announcement that he supports same-sex marriages. Most people figured he did, but wasn’t ready to say it. And most every voter had already factored that into their opinion of Obama.
But the Romney story hurts him two ways.
First, it contradicts one thing we thought we knew about Romney. We thought he was a decent, religious person. Instead, he was a teenaged bully. One who had to get a group of guys to help him pick on a helpless victim.
Second, it reinforces another thing we think we know about Romney: He’s a rich guy who doesn’t care who he hurts, so long as he gets what he wants. He didn’t like his classmate’s hair, so he cut it. He wanted to make millions of dollars, so he cut people’s jobs and ran companies into bankruptcy.
Voters don’t always pay a lot of attention to policy nuances. They pay a lot of attention to unguarded glimpses into candidates’ real character.
This week, we learned something new about the man who wants to be President. And it’s not pretty.