dagblog - Comments for "Team Romney White-Vote Push: ‘This Is the Last Time Anyone Will Try to Do This’" http://dagblog.com/link/team-romney-white-vote-push-last-time-anyone-will-try-do-14591 Comments for "Team Romney White-Vote Push: ‘This Is the Last Time Anyone Will Try to Do This’" en Question being, can Romney http://dagblog.com/comment/162392#comment-162392 <a id="comment-162392"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/comment/162386#comment-162386">I thought the key points in</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Question being, can Romney convince enough old white codgers (like <b><i>moi</i></b>)  to vote for him to offset the non-whites who will not.</p> </div></div></div> Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:57:17 +0000 cmaukonen comment 162392 at http://dagblog.com I thought the key points in http://dagblog.com/comment/162386#comment-162386 <a id="comment-162386"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/link/team-romney-white-vote-push-last-time-anyone-will-try-do-14591">Team Romney White-Vote Push: ‘This Is the Last Time Anyone Will Try to Do This’</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>I thought the key points in the article were all made following the first two paragraphs excerpted in the post:</p> <p> </p> <div class="parbase section entrytext"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 60px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 60px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1.5em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 21px; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: left; ">The “2012 or never” hypothesis helps explain why a series of Republican candidates, first in the House and most recently at the presidential candidate level, have taken the politically risky step of openly declaring themselves for Paul Ryan’s radical blueprint. Romney’s campaign has been <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/Multiple%20senior%20Romney%20advisers%20assured%20me%20that%20they%20had%20had%20conversations%20with%20the%20candidate%20in%20which%20he%20conveyed%20a%20depth%20of%20conviction%20about%20the%20need%20to%20try%20to%20enact%20something%20like%20Ryan%E2%80%99s%20controversial%20budget%20and%20entitlement%20reforms.%20Romney,%20they%20said,%20was%20willing%20to%20count%20the%20cost%20politically%20in%20order%20to%20achieve%20it." style="color: rgb(23, 123, 174); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">floating word of late</a> that it sees a potential presidency as following the mold of James K. Polk — fulfilling dramatic policy change, and leaving after a single term. “Multiple senior Romney advisers assured me that they had had conversations with the candidate in which he conveyed a depth of conviction about the need to try to enact something like Ryan’s controversial budget and entitlement reforms,” reports the Huffington Post’s Jonathan Ward. “Romney, they said, was willing to count the cost politically in order to achieve it.” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/sunday-review/romneys-first-100-days.html?_r=1" style="color: rgb(23, 123, 174); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">David Leonhardt</a> floats a similar sketch, plausibly outlining how Romney could transform the shape of American government by using a Senate procedure that circumvents the filibuster to quickly lock in large regressive tax cuts and repeal of health insurance subsidies to tens of millions of Americans.</p> </div> <div class="parbase section entrytext"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 60px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 60px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1.5em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 21px; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: left; ">Blowing up the welfare state and affecting the largest upward redistribution of wealth in American history is a politically tricky project (hence Romney's belief that he may need to forego a second term). Hence the Romney campaign's clear plan to suture off its slowly declining but still potent base. Romney’s political-policy theme is an unmistakable appeal to identity politics. On Medicare, Romney is putting himself forward as the candidate who will<i>outspend</i><i> Obama</i>, at least when it comes to benefits for people 55 years old and up. Romney will restore the $700 billion in Medicare budget cuts imposed by Obama to its rightful owners — people who are currently old.</p> </div> <div class="parbase section entrytext"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 60px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 60px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1.5em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 21px; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: left; ">He will cut subsidies to the non-elderly people who would get insurance through Obamacare — a program that, Romney’s ads <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/romney-and-ryan-wage-generational-warfare.html" style="color: rgb(23, 123, 174); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">remind</a> older voters, is “NOT FOR YOU.” Romney’s repeated ads on welfare, blaring the brazen lie that Obama has repealed the welfare work requirement, hammer home the same theme. The purpose is to portray Obama as diverting resources from <i>us</i>to <i>them</i>.</p> </div> <div class="parbase section entrytext"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 60px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 60px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1.5em; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 21px; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: left; ">In their heart of hearts, Romney and Ryan would probably prefer a more sweeping, across-the-board assault on the welfare state. But the immense popularity of the largest, middle-class social insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security force them into the divide-and-conquer gambit. They can promise to hold their disproportionately old, white base harmless and impose the entire brunt of their ambitious downsizing of government on young, poor, and disproportionately nonwhite Democratic constituencies.</p> </div> <p> </p> </div></div></div> Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:30:31 +0000 AmericanDreamer comment 162386 at http://dagblog.com What kind of views do http://dagblog.com/comment/162383#comment-162383 <a id="comment-162383"></a> <p><em>In reply to <a href="http://dagblog.com/link/team-romney-white-vote-push-last-time-anyone-will-try-do-14591">Team Romney White-Vote Push: ‘This Is the Last Time Anyone Will Try to Do This’</a></em></p> <div class="field field-name-comment-body field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>What kind of views do long-term and short-term Hispanic-Americans have?</p> <p>Likely "liberal" on homosexuality and big government and their own immigration, "conservative" on abortion and religion</p> <p><a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/04/v-politics-values-and-religion/">http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/04/v-politics-values-and-religion/</a></p> <p>Though these differ between more conservative Cubans (at least re: Castro and communism) and other origins.</p> <p>And as Hispanics join the more merchant class with lower immigration rates,  they may be less big government than before.</p> <p>If conservatives can find a few litmus issues, they may have a marriage of convenience. As usual, the warning: non cuente los pollos antes de nacidos</p> <p>Would like to see where Hispanics stand on military, war on terror, offshoring, other hot ticket items.</p> </div></div></div> Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:49:41 +0000 PeraclesPlease comment 162383 at http://dagblog.com