Some prominent Mitt Romney supporters are saying the presidential hopeful's campaign should stop sending mixed messages about the Supreme Court's health care ruling.
Romney and his staffers have been going back and forth on whether to call it a tax as an attack on President Obama or not a tax, to preserve the argument that Romney never raised taxes in his state despite having a similar health care law.
Head spinning a bit? We'll backtrack.
On Wednesday, Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said the federal health care reform mandate constitutes a "tax," contradicting the way his senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, of the Etch-a-Sketch gaffe fame, characterized his position earlier this week. But the similar individual mandate and fee he signed into law when governor of Massachusetts is not a tax, he said in a separate interview, citing the Supreme Court's decision last Thursday.
In March, Fehrnstrom made headlines for saying in a CNN interview that the transition from the primaries to the general election was "almost like an Etch-a-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again."
Some people are calling the tax chatter another Romney flip-flop. Others are calling it the Etch-a-Sketch redux. Others, like editor of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel, are saying this incident makes the previous gaffe look like solid campaign strategy.
Romney now says health mandate is a tax. Making that Etch a Sketch look downright steady,stable and full of integrity.
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Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) July 05, 2012And now, plenty of people, including his supporters, are hitting Romney on the issue and letting him know that either he needs to get himself aligned with his staff on these issues, or scrap some of the staff and get a new game plan as they charge into the general election.
Media baron Rupert Murdoch, never shy on his views, tweeted that while he supports the former Massachusetts governor he believes Romney needs to shake up his staff to have a chance to beat Obama's seasoned campaign staff.
Met Romney last week. Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful.
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Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) July 01, 2012And apparently, that tweet upset the Romney campaign, which prompted Murdoch to follow up with a tweet on Monday. He said he wants Romney to win, but instead of the campaign upset about the criticism they should heed some of the good advice Murdoch feels Romney is getting about trying to get his campaign in order.
Romney people upset at me! Of course I want him to win, save us from socialism, etc but should listen to good advice and get stuck in!
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Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) July 02, 2012
Murdoch's tweets of fury were followed by agreement from Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, and then a blistering editorial from the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal.
Welch tweeted that he hoped Romney's camp would heed Murdoch's advice, noting that the Obama campaign staff is a well-oiled machine at this point.
Hope Mitt Romney is listening to Murdoch advice ont campaign staff..playing in league with Chicago pols..No room for amateurs
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Jack Welch (@jack_welch) July 02, 2012And the Wall Street Journal went further with an elaborate editorial that declared the tax or not a tax issue is indicative of larger campaign problems. The editorial says what could have easily been a choreographed way to attack Obama has essentially turned into a political defeat for Romney.
"Why make such an unforced error? Because it fits with Mr. Romney's fear of being labeled a flip-flopper, as if that is worse than confusing voters about the tax and health-care issues. Mr. Romney favored the individual mandate as part of his reform in Massachusetts, and as we've said from the beginning of his candidacy his failure to admit that mistake makes him less able to carry the anti-ObamaCare case to voters ...
His latest mistake is of a piece with the campaign's insular staff and strategy that are slowly squandering an historic opportunity. Mr. Obama is being hurt by an economic recovery that is weakening for the third time in three years. But Mr. Romney hasn't been able to take advantage, and if anything he is losing ground.
The Romney campaign thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy stinks and it's Mr. Obama's fault. We're on its email list and the main daily message from the campaign is that "Obama isn't working." Thanks, guys, but Americans already know that. What they want to hear from the challenger is some understanding of why the President's policies aren't working and how Mr. Romney's policies will do better."
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Romney needs to quit calling himself "President Romney" in his commercials.
"President Romney" are two of the scariest words I've ever heard. He can be President of anything else he wants, but NOT OUR COUNTRY!! I actually thought his getting the nomination wasn't so bad in that I thought he was a common sense, down to earth type guy – boy, was I wrong!!
If the Republican Party really wanted to have Obamacare as its core issue in the campaign, they needed a candidate who did not start this whole thing with Romneycare in Massachusetts.
What a relief that a foreign national and owner of so many media outlets is trying to have an effect on the outcome of our elections!
any Romney supporter that by now did not realize what a flip/flopper and panderer he can be is just getting what they deserve. And this has come from not only Democrats but Republicans as well.
Romney has always tried to be all things to all people. It doesn't work. In fact, it is painful to see him contort himself into every possible position every five minutes.
Romney doesn't act like a man of "principle", because his principles are up for the highest bidder.
Like Obama? Has he followed up anything he stood for in 2008?
@Ken. he sure has. he passed healthcare reform, the Lilly Ledbetter act, got red of don't ask don't tell, managed a dream act lite through executive orders etc etc etc.......
Ken.... "Like Obama? Has he followed up anything he stood for in 2008?"
You mean like when he said he would pass a universal health care law, a monumnetal task that hadn't been achieved in 50 years of trying?
Like when he said he would keep the auto industry from going bankrupt, which he did (and which Romney said should be left to die, along with a few hundred thousand jobs)?
Like when he said he would go into Pakistan to get Bin Laden if necessary, and was blasted by McCain and Palin for saying it?
Like when he said he would do away with tax breaks for the wealthy, which he is still tying to do but is thwarted by the Republicans?
And don't forget... He was elected by a majority of Americans on these promises.
Romney can lead on his principals.. because he doesn't have any.. PERIOD ... as far as KEN asking what Obama completed regarding his campaign hopes... Let's see... Lilly LedBetter .. Done, Don't Ask, Don't Tell.. Gone-zo .. Healthcare reform.. first president in a century ..... Bin Laden .... DEAD,, the other TOP Al Queda leaders, Droned to Death
.. etc, etc etc.. and that with an Old White Angry racist stodgy Conservative and generally constipated looking group of wrinkled GOPers all trhowing intentional roadblocks to intentionally thwart the recovery of the american economy ,,. in other words GOP is basicaly a bunch of Treasonous Charletains ...
Willard is such a flip flopper. His individual mandate was an Heritage Conservative Think Tank idea and the basis for Obama health care plan. It can be considered a health care tax but is only a penalty if you don't buy insurance if you don't have any through your employer. That insurance companies can't deny you for a pre-existing condition which for Republicans can be being a women, everyone should be glad. Willard Romney does not have a leg to stand on. The true flip flopper.
If you want a confused person to be president, then vote for CONFUSED Mitt Romney. He's the man for the job.
perhaps you have a good point.... Lem'me see here.. Vote for someone who is confused ot vote for someone who wants to destroy America and everything IT stands for me. See here lies the problem and why worthless Romney might win. Obama is twice as bad.
To push the button or not to push the button, that is the question! O' wait, I'll put Ms. Bachmann in charge of the red button since I can't remember what the heck its for! O' wait, I just remember, that is the button to my car elevator! Ding-dong, Caboom! Global Mushroom-Cloud! Haha!
Mixed message? Please explain how, "I got mine and now I want yours" is in anyway ambiguous.
For years now Republicans have not cared that they are caught changing stories or even lying. That behavior has now culminated with Romney. Until voters care about a candidate's behavior nothing will change.
I stand by what I said, whatever it is I said" – that is Mitt trying his best not to sound like a flip flopper. Too late we got ya!
Call it anything, it doesn't matter! Geez, get busy trying to figure out how you think you can improve our economy. Sounds like a bunch of five-year olds. I can't believe this! It is time for the US to provide health care, and in many cases, life-saving health care, for all Americans. My cousins in England and my kids in Australia and my friends in Canada have no complaints! You pay insurance to drive a car, you pay lots of fees to have a phone and internet and buy a car or a house. Why should you get health care for free? Go to your emergency room and let me pay for it? Don't think you need health care? Wait till you have a broken leg and see how much it costs! Wait till your kid gets leukemia and then you expect the rest of us to pay for it? Wait till your boss fires you, bye bye health insurance. House burns down, you should be insured for that. Call that payment whatever you want, if you ever need public assistance (like from me) you didn't do your share.
Well said Bayousara. I work for a hospital system. All care that is not paid for by insurance is just charged back to those with insurance in the form of higher premiums. Which get passed along to employers adding costs to their products (which make them more expensive compared to say products imported from China), and hence our country doesn't export as much as we import.
I want to know how Obama isn't working, we went from recession, to economic growth every quarter since june 2009, and job growth 26 straight months, the recession was the largest since the depression 3x larger than reagans recession, it took us a decade and a global war in which were the leading arms dealer to get out of that what makes people think the recession whole would be dug out of in barely 3 years? Obama actually worked wonders and that is with half of the nation actually wanting and trying for economic failure.
With the kind of debt he has put the country into ANYONE could have done as well.
"to preserve the argument that Romney never raised taxes in his state despite having a similar health care law."
Did Romneycare have a penalty/tax for noncompliance?
Yes, Romneycare has been imposing a penalty on those who choose to not buy health insurance in the state of Massachusetts. Romney's penalty was actually larger than Obamacare's penalty.
Willard Romney is giving evidence to the fact that he has bad judgement. McCain did it when he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. The USA does not need a president with bad judgement. Obama / Biden 2012!