Next up is Michigan, which is unlikely to vote Romney (even though his father was a popular Governor there). The reason? Romney's New Yourk Times' Op ed piece "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" is unlikely to play well there even amongst conservative GOP voters. Clint Eastwood's "Half time in America " ad during the Superbowl final couldn't have come at a worse time for Romney. Eastwood, a lifetime Republican voter, didn't explicitly endorse Obama. But he sure endorsed Obama's message that the Auto bail-out worked.
It wasn't a bailout: Obama did walk GM through bankruptcy.
And you know what else is funny? Romney's Op-ed is not all that bad either.
IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. ... You don't have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture. ... In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.
...
You don't have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.
In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.
You know what's funny? It wasn't a bailout: Obama did walk GM through bankruptcy.
And that was Romney's actual messaging: that the government intervention should not have taken place.
The reason that the "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" headline resonates is that Romney made quite clear that he was joining the chorus of voices opposing the government intervention.
After all, effectively supporting Obama's action would have been political suicide: he's running in a Republican Primary, for pete's sake. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
It is conveniently forgotten (by both sides) that Bush approved the first bail-out and that it was Cheny who said "deficits don't matter". Its all about purity on increasingly ridiculous wedge issues that defines candidates, as the rise of Santorum makes clear. Index of Frank's Diaries
