Month: January 2012

In a devastating preview ("Obamacare Inventor," "Swiss Bank," "Con Artists"), Newt's PAC debuts another documentary:

[Re-posted from earlier today. My debate live blog is here; our round-up of the blogosphere reaction is here.]

The PAC says "Blood Money" will air starting tomorrow at 5 pm EST. Andrew Kaczynski provided background on the Bain Medicare scandal a few days ago: 

Romney and Bain Capital made huge profits when they sold Damon Corporation in 1993. But the strong revenues that the company had posted were created partially by criminal activity. Damon Corporation participated in a large scale Medicare scam, billing the government for blood tests that never occurred. The Boston Globe show that Romney personally made $473,000 when Corning Inc. purchased Damon Corp. from Bain in 1993. Romney sat on the board of Damon Corp. from 1990-1993, when a large amount of the fraud was occurring. After the sale of the company, Bain reaped in profits of over $7.4 million. In 1996, Damon Corporation pled guilty to federal conspiracy and defrauding the government out of $25 million. The record fine of $119 million was harsh penalty for scheme labeled by then US Attorney Donald Stern “a case, pure and simple, of corporate greed run amok.”

Next, a relatively insipid spot from Winning Our Future: 

Gingrich's own campaign calls attention to Romney's record as a "liberal governor": 

Meanwhile, Romney reminds Floridians of Gingrich's past ethics violations: 

Greg Sargent explains that the above mailer is part of a new campaign strategy to call Newt's "emotional stability" into question: 

The Times observes that Romney’s new strategy of tearing down Gingrich’s character risks turning off the independents, women and suburban Republicans that Romney will need in a general election. As the above mailer suggests, it’s a risk the Romney team is prepared to take — and perhaps sees as an imperative at this point.

Page one of the mailer, which quotes Jennifer Rubin on Gingrich's "well of sleaze," here. Josh Marshall adds: 

As I've told people a few times: wake me up when the Romney campaign schedules a press call with a psychiatrist. … This anti-Newt mailer sent out by the Romney campaign isn't quite that. But it's close.

Here's a companion TV spot, which warns that Nancy Pelosi could end Gingrich's candidacy: 

Pelosi is now backtracking on her claims. 

Today on the Dish, Andrew liveblogged Romney's triumph at the Jacksonville debate (insta-fact check here and reax here), explained why it was so critical to the primary, named something he would appreciate about a Romney presidency, picked out Dole and Drudge's parts in the establishment anti-Newt backlash, pitted Newt's cultural populism againt Obama's economic populism, and demolished Mitt's "Obama is a European socialist" line. Andrew also hoped Obama could buck his party on tax reform, loved his defense against the class warfare canard, saw his economic fortunes rising, examined homosociality, and found former RNC chair Ken Mehlman out-front on the marriage equality debate.

Debates might have been a bad way to vet candidates while tonight's was heavily anticipated. Romney retook the lead in Florida, Frum issued an apologia for Mitt's lying, and corporate taxes likely didn't up his tax rate to 50%. Gingrich took us to the moon (twice), obsessed over Saul Alinsky (despite their similarities), owed his success to Citizens United (and the press), terrified GOP elites (though they might not be able to stop him) engaged on the Reagan debate, and looked EXACTLY like Dwight Schrute. The GOP was whitewashing the 50s and the general shaped up to be nasty.

Calls for intervention in Syria kept coming, brinksmanship with China was (possibly) counterproductve, and the internet spread lies. A man married a lesbian and the origins of heterosexuality were uncovered. A venture capitalist (quixotically) went after Hollywood, an industry that condescended on race. Finally, readers sounded off over Paterno's legacy and the morality of the 1%. Yglesias Nominee here, Malkin Nominee here, Quote for the Day here, Ad War Updates here and here, MHB here, VFYW here, and FOTD here.

– Z.B.

(Photo:  Republican presidential candidates, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shake hands at the end of a debate sponsored by CNN, the Republican Party of Florida and the Hispanic Leadership Network at the University North Florida on January 26, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida. The debate is the last one before the Florida primaries January 31st. By Joe Raedle/Getty Images.)

Rod Dreher thought Romney wiped the floor with Gingrich:

Romney won this debate, and probably Florida, and so the nomination. Newt collapsed, as bullies and blowhards often do when somebody fights back. Santorum auditioned for Romney’s VP, and greatly enhanced his chances. Ron Paul shines on, that crazy diamond.

Will Wilkinson seconds him:

Romney started strong, completely obliterating Newt on immigration and questions about his finances, and then stayed strong. Santorum again turned in an admirably dogged performance, but so what? Romney won the debate and the nomination.

Larison likewise expects a Romney win in Florida:

Romney held off Gingrich, and Gingrich was flailing most of the night. Unless something strange happens in the next few days, Romney should hold his lead in Florida. Santorum may have gained a little, but nowhere near enough to challenge for second place. Paul did a decent job tonight, but Florida is not a good state for him and he’s already looking to the caucus events in February.

Jonah Goldberg gives Gingrich low marks:

I would have bet before the debate that Newt was going to re-energize the race tonight and win the Florida primary. Now, I kind of doubt it.

W. James Antle III agrees:

Gingrich seemed tired, unprepared, and off his game tonight — bad timing for the former House speaker. Romney had some clunkers — he got caught redhanded on the anti-Newt attack ad, the line about not making his own investments could come back to haunt him, and he denied being politically involved during a time period that included a Senate campaign — but he had the better showing overall. I'm seeing many people argue that Gingrich has sharpened Romney as a candidate.

PM Carpenter was amazed by the fight in Romney:

I'm as stunned by Romney's vitality and aggressiveness as Gingrich is. I thought Romney would coast tonight as best he could, given his upward movement — i.e., Gingrich's downward movement — in Florida polls. But Romney clearly believes he is now fighting for his political life, and that Florida might be his firewall after all.

E.D. Kain's verdict:

Fundamentally, Romney was much better than we’ve seen him in some time. He started out a little sketchy, but rallied early on and got plenty of kidney punches in at Newt. Both Ron Paul and Rick Santorum sounded more sincere than either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney. Of course I find most of the things Santorum actually says fairly repulsive, while I find Ron Paul to be a continued breath of fresh air and sanity. Yes, I find most of what Paul says thousands of times saner than what his GOP rivals say. And Paul says a lot of crazy things.

Kain notes that InTrade is betting overwhelmingly on a Romney win in Florida. Dave Weigel ponders Santorum's attack on Romneycare:

Santorum is completely right that Romney can't oppose the idea of a health care mandate (a conservative idea until 2009, etc, etc) in a debate with Barack Obama. I'm just not sure of the calculus here: Which votes does Romney lose in a general election because he's critical of the national health care law but not defends state mandates?

Fallows focuses on the same exchange:

I am not a Republican strategist, but if I were, I would wonder about the problem of the "strongest" candidate making a flat-out ridiculous and disprovable claim about the issue his party says is the most objectionable part of the current president's program. 

Matt Welch liked the audience reaction:

Debates are so much better with a raucous audience. The spectacle of an establishment media dinosaur like Blitzer trying to keep the conversation on trivialities, and getting booed by a bunch of voters, give me hope for this country. 

Henry Olsen felt Romney did well, aside from one mistake:

One bad point for Mitt: He didn’t know it was his own radio ad that attacked Gingrich for allegedly calling Spanish the language of the ghetto. Newt picked up on this at one point, and if a man whose primary rationale for running is his ability to run his company, the fact he seemed not to know what his company was doing might undermine his credibility.

Jennifer Rubin celebrates Gingrich's collapse:

I’d be surprised if the Romney camp had a hand in every statement and article that criticized [Gingrich] over the last week or so. (They aren’t that good.) Conservatives have had enough of him, and have come forward out of fear he might actually get the nomination. After tonight they have less to fear. Not only did Romney have the best debate of the primary season, but Santorum’s strong showing should bleed votes away from Gingrich as well.

And Andrew Sprung, like most of the blogosphere, thinks Newt is finished:

The ready-made attack ads for Democrats may be over; they will have to make their own case against Romney. 

While Obama pursues American Keynesian exceptionalism.

He lied tonight. Money quote:

Mitt Romney said, "I've never voted for a Democrat when there was a Republican on the ballot." … He voted for Senator Paul Tsongas, a Massachusetts Democrat, when he ran in 1992 for the presidential nomination against Bill Clinton, among others. That was the same day, and the same year, that President George H.W. Bush and Pat Buchanan were on the Republican ballot.

As an independent, Mr. Romney could have voted in either party's primary, and apparently chose to vote for the Democrat.

10.10 pm. Some reader points:

Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration said, "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable." After Adams and Franklin reviewed it, the phrase became "self-evident." The change, I think, underscores your point that there was a considered secularism to the final text.

Another:

If Romney wins this thing, we can say that Newt has transformed Romney from a conference room candidate into a modern day Republican party politician. We'll see if he can live with himself.

Oh he can live with himself. Another:

Santorum may have gotten applause for that answer, but it pure nonsense to say America was founded on “God-given rights.” What, like slavery and limiting the right to vote to men? So when we emancipated the slaves, we were going against God’s will?

10.01 pm. Given Mitt's big financial advantage in advertizing in Florida, and the two debates, I think Gingrich lost this campaign in the past week. It wasn't just the Drudge-Fox-Coulter establishment that will have done it. It was his much improved debate performance tonight. Probably foolish to say but if Romney wins Florida, with a winner-takes-all delegate haul, Newt's wait for Super Tuesday will be a long and nail-biting one. Ron Paul? Oh, it's only just begun.

The question is whether Paul's and Santorum's great performances – better than Newt or Mitt – will now alter the race. And how.

9.59 pm. Romney gives a brief, short stump speech. It goes down well. It is also instantly forgettable. Newt's final summary was, I think, his best moment tonight. The case for a Big Election means a Big Ideological Radical. Santorum then talks about the "global warming hoax." Santorum is right that Obama's manufacturing section in his SOTU was ripping off Santorum.

9.58 pm. Sorry, Ron, Obama ended the war in Iraq; he did not expand it. And he is winding down the war in Afghanistan, after decimating al Qaeda and killing bin Laden.

9.49 pm. Only Ron Paul understands the correct role of religion. Fantastic answer. Brief, sweet, genuine, and Christian, not Christianist. Of these four, I'd vote for him tonight. But most will surely go for Mitt.

But this was an evangelical question about a Mormon. Romney dodges it. Is Mormonism part of the Judeo-Christian tradition? Advice to Newt: don't use the words "truly faithful." Both Romney and Gingrich are endorsing the fusion of religion and politics that is now at the core of the current GOP.

Santorum then insists that all our rights come from God. Why do they not notice that the key phrase in that sentence is "we hold these truths to be self-evident." What I think is brilliant about that sentence is its nuance, its founding this country on something "self-evident." The "Creator" line has always truck me as rote – not unimportant, but routine for the time. What was new for the time was that rather post-modern attempt not to prove the truths of individual freedom, or defend them on the basis of divine authority, but to base them on a self-reinforcing, impenetrable, simple assertion that the argument they are about to make is "self-evident."

The biggest epistemological dodge imaginable. And the most brilliant. Have a fight with someone nad hear them defend their position as "self-evident." Would that seem like he was invoking divine authority as his primary case?

9.42 pm. Fantastic question from a Palestinian-American insisting he exists. Then Romney pretends that Abbas and Fayyad are no different than Hamas. And a big lie. Not only has Obama spoken of the rockets coming into Israel, he went to Sderot, the town under attack! Then there cannot be "an inch" between the US and Israel. Which means the US must support the permanent annexation and colonization of Judea and Samaria and have our foreign policy determined by the neo-fascist, Avigdor Lieberman.

Then Gingrich panders to the Florida Jewish vote with his bid to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Adelson has gotten his money's worth. There is no mention of the progress in the West Bank or of the shift in the Palestinian leadership these past few years. The PA did not fire rcokets into Jerusalem.

9.38 pm. Once again, Paul is fucking hilarious. "I'd ask Raul Castro what he was calling about!" Then a heroic – yes heroic – attack on the Cuba embargo and its anachronism. I'm beginning to wonder if Paul's and Santorum's vote will increase after tonight. And from whom each might take some votes. Probably from Gingrich. This has been a disastrous night for him, and because of today's coordinated attacks, I wanted him to fight back.

9.36 pm. A reader gets it right, I think:

I've never seen Gingrich more caught off guard than when he was asked to defend the Swiss bank account attack. He was completely ready to back down but then, in true Newtonian fashion, decided to blindly fight back. Unfortunately for him, Romney was more than ready to answer these baseless attacks about where Romney's money is held. Gingrich has never seemed more confused and off-balance than he was in that moment. He flailingly reached for a counter-attack about Romney's own ads but had nothing specific that he could think of on the spot.

It was the best exposure of Gingrich two-facedness I've ever seen, and I hope it helps tank his campaign.

9.35 pm. Gingrich finally wins a round. The Reagan one.

9.32 pm. A reader writes:

The kid glove treatment Gingrich has used towards Paul seems like a calculation to me. In his mind, he thinks that he could sway the young and intelligent Ron Paul supporters to his cause by co-opting some of his ideas and treating him with more respect than he shows Romney or Santorum. He's fooling himself, but what else is new?

Another notes:

For a second there, when Newt mentioned all "three" ladies would be great first ladies, I thought he was talking about his wives, former and current. Just when you think it's safe to pause for a drink of water. I almost choked.

9.28 pm. Holy shit. Romney actually reminded people that his only wife had both multiple sclerosis and cancer and he stuck with her. Wow. When he wants to stab someone in the front, he knows how. Another slam dunk for Romney. But Santorum's touching answer about his children was also powerful. And will win many panhandle evangelical votes with this.

9.26 pm. Yes, you weren't hallucinating. The crowd cheered the individual mandate at one point. And if only Obama had made the defense of his healthcare reform as effectively as Romney did so tonight. It really shows Obama's political malpractice in never ever truly defending his signature reform. Cowardice: pure and simple.

9.23 pm. A few dissents from my judgment that Romney has wrapped this up. One reader:

Actually Mitt came off as a rich prick. Who says "it wasn't my decision; it was a blind trust!" A rich prick that's who.

Another:

Romney pwning Newt? WTF? Anyone from the South will tell you that Newt is kicking Romney's ass around the room.

Sorry, not buying it.

9.22 pm. A perfect Romney phrase: "a terrific Hispanic leader."

9.21 pm. Gingrich all but offers Rubio the veep slot. Panderrrrr!

9.20 pm. A reader writes:

Newt Gingrich pulled off some miracle wins recently, but now the game film is out on him. Now everyone knows how to take away his greatest asset. In short, he's Tim Tebow. And we all know what happened when Tebow went up against an organization that was well run from top to bottom.

9.19 pm. The Gingrich-Paul strange bromance continues.

9.17 pm. Romney is attacking Obama for cutting Medicare. And Santorum destroys Romney on the individual mandate. This is Santorum at his debating best.

9.09 pm. A rip-roaring answer from Romney on healthcare. But none of them is tackling the core issue: healthcare costs. Then Santorum focuses on Obamacare and Romneycare, both have which have individual mandates and free market insurance policy exchanges. He's right that both Newt and Mitt are crippled in their attacks on the health insurance reform. Santorum totally pwned him on that one: "we cannot give away this issue in this campaign." That's even truer if the economy is reviving.

Then Romney makes the core philosophical point for Obamacare. It was very eloquent. Even Obama hasn't put the case for his own healthcare policy so well. Which kinda proves Santorum's point, doesn't it?

9.08 pm. But, Newt, what if she cannot afford to buy any of the insurance policies on offer in the private sector? Has that occurred to you?

9.05 pm. Ron Paul is sparkling tonight. He even attacked Reagan's fiscal irresponsibility and called Newt on his fiscal record. If I lived in Florida and were a Republican and a citizen – ha! – I'd vote for Paul after tonight. Romney is walking away with this, but Paul is easily the more honest. Oddly, the dynamic tonight is helping Paul and Santorum – which is more bad news for Newt.

9.01 pm. Newt is coming back on space, I think. At least he sounds confident and optimistic. And he has a point about the collateral inspiration of NASA. Romney does really well against Newt on the pandering issue. This is over. Even when Newt seems to rally, Romney comes back with a real slam. But, wait, Newt is returning with a good point about listening to local concerns. And then Newt revives with a riff on greatness.

8.56 pm. I'm sorry but space policy puts me in an instant coma. But they all sounded fine. I can't imagine anything they are now saying will have any impact in even the tiniest way on anything in the actual world. The best answer was Santorum's.

8.53 pm. Paul's response to the medical records was one of the best of the night: funny, charming, and to the point. All candidates, by the way, agree to do this year what Sarah Palin refused to do in the last cycle. And for asking for those medical records, I was accused by Fox News of not being an "actual journalist."

8.51 pm. The last question and Santorum's response on exempting the very wealthy from any contribution to reducing the debt and the deficit is the reason Obama has easily the stronger argument in this election.

8.45 pm. So Newt tries to regain the initiative by bashing the media. Then he loses the battle with Wolf Blitzer – and allows Romney once again to win the exchange. Brutal. Newt is finished. If he can't win on his own turf in his own game – demagoguing in front of a Southern debate audience (this is Jacksonville, not Miami) – then he has lost the whole thing.

8.40 pm. Then Santorum jumps on the Paul note and demands an end to all this personal Newt-Mitt bickering. Disingenuous, of course. But the right move for him. Rick and Ron won the crowd on this one in the end, but Romney's early brutalization of Newt will remain in voters' minds. He took the alpha dog position from the get-go; and Newt's attempt to go after him backfired.

That's the worst combo for a fighter like Newt. If you throw a rhetorical grenade, make sure your opponent doesn't have the time and opportunity to throw it back. This means Newt has got to have a strong counter-attack now that sticks. But the dynamic is going against him.

8.39 pm. And then Ron Paul, with a dose of humor and integrity, breaks the ice with a lovely riff on the Newt-Mitt death match and then moves onto the real issue of GSEs.

8.36 pm. Newt goes after Romney on earning investments from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Romney says it wasn't his decision; it was a blind trust. Then he says that Newt has investments in Freddie Mac himself. How did Newt not see that coming? Then Romney brings up the lobbying for Freddie Mac. And Newt is knocked flat into the ropes again. Anoher knockout for Romney.

8.33 pm. Do I believe that Mitt Romney didn't know about the language in his own ad? Or did he just feign ignorance in order to force Newt to repeat what he said. And he got that done, twice. He's destroying Newt right now. And now he's on a Freddie Mac roll against Newt. This first round is going to Romney by a mile.

8.31 pm. Paul points out the core element of Rick Santorum's foreign policy: the use of force.

8.29 pm. A reader notes:

Santorum wants on the Romney ticket … and tonight the public overtures start.  And if you think about it, this being Santorum's last stand, and maybe last chance at anything, it's the smart thing to do.  He's everything Mitt isn't.  (Not a Mormon, not filthy rich, and not a stiff empty suit.)  And he'd be a great attack dog, letting Mitt take the high road.

Seaking of which, Santorum just accused Obama of "siding with Marxists" and believes that there is a burgeoning Jihadist movement in Central and South America.

8.27 pm. My favorite line so far: you need to be "more realistic in your indignation." Yes, that was a quote from Newt.

8.20 pm. It's getting pissy fast. Romney wins a huge point by attacking Newt for calling him anti-immigrant. He shows anger. He shows passion. And Newt doesn't counter-attack with the same level of anger. Romney is killing him so far. And Newt ends up defending "grandmothers". And Romney pwns him again. Newt's red faced jowls contrast with Romney's calm Bob Forehead.

And then Romney manages to bring up the Newt gaffe when he spoke about Spanish being the language of the ghetto. And then makes the English-only language. You have to hand it to Romney: he just out-Newted Newt.

8.14 pm. Grandmothers won't self-deport, says Newt. A nice blend of red meat for the panhandle and serious compassion for long-term illegal immigrants. Romney accidentally calls 11 million illegal immigrants "Americans." But he then tries to seem compasionate toward immigrants who are brought across the border by coyotes.

8.13 pm. Santorum wins the introduction round. What great teeth his mother has. And then he loses the Latino vote for support from the Jacksonville crowd.

8.06 pm. It's on. Quote of the night:

“Look at Newt Gingrich, what’s going on with him, via the establishment’s attacks. They’re trying to crucify this man and rewrite history, and rewrite what it is that he has stood for all these years.”

That's Palin. And by the way, that would require a pretty sturdy cross. 

7.57 pm.  This graph from TPM and the tsunami of establishment slime against Newt seems to me to suggest one thing. Newt is back up against the wall, and we know what that means. At least I hope so. All this piling on has made me want to support the underdog, and see him savage Romney tonight from the get-go.

… it's becoming a Limbaugh-Drudge war as well. One suspects the influence of anti-Newt drag queen, Coulter. Rush blames the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy:

Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show on Thursday, also took note of the headlines, calling it a “coordinated” effort to smear Mr. Gingrich. “Now, when I saw all it is stuff — and obviously it’s a coordinated document dump here, opposition research dump. It’s obviously coordinated.”

You know what this means, don't you? Drudge is now The Establishment.

Adam Clymer claims that Gingrich "doesn’t hate the press as much as he makes you think":

After last week’s debate, when he blasted CNN’s King for asking about his second ex-wife’s "open marriage" charge, he went up to him and chatted amiably. Next he praised King on CNN. Then he trashed him on Fox. So Thursday night at the next debate, whether he makes nice to Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s moderator in Jacksonville, or rips his head off, you’ll be seeing just one of the two Gingriches.

Sabato's Crystal Ball created an electoral map for a Gingrich-Obama race:

In several Midwestern swing states, Republicans gained many House seats in 2010 that, thanks to their control of redistricting, they sought to lock in through aggressive remapping. Under this map, all of those states — Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — would be tough territory for Gingrich. If his candidacy were a disaster, those new Republican gerrymanders could unravel. The close battle for the Senate could also be affected — Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia all have competitive Senate races this year, and all of those states get bluer on our map under a hypothetical Gingrich candidacy.

John Cassidy takes out the popcorn:

Making a grave tactical error, Gingrich tried to remain above the fray in Tampa, dismissing Mitt’s attacks as beneath him. The format of the debate didn’t help him either. For reasons that still aren’t clear—a request from the Romney campaign?—the NBC organizers told the audience to keep quiet. As far as Newt was concerned, this was like asking a Roman gladiator to do battle in a silent Coliseum. In Myrtle Beach and Charleston, it was obvious, even on television, that he was feeding off the energy of the Republican audience. In tonight’s debate, which starts at 8 P.M., expect to see the full Newt.

Gingrich tested out new attacks on the trail today:

The former House speaker went onto to assail Romney for harping on Gingrich’s work for mortgage lender for Freddie Mac when Romney himself owns Freddie Mac stock. "He owns a Goldman Sachs subsidiary that forecloses on Floridians. He is surrounded by lobbyists who are paid by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop reform," said Gingrich following an enthusiastic Tea Party rally in Mt. Dora, Fla. "And on that front, he decides to lie about my career?"