Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Second rate reporter says what?

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

I really should read my own blog.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / If Halperin Whines, It’s Working

If Halperin Whines, It’s Working

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More proof that anytime the beltway hacks and blue dogs whine about something being unfair, it’s because the attack is working:

Propelled by a torrent of blistering television advertisements, President Obama is successfully invoking Mitt Romney’s career at Bain Capital to raise questions about his commitment to the middle class, strategists in both parties say, as the candidates engage in a critical summer duel to set the terms for this fall.

Despite doubts among some Democrats about the wisdom of attacking Mr. Romney’s business career, Obama commercials painting him as a ruthless executive who pursued profits at the expense of jobs are starting to make an impact on some undecided voters, according to strategists from both sides, who differ on whether they are causing any substantial damage.

I hope Cory Booker missed this news, because I would hate for him to become nauseous.

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  3. 3.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I fleetingly saw something today about Romney investing in a company that disposed of aborted fetuses. Is that shit true? Cause if it is then Mr. Pro Life is fucking toast.

  4. 4.

    Linda Featheringill

    I’ve seen some of those Obama commercials. VERY strong. The guy who worked on building the stage made me want to reach out and hug him.

  6. 6.

    General Stuck

    I hope Cory Booker missed this news, because I would hate for him to become nauseous.

    He’s planning his next daring do to save the day, and the news cycle. Maybe rescue Ed Rendell and Harold Ford from a burning whore house.

  8. 8.

    David Koch

    He’s only 3-4 weeks late.

    Remember 3/4 weeks ago there were a slew of articles on how focus groups of low information swing voters were reacting strongly against Bain.

    Then last week the WSJ poll showed it was working.

    Halperin is like one of those Japaneses soldiers lost on isolated islands still thinking WWII is going on.

  9. 9.

    Thoughtcrime

    These teasers have me fired up for this year’s blockbuster: The Dark Knight vs. Bain.

  14. 14.

    Thoughtcrime

    @David Koch:

    Also tied up in this story is that Romney lied (including in ethics disclosures) about when his official involvement with Bain Capital ended.

  15. 15.

    cathyx

    I hope Cory Booker missed this news, because I would hate for him to become nauseous.

    I just read a lesson on using nauseous and nauseated. This should read …because I would hate for him to become nauseated. Not nauseous.

  16. 16.

    Olivia

    1. Why is he calling Mittens Mr. Romney but the President is simply Obama?

    2. Mr. Romney makes GWB look like the most ethical politician EVAH!

    3. Spread the aborted fetus news everywhere!

  17. 17.

    Violet

    @David Koch: This is a great story but it’s coming out during the 4th of July holiday week. Is there any way to give it some legs to keep it going for when more people will be paying attention?

  20. 20.

    General Stuck

    Obama is paying no attention to the whining, every day he and his amigos saddle up and tear ass through the lines, sparing no fee fee, or sense of supremacy from the wingnuts. It’s by god, I’m an American that happens to be black, AND the president. You don’t like that, see you in November, motherfuckers!!

  21. 21.

    SFAW

    I fleetingly saw something today about Romney investing in a company that disposed of aborted fetuses. Is that shit true?

    In a manner of speaking: the info I saw had him as being a key player in the corporate dealings to get Stericycle. (As contrasted with some quasi-disinterested investor.)

    But as far as this report making him “toast”: c’mon, you know better than to believe the wingnuts will actually stick to their principles when there’s a KenyanMuslimFascistUppityBastard in the White House to be gotten rid of.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    @General Stuck:

    Obama is paying no attention to the whining

    The most delicious part of the Bain ads is that Obama ignored the Beltway bed-wetters and kept pushing.

    Obambi my ass.

  24. 24.

    Jade Jordan

    “LEAVE CORY ALOOOOOOONNNNNNEEE”

    Now Cory Booker has to liFt a car off of an old lady (and hope no one is wise to the fact that he kicked the jack over in the first place).

  25. 25.

    JPL

    In defense of some one or something.. I don’t care how Romney made his money but I do care that he said he was a job creator. His job was to make money for his investors whether or not that meant screwing the American worker or not.

  26. 26.

    The Dangerman

    @SFAW:

    …you know better than to believe the wingnuts will actually stick to their principles when there’s a KenyanMuslimFascistUppityBastard in the White House…

    A dead girl and a live boy could be found in Romney’s bed and the Wingers would vote for him. There is no toast from that story.

  29. 29.

    jl

    If Mitt has no honest answer to the ads, I don’t doubt they are effectie and will continue to be until election day.

    The idea pumped by the paid corporate pundits that it is unfair to attack your opponent in a campaign and force an examination of the record is insane and laughable. The spectacle of same pundits sitting on their hands when Mitt emits whoppers and crying when Obama does an ad with truth behind it is enraging.

    Those pundits must get paid a lot to make fools of themselves in front of the whole country.

    I think it is simple: how many Staples does Mitt have to brag about? Versus profitable companies that got shut down for corporate shell games? Versus distressed companies that invited Bain in, and when they couldn’t be saved, Bain helped make sure the ‘right’ people made out while others got the shaft?

    Mitt has an incentive to correct the record, and he has the money to spread the word. Let’s see how he does.

  31. 31.

    David in NY

    Hey that Obama money thermometer has been up for two hours with only $50 to show for it.

    If I find out who hasn’t given I’ll send my troop of NPR fundraisers over to deal with them, and you know what that’s like, so hop to it.

  32. 32.

    BGinCHI

    Just to add to Cole’s headline:

    If Sherrod Brown says it’s working in Ohio, you’re doing something right.

    I have an unmanly crush on that guy.

    ETA: Brown, not Cole.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    @David Koch:

    Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show

    Can’t wait to see what shoe drops in September.

  35. 35.

    General Stuck

    @Baud:

    At some point, it is going to dawn on the wingnuts, that for this particular election, they picked about the worst candidate possible regarding the raw emotions of the electorate. And yes, they don’t really care if he is rich. But they do care how he got rich, beyond the silver spoon he was born with. Tack that vulture capitalist onto his passing a HCR similar to Obama’s, and there is no where to hide. Certainly not his warm and winning personality.

    Though in the fucked up country we live in, there are circa 45 percent of voters who would crawl through broken glass to vote against Obama, no matter how he has done at presidenting, or how fucked up their own candidate is.

    The Bain ads will only effect a relative few voters, that will hopefully make the winning difference, by a whisker or two.

  37. 37.

    bemused

    @SFAW:

    Becoming “toast” is only reliably predictable for Democrats. I never underestimate the ability of Republicans (27% for sure) to instantly pivot from their moral and political absolutes in a heartbeat in R vs D choices. Those are their real core values.

  38. 38.

    Linda Featheringill

    If Stericycle could be hung around Romney’s neck, I might actually end up feeling sorry for him.

  39. 39.

    BruceFromOhio

    I hope Cory Booker missed this news, because I would hate for him to become nauseous.

    I picture him puking his guts out, softly saying “fuck! fuck! fuck!” over and over, like one of my buddies who drank too much of the wrong thing.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    @Violet: What’s the difference from giving to the President directly or giving through John?
    I’m curious..

    BTW Bain has nothing to do with Cory..Romney said he knows how to create jobs…That is a lie. That is what the ads are about.

  41. 41.

    Rafer Janders

    Obama commercials painting him as a ruthless executive who pursued profits at the expense of jobs

    Look, it’s not that they “paint him” that way — that’s what it was. A private equity firm is designed explicitly to pursue profits for its investors. Creating jobs isn’t anywhere in the wheelhouse of what Romney was supposed to do. Which is all well and good, but it doesn’t allow Romney to now whine “unfair” at what is basically a factual description of what his role was.

  42. 42.

    quannlace

    But as far as this report making him “toast”: c’mon, you know better than to believe the wingnuts will actually stick to their principles when

    Exactly. He was creating jobs, for Pete’s sake

  43. 43.

    FFrank

    Well if Romney explodes early. Ron Paul is there to take up the slack at the Republican Convention.

    Then instead of expensive Orville Redenbacker we will be eating Jiffy Pop.

  46. 46.

    Raven

    @David in NY: I tried and the fucking paypal doesn’t work. I also don’t like act blue because I get bombed with email whenever I use it. They need to let you opt out of being on every Democratic candidate in the world’s fundraiser.

  47. 47.

    gogol's wife

    @Raven:

    Unfortunately that also happens when you use ink-on-paper checks and send them through USPS.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @General Stuck:

    I think the only thing that will depress the wingnuts is if Romney feels enough political heat that he actually does have to tack to the center. I think Romney will hold out as long as possible, but at some point, if it looks like he’s permanently losing the independents, he’s going to have to pick a side. Romney’s problem has always been his inability to bridge the gap between the crazy right and the clueless center. I don’t think he can pull it off unless he can raise enough money to completely drown Obama out. Hard to do to a sitting President.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    Well if Romney explodes early. Ron Paul is there to take up the slack at the Republican Convention.

    Somewhere, Fred Karger is kicking himself – “Damn! If only I had waited another 3 days!”

  50. 50.

    Thoughtcrime

    Hey, who’s in charge of the Etch-A-Sketch?:

    There’s apparently some disagreement, even in the Mitt Romney orbit, about whether or not the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care plan should be considered a penalty or a tax. Wendy Long, who serves as a legal adviser to Romney’s campaign even as she runs for U.S. Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand, sent out a press release this afternoon questioning whether Gillibrand supports the president’s “massive Obamacare tax increase on the middle class.”

    capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/07/6124280/wendy-long-legal-adviser-romney-stomps-romney-ta…

  53. 53.

    gogol's wife

    @Raven:

    Yes, I should have been clearer. What I meant was, they put you on their junk mail and telephone lists and you keep hearing from them that way. Unfortunately Obama’s campaign seems to share their lists with every Democrat in the country.

  54. 54.

    gogol's wife

    @General Stuck:

    Why should he have to tack to the center when people like Nicholas Kristof of the “paper of record” can see in their hearts that he’s really a moderate, even though he hasn’t said or done anything remotely moderate for many, many months?

  55. 55.

    SFAW

    about whether or not the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care plan should be considered a penalty or a tax.

    With the “news” that Mittens’s’s’s campaign doesn’t know what to call “Obamacare”, they might try calling it “Shimmer”:
    “It’s a penalty!”
    “No, it’s a tax!”
    “Wait! It’s BOTH!”

    [Posted for the old farts among you who weren’t completely stoned when that commercial came on.]

  57. 57.

    JPL

    @gogol’s wife: I opt out of emails and don’t answer numbers I don’t recognize. The candidates that I supported on Act Blue sent me letters through USPS. I personally felt that they wasted my small pittance.

  58. 58.

    Heliopause

    I would hate for him to become nauseous.

    That’s really grooving some batting practice to the middle school elements of your comment crew.

  61. 61.

    Raven

    @gogol’s wife: I made the mistake of giving to some schmuck in Texas when I hung at FDL and I still can’t shake him or the other bazzilion dems that got ahold to my info. Nothing to do with Obama.

  63. 63.

    Roger Moore

    @cathyx:

    I just read a lesson on using nauseous and nauseated. This should read …because I would hate for him to become nauseated. Not nauseous.

    He’s already plenty nauseous, at least when he’s trying to stop effective attacks against the other party because they might hurt some 1%ers fee-fees.

  64. 64.

    4tehlulz

    Let’s be fair; the fetuses are already dead, so Mitt easily can still claim to be Pro-Life(tm).

  70. 70.

    Rafer Janders

    @JPL:

    Yes, though to be clear, Bain Capital is a private equity firm, not a hedge fund. (Though it can be a fine distinction to the layman, as hedge funds can and do engage in private equity transactions).

  71. 71.

    jl

    @Rafer Janders:

    My hunch is that Bain is the type of private equity firm that did mostly leveraged buyouts. That is, the kind of business model that makes hedge funds look like little angels.

  73. 73.

    JPL

    @Rafer Janders: Well since I’m a layman, I call them Vulture Capitalists but I still stand by my comment. Mitt’s mistake was saying he was a job creator.
    Cory B.o.o.k.er has nothing to do with that. Cory admitted Mitt didn’t create jobs. He just didn’t call them vultures like I did.

  74. 74.

    General Stuck

    @gogol’s wife:

    It’s the strangest situation for a POTUS candidate I’ve seen in my lifetime. And aside from the fluidity of Romney lying with every breath, the conundrum is that he has always acted as a moderate, at least with the only public office held to date. And none of the wingnut base really believed he was a conservative and one of them. And why they went through the entire field of creeps and losers, before taking the only bitter pill left, and picking Romney.

    So now that he is their candidate, they are turning off their brains for the cause of beating Barack Obama, I think so long as the wingnut act is maintained by their candidate they will soldier on, for the sake of appearances in service to self delusion. Democrats could never do this, not being very good at valuing, or embracing image as reality. But repubs are good at that, as one of their defining characteristics, imo.

    It could all work out fine, if it wasn’t a 50 50 country, with the election to be decided by a few swing voters, who are generally low info, but generally don’t care for lies, or being lied to more than usual from politicians. So it is a high wire act for Romney to maintain, all the while with balancing the lies to keep both sides satisfied, and a needle to thread that is microscopic, if it exists at all.

    I doubt anyone could pull that off, except a soul less, core less Chameleon. And I seriously doubt even he can in the end, in the stretch run of a campaign in that brightly lit fish bowl. So Baud is right, the pressure to ingratiate to the indie voters will be huge, if he is running behind toward election day. And it will likely be too late by then. That will make him look like the biggest clown ever to run for president.

  76. 76.

    GxB

    @SFAW: I’m thinking a bit more along the lines of “Quarry” – how bout:

    Some things always change
    like R-money and weather vanes,
    and Idiot polls
    from FOX pie-holes,

    and made up crap is all we got…

    Quar-rel
    It’s bull-shit
    that’s…. mined…

    Gah can’t remember any of the other lines (I was like five at the time and probably not stoned, can’t vouch for the older sisters though…) Looks like I got a project tonight.

  77. 77.

    Turgidson

    @quannlace:

    Halperin is almost a self-parody of himself these days. He said it didn’t matter how SCOTUS ruled on the ACA. Either way it was bad news for Obama.

    The “McCain not knowing how many houses he owns is bad news for Obama” thing could be shrugged off as a one-time faceplant, but this is just his schtick.

    I don’t watch Hardball often, but when I do and he’s on, I just choose to believe that when Tweety yuks about how Halperin’s one of the best in the business at the end of the segment, he’s joking. Halperin couldn’t find his way out of an empty room with a map.

  78. 78.

    Ocotillo

    (In Montgomery Burns voice) “Excellent”

    Using Rove’s tactic of going after your opponents strength.

  80. 80.

    Jay

    “I hope Cory Booker missed this news…”

    I saw Artur Davis on “This Week” yesterday, alongside Keith Olbermann. Davis is now a Republican and a Romney surrogate.

    Jeebus, jeebus, jeebus, Davis sounds and argues like a black Mitch McConnell, which is to say: I hope the Romney folks keep sending his hokey ass out in front of the cameras.

    Davis makes Booker look like Dennis Kucinich.

  81. 81.

    Turgidson

    @Rafer Janders:

    I think at its root, Romney’s claim that he has the know-how to create jobs is sort of like American military brass in Vietnam talking about how they had to destroy the village in order to save it.

  83. 83.

    pseudonymous in nc

    I’m on record here from ages ago saying that to understand R-Money, you don’t focus on the Mormonism or the Olympics or the political career. You look at him as a Bain guy — first, as a Bain management consultant, then as the original Bain Capital private equity man. People who are hired at great expense to shape up companies, and invariably conclude that their clients should fire a chunk of the workforce and use their salaries as the consulting fee.

    I’ve got friends who are management consultants at Bain. I wouldn’t want them in politics, ever.

  85. 85.

    shoutingattherain

    Keep going, Mr President. Run this line of attack up Mitt’s ass all summer long. Let ’em whine. Make ’em whine.

  86. 86.

    Steve in DC

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.

    All consultants do is claim that things “could be better” if you only just “put them in charge” and then offer nothing outside of that. Better is always “short term boost and then run before it all comes crashing down” that’s Mitt. I don’t doubt that he could fuel a four year economic boost in some sort of fashion, though it would be at the cost of any sort of long term solvency or progress. Doesn’t matter though, he’ll be long gone by the time that happens.

    This plays out in our politics ALREADY, and yes BOTH SIDES engage in this sort of bullshit to different degrees (the Republicans are far worse). You budget to make this year sound good, but sell off all sorts of long term income building assets, vastly underfund your obligations, but hey! Taxes didn’t go up. Then four years later some other motherfucker has to either bite the bullet (and thus get thrown out of office) or kick the can down the road yet again.

    It would help if we paid attention long term. Hell we can keep spending on our military like we do if we had single payer and could slash healthcare costs! Problem is that requires… single payer…. or taxing rich people.

  87. 87.

    Cacti

    If you see Corey Booker coming, run like hell. It means a house fire or a car accident is soon to follow.

  88. 88.

    danielx

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    Yes. But you can expand this to Republicans in general, at least at the top levels. If you want to understand their motivations, follow the fuckin’ money. If they can have their cake with icing, the icing being the social issue de jour, great. But the bottom line is always the bottom line as measured in dollars*.

    *Except, of course, when a Republican president is sending the budget deficit on the E train to Mars, in which case dollars have no meaning whatsoever.

  89. 89.

    dww44

    I receive periodic updates via email from Factcheck.org. This afternoon, I got the following with this intriguing title:

    FactCheck to Obama Campaign: Your complaint is all wet

    Contained in the email was this:

    We have just posted our response to an unusual, 6-page complaint from the Obama campaign disputing a key point we made in our most recent article about Bain Capital. We are sending you this to let you know why we strongly disagree with the Obama campaign on this point, and why we are reaffirming our finding that recent Obama ads fail to back up their claims that Romney “shipped jobs overseas.”
    Brooks Jackson, Director
    FactCheck.org
    The response can be found on our website:
    factcheck.org/2012/07/factcheck-to-obama-camp-your-complaint-is-all-wet/

    Of late, Factcheck. seems to be burnishing its conservative bona fides. Or am I biased?

  90. 90.

    twiffer

    @dww44: their rebuttal boiled down to: well, he only OWNED the company, but that doesn’t mean he was responsible for anything it did!

  91. 91.

    cpinva

    romney opened wide the door to bain capital. why anyone would reasonably think it horribly unfair of obama to walk on in, and bludgeon romney with it is a mystery to me. politics is blood-sport and all that. geez, it could be worse. heck, it could be middle-ages britain and europe, and really be blood-sport.

  92. 92.

    cpinva

    @twiffer: i think we’ve heard this before, from CEO’s of major corps., who apparently signed off on audited financial statements, yet had no clue what was actually in them because, geez, you know, they didn’t look at all the details! it didn’t work very well then either.

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