The Black Liberal Boomer Blog

Cory screwed up. That much is clear.

Cory knows he screwed up. That much is also clear.

The celebrated Superman Mayor of Newark (he who rescues women from burning buildings and shovels everybody else's sidewalks on cold winter days) appeared on Meet the Press this past Sunday morning and announced how nauseated he was by the Obama campaign ads targeting Mitt Romey's tenure at Bain Capital, even going so far as to compare those ads to the ill-advised and now aborted (last I heard) approach by the right to re-link Obama to his ex-Pastor Jeremiah Wright. I'm sure Mayor Booker can still hear the wind whistling by his ears as he tumbles swiftly from grace. And, as might be expected, Booker has been on a relentless save-my-ass campaign to explain and re-explain himself pretty much from the minute he stepped off the set at Meet the Press, woke up, and then realized "Oh shit..."

Forgive me Obama. I knew not what I done did.

Of course the Republicans quickly manufactured an ad taking full advantage of Booker's screw-up; "We Stand With Cory." To which Cory quickly responded in the following manner (as reprinted From USA Today):

"Anybody in the GOP wants to stand with me, please stand with me. Stand with me for marriage equality, as Barack Obama stands up for," he said. "Stand with me for not turning the clock back on women in terms of medical issues, like Barack Obama is standing again. Stand with me on making healthcare more accessible to all. Stand with me for making college more affordable as President Obama is doing."

Not bad. Just goes to show that Cory didn't go into politics for nothing. He knows what he has to do - what he better do - to mend fences with The Family. But that being said, considering how good of a politician Booker is, and him knowing this is an election year where many observers predict the presidential race will be a close one - the question still lingers like a persistent stench in the air; what was the brother thinking? How could he slip up (if that's what it was) and equate criticism of Romney's tenure at Bain Capital with the Republican attempt to use Rev. Jeremiah Wright as their own Obama heat-seeking missile?

Consider the following from Slate

But what about the job losses? According to the Wall Street Journal, 22 percent of the 77 companies the paper analyzed from Romney's tenure (at Bain) went bankrupt or closed their doors. Another 8 percent lost Bain money. How did Romney decide winners and losers? What does that tell us about how he'll make choices as president? If the market dictated the winners and losers, what should people conclude about the way government might change under his stewardship? If this unpleasant portion of his business experience isn't relevant to the skills he'll need as president, which skills are relevant? Where does he draw the line?

In other words, Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain makes it pretty hard for him to claim he's anybody's idea of a jobs creator. And Booker, who I believe to be a pretty well-informed individual, has to know this about the relationship between Bain and Romney, right? But hey, even if he (remarkably) didn't know anything about it, every Democrat with even a hair's breadth of aspiration knows that it is virtual suicide to openly criticize the Top Dog during campaign season, especially when you're criticizing one of the strongest weapons in his arsenal. That there is Politics 101. It's also common sense. If you have an issue with how the campaign is doing things, then contact the campaign. I'm sure they would return his calls. But Meet the Press?

(Hopefully) this issue will die down relatively soon, and Booker will once again be on the same page with the rest of the team. But somebody needs to tell the man that when you're a politician? Sometimes it's a good idea to keep your honest opinions to yourself.  Because politics is all about being a team player. And because, as the rest of us have learned, honesty is not always the best policy.

Maybe I should just trust the polls. In my gut it doesn't make sense what I'm hearing, but if the polls are the true barometer of what's going on out there, then maybe I'm missing something. Or maybe I'm missing a lot.

Because here's what I don't quite get; more than a few pundits, news commentators, and news stories have all been pedaling the story that  the general election race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is going to be a real nail-biter that will take us down to the wire. In earlier months, when the Republicans were doing their best to self-destruct, Obama was given a fairly comfortable lead over Romney and everyone else, but now that Romney is the clear leader the latest storyline is that the Republican troops have resigned themselves to the fact that Romney is The Guy and they are rallying behind him. And now that they are all united behind their guy, whatever reservations they may have - and there are plenty - the numbers indicate that this rallying of the conservative base around the Mittster is creating enough of a bump that Obama may have one hell of a fight on his hands come the general election campaign.

And I agree that in politics few things are certain except that they're not. The sure front-runner can be dog catcher within a matter of weeks - or days. But I must admit I'm having a  hard time understanding how this race is supposed to be so damned close. Sure, I'm an avowed Obama supporter and want the man to win a second term. But you don't have to be an Obama fan to see how much Mitt Romney has distanced himself from practically every voting constituency except for rich white folks like himself and angry not-quite-so-rich folks who just cannot stand Obama and want him out of there even if they're not that enthused about Romney. That does not equal the majority of voting age Americans.

Consider:

• Women voters now prefer Obama to Romney by a double-digit margin of at least 14 points according to one poll. More than a few say that it is virtually impossible to win an election with that many women committed to the other candidate.
• Hispanic voters favor Obama by a nearly 6 to 1 margin according to a poll conducted by FOX News Latino. Hispanics are becoming a critical constituency in states like Colorado and Arizona, let alone Texas.
• African American voters are once again expected to come out in large numbers (close to 90 percent) in favor of Obama.
• Although the rock star image has been tarnished somewhat due to the realities of politics and governing, which can be hard for the more idealistic young to stomach, it does appear that they will once again be more solidly in Obama's corner this time just like last election, although not as fervently as before. But even if they come out in lower numbers, the likelihood of them gambling on Mitt Romney this time around seems, well, remote to say the least.
• Not only are the Teamsters throwing their support behind Obama, which wasn't necessarily a shock, but they are committing thousands of door-to-door volunteers who now have the ability to knock not just on the doors of other union members but the general population. This could go a long way toward attracting the white working class that so many say are weary of Obama, especially in states like my home state Of Michigan and also Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Once again, I'm not going to go so far out on a limb as to suggest that Obama is going to win this running away. He may not even win by the same comfortable margin as he did in 2008, due largely to the soon-to-be-seen impact of the massive voter suppression efforts that have been underway ever since Obama became President, and the disproportionate amount of funds being shoveled into the SuperPACs which Democrats simply cannot compete against. These are formidable barriers to be sure.

But even against those negatives, and factoring in disenchantment amongst the progressive block represented by those such as Prof. Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, Ralph Nader, and others, the embarrassingly tepid support of Romney amongst his base - and his pathetic campaign - make it hard to imagine how he's going to present such a massive threat to a campaigner such as Obama with a more than impressive record of achievement that is only now receiving the exposure that it should have gotten long ago. It's hard to imagine an army of enthusiastic Romney supporters swarming the nation, especially when it is Romney himself whose perpetual gaffes are providing the Obama campaign with the best negative political ads they could ever ask for. Even conservative commentator Joe Scarborough on his MSNBC show 'Morning Joe' blurted out publicly during prime time that none of the Republican political leaders and heavy hitters with whom he is in regular contact believed Romney was going to win in 2012.

As for those who want to trot out the losses of incumbent President Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan in 1980, and the loss of Democratic challenger Michael Dukakis to George H.W. Bush in 1988 to show how a Democrat can lose this, I say you can't seriously be comparing Barack Obama to either one of those gentlemen. And especially in the case of Jimmy Carter, where not only can you not compare Carter to Obama, you damned sure can't compare Mitt Romney to Ronald Reagan, whose actor's charisma and base of enthusiastic support were off the charts.

Sometimes I think you have to question the polls...

Mitt may have squeaked out a win in Michigan (mostly due to stupid statements by Santorum), but as the POTUS reminded U.S. autoworkers on Tuesday, Feb 28:

• Mitt's Detroit Appearance at Ford Field Goes Bankrupt (thedspotredeux.blogspot.com)
• The 5 Biggest Lies About Obama in Mitt Romney's Michigan Victory Speech (politicususa.com)
• Barack Obama vs. 'Folks' (a.k.a. Mitt Romney) (swampland.time.com)
• Romney Wins The Battle, But May Lose The War (usnews.com)
• Mitt Romney's decisive Michigan win won't be enough to oust Obama - The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)

Because that's pretty close to what happened to Mitt Romney here in Detroit today when he appeared at his campaign event at Ford Field. First of all, whoever had the bright idea to host this event at Ford Field ought to have their status as valuable campaign staffer seriously re-evaluated - before tossing him out of the bus. Or under it.

There were 1,200 seats attending this event, not all of which were occupied by live voters. The stage was located at the 30-yard line inside a massive stadium named for the auto industry titan Henry Ford. The same industry, by the way, that Mitt told to drop dead not that long ago. Did I mention that this is a massive stadium? As in one that can hold 65,000 people? So can you picture what a campaign event being held on the 30-yard-line might look like..?

Did I also mention that there were more UAW protesters out front than there were campaign attendees snuggled together on the inside?

Moving on, Mitt attempted to reach out and connect to the average Detroit Joe by saying his wife "drives a couple of Cadillacs actually." Because here in Detroit, known as one of the poorest big cities in America, we all drive a couple Cadillacs. That's just how we roll out here in the 'D'. Ain't never too broke not to buy you a coupla Caddys.

Welcome home, Mitt. Now go home.

This is being cross-posted at Black Liberal Boomer.

A few days ago Brother Mitt was back here in Michigan- or 'back home' as he likes to say when trolling for votes - and he said the cutest thing; he said that in Michigan the "trees are the right height". He also said that he loves lakes. And cars. And dogs, especially when strapped to the roof of..

OK no. He didn't say the part about the dogs. That was just mean.

But the rest? Yeah, well...he kinda did...

This is your brain. This is desperation. This is your brain on desperation.

Actually, we probably do.

No, I'm not talking about the corporate raider part. And Romney, although he is likely to be his party's 2012 Republican nominee to challenge President Barack Obama, will never be the Thrilla in Vanilla. Romney has about as much charisma as a piece of wet cardboard.

But Romney is rich, pal. Maybe not as rich as Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, but once you pass the $100 million mark, does it really even matter? The man's personal life - at least the part of it we get to see on TV - is the embodiment of the American Dream. A good-looking guy with a good-looking wife and good-looking kids who is successful in business (whether you like his business or not) and who is filthy rich. So say what you want about Mittens - and there is plenty to say - but one of those things is that he definitely has what a lot of us want. Because I know a whole lot more people who would much prefer to have rich white folk problems than the problems endured by the rest of us.

So yeah, Mitt. As politically incorrect as your statement was that we criticize you because we envy you- and as incredibly stupid and poorly timed - there is, nevertheless, some truth in there. We might as well admit it. Here most of us are struggling from paycheck to paycheck, and that's if we're even lucky enough to have a damned paycheck, and then we look up and see someone like you who even in the imagination of your imagination couldn't begin to conceive of what it's like down here on the ground. Hell most of us wish we didn't know, right?

But here's where Mitt made a bit of a miscalculation, OK? Because even though it's true that most of us would greatly prefer to experience the trials and tribulations of being fabulously wealthy to what we're dealing with instead, the fact is that there are a hell of  a lot more of us in that condition than there are those with a quarter billion dollars trying to figure out how to make their mansions even bigger just for the hell of it. And although we do envy those like Mitt whose lives float in celestial bliss out of hearing distance from normal folk, it's not just envy that's got us pissed off. Because if we actually believed the lie so often told that if we just worked hard and put our noses to the grindstone that we could be Just Like Mitt then it wouldn't be so bad. But, see, we're not stupid. Because being broke and poor and being stupid are not synonymous.

Just as an example? We see things like the Countrywide scandal where a huge corporation ripped off thousands of African American and Hispanic homeowners (my guess is none of them were multi-millionaires), charging them more for mortgages than similarly qualified white folks, just because they could. Sure they got dinged $335 million as a penalty, and congrats to US Attorney Eric Holder for at least getting something out of the bastards, even it wasn't near enough. But what about all those families whose lives are now ruined because of Countrywide? Who is going to put them back together and make them whole?

These are the kind of things that happen when the deck is stacked, which are the kind of things that gave rise to the Occupy movement and many more similar movements around the world that explode when people get fed up with inequity and injustice. But God knows if we could all just live the Life of Mitt?

All would be right with the world, wouldn't it kids?

This is being cross-posted at Black Liberal Boomer

Perennial Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a native of Michigan and son of former Michigan governor George Romney, famously said in December 2008: "Let Detroit go bankrupt." He was referring to the then-on-the-brink U.S. auto industry. He didn't care about the tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs that would be lost. He didn't care about the lost manufacturing base of the American auto industry. He didn't care about Detroit.

Of course, AFTER President Barack Obama and the Michigan Democratic Congressional leaders, including John Conyers, Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin, and Sander Levin, as well as former Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm led a government-sponsored loan (not 'bailout") program, the U.S. auto industry is doing better than ever. All of the big three are reporting repeated quarterly profits, tens of thousands of saved and/or new jobs, exciting new car models, and additional investments in plants and R&D, Mr. Romney said saving the auto industry was "his idea" all along.

No, Mitt, it was not. You are famous for wanting to throw ordinary people and companies under the bus. You are most famous for flip-flopping.

Please help this video go viral as Mitt "comes home to Michigan" for a GOP debate in metro Detroit on Wednesday night to try to make us forget that he wanted Detroit to go bankrupt. We are NOT forgetting, Mitt. Hit the road.

I mean, you just have to wonder how Mitt Romney must feel right about now. Once the stage lights are off and the last interview for the day is through, the last campaign stop completed, what must it feel like?

And you know where I'm going with this. Here's a man whose father,George Romney, was a governor (Michigan's 43rd governor, 1963-1969), Republican Party powerhouse (U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1969-1973, candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1968), and a bigtime businessman  (CEO of General Motors 1954-1962). Then along comes Junior, who goes on to essentially follow in his father's career footsteps; in addition to being 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007), Romney Junior also  became successful in the business world when he eventually rose through the ranks to become CEO of Bain & Company, a company which he is said to have rescued from fiscal crisis. He later co-founded Bain Capital.

So Romney comes from lots of money. He himself has lots and lots (and still lots more) money. His dad had government experience. Junior has government experience. Junior is good-looking. Junior is clean-cut. Junior's wife is an attractive blonde, and together they have five great-looking kids. Junior has a strong campaign organization. Junior has a fat campaign chest. Junior has a Colgate smile. I don't know if the family has a dog, but if they do I'm sure the little feller can perform countless amusing tricks on queue and is faithful, obedient, and can recite the pledge of allegiance in six languages.

How can this guy not be running away with the Republican nomination? Even worse, how in the hell can he be losing to a black former pizza chain owner with no government experience and a three-digit laughable excuse for a campaign platform? I think it's pretty safe to say that the Republican Party as it stands right now is essentially the rich white man's party. This party is tailor-made for fat white cats with fat bank accounts. Even many of the hundreds of thousands of Republicans who don't match that description at all still seem to be okay with that. Let's just call it guilt by association.

So then why is the black guy still at the top of the polls? The black guy with hardly any money in his campaign war chest, with no real campaign organization to speak of, and who most definitely is not a rich white man? How did this happen?

At the end of the day, sure, everybody pretty much knows Herman Cain will not be allowed to pass 'Go' on the campaign game board. The rug will eventually be pulled out from underneath his feet and the Republican troops, such as they are, will grumblingly accept the pathetic inevitability that is Mitt. That's why Cain is spending so much time selling his book and being entertaining is because he knows those entertainment fees are what is going to butter his bread once this charade is over. But even given that eventuality, how must it feel to be Mitt and to be running neck and neck with Engine Number 999 -after the almost-but-not-quite savior Texas Governor Rick Perry fell on his face and after the almost-but-not-quite-savior-who-never-was Gov. Chris Christie refused to be begged into the race. And both of these men were targeted by the Republican multitudes who wanted anybody but Mitt.

This may not last much longer, but it has already lasted more than long enough to make Mitt wonder this one simple question; when was being a wealthy white man in America with connections and family pedigree not enough to stave off a challenge from somebody like Herman Cain?

And then? Once Romney does get the nomination (assuming Ranger Rick doesn't mount a 4th quarter game changer),  he's got to go up against another brother. And this one got skillz kid!

Just what kind of an America is this, anyway?

Hey y'all. I'm out of town looking in on my mother for the next couple of weeks so I suspect my posts are gonna be pretty short  and infrequent during that time. Then again,  the fact that my 89-year-old mother's serious addiction to all things political is far worse than mine pretty much guarantees I won't be missing much that goes on.

Anyway, let's get to it.

I agree with most other political observers that it's way too early to declare victory in 2012 for the Democrats, let alone  the re-election of President Barack Obama. Still, I gotta say it's been hard, I mean really really hard, to keep my feet from getting happy a few times these past few weeks.

And one of the things I just cannot resist as a resident of Detroit is laughing uproariously at the spectacular crash and burn of Michigan native, and Republican presidential front-runner,  Mitt Romney. As I have said before, sometimes it is simply the right thing to scoff and point a viciously gleeful finger at the misfortune of others, particularly when that misfortune was delivered by their own hand. If you've been following this at all, you know by now that Mitt first tried to divorce himself from his very own health care plan that his administration implemented in Massachusetts  in 2006 while he was governor (if you'd like to take a look at what Mitt's Massachusetts plan looks like, click here).

Now Mad Man Mitt is trying to steal the credit from Obama for the indisputable success generated by the president's decision to bail out General Motors and Chrysler. At the time that Obama did the bailout, Mitt said it was a tragedy and a horrible decision. He even penned a New York Times editorial in 2008 saying "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt". But now that Obama's decision is proving to be so obviously right, Mitt is saying that Obama stole the idea from him. That's kinda like the early white settlers claiming the Native Americans never would have known how to ride a horse if it hadn't been for their patient instruction.

What a punk move.

Get it straight, Mitt, because we in Michigan understood you loud and clear the first time. You gave your home state the finger. We also understood what Obama did for us, when  you - and those like you - were essentially saying that Detroit was better off dead. Obama, who has never lived here, had enough sense to know that the auto companies matter, and that Detroit matters. Obama, who has never lived here, knows what Detroiters have always known; not only are we worth saving, but we still have a lot to offer this country.

You, on the other hand...