August 1, 2012--Romney's "Gaffs"

Mitt Romney, while on grand tour, continues to make gaffs. At every stop.

In England he insulted the British people by suggesting that they might not be up to making the Olympics safe or successful. He compared London's preparations to those he implemented in 2002 in Salt Lake City when he was in charge that he claims rescued the Winter Games from disaster.

This caused British Prime Minister to point out sarcastically, "Well that was easy to do in a place in the middle of nowhere."

At his next stop in Israel, after boasting that he and Prime Minister Netanyahu have been best friends since their days working together for Bain Consulting, Romney insulted the Palestinian people.  (Netanyahu, by the way, to Vanity Fair, said--"I remember him but I don't think we had any particular connections. I knew him and he knew me, I suppose.")

Speaking before a party of wealthy American Jews who trailed him to Israel to show that not all Jews are liberals and to fork over $50,000 each to his campaign to hear his remarks, he rambled on about why the Israelis are doing so well while most Palestinians are languishing in poverty--it's because of culture. The Israelis have a culture geared to success while the Arabs, well, they just don't have the smarts and gumption to make decent livings.

He later denied saying this but here are his exact words--

As you come here and you see the GDP per capita for instance in Israel which is about $21,000 and you compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority which is more like $10,000 per capita you notice a dramatic, stark difference in economic vitality.  

And you look at Israel and you say you have a hard time suggesting that all of the natural resources on the land could account for all the accomplishment of the people here.  

But then there was a book written by a former Harvard professor named The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. And in this book Dr. Landes describes differences that have existed—particularly among the great civilizations that grew and why they grew and why they became great and those that declined and why they declined. And after about 500 pages of this lifelong analysis he says, if you could learn anything from the economic history of the world it’s this: culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all the difference.

At his next stop in Poland, at the Gdansk Shipyards where the Solidarity Movement began, he refused to take questions from the press. They of course shouted questions at him, as they do everywhere and with everyone trying to duck scrutiny, including American presidents.


In response, his traveling press secretary, Rick Gorka, said: "Kiss my ass. This is a holy site for the Polish people." And as the questions continued to be pressed, he added--"Shove it."


Gdansk is not a holy site but a significant historical location; but assuming it is in some sense sacred, it was another Team Romney gaff to use such vulgar language in such a setting.


The press naturally ate this up. They love gaffs. The London screw-ups, the Palestinian comments, the "kiss my ass." These are much more fun to cover than remarks about Iran's nuclear capacity. Even the Fox News folks have been rolling their eyes up in their heads, saying that Romney is making a mess of his campaign. That gaffs of these kind will cost him the presidency.


I think otherwise.


Yes, unscripted he sounds even more untutored and unpresidentiai than George W. Bush. Daily he provides priceless fodder for Jon Stewart, Saturday Night Live, and the David Lettermans. They can just quote him and do not need to spend money on joke writers. 


But average Americans may be loving Romney's dissing Limeys, "towel heads," and, above all, the media. Forget kiss my ass, let's kick some ass! 


I can just hear his angry Tea Party supporters fulminating,"Mitt's right, those A-rabs are a bunch of lazy bums. And the press--we all know they're all liberals and commies. Right on, Mitt. Keep telling it like it is. Let the Ivy League elites smirk. You're our guy. So you wife has a dancing horse. Good for her. This is America. And we're Number One!"