Joe, the Romney campaign’s control-freakery makes for bad democracy, but I suspect it’s a smart strategy. Consider the way Mitt’s personal approval rating has bounced back over the past several weeks. As the GOP primaries wrapped …
Mitt Romney
Romneyland Springs Leaks on Foreign Policy
I’ve seen some recent praise for the discipline of the Romney campaign, which has generally proven effective at hewing to its core message and preventing internal strife from leaking to the media. David Sanger’s fascinating …
In Defense of Mitt Romney, High School Bully
Jason Horowitz’s story in the Washington Post on Mitt Romney’s teenage years is a first-rate piece of reportage. The portrait of a high school class in 1965 is laced with anecdotes about the posh prep school’s social dynamics and …
Does Mitt Romney Deserve Credit for Saving Detroit? Not Quite
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s claim that he deserves “a lot of credit” for saving the auto industry prompted an immediate reaction from critics — and they have a point. While Romney is right that the vehicle for Detroit’s ultimate rebound was a “managed bankruptcy” of the car companies — which he called …
Can Romney Close the Gap with Latinos? His Campaign Is Trying
For months, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the influential head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, complained that the Republican primary was alienating conservative Latino voters. “They don’t want us,” he told me …
Rewinding Romney on Counterterrorism: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and ‘Attacks on America’
By now everyone knows that Mitt Romney doubted back in 2007 whether killing Osama bin Laden was really worth the trouble. The Romney camp has dredged up a more bloodthirsty quote that muddies the issue, but if we’re going to rewind the tape, a couple of other interesting quotes turn up. Like the way that, in August 2007, Romney responded …
The Ned Flanders of Politics: Romney Isn’t Cool, and the GOP Shouldn’t Worry About It
When President Obama went on late-night TV this week to “slow jam” his stump speech on student loans with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, he pulled off a rare feat. For a second, he made Stafford-loan interest rates cool. The …
When Everyone’s an Expert: How Romney Might Deal with the Flood of Campaign Advice
Romney’s Radical Position on Afghanistan
In its story today about Mitt Romney’s rather opaque views about Afghanistan, the New York Times mentions, almost in passing, something important that has drawn strangely little attention: Romney opposes talking to the …
Is Mitt Romney Really More Charitable Than Barack Obama?
When Joe Biden went to New Hampshire on Thursday to attack Mitt Romney’s tax proposals, the Romney campaign greeted Biden by attacking President Barack Obama’s charitable giving rate. On a campaign conference call with …
The Story Behind Lawrence O’Donnell’s Apology to Mormons
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell apologized Wednesday night for inaccurate comments he made a week earlier about the origins of the Mormon church. “I am truly sorry if I said something inaccurate about Joseph Smith, and I am …
Latest Column
My print column this week is about the wounds Mitt Romney has suffered in the course of winning the Republican nomination and guess what? You don’t have to be a TIME subscriber to read it anymore. But there’s all sorts of good stuff in the magazine that remains behind the paywall. Those who want to be particularly well-informed will …
When Mitt Romney Talked About White Collar Crooks and ‘Crazy’ Tax Cuts
As the New York Times notes today, Mitt Romney’s views about gas prices have conveniently shifted in recent months. They’ve also shifted since he was governor of Masssachusetts. With gas prices spiking back in 2005, Romney was eager to show his outrage on behalf of Bay State drivers–and named corporate America as a prime culprit. In …