Obama the Messiah Slings Mud
Published in Sueddeutsche Zeitung
(Germany) on 16 July 2012
by Christian Wernicke (link to
original)
Mitt Romney’s past as an investment banker is a godsend for Obama’s election strategy. But with the negative campaign, the president stirs up one thing in particular: fear among voters. This approach stinks.
Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate, is not a man who began his rise to power and wealth as a social worker.
No, this multi-millionaire has always been a fervent believer in, and an ice-cold practitioner of, ultra-capitalism — a profit maximizer who, as the manager of the investment fund Bain Capital, bolstered his and his investors’ incomes by buying firms, disassembling them and destroying jobs. Romney achieved success at the expense of others, and without scruples.
It’s no wonder that many Americans have little sympathy for the conservative candidate. It is this uneasiness that Barack Obama is trying to stir up. The president’s campaign rightly reminds voters that Romney has been reluctant to divulge his old tax returns, which would provide an insight into the sources of his fortune.
But Obama’s attacks go further, and have gone too far. His TV ads vilify Romney as an exporter of U.S. jobs to Mexico and China — and refer to decisions that Bain undertook when Romney was no longer in charge of the fund.
Obama condones this corrosive propaganda. By doing so, the Democrat is doing what he reproached the tired old Republicans for doing four years ago. Lacking fresh ideas, he is playing on voters’ fears. The messiah from 2008 is throwing mud. And it stinks.
Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate, is not a man who began his rise to power and wealth as a social worker.
No, this multi-millionaire has always been a fervent believer in, and an ice-cold practitioner of, ultra-capitalism — a profit maximizer who, as the manager of the investment fund Bain Capital, bolstered his and his investors’ incomes by buying firms, disassembling them and destroying jobs. Romney achieved success at the expense of others, and without scruples.
It’s no wonder that many Americans have little sympathy for the conservative candidate. It is this uneasiness that Barack Obama is trying to stir up. The president’s campaign rightly reminds voters that Romney has been reluctant to divulge his old tax returns, which would provide an insight into the sources of his fortune.
But Obama’s attacks go further, and have gone too far. His TV ads vilify Romney as an exporter of U.S. jobs to Mexico and China — and refer to decisions that Bain undertook when Romney was no longer in charge of the fund.
Obama condones this corrosive propaganda. By doing so, the Democrat is doing what he reproached the tired old Republicans for doing four years ago. Lacking fresh ideas, he is playing on voters’ fears. The messiah from 2008 is throwing mud. And it stinks.