Yesterday, Romney-surrogate John Sununu made a series of stunning statements that were distinct dog whistles about President Obama’s American bona fides. One of them, “I wish this president would learn how to be an American,” even Sununu walked back slightly. Yet, when Sununu appeared on Hannity last night for a debate with liberal Juan Williams, he made no effort to call Sununu on such inflammatory rhetoric. In fact, Sununu again suggested that Obama is somehow Un-American even as the discussion was framed around the supposedly outrageous rhetoric coming from Obama.
As Molly Ball wrote in The Atlantic yesterday:
(Sununu) told reporters on a conference call Tuesday, “I wish this president would learn how to be an American.” He also said President Obama comes from “that murky political world in Chicago where politician and felon has become synonymous,” and brought up what he described as a “smarmy” real estate deal with convicted felon Tony Rezko. And he called the Obama campaign “stupid” and “a bunch of liars.”
Before the call was even over, Sununu was backpedaling on the “learn how to be an American” bit, saying that what he meant was that “the president has to learn the American formula for creating business,” which is not government-driven but creating “a climate where entrepreneurs can thrive.” But it was hardly an isolated outburst. Earlier in the day, Sununu had posited that Obama’s lack of appreciation for the American system of job creation stemmed from the fact that (t)he president “spent his early years in Hawaii smoking something.”
But when Sununu appeared on Hannity later that night, none of that was mentioned, much less challenged. Special GOP Victim Sean Hannity introduced the segment by whining about “more insults” being launched against Governor Romney by Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He moved on to attacking President Obama for having “insulted every small business owner” (thus regurgitating Fox’s dishonest attack on Obama’s remarks) and to praising Romney for striking back “fiercely” with “one of his most impressive speeches.”
“How ignorant is this, how out of touch is Obama with what it takes to build a business?” sensitive Hannity asked.
Sununu reiterated his dog whistles. “How can you be President of America, how can you be President of this country if you condemn the success that America is noted for?” Sununu “asked.” He later said Obama had “reveal(ed) his real feelings about the country” and described his policies as, “not very happy with an American agenda of success.”
Williams did a good job of spiritedly countering the charges. He pointed out, for example that Obama bailed out Wall Street. But Williams never once challenged any of the over-the-top rhetoric. Nor did he put up any resistance to keeping the focus on President Obama’s supposed condemnation of “success.”
Why? Because Democrats buddy up to Republicans on Fox while almost no attack on Democrats or liberals is out of bounds.
In this situation, I’m not sure what he could do other than simply tell Sununu to calm down, stop panicking and take a deep breath. Sununu’s wild statements, coupled with some of the more outrageous Rush Limbaugh rants, are leading most people to conclude that the GOP is already in desperation over their candidate, and we haven’t even gotten to the convention.
So far, Romney has not been able to get any control over the narrative of this campaign. He’s been on the defensive since before the primaries started. And now that he’s the defacto nominee, his stance of not saying anything specific in public is really hurting him. He wanted to run on his record as a successful businessman – instead, he’s having to defend himself on a daily basis for what he did at Bain. And the best answer he’s come up with is “I wasn’t there when that happened”? He’s tried to use GOP talking points about various Obama statements, and none of them are getting any tractioin. He’s tried to downplay his wealth, and instead he’s in a mess over his tax returns.
It’s no wonder that the GOP is really getting frustrated with him. You can tell they really wanted someone like Newt Gingrich to just be a firebrand, and they’re very upset that they didn’t get that. Personally, I would have enjoyed watching Gingrich flame out – but it’s clear that the guys on top of the GOP and Fox News knew this would have been a disaster for them. Of course, trying to get Romney to campaign like Gingrich is a lost cause…
The thing is, Juan Williams can be terrific. Other times, he’s inexplicably bad. If you watch the video, he was actually pretty good in this segment. There’s just no excuse for giving Sununu a pass.
We wish The Mitt would learn how to be an American and release his tax returns. The Mitt is afraid to release the rest of his tax returns. What is he hiding?
That’s rich coming from Sununu, who was born in . . . Havana, Cuba {and whose father was raised in Jerusalem and mother grew up El Salvador}:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Sununu
Governor, I’d like to see your long-form birth certificate . . .
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