Don’t Listen to the Haters, Mitt: Romney 2016 Is a Great Idea
Matthew Yglesias: Don’t Listen to the Haters, Mitt: Romney 2016 Is a Great Idea - Vox
When I heard that Mitt Romney delivered a speech in which he came out swinging against inequality, arguing that “under president Obama, the rich have gotten richer, income inequality got worse, and the poor have gotten poorer,” I naturally fired up Google to try to understand the former Massachusetts governor’s previous remarks on the subject.
What I found was a story from three years ago headlined “Romney: Income inequality is just ‘envy’” which was about Romney’s response to questions that had been raised about a speech he delivered in which he accused President Obama of practicing “the bitter politics of envy.”
To launch his third presidential campaign with yet another egregious ideological makeover is typical of the basic ridiculousness of Romney as a political figure. He’s so ridiculous that the idea of Romney 2016 strikes me as obviously absurd. So absurd that I assigned myself the job of writing a column mocking it.
And yet, as I sat down to do it, I couldn’t shake the conclusion that as ridiculous as it seems, it really only seems ridiculous.
Yes, as unbelievable as it seems, the Romneybot may actually be the GOP’s best option to run against Hillary in 2016. Barring an economic collapse or massive foreign disaster, I’m having a hard time imagining how she loses. One scenario is the possibility that we are teetering on the verge of a global economic depression which could stop America’s economic recovery in its tracks. Otherwise, dirt cheap oil should power the US economy through 2015 to full employment, and Americans paychecks should finally start reflecting that strength as the labor market gets tight enough to force businesses to raise pay.