Mitt Romney thinks that he lost the 2012 election because the economy was doing too well under President Obama. This is the economy that Romney criticized all through the 2012 campaign.
Slate reported on the latest excuse the Romney is offering up for why he lost in 2012, “His argument to his former supporters, says one who spoke with him, is that he came very close in the last election against an incumbent president with a good economy. He wouldn’t face an opponent with those kinds of advantages again. (Romney ran against Obama arguing that the economy was terrible; now its health in 2012 is part of the case why he should run again.) He also feels, says one supporter who has spoken with him recently, that he would be crazy to pass up a chance to challenge a “beatable candidate” like Hillary Clinton and let someone like Sen. Rand Paul have a shot at it.”
The Los Angeles Times summed up Romney’s criticisms of the Obama economy during one of his final speeches of the 2012 campaign,
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Romney argued that another four years under Obama would mean “$20 trillion in debt, crippling unemployment, stagnant take-home pay, depressed home values and a devastated military.” Romney, who donned a suit and used teleprompters, told the crowd that unless the nation changes course on Tuesday “we may be looking at another recession.”
Mitt Romney was wrong. The national debt is at $18 trillion. The deficit is shrinking. Unemployment is at 5.6%. Wages are growing, although more growth would always be welcomed. Home values are up. Troops have been brought home, and the nation is firmly in the middle of an economic recovery. Romney spent the 2012 campaign arguing that the economy was horrible. Romney positioned himself as the man who would fix the economy.
Fast forward two plus years, and Romney is blaming the same economy that he criticized for his crushing defeat. A problem that the Republican Party could face is that Romney might be able to win enough early primaries to get himself nominated again. Mitt Romney would be the heavy favorite in Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney could be favored in enough early states to make Romney 3.0 a reality.
The idea that Romney is blaming the same economy that he criticized as being weak for his defeat is more evidence of the former Republican nominee’s loose grip on reality. To Mitt Romney, it wasn’t his smug sense of entitlement or his 47% comments that did him in. Romney has failed to learn anything. Mitt Romney remains the same arrogant enemy of average Americans that he has always been.
Mitt Romney obviously isn’t well. His latest excuse for his defeat reveals a man who isn’t fit to be presiden
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
