Posted on 10/18/2011 1:55:48 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
I think it's safe to say the Romney campaign is going for the kill with its latest attack on Rick Perry. The former Massachusetts Governor has already gotten a fair amount of mileage out of attacking his Texan rival from the left on Social Security, and from the right on immigration, but this new spot strikes at the heart of the Perry campaign's raison detre -- jobs, jobs, jobs:
The Facts --Mitt Romney's political ad
[snip]
The spot's most striking image is a tumbleweed blowing along a deserted Texas highway. That's rich. It's intended to create the impression that Rick Perry's Texas is something of a depressed ghost town. Nothing could be further from the truth. Since the recession began, desperate job seekers have flocked to Texas at a clip of roughly 1,000 people per day. And they're finding work, too. Despite a huge population influx and a bruising national recession, Texas' unemployment rate remains below the national average. How remarkable has the Lone Star State's economic performance been? Read this Political Math analysis (written by a self-professed non Perry supporter), and marvel. One telling data point:
This chart depicts what Texas' unemployment rate would be if three-quarters of a million people -- many of whom were jobless -- hadn't barged into the state looking for jobs during this recession. Texas absorbed all of those folks, and still has an unemployment rate nearly a full point below Obama's national average. The data presented also dismantles other challenges to the "Texas Miracle," including the claims that most of state's new jobs are very low-paying, and that Texas' "luck" is predominantly due to a florishing oil industry.
But what about George Stephanopolous' assertion that nearly two-thirds of Texas job gains were in the public sector? First, that statistic cherry-picks certain years out of Perry's tenure as Governor. Fine. Second, the fact remains that over the last full decade, Texas has netted more private sector jobs than the other 49 states combined. In the last five years, Texas was responsible for 73 percent of all job growth in America. During that same period, the similarly-situated state of California lost over a million jobs:
And what to make of the ad's eye-opening statistic regarding illegal immigrants? Have illegals really accounted for almost half of Texas' job growth since 2007? The Texas Public Policy Foundation examined that figure, and found it badly wanting (The rest of the piece picks apart the CIC study in even greater detail):
[CIS used faulty methodology to make its main point. It compared a net increase in jobs in Texas over a four-year period with a gross increase in employed newly arrived immigrants in Texas. This is truly an apples-to-oranges comparison; it is as if a report claimed that Google is a larger company than Apple because its market capitalization of $162 billion exceeds Apple’s annual revenues of $100 billion.]
In short, Romney's new ad is dubious on the details, and laughable in its overall narrative. Perry's biggest problem, frankly, is that he seems incapable of consistently, specifically, and succinctly pushing back against these misleading numbers when he's confronted with them -- both in interviews and debates. That's not a minor shortcoming, it's a monumental weakness -- especially since the Democrats are preparing a vituperative and relentless smear campaign against the eventual nominee. If Perry's support were holding steady, and if he'd proven adept at fluently defending his record, running this sort of ad might make more sense. Instead, it comes off as an borderline desperate attempt to bury a candidate who seems to be in the process of burying himself. Not the Romney campaign's finest moment, I'd say.
[snip]
Well then, 2ndDivisionVet, I guess we'll have the following line up then:
Rick Perry = The Good
Mitt Romney = The Bad
2ndDivisionVet = The Ugly
What’s missing here?
Mitt Romney’s jobs record.
He does not say his record is better, just that Perry’s is bad.
I hope these two losers take each other out.
Nice.
Romney has too much money to waste, if he is still going after Perry. What’s the point?
Jeeze,
Romney’s really trying to give Perry a hand to keep him from sinking.
It’s his only hope right now...especially after the last round of polling in Ohio today.
I hope these two losers take each other out.
Nice.
I don’t think anything about you, just your words.
Tonight is Perry’s night.
No I believe it will be Cain’s night. Perry is so insignificant that he will be ignored. He is getting what? 5 percent now? He should not be included in debates anymore.
He's already beginning to crack.
At least he has a starting point. Everyone else is just talking out their butts. I give him credit for having an idea. I don’t think 999 will be the conclusion but the fact that he at least brought something to the table is commendable.
I lived in Romney’s Mass and I’ve lived in Perry’s Texas. I left Mass for Texas because of Romney. I’ll never look back.
Show me where I picked Herman Cain as my candidate for president. I’ll wait...
Well, if you didn’t I apologize for attributing that to you. I just assumed, because everyone that attacks Perry on here seems to be from the Cain camp and are generally quite nasty. NOT that you are 2ndDV..just generally.
You're being too tough on 2DV and his posts. Unless you can point me at a post of his that was really, seriously in bad taste, unfair, or otherwise objectionable in se, I haven't seen him post anything in a couple of months of reading through these Perry threads that was over the line or unfair. He opposes Rick Perry, and so do I, but there are very good reasons to do so, and I don't think it's bias or unfairness that brings me to 2DV's support.
FWIW.
Oh, and by the way, he asked you a fair hypothetical question. If Mitt Romney offers Rick Perry the VP slot on a Romney ticket, what will you Perry enthusiasts do? I've predicted for some time that that is exactly what will happen (so I have a dog in the fight), so while my "prediction" record isn't all that, it's a fair speculation, and fair to ask you about that scenario.
How about it? What will you do?
How about it, fangirls? Ping to my last. What will you do? Fair question, 2DV asked it, and inquiring minds want to know. How about it?
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