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]
No, only children of illegals that meet set residency requirements and other set rules must pay for tuition at in-state rates. It's not given to them as you claim.
LOL! If you’re expecting me to engage in an endless debate with someone who will never support Rick Perry, you are in for a long wait.
I can vote for the guy, and if I get the chance I will.
I can also vote for Cain or Bachmann, maybe even Santorum, but I doubt any of those three will last past April if they last that long.
You need to take your gripe up with the people of Texas. It was their elected representatives that by a vote of 177 to 4 passed the legislation. Fuss about it with them, maybe they’ll change their law just for you.
Thanks for clarifying that. We don't post much to each other usually, but I've seen a lot of your posts, and I would have been really surprised if you would have voted for Obama just to spite a Romney nominee. That was not "jiving", lol!
I'm not sure if this is what you feel, but if the Republican party somehow set it up for a Romney win, I would like to see the party... would the word be "punished" for such big-party aggression. I'm not sure how to do that without inadvertently getting Obama again which none of us want, but it would also seem that it needs to be quite clear that we will not settle for two parties that are too close alike. Well, I guess even the worst of the Pubs are probably not AS bad as Obama, but taking all individuals on both sides into account, there needs to be a distinct difference or we are stuck with the same either way. If we have the same on both sides, then the question would be "what's the difference then?", and that shouldn't have to be the case.
I have noticed one way people have taken away a lot of the elitist GOP influence is to donate to individual candidates across the country instead of just donating to Republican general funds. I think that is a great way to rebel! I believe Allen West just recently received a HUGE boatload of campaign money already, and I mean a huge, huge, HUGE boatload. I got rid of the email, but I am thinking he already has 3, 4, maybe 5 times as much as the most likely elitist-Republican opponent he could be up against the next time.
So far, I think the steps conservatives have taken towards fiscally supporting individual CANDIDATES instead of the GOP itself has had fantastic results and has gone a long way towards getting good conservatives in office while keeping lame liberal Pubs on the back burner.
Well anyway, glad you clarified that. As I said, the idea you would vote for Obama did seem a little weird! LOL
Related thread:
A.D. 2041—End of White America?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2794860/posts
As far as I can tell, he does support it. I don't agree with him, but I see it as a Texas matter, 10th Amendment territory. If the legislature is serious , they should do more than threaten, they should repeal it and force Perry's hand.
Another interesting intrade development. Perry gets post debate bump! Cain and Romney drop.
Mitt Romney to win the 2012 Iowa Caucus 28.5%
Herman Cain to win the 2012 Iowa Caucus 19.4%
Rick Perry to win the 2012 Iowa Caucus 29.9%
That is a real change. I noticed that Intrade category last weekend, and if my memory serves me correctly for the Iowa bets, I think Perry was in single digits then. At that same time, Romney was above 50% on Intrade for Iowa. Look how close Perry and Romney are now! Thanks for sharing!
What? Is that how you see these exchanges? As somehow "renting" votes for Perry? How bizarre.
I don't care about you -- I care about the people you're propagandizing, you and the other Winkles, who maybe aren't up on the issues that you guys keep glossing over and telling people Perry is solid on, when he's not.
Anything that hurts Romney is good for America. Unfortunately, Rick Perry is the RiNO Establishment's palfrey, their backup horse. He's theirs almost as much as Romney is.
Pure spin and baloney. He's right, you're wrong. It's a gift.
Next.
The 14th Amendment makes them citizens -- the "anchor" thing. No way around that right now.
Also, I read that the Lege wrote the college-tuition bill and made a key finagle when they keyed the in-state tuition to residence and not citizenship. They intentionally gave away the store when they did that, to please all the OBL types who were giving them money (remember the time Bo Pilgrim was videotaped walking around the floor of the Texas senate while it was in session, handing out $10,000 checks as a "thank-you"?).
“I hope these two losers take each other out. Nice.”
My thoughts exactly BTTT.
As I’ve told you before, your fixation on Perry is only exceeded by your own imagined self-importance. There just aren’t that many people on Free Republic who care what you or I think, so get over yourself, you don’t matter much.
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