Michael Gaynor
Mitt Romney is better off ignoring Bill Kristol's advice
By Michael Gaynor
Make no mistake: like Russia's Putin, the Chinese government prefers a re-elected Obama to a President Romney and, thanks to Romney's words, China now has MORE reason to let Chen and his family go, in order to help President Obama's re-election campaign. Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, is not a Mitt Romney fan.
He's entitled to his views.
But Romney is much better off not heeding them.
If Romney had heeded Kristol, he would have dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination race instead of won it.
Kristol, last September: "I think, in the normal course of things, Rick Perry will be the Republican nominee. He is the three-term governor of Texas, a conservative state. He's been a successful governor. Texas has job growth, the rest of the country's lost jobs. He's a populist, which is very much in the spirit of the Republican party today. Mitt Romney is the one-term governor of Massachusetts, whose health care plan isn't popular with Republicans. So if you just have a normal race, so to speak, if neither candidate does badly in the debates, if voters just get to know them, and it looks the way I just described, Perry is the more normal victor."
Whoops.
After Romney won the Illinois primary last March, Kristol declared that he was not impressed.
"Watching Mitt Romney's victory speech in Illinois didn't reassure me about his chances against President Obama," Kristol wrote in a blog on its web site.
"Romney's remarks consisted basically of the claim that the business of America is business, that he's a businessman who understands business, and that we need 'economic freedom' not for the sake of freedom but to allow business to fuel the economy." (www.newsmax.com/Politics/kristol-romney-victory-speech/2012/03/21/id/433361)
Now Kristol's complaining that Romney stated his views on President Barack Obama's handling of the Chen Guangcheng situation.
Romney called it "a day of shame."
On last Thursday's "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel, Kristol chided Romney for speaking out for personal freedom quickly. Kristol: "...I'm happy to be critical of the Obama administration as anyone is, but I think this is an awfully fast-moving story. And if I were advising Gov. Romney, I would have said, 'You don't need to get in the middle of this story.' If this turns out badly and I'm very afraid it will, it will be a terrible thing. It will turn out badly. People will know it turned out badly. It will be an indictment of Obama administration and Gov. Romney can say after Sec. Clinton flies out in 12 to 15 hours from now from Beijing, if it happens this way with Mr. Chen in Chinese custody with no agreement adhered to by the Chinese government, Gov. Romney can say, 'I'm afraid this has gone very badly. This is really an indictment of the Obama administration." (http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/03/bill-kristol-romney-should-have-stayed-out-of-chen-controversy-video/)
"To inject yourself into the middle of it this way though, when there are all kinds of negotiations going on and a fast-moving target I think is foolish," Kristol continued.
Bulletin for Bill Kristol: Romney was right. It was presidential, not foolish. Even though he could have said no comment, hee did all he could to help the brave, blind Chinese dissident who opposes forced abortion and China's one-child policy.
Make no mistake: like Russia's Putin, the Chinese government prefers a re-elected Obama to a President Romney and, thanks to Romney's words, China now has MORE reason to let Chen and his family go, in order to help President Obama's re-election campaign.
In his Illinois primary victory speech, Romney talked too much about enough business and not enough about freedom for its own sake to suit Kristol and now Kristol's claiming that Romney spoke too fervently and quickly in favor of freedom. What a whiner!
© Michael Gaynor
May 7, 2012
Make no mistake: like Russia's Putin, the Chinese government prefers a re-elected Obama to a President Romney and, thanks to Romney's words, China now has MORE reason to let Chen and his family go, in order to help President Obama's re-election campaign. Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, is not a Mitt Romney fan.
He's entitled to his views.
But Romney is much better off not heeding them.
If Romney had heeded Kristol, he would have dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination race instead of won it.
Kristol, last September: "I think, in the normal course of things, Rick Perry will be the Republican nominee. He is the three-term governor of Texas, a conservative state. He's been a successful governor. Texas has job growth, the rest of the country's lost jobs. He's a populist, which is very much in the spirit of the Republican party today. Mitt Romney is the one-term governor of Massachusetts, whose health care plan isn't popular with Republicans. So if you just have a normal race, so to speak, if neither candidate does badly in the debates, if voters just get to know them, and it looks the way I just described, Perry is the more normal victor."
Whoops.
After Romney won the Illinois primary last March, Kristol declared that he was not impressed.
"Watching Mitt Romney's victory speech in Illinois didn't reassure me about his chances against President Obama," Kristol wrote in a blog on its web site.
"Romney's remarks consisted basically of the claim that the business of America is business, that he's a businessman who understands business, and that we need 'economic freedom' not for the sake of freedom but to allow business to fuel the economy." (www.newsmax.com/Politics/kristol-romney-victory-speech/2012/03/21/id/433361)
Now Kristol's complaining that Romney stated his views on President Barack Obama's handling of the Chen Guangcheng situation.
Romney called it "a day of shame."
On last Thursday's "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel, Kristol chided Romney for speaking out for personal freedom quickly. Kristol: "...I'm happy to be critical of the Obama administration as anyone is, but I think this is an awfully fast-moving story. And if I were advising Gov. Romney, I would have said, 'You don't need to get in the middle of this story.' If this turns out badly and I'm very afraid it will, it will be a terrible thing. It will turn out badly. People will know it turned out badly. It will be an indictment of Obama administration and Gov. Romney can say after Sec. Clinton flies out in 12 to 15 hours from now from Beijing, if it happens this way with Mr. Chen in Chinese custody with no agreement adhered to by the Chinese government, Gov. Romney can say, 'I'm afraid this has gone very badly. This is really an indictment of the Obama administration." (http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/03/bill-kristol-romney-should-have-stayed-out-of-chen-controversy-video/)
"To inject yourself into the middle of it this way though, when there are all kinds of negotiations going on and a fast-moving target I think is foolish," Kristol continued.
Bulletin for Bill Kristol: Romney was right. It was presidential, not foolish. Even though he could have said no comment, hee did all he could to help the brave, blind Chinese dissident who opposes forced abortion and China's one-child policy.
Make no mistake: like Russia's Putin, the Chinese government prefers a re-elected Obama to a President Romney and, thanks to Romney's words, China now has MORE reason to let Chen and his family go, in order to help President Obama's re-election campaign.
In his Illinois primary victory speech, Romney talked too much about enough business and not enough about freedom for its own sake to suit Kristol and now Kristol's claiming that Romney spoke too fervently and quickly in favor of freedom. What a whiner!
© Michael Gaynor
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