TPM Reader WB, on Romney’s winks and nods to GOP extremists
Do you think Romney will be able to get away with just sort of walking away from Trump without rebuking him? I guess I’m wondering more generally how Mitt negotiates the whole “birther” issue as well as some of the other looney stuff out there right now. I have to believe these issues are a potential minefield for him.
McCain famously stood up to some of these ignoramuses, which may not have been as “brave” and difficult as the Obama campaign would now have you believe. McCain really had to say something or it would have seriously damaged his brand as an honest, straight shooting politician. It’s just wasn’t a needle that McCain could thread.
But Romney, as is his habit, seems to want to have it both ways, distancing himself from this sort of insanity without criticizing it. So can Romney make it to November without having a “Sister Soulja” moment? Having watched Romney over the years, my guess is that is what he will try to do. I don’t think he has it in him.
The Obama campaign is going to present this as a failure to stand up to extremists, and as a sign of weakness on Romney’s part, a charge that I think he is vulnerable to. But maybe he is just slick enough to get away with it. The real question, I suppose is whether the media will let him.
