Mitt Romney's vision of America is right out of Norman Rockwell and the 1950's. It's out of step with the complexity of today's world. His best line last night was, "You know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for …
Month: August 2012
Ann Romney pitch to women: polished and poll-driven
Mitt Romney quoted Popeye Sunday on Fox News, saying, "I am what I am, and that's all what I am." (As hinted at by Scott Lehigh in today's Globe, we don't know if that's Mitt 1.0, 2.0 or 5.0.) Ann Romney's job at the convention was to make of him something more than what the public now …
Continue reading Ann Romney pitch to women: polished and poll-driven
Looking ahead to Red Sox 2013
Trudging up to Yawkey Way from the Kenmore Square T stop last Friday, I tasted bile in contemplating the horrors of the 2012 team, a performance that defies description by all but the Globe's Dan Shaughnessey. I consoled myself that it was a picture perfect summer night for a ballgame and, besides, I hadn't been to Fenway yet this season. A …
Senate hopeful Todd Akin’s gift of gaffe
A gaffe has been defined as when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Not that the content of Rep. Todd Akin's statement about rape is the truth, but that what he said is what he really thinks. It's obvious. And he's not about to get out of the all-important race against Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri just …
Murdoch, Bloomberg call for GOP to have courage on immigration
News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to Boston Tuesday to hail immigrants' contributions to our economic vitality. Touting the findings of a report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, the two cited the shortage of skilled workers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, …
Continue reading Murdoch, Bloomberg call for GOP to have courage on immigration
Public opinion polls: take with grain of salt
Last week I was surveyed by the Gallup organization, confirming two things: first, that the venerable public opinion survey actually talks to real people, and second, that the results of questions they ask can't possibly be a reliable reflection of, er, public opinion. One problem is that the questions are designed to force choices, elicit simple …
Continue reading Public opinion polls: take with grain of salt
Paul Ryan a choice not an echo
Hang onto your Medicare. It - and our whole relationship to government - could change radically under a Romney/Ryan administration. We could be in for an interesting ride. Strategically, Mitt Romney scored high in selecting Paul Ryan for his running mate. As Romney's position was eroding in national polls, and the number of so-called undecideds …
Time to get smart, not scared, about the economy
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday told an audience of teachers in Washington that both individuals and the larger economy could benefit from more and better financial education. I never agreed more than when I learned that hedge fund leader Louis Bacon announced he'd return $2 billion to investors in Moore Capital, an $8 billion fund, …
Continue reading Time to get smart, not scared, about the economy
Are Harry Reid’s questionable tactics working?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's most recent foray into presidential politics - claiming someone had told him that Mitt Romney had paid no taxes for ten years but refusing to corroborate the accuser's name or the charge has the stench of McCarthyism. During the Cold War, the late Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy held hearings to rout out Communists …
Continue reading Are Harry Reid’s questionable tactics working?
Gaming the games: the real Olympic spirit
One of my favorite childhood stories was the tale of Phidippides, the man who in 500 BC ran from Marathon to Athens, delivered the good news of a victory over Persia, and dropped dead from exhaustion. As the story goes, that's how the modern marathons got their name, and they've been Olympic sports for more than a century. For me, …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 