Politico...
Democratic National Committee blasts ‘pandering’ Republican field
By Alexander Burns
8/5/11 

The Democratic National Committee is seeking to define the opening phase of the 2012 campaign as a debate over leadership, arguing in a memo that the leading GOP presidential candidates are gripped by “ideological intransigence and pandering,” and have ducked difficult issue debates. 

In a document addressed to Sunday television show producers, DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse writes that the Republican candidates are “failing to lead on the issues,” pointing to the debt ceiling debate as proof. 

While Democrats – and some Republicans – have blasted GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney in recent days for keeping a low profile during the debt ceiling debate, and ultimately opposing the deal struck to prevent default, Woodhouse broadens that attack to include the whole GOP field. 

“They are taking their cues are following the extreme policy prescriptions being insisted upon by the Tea Party dominated Republican Majority in Congress,” Woodhouse writes. “In an attempt to appease the far right-wing of their base, these Republican candidates would have allowed America to default on its obligation and send our economy into a tailspin. That sort of ideological intransigence and pandering is misguided policy, and it’s even worse when the economic well-being of our country is on the line.” 

The DNC memo comes at the end of a difficult week for President Barack Obama, who has taken harsh criticism from the left over the debt ceiling deal, while getting another reminder of the fragility of the economy in the form of a declining stock market. 

Obama strategists have consistently argued that for all the setbacks during his tenure, the president has shown he’s willing to make tough decisions for the benefit of the economy. Woodhouse writes in his memo that Obama’s Republican challengers haven’t shown they’re capable of doing that. 

And while Romney isn’t the sole target of his criticism, Woodhouse singles out the former Massachusetts governor for the most intense scorn, writing that Romney “stuck his finger in the wind and landed in the most politically self-serving place” in the debt ceiling debate. 

“After all that flip-flop-flipping, perhaps Romney has decided it’s smarter to stay out of the press than be forced to take a stand, so he entered what one reporter dubbed a ‘Mitness Protection Program’ off the trail,” the memo continues. “Candidates for President must show they understand the issues facing the country and articulate a way forward to the American people. Mitt Romney failed this test miserably.” 

Here’s a longer excerpt from the memo: 

From: Brad Woodhouse, Communications Director, Democratic National Committee

To: Sunday Show Producers

Date: August 5, 2011

RE: Candidates for President Fail to Lead During Debt Limit Debate, Instead Supporting Extreme Agendas that Hurt Seniors and the Middle Class 

As we learn more and more about the Republican presidential candidates, it’s clear that they aren’t offering any new ideas. Nowhere is this more true than on the economy. The field of Republican candidates simply offer the same failed Republican economic policies of the last decade that nearly drove our country into a second Great Depression. 

The Republican candidates are failing to lead on the issues. They are taking their cues are following the extreme policy prescriptions being insisted upon by the Tea Party dominated Republican Majority in Congress. 

We saw this throughout the debt limit debate. 

Following the Tea Party: 

Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty and other candidates said they would not have supported the bipartisan agreement that President Obama signed into law Tuesday. In an attempt to appease the far right-wing of their base, these Republican candidates would have allowed America to default on its obligation and send our economy into a tailspin. That sort of ideological intransigence and pandering is misguided policy, and it’s even worse when the economic well-being of our country is on the line. 

Why are these candidates taking such ill-advised positions on the most important issues of our day? As we are seeing in the House of Representatives, the Republican Party is taking marching orders from the extreme Tea Party. Instead of voicing support for sensible solutions to our national problems, the leading Republican candidates for President have fully embraced the Tea Party and their ‘my way or the highway’ brand of politics. Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, and Mitt Romney have all come out in support of the goals of ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ and the Ryan budget plan. Their endorsements of these radical and extreme plans show where their priorities would be if they were to be elected President. 

Advocating for Policies That Would Decimate the Middle Class: 

Instead of supporting the President and the smart policies he’s advocating for, the Republican candidates are embracing ideas and legislation that would be catastrophic for the middle class. All of the major candidates: 

• Support the House Republican budget that would end Medicare as we know it and gives more tax cuts to millionaires, billionaires, and the special interests. 

• Supported the goals of the Tea Party-backed Cut, Cap and Balance plan – ending Medicare and slashing Social Security while protecting tax breaks for big oil and corporate jet owners. 

The Ryan budget plan and the so-called Cut, Cap and Balance proposal would be disastrous for the middle class and seniors, and they clear examples of where Republicans—and the Republican presidential candidates in particular—stand on the issues. 

They show that Republicans are more concerned with protecting their special interest friends than protecting working families. They want to drastically shift the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of middle class Americans and seniors. They are not interested in protecting essential programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which protect our most vulnerable and which millions of families depend on to get by. While the President works to strengthen Medicare so it can meet its commitments, now and in the future, the Republicans seem intent on dismantling it. 

And though Democrats defeated these plans, this issue is not going away. Just this week we learned that even after the deficit debate, Tea Party activists are recommitting themselves to pushing for slashing Medicare—something the American people simply won’t accept. 

Eric Cantor, Republican House Majority Leader, went so far as to say that Americans should not expect entitlements to exist for future generations, saying that we should “come to grips with the fact that promises have been made that, frankly, are not going to be kept for many.” [Think Progress, 8/4/11] 

The Republican Presidential candidates should tell the American people, do they agree with Cantor that America should not keep its obligations to seniors and the American people? Or will they stand with middle class Americans, President Obama, and Democrats to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security? 

Mitt Romney, Flip-Flopping Into a Pretzel: 

Perhaps no one came out of the debt limit debate worse than Mitt Romney. After coming out in favor of the extreme “Cut, Cap, and Balance” plan, Romney changed his position, according to our count, no less than SIX times before finally deciding at the 11th hour to come out against the bipartisan agreement. 

In the worst kind of politicking, Romney stuck his finger in the wind and landed in the most politically self-serving place. After all that flip-flop-flipping, perhaps Romney has decided it’s smarter to stay out of the press than be forced to take a stand, so he entered what one reporter dubbed a “Mitness Protection Program” off the trail. 

Candidates for President must show they understand the issues facing the country and articulate a way forward to the American people. Mitt Romney failed this test miserably. 

Read it at Politico