As both Mediaite and TPM pointed out this Wednesday, this interview with Mitt Romney on Fox's America Live with Megyn Kelly could have gone better for their torn and tattered front runner after the damage much of the Republican primary has done to him and with him continuing to flip flop on issues in order to pander to the Republican base.
Romney Responds To Megyn Kelly’s Interrogations: ‘Megyn, Guess What. I Made A Lot Of Money.’:
Later, while discussing Romney’s wealth-related gaffes, an exasperated-sounding Kelly asked him, “Why do you keep doing that?!”
“Megyn, guess what,” Romney replied. “I made a lot of money. I’ve been very successful. I’m not going to apologize for that. I know the DNC tries to push this out and they get it on the mainstream media networks and that’s where you guys see it and everybody laughs about it. Because, in this country, we want someone who can help other people become successful.”
He also poo-poo’d the idea that he’s not doing well with lower-income voters, stressing that he has support from a wide range of Americans, including Tea Partiers and women.
Kelly then showed Romney a clip from a 2008 ABC News debate wherein Romney said he “like(s) mandates.” Romney reiterated that he’s not for any sort of national program, but is in favor for mandates decided on a state-by-state level.
And here's more with TPM's take on Romney's response to the mandate question -- You Call This ‘Shilling’? Romney Confronted With 2008 Clip On Fox (VIDEO):
Fox News “shilling” for Mitt Romney? Not exactly.
Rick Santorum, himself a former Fox News contributor, protested the network’s supposed preference for the GOP frontrunner in a radio appearance Tuesday, but Romney was visibly uncomfortable when questioned on Megyn Kelly’s show Wednesday. The host confronted Romney with a video clip from 2008 in which he says, “No, no, I like mandates” after being asked whether he “backed away from mandates on a national basis.”
Romney offered a tepid defense of himself, mostly by retreading ground he has covered throughout this campaign: No, he said, I don’t favor imposing the Massachusetts health care law on the rest of the nation. Yes, he said, I will immediately destroy the existing national health care law that was based on my Massachusetts plan once I get into the White House.
It's truly pitiful that Romney has placed himself so far to the right during the primary that if he wants to try to take credit for any of the successes of the health care law they passed in Massachusetts, that's going to be impossible for him now. Any illusion that the man is still a "moderate" should be gone now given the litany of things he's said on the campaign trail while pandering to the far right wing of his party. What we've been left with is someone who is either a far right ideologue, or someone who happily doesn't mind being perceived as so. Neither leave me any comfort as to how he'd govern if we're unfortunate enough to see this serial liar, panderer and flip flopper elected as president.
