Romney Down by Nine as Conservatives Gripe

Accuracy in Media

GOP strategist Karl Rove says that Mitt Romney, who is raising more money than Obama, has absorbed “a punishing three-month Obama television barrage.” Rove seems fine with this, saying that Obama is draining his “war chest.” He seems to be holding out the hope that Romney will somehow turn things around because he is raising so much money and has so much to spend.

In claiming that Romney is really ahead by not being too far behind, Rove cites a Gallup poll that had Obama at 47% and Romney at 46%. A new and more recent Fox News poll shows Obama up nine over Romney, 49% – 40%. Other polls have different results, but this is a poll that comes from a source conservatives trust. It cannot be ignored.

Some of Romney’s campaign money is being spent on advisers such as the “Boston-based media strategist and political consultant,” Eric Fehrnstrom, who made the famous gaffe about Romney being like an Etch-a-Sketch.

In terms of favorability ratings, Obama crushes Romney by 12 points, the Fox News poll shows. Forty-five percent already have a negative view of the GOP candidate.

Here are some more of the startling results:

• Obama beats Romney 43-39 on the question of who will do a better job of dealing with Iran.
• Obama beats Romney 51-38 on the question of who will do a better job handling foreign policy.
• Obama has a 48-40 edge on national security.

It is surprising that Romney’s support has not slipped even more. Commentator Charles Lewis notes that, in the past few days alone, Romney has stated that the groundswell for freedom of speech that led to the Chick-fil-A Day record turnout was “not part of [his] campaign.”

Romney also put concerns about Muslim Brotherhood infiltration at the highest levels of the State Department in the same category—not part of his campaign.

On top of this, he has confirmed his position that the Boy Scouts should accept gay adult Scoutmasters.

It is not surprising that conservative journalist Byron York has written a piece entitled, “Romney and conservatives remain uneasy partners.” Ann Coulter, a strong supporter of Romney, is quoted as saying that “Republicans are hapless Elmer Fudds, constantly employing people who couldn’t care less about the country, but want to be on TV and in spreads for Glamour magazine.”

She is not blaming the candidate but rather the advisers around the candidate. But Romney appointed them.

She is apparently referring to the telegenic but gaffe-prone Andrea Saul, Romney’s press secretary. “Who is the Democrats’ equivalent of Andrea Saul or the Etch-A-Sketch guy? Name one! The Democrats are focused on winning and hire spokesmen who don’t make constant unforced errors,” Coulter says.

Saul took fire from Coulter, Limbaugh and Eric Erickson of Red State for saying, in response to a Democratic ad that Romney had essentially killed a woman, that she would have stayed alive under Romneycare. This comment validated Obama’s claim that his national health care program, based on Romneycare, was justified. Saul’s bizarre comments came during a TV appearance on Fox News.

AIM has reported that the socialist behind Romneycare also devised Obamacare.

York writes, “The worries expressed by Limbaugh, Coulter and Erickson aren’t nit-picking. They are concerns about the very nature of Mitt Romney and the people he has chosen to run his campaign.”

But the concerns about the “nature of Mitt Romney” go deeper than TV appearances and gaffes by his aides.

At a news conference on Wednesday, former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy urged Romney to take a stand in favor of the five members of Congress raising security concerns about Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the Obama Administration.

In this context, there is mounting concern about Romney adviser Robert Kagan, whose book, The World America Made, has curiously become a favorite of Obama’s. Indeed, it is reported that Obama recommended Kagan’s book to his advisers.

David P. Goldman notes that a theme of the book is that there is such a thing as “Muslim democracy” and that the U.S. should welcome it. Kagan argues that the U.S. can live and work with Islamist political parties taking over some Arab states in the Middle East.

Last January Kagan said, “In Egypt, especially, while the reaction to events has sometimes been slow, the administration has generally moved in the right direction. Obama deserves particular credit for not joining in the general panic at the electoral success of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

In other words, Kagan wanted Obama to move more quickly in overthrowing U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak.

Now we see where this piece of advice has taken us—the Muslim Brotherhood has taken power in Egypt and the U.S. is “engaging” with its members.

Despite this background and record, Republican Fox News commentator William Kristol, who describes himself as a conservative, says that he would recommend that Romney, if elected president, appoint Kagan as his deputy national security adviser. Kristol gave an interview to a reporter for Foreign Policy magazine talking about possible Romney picks.

Interestingly, Foreign Policy, which is not a conservative journal, also carries a revealing article on what is happening in Egypt. Under the title, Brother Knows Best, the piece notes that the Muslim Brotherhood is rapidly consolidating power in Egypt.

Of course, talking about Romney’s appointments as president may strike many as premature, especially because the Fox News poll finds Romney losing to Obama on foreign policy and national security. Perhaps this is because Romney has failed to draw a meaningful distinction with Obama on matters such as Muslim Brotherhood infiltration and influence over the U.S. Government. This may reflect Kagan’s influence over Romney.

The Soros-funded Think Progress has quoted Kagan as saying other nice things about Obama, such as, “I think he has a good policy in Asia, particularly in dealing with China. I think he’s strengthened our position in Asia with our allies.” These comments conflict with a Wall Street Journal opinion piece written by Romney himself blasting Obama’s Asia policy. “Barack Obama is moving in precisely the wrong direction,” Romney said.

If Romney’s advisers are counting on a bad economy to propel him to victory, the Fox News poll has bad news as well.

Romney barely beats Obama (by three points) on handling the economy. But the poll also finds:

• Obama beats Romney 46 – 43 on taxes.
• Obama ties Romney on helping small business.
• Obama beats Romney 47 – 39 on helping people achieve the American dream.

As Karl Rove says, one thing is certain: Romney has lots of money to spend on the campaign, in an effort to dig himself out of the hole he has put himself in. Time is running out, even if the money isn’t.

Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.