Today in Detroit the Mittster delivered his “much touted” economic speech to the Detroit Economic Club. And it went over about as well as you’d expect it to. Via Sarah B. Boxer at the National Journal:
Wrapping up a much-touted economic speech at a football field here on Friday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney fumbled the message ball.
Answering a question about a possible fall matchup with President Obama, Romney said he has the best chance of defeating the incumbent and went on to say he will be a friend of Michigan, a state defined by its relationship cars. He then mentioned how many he has himself.
“I love this country. I actually love this state. It just feels good, being back in Michigan,” Romney said. “I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually. And I used to have a Dodge truck, so I used to have all three (big automakers) covered.”
The reference to the sheer number of cars he has, and his wife’s two high-end cars, is likely unhelpful to a candidate who is trying to shake an image as a wealthy elitist out of touch with the economic worries of everyday Americans.
Great to know how many domestic cars Mitt has. I’m sure Obama won’t use any of that in his upcoming class warfare campaign, right? Cameron Joseph at The Hill has more from Romney’s mesmerizing speech today:
Most of Romney’s speech was focused on rehashing the tax policies he’d released earlier this week, and repeating attacks he’d made previously on President Obama. Romney promised to lower taxes and repeal Obama’s healthcare overhaul, comments he makes during nearly all of his speeches.
After an audience member asked Romney if he thought he’d have the best chance to beat Obama, Romney dismissed the other GOP candidates.
“I not only think I have the best chance, I think I have the only chance — maybe I’m overstating it a bit,” he said, chuckling awkwardly.
“That’s my family leading the applause,” he said quickly, although no one was clapping, then laughed again. No one appeared to laugh with him.
Did anyone hear a toilet flush? Very clever, that Mittster. The other reviews of Romney’s big speech today were similar to the two I excerpted above. But to me, the best indicator of the excitement the “electable” Romney generates when he speaks is the picture below:
A picture truly is worth a thousand words. It’s comforting to know that the GOP frontrunner is so inspirational to the masses in his birth state of Michigan where his father served as Governor. Obama has to be shaking in his boots.
Just for fun, see if you can spot the difference between the picture above and the one below, taken on April 16, 2010 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky:
Update: (h/t V) Video below of camera panning the empty seats during Romney’s empty speech.
