My previous post expresses my discomfort with the press's personal hatred of Romney, and the way it's coloring their coverage. But it's simultaneously true that Romney should be loathed by decent people everywhere, and I think The New Republic does a good job explaining why:
Here's our definition of a demagogue: someone who holds no core beliefs yet will pander to the irrational fears of the masses to advance his own personal interests. And here's why, like McCain and Huckabee, we break into a rash at the sight of Romney: More than any candidate, he has played a historic role in whipping up the national frenzy over immigration--not out of conviction but a demagogic impulse.Some backstory: For the past few years, Lou Dobbs and Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo have been hysterical about the massive influx of immigrants from the south. Yet, for all their overheated rhetoric, the issue never really had the imprimatur of the Republican establishment. George W. Bush especially performed the noble task of tamping down the backlash, attempting to channel the growing hostility into the reasonable compromise that was the McCain-Kennedy legislation.Once upon a time, Romney declared this bill "reasonable," too. But then came the caucuses in Iowa, where polls showed that a large number of Republicans shared the Dobbs-Tancredo view of the world. And Romney planned to build his presidential ambitions on the back of a victory in the Hawkeye state, so he began denouncing and distorting McCain-Kennedy as "amnesty."...Although Romney might not profit from the mania he has helped foment, the mania is real and will continue without his investments in slimy ads--contributing to an environment that precludes the sort of sensible policy the nation deserves. That's a cost no amount of schadenfreude could ever justify.
