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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review April 6, 2012/ 14 Nissan, 5772

We do want the fake Romney, not the 'real' one

By Dale McFeatters


Printer Friendly Version



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Republican image-makers are gearing up for a formidable task this fall: How to make Mitt Romney seem like a Regular Guy.

The idea is that Americans are more likely to vote for somebody they can relate to -- somebody they'd like to have a beer with, in political parlance.

But that kind of Regular Guy-ism won't work with Romney. As a Mormon, he doesn't drink, and his response to voters would be: "But I do have a lot of friends who own breweries." (At the Daytona speedway, he said he wasn't a racing fan but that some of the team owners were his good friends.)

During the primaries, he often appears in jeans -- designer jeans, to be sure -- and shirtsleeves. It really doesn't work. There's no way he can appear to be fresh from wrangling dogies, whatever a dogie is, up on the Wind River Canyon when his trade is wrangling $60 billion in investment capital from an aerie high up in Boston's John Hancock Center.

Romney is not a natural politician. When stressed, he gets awkward. He told an audience that what he liked about his native Michigan was that "the trees are just the right height."

That set an instantly puzzled audience to wondering: "What is the right height for a tree? Is my state suffering from too much shade because the trees are too tall?" If he's elected president, will he rectify the tree heights in all 50 states, or only the ones -- the states, not the trees -- that voted for him?

He introduced a new term into the campaign lexicon -- "severely conservative" -- which, admittedly, is better than the usual expression "political Neanderthal."

Romney was singed in the last presidential election by having hired a landscape service that, as it happened, employed illegals. This is one of those "gotchas" that are great fun for political opponents, but the general public doesn't really care.

What the average Joe with a lawn problem wants to know is: How much did they charge? And are they any good?

Romney's reply when the charge came up again this time around was, "I'm running for office, for Pete's sake. We can't have illegals."

Romney should embrace his inner stiffness. And forget the teleprompter. This fall, in President Barack Obama, he will be facing the Heifetz of the teleprompter.

And he should forget about seeking common ground with the common man. It's invariably a disaster, as when Romney, who had earned $42.7 million over the last two years, told a group of the jobless in Florida that he, too, was unemployed.

The fact is that American voters probably care less about the appearance of his great wealth than he does. Any voter worth north of $190 million would have $10 million-plus cribs on both coasts, too.

The worst thing he could do is act on the advice of his closest advisers, including his wife, who believe that if we saw the "real" Romney we wouldn't even wait until November to vote for him.

One adviser, quoted in an upcoming book on the 2012 campaign, says Romney needs to "open up the kimono." And his wife, Ann, says, "I guess we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out."

Believe me, you don't want voters to have those images in their heads when they go to vote. Much better the stiff, buttoned and zipped Romney.

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Previously:


04/05/12 Heaping even more indignities on air travelers
03/29/12 Blown away in Washington, D.C.
03/28/12 At the nuke summit an inadvertent moment of candor
03/27/12 A worse unemployment problem
03/23/12 The federal budget: A game of make-believe
03/21/12 In Iraq, blame the U.S., but drive American
03/20/12 Too late, bin Laden realized killing Muslims was a mistake
03/16/12 Hu and Wen leaving. China asks: What next?
03/14/12 Tide, favored by housewives and drug dealers alike
03/09/12 'Spring forward' obsessives and seasonal purists
03/08/12 Really, no place is safe when you think about it
03/06/12 Putin 'carousel voting' victory
02/28/12 Fighter of future still glued to tarmac
02/27/12 Every candidate has to have a tax-reform plan
02/23/12 Au revoir, mademoiselle: It's been bonne
02/21/12 A new way of attacking food-stamp fraud
02/20/12 Feds don't want you driven to distraction
02/15/12 Putin has found can't lose campaign issue: Promoting a randier Russia
02/14/12 Obama's budget lays down battle lines for the fall
02/10/12 Filming in D.C. creates hassle for Hollywood
02/08/12 At Lake Vostok, Russia taps into new realm
02/07/12 'Granny dumping' in prisons
01/30/12 National Defense Authorization Act indefensible
01/23/12 Barbie sparks fear among Iran's mullahs
01/19/12 From overseas, U.S. industry is looking good
01/18/12 American posterior a growing problem for mass transit
01/16/12 Planets and roaches
01/13/12 Not exactly a biblical plague, but certainly an annoyance
01/12/12 Fewer young Americans interested in driving
01/05/12 Majoring in unemployment
01/04/12 Cutting the military by blunt force
01/02/12 Pragmatic look at top words
12/22/11 Basketball the way to Kim's heart and nuclear weapons
12/21/12 Speculation and wishful thinking can get scary
12/20/11 A third Kim has North Korea by the throat
12/19/11 Congress pats itself on back for budget bill
12/15/11 The U.S. government is cashing in its chips, literally
12/14/11 TSA might try trusting its own people
12/12/11 That $1.2 billion? It's around here some place
12/09/11 State Department Creates ‘Virtual Embassy’ For Iran
12/08/11 If you've ever tweeted, you're in the Library of Congress
12/07/11 Discoveries go to the core of what makes us humans
12/06/11 Stealing elections badly in Russia
12/05/11 Sometimes paranoia is common sense by another name
12/02/11 When the U.S. truly became one nation
12/01/11 Last chance to snap up a Maybach
11/30/11 Iran wants respect without earning it
11/29/11 Surprise! ‘Spider-Man’ may weave a profitable web
11/28/11 Italians entertain novel proposition: Paying their taxes
11/25/11 No time to let up on al-Qaida
11/24/11 Congress Quietly Abolishing Friday
11/23/11 Cleaning up after supercommittee implosion
11/22/11 Jailing minors with adults adds to problems
11/21/11 Brilliant strategy? Action by inaction
11/18/11They're going to eat horses, aren't they?
11/17/11 A pretend stick shift for pretend drivers
11/16/11 Clinton's ‘vast experiences’: Did NBC pick the wrong Chelsea?
11/15/11 Occupy protesters, you've made your point. Now, scat
11/10/11 Our vets are a national problem?
11/09/11 Requiem for a once-great sport
11/08/11 A toilet as smart as its occupant
11/07/11 Prerevolutionary gems in need of TLC
11/04/11 Feds must stop scam of stealing from dead children
11/03/11 Bank listens ‘very closely’ to customer lynch mob
11/01/11 TV that's leading the people away from ‘core socialist values’
10/31/11 NATO should not be a victim of its success
10/28/11 Iran mulls getting rid of president and presidency
10/27/11 Bienvenidos a Dayton and bring your businesses with you
10/26/11 Archivists long for Obama's teleprompter
10/25/11 United Nations to run the Internet?
10/24/11 Attention, world: You've got the cash. We've got the houses
10/19/11 Oil pipeline must be in America's future
10/18/11 U.S. plans ‘limited’ mission in an Africa with no limits
10/17/11 Social Security's grave mistakes
10/12/11 NASA's help-wanted sign for astronauts
10/10/11 Saving Thomas Jefferson''s chimneys
10/06/11 Uncle Sam's answer to deadbeats --- robo-calls
10/04/11 Christie should ignore jibes on his weight
10/03/11 Iran says its warships will head for Jersey shore
09/29/11 Europeans bristle at Obama's lectures
09/28/11 Jessica Rabbit for the defense
09/27/11 Russia learns outcome of next March's presidential election
09/26/11 Another try at leaving no child behind
09/23/11 This generation needs a job more than a name
09/22/11 In the lane next to you: A driverless car
09/20/11 Cloudy, cool, chance of falling satellite
09/14/11 Humanitarian extortion
09/13/11 Paging Dr. Watson; he's there in 3 seconds
09/09/11 Forecasting 100 percent chance of heavy metal
09/08/11 A jobs program at Obama's doorstep
09/07/11 Iran's government afraid of the water
09/06/11 Congress returns, tanned, rested and testy
09/05/11 Space nations must clean up after themselves
09/02/11 Osama bin Laden died a failure and he knew it
09/01/11 Time to retire political pie in the face
08/31/11 Labor Day celebrates what, exactly?
08/30/11 These arrestees really are framed
08/25/11 When in an earthquake, block traffic
08/23/11 A case for discretion in deportation arrests
08/22/11 Tough times or not, parents shell out for school
08/18/11 Being unpleasant for fun, profit, promotion
08/17/11 Time to prepare for the end game in Libya
08/16/11: ‘Super Committee’ starts facing reality
08/15/11: World's fastest plane disappears even faster
08/12/11: British cops track rioters through security cameras
08/11/11: Relax. There is no Death Star
08/10/11: House pages run final errands
08/09/11: U.S. treading water on job creation
08/08/11: Uncle Sam, the world's permanent guest
08/05/11: Most 9/11 victims not on federal death records
08/04/11: Russian PM calls U.S. a ‘parasite.’ He should be so lucky
08/03/11: Congress goes from one bind to another
08/02/11: D.B. Cooper may no longer be a mystery
08/01/11: Libya's latest weapon against NATO --- lawsuits
07/29/11: He'll always be known as Hot Wheels Handler
07/25/11: Recruiting children to save a dying town
07/22/11: Bachmann's admirable medical candor
07/12/11: Social Security's grave mistakes
07/08/11: Debt crisis need not be constitutional crisis
07/07/11: Startups entice new talent with kickball, treehouses
07/05/11: Stranded tourists get rare treat
06/30/11: The dollar Americans refuse to spend
06/27/11: The hangman doesn't cometh





© 2011, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

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