Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry are shooting themselves in the foot with attacks on Bain Capital

As Dick Morris has pointed out, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum are vying to win the conservative semifinal round – the winner of which gets the privilege of going up against the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney, in the GOP finals. This means that their voters are, by definition, conservative. Their strategy is - or should be - to prove to the conservative primary voter that they are the ‘real conservative’ in this race.

So what do they do instead? They attack Mitt Romney for actions he took while working for Bain Capital. Basically, for those who don’t know, Bain Capital is a company that buys companies that are poorly managed or that are on the verge of bankruptcy and either turn them around, by getting rid of their deadwood (i.e. by firing people), or liquidate their assets.

There is nothing wrong with this. It is an entirely salutary exercise that saves (some) jobs while preventing precious capital from being spent to unproductive uses. In other words, outfits like Bain Capital are required for the efficient functioning of our economy. The problem for Gingrich and Perry is that the conservative voter understands this. Left-wing populist attacks on capitalism (which the anti-Romney ads are) are the kind of thing that conservative voters hate. Conservatives expect nonsense like this to come from left-wing politicians like Barack Obama (Bain Capital will be a problem for Romney in the general election), but not from anybody courting them.

In their strategic stupidity, what Gingrich and Perry have in effect done is to transform Mitt Romney from the establishment candidate to the conservative candidate. Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh spent considerable on-air time defending Bain Capital (even though he doesn’t like Romney) while heaping blame on Gingrich and Perry for their anti-business rhetoric. So if Romney is now the ‘conservative’ candidate, where does that leave Perry and Gingrich? 

Answer: the unwanted, loozer candidates.

P.S. If they have any sense, Gingrich and Perry will fire their idiotic campaign strategists. Another case of playing checkers when you should be playing chess.

Comments

[Roy Elsworth]

oh so it's okay for mitt romeny and the gang to talk about freddie mac and question newt gingrich and put a 4 pinocchio lie add out there in Iowa but it's not okay for newt gingrich to question the 100,000 jobs that Mitt Romeny claimed he made when there is eveidence comming out that dose question that claim and contradicts it. perrys the one that is going after bain Capital Newt Gingirch is just questioning the jobs he claimed he created mostly it's a comparative infact alot of his jobs he created were not even in usa. so why is everyone going after newtgingirch but they stick up for Mittromeny don't get me wrong I will hope Romeny wins if he becomes the candidate even though I am canadian we need someone who is going to get along with harper

[Cincinnatus]

Hi Roy:

I am in agreement with you that Newt Gingrich is being held up to a double standard. My point is not that Newt and Rick's criticisms aren't fair. it is that they are self-defeating. Attacking free-market principles when you are trying to seduce conservative voters is simply counterproductive.

I am not a Romney fan (see previous posts) but I think they have just sowed up Romney's nomination.

[Roy Elsworth]

actually cinncinatie kid newt gingrich is surging on some polls has him 2 points back of mitt romeny and on another he is 9 back where as he was 14 back earlier and this poll shows that the bain is doing it's dmg on mitt romeny in south carolina
and seems newt is starting to make a bit of head way in florida to it seems. just seems that this is a venting stage to get out all the surprises now that there comming out there won't be any ammunition to use on Mitt Romeny if he wins.

[don morris]

I agree the ads are "dumb" politics. Gingrich and Perry have to realise that in the end,they are going to have to work with Romney in one capacity or another. It's going to be very difficult either way,with all three stooping to Democrat style attacks on each other. This will bite whoever finally gets the nomination.

Romney's disconnect with ordinary Americans,which he comes by as honestly as the disconnect between Prince Charles and the average British citizen, is what will kill his chances in the end. Romney is U.S. aristocracy,and Obama's handlers are smart enough to make that point repeatedly during the campaign.

I think the only hope the Republicans have is if the U.S. gets mired in a situation that can be blamed on Obama,such as another foreign war,or violent riots by the OWS crowd next Spring,1967-style.

[bmatkin]

Attacks on Mitt for Bain capital will finish off Newt and Perry.
Santorum will pick up a large chunk of the overflow, but Mitt will now have shelter from other, more fitting attacks.
Dumb move on Gingrich's part.

Roy, there is a great deal of difference between what Newt does and what Romney does in business. One is basically an insider lobbyist with insider information on markets, and the other is a free market clean up guy.

Remember when everyone was bitching about Washington pols making tons of money from insider knowledge. That's Newt. Outside Washington people go to jail for this.