A number of right-leaning bloggers and pundits want Mitt Romney to take his recently revealed comments from a Florida fundraiser in May further. Moreover, they want the media to get over it.
Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.com, was so inspired by the surreptitiously recorded video, which was posted Monday by the liberal magazine Mother Jones, that he tweeted that he hoped “Romney would talk more about this issue on the trail.”
In a blog post he added that Romney should “double down” on what he said.
The Romney campaign should double down on what he said. They should own it. The trouble for the left and media (but I repeat myself) is that most Americans agree with Mitt Romney. Most Americans consider themselves part of the 53% and it is not a winning proposition for Barack Obama to convince Americans they are less than they think they are when most Americans already recognize he has made them less than they were.Team Romney should force this debate onto the national stage. They should not walk it back.
Erickson also described the press and left as “already orgasmic at the find.”
Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin tweeted that “Romney should NEVER be defensive or apologetic,” about framing the debate in terms of “America’s makers vs. America’s takers.”
The Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis complained about how the “media elites are breathlessly reporting” on the incident but said the “substance” of his remarks were worthy of discussion.
In supporting Romney’s remarks, conservatives sought to frame it in terms of the debate on entitlements—how much and what type of support the government should offer its citizens—and push forward a narrative of smaller government.
Sean Spicer, the communications director of the Republican National Committee, defended Romney’s remarks in those terms during an appearance on msnbc Tuesday. “What Mitt Romney’s talking about is the free enterprise system…get government out of the way…and let our country flourish,” he said. “I think you are going to hear more about that message.”
The Washington Post’s conservative blogger, Jennifer Rubin of Right Turn, chalked the hubbub up to the media’s need to “go nuts” over Romney’s “faux pas in claiming all Obama supporters are dependent on the government.” Instead, she praised Romney for “as effective a damage-control operation as he’s managed this campaign,” and surmised the incident will not be the “catastrophe the media would have us believe.”
Not all conservatives believe Romney should “double-down” on his remarks.
William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard said Romney made “arrogant and stupid remarks,” while also pointing to President Obama’s remarks four years ago about guns and religion as equally arrogant and stupid. On Fox News earlier Tuesday the National Review’s John Fund called it “politically stupid,” but argued it would have little impact on voters other than to drive the base.
The New York Times columnist David Brooks, described as “center-right,” said that Romney’s comments show he “really doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits,” nor the “culture of America.”