The Republican primary contest in New Hampshire has turned into a festival of recrimination, with the candidates arguing over which campaign is violating the supposed 11th Commandment of the GOP: thou shall not attack a fellow Republican. (Yeah, right.) And at the GOP debate on Saturday night, amid this bitter bickering, Mitt Romney got caught (oh so easily) in a lie.
During a heated exchange about illegal immigration--the hot topic of the night--John McCain accused Romney of falsely calling the immigration plan McCain tried to pass in Congress "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. McCain was mad:
It's not amnesty. And for you to describe it as you do in the attack ads, my friend, you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it still won't be true.
In defense, Romney shot back:
I don't describe your plan as amnesty in my ad. I don't call it amnesty.
Immediately after the debate, in the so-called spin room, Senator Lindsey Graham was spinning for McCain and blasting Romney for running negative ads against candidates and not owning up to doing so. As Graham fumed, a McCain aide shoved into his hand a flyer that Romney had mailed out to potential voters. The piece was an attack on McCain, and one of its key charges was that McCain supports amnesty. "Look at this," Graham said. Gotcha!
This one scene was representative of the larger narrative: the other candidates do seem to detest Romney at the moment, believing he's running a dirtier-than-permitted campaign. The good news for Democrats: there's plenty of time for the GOP contest to get even nastier. Then again, the same can be said of the Democratic race.
I'm in New Hampshire, reporting for my home base, Mother Jones. Here's a list of my recent dispatches:
* How HRC previewed her get-Obama strategy at the Democratic debate. Click here.
* How Romney became an Obama copycat, how McCain became a self-proclaimed "agent of change," and how Mike Huckabee became a Chuck Norris sidekick. Click here.
* How Clinton has had a tough time trying to dash Obama's hope. Click here.
If you're not overwhelmed by New Hampshire coverage, check out these dispatches.
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Comments
A sign of things to come. Will we see the most nasty and hateful crud in the primaries or in the general election?
How dirty and low can they go? Romney (let's call him Willard) must be a very free spirit to freed himself from the truth - the guy lies like a rug without a care in the world.
All of your articles at MoJo are very good.
Thanks
Posted by: capt
| January 6, 2008 11:22 AM
Corn, can you get some impovements with the 'Post a Comment' section? It looks like an after thought.
Posted by: Neil
| January 6, 2008 12:47 PM
Neil --- This is better than the old one.
Posted by: David B. Benson
| January 6, 2008 6:58 PM
Romney was my Governor. I voted for him. I have firsthand knowledge that he is a fraud, turncoat, and political climber. That is, unless I fail to believe my lying eyes.
1. The toughest candidate on illegal immigration is Hilary Clinton. Remember Elian Gonzalez? The Clintons ushered that wetback out of the country at gunpoint. Remember how the Republicans cried? Look it up, doucebags.
2. Deport the illegal aliens, eh? You try removing 18 million consumers from our economy. Maybe somebody better ask Paulson about that.
3. Liberals are to blame for illegal immigration, eh? See's how most of them cross the border in Texas and Arizona I can't quite figure how me in Massachusetts is responsible. In fact, now that you mention it, I'm kinda pissed at how lazy the people in the border states are.
Posted by: Jay Severin's small pen1s
| January 6, 2008 10:38 PM
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