David Corn

Washington Bureau Chief

Corn has broken stories on presidents, politicians, and other Washington players. He's written for numerous publications and is a talk show regular. His best-selling books include Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War.

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Romney's Speech: The Softer Side of a Hard-Right Campaign

The GOP nominee played it safe, but the convention made clear that he and Paul Ryan aim to radically reshape America.

—By David Corn

| Thu Aug. 30, 2012 11:15 PM PDT

Mitt Romney takes the stage during the 2012 Republican National Convention at t

Mitt Romney takes the stage during the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday. Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma

With the Republican convention in Tampa, Mitt Romney has launched the most ideological presidential campaign in recent history. At issue is not merely the current state of the economy and Romney's ability to become the CEO-in-chief and perform a turnaround. Romney is waging a battle for the opportunity to conduct a conservative social experiment that would remake fundamentals of American society. But he neglected to mention that Thursday night during his climactic—though hardly soaring—acceptance speech.

See our full coverage of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The previous evening, his veep pick, Paul Ryan, married two ideas together when he wasn't tossing out profoundly false talking points: The first is that Romney is a successful businessman who can revive the flagging economy and return the nation to greatness; the second is that voters are now living in an American gulag, where basic freedoms have been destroyed and sanctimonious central planners dictate citizens' lives, smother initiative, and doom everyone to a life of entitlements and control. The first of these notions is upbeat and hopeful, addressing the immediate concerns of voters confronting economic challenges: Romney, the guy who looks like a president from Central Casting, is galloping in on a white horse to rescue you. The other is gloomy and of more concern to the arch-libertarians of the tea party and conservative movement: We are living in a place akin to the former East Germany and must break free of the chains.

Yet when Romney spoke to the convention on Thursday night, he only worked the first idea, sticking with a more standard (and less revealing) script. It was a grade-B endeavor, an uninteresting speech offering few ideas but containing the familiar Hallmarkian biography (good son, good husband, good dad, man of faith, good businessman) and all the expected rhetoric: lower taxes for all, repeal Obamacare, increase military spending, deride concern about global warming ("President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family."). There was the usual hawkish talk about Iran, as Romney channeled his neocon advisers. Yet oddly, and perhaps scandalously, he did not once mention the war in Afghanistan or the tens of thousands of US troops serving there.

Romney did adopt a somewhat gentle approach to slamming his opponent. He noted that he had initially hoped that Obama would succeed as president (really?) but that now, after years of disappointment, Americans "deserve better" and a change in leadership is necessary to produce jobs, jobs, and jobs. Romney contended that his economic plan (details not included) would yield 12 million new jobs—but most economists figure that's the amount of jobs that will be created in the next few years without Romney at the helm. And despite his more measured tone, Romney still portrayed Obama as a foe of business and religious freedom. ("He had almost no experience working in a business. Jobs to him are about government.") Without hesitation, he hurled the campaign's favorite falsehoods: Obama went on an apology tour; he raised middle-class taxes; and he slashed Medicare by $716 billion.

[Read the full article]

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With Ryan Speech, Romney Campaign Goes Full Tea Party

The VP pick channeled Ayn Rand and declared ideological warfare—signaling that Romney won't pivot to the middle.

—By David Corn

| Wed Aug. 29, 2012 11:49 PM PDT

Daniel Wallace/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma

If there is a bedrock of conventional wisdom in presidential politics, it is this: First, succeed in the primaries by winning over the base, and then move to the center in the general election to court independent and middle-of-the-road voters. So where is Mitt Romney's pivot to the center?

See our full coverage of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Throughout his political career, Romney has demonstrated a high degree of flexibility. But he has yet to employ those skills as the final stage of this presidential slog begins. And with Rep. Paul Ryan's fiery speech at the GOP convention on Wednesday night, it was clear that Romney did not pick Ryan to appeal to the undecideds in the middle. The speech was an indication that the Romney crew has gone rogue—or completely tea party.

Speaking with poise and brimming with cocky confidence, Ryan took the predictable shots, deriding the stimulus and Obamacare. He devoted a long riff to the unfounded Romney charge that President Obama cut $716 billion from Medicare. He blasted Obama for not being serious about deficit reduction, going as far as to chide Obama for not fully embracing the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan that Ryan and other Republicans refused to support (because it called for modest tax hikes on the well-to-do). Before the pumped-up crowd of GOP delegates, Ryan blamed the closure of a GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, on Obama's policies—though the factory was shuttered before Obama became president. He did not refer to the successful auto industry bailout.

On Medicare, Ryan repeated the familiar GOP whine that Democrats are demagogues when they assail Ryan's budget plan for ending the Medicare guarantee. "We want this debate," he proclaimed. "We will win this debate."

"They're in a mania," one former Bush adviser said about the Romney campaign. "They think America is ready for a grand reconfiguration of its social insurance system."

All of this was to be expected, and Ryan delivered the goods effectively, with his gee-whiz, winning manner and shrewd rhetoric. But he offered more: an undiluted tea party view of the world. He declared that the only way to juice the economy is to place "hard limits on the size of government," and he described Obamaland in the darkest (and Ayn Randiest) terms: "The best this administration offers [is] a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us."

Ryan went on in this fashion: "Listen to the way we're spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate."

His message literally was: You should be on your own, left alone to define your own journey, your own happiness. (Unless of course, there is an unwanted pregnancy, even one that occurred due to rape.) "That's the American Dream," he contended. "That's freedom, and I'll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners."

With such language—which was vetted by Romney Central Command—Ryan was not pressing the obvious case that Romney is a pragmatic Mr. Fixit who could be a competent steward of the still-struggling American economy. He was announcing that he and Romney aim to remake American society. He was essentially issuing a declaration of ideological warfare: Government is the enemy of freedom and the cause of the nation's economic woes; it must be crushed. And, yes, taxes must be slashed for all, which would include those on the highest rungs.

This played well among the delegates, many of whom are no strangers to privilege and entitlement. But the question is, do middle-class voters worried about the economy (especially those who are still undecided) see sanctimonious central planners in Washington as the main evil and believe that they would prosper if government would just leave them alone? As they ponder their own immediate difficulties, do these voters conclude that dependency on government has been the cause of economic decline, and that a fundamental reshaping of the relationship between the government and citizenry is what's most needed?

[Read the full article]

Opening Night in Tampa: Love or Respect for Romney?

Chris Christie and Ann Romney pushed oddly mixed messages, each trying to prop up the nominee.

—By David Corn

| Wed Aug. 29, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Ann Romney: Harry E. Walker/MCT/Zuma; Chris Christie: Harry E. Walker/MCT/Zuma

Is the 2012 election about love, or is it about respect? At the first night of Mittfest in Tampa, there was some confusion on this point. After hours of predictable Obama-hates-freedom-and-business speeches, the evening culminated in back-to-back addresses by Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's emissary to the human race, and Chris Christie, the take-no-guff Jersey guv.

See our full coverage of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The candidate's wife opened this way: "I want to talk to you tonight not about politics and not about party…Tonight I want to talk to you about love." Naturally, it was the love she had for a guy she met at a dance many years ago and the love all Americans have for their homeland. But she quickly digressed to tell the delegates—and the national television audience—that Ann Romney knows darn-tootin' well that many Americans have it tough these days, especially women. And she played the gal card: "If you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the men. It's how it is, isn't it? It's the moms who always have to work a little harder, to make everything right. It's the moms of this nation—single, married, widowed—who really hold this country together…You know it's true, don't you? You're the ones who always have to do a little more."

Here was the play for the female vote—a response to the Democratic charge of a Republican war on women. But was she engaging in Gender Warfare? Dividing the nation into moms and dads in order to score political points?

If not, this was the political equivalent of sending flowers to the little lady in hope of winning her over. And it was condescending. Speaking to the moms of the country, she said, "There would not be an America without you." As if such a platitude would have real value to them. And referring to all women, she added, "We're too smart to know there aren't easy answers. But we're not dumb enough to accept that there aren't better answers." Wait a minute: Who says women are dumb? What was she suggesting?

She referred not once to a single policy her hubby would implement that might make life better for the women whom she was claiming as sisters. Instead, she went on about how wonderful Mitt is as a husband, parent, and friend. (Newsflash: Ann Romney Endorses Husband!). She did the bio, covering their salad days—they "ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish"—and her breast cancer and MS, as if she could truly identify with those working moms the Romney campaign has had such a difficult time attracting.

This was her big finish:

I said tonight I wanted to talk to you about love. Look into your hearts. This is our country. This is our future. These are our children and grandchildren. You can trust Mitt. He loves America. He will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance.

Ann Romney was comparing the entire nation to a high school girl being escorted home from a dance. That was her pitch: I love him, you should, too. Don't worry your pretty little heads about the details.

Christie was not so dewy-eyed. He talked a lot more about himself than Mitt Romney, opening with a long description of his own family background. "[T]he greatest lesson Mom ever taught me, though," he said, "was this one: She told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected. Now she said to always pick being respected. She told me that love without respect was always fleeting—but that respect could grow into real and lasting love." He declared now was a time for tough leadership: "Tonight, we are going to choose respect over love."

[Read the full article]

"Fuck You, Tyrants!": Ron Paul Supporters Rebel on Convention Floor

—By Andy Kroll and David Corn

| Tue Aug. 28, 2012 4:38 PM PDT

Mark Carducci, a Nevada delegate and Ron Paul supporter, furiously reacts to a controversial rules change rammed through by the RNC. Andy Kroll.

A minor revolt broke out on the floor of the Republican Party's presidential convention Tuesday afternoon and evening. Ron Paul delegates from several states erupted into protest over a controversial change to the party's rules to block future insurgencies mounted by outside candidates like their hero. Paul supporters also freaked out over the convention's refusal to recognize about two dozen Paul delegates and for refusing to treat Paul like a serious candidate for the nomination.

During the roll call of the states, the Paulites were irate, screaming at the podium, as convention secretary Kim Reynolds declined to read out the delegate votes for any candidate other than Romney. "The Republican Party is so afraid of Ron Paul that they won't repeat his name," shouted Jim Ayala, a Nevada delegate and Paul supporter wearing an Oath Keepers T-shirt.

Minutes earlier, the Paulites were enraged when the convention adopted the new set of rules on a voice vote during which the Paul backers out-shouted the other delegates. One Nevada delegate and Paul supporter, Mark Carducci, thrust two middle fingers into the air toward RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), screaming "Fuck you, tyrants!" (That's him in the above picture.)

See our full coverage of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The Republican National Committee had altered the convention rules to bind delegates in future elections to vote for the candidate who wins their state's primary or caucus. This change would hurt outsider candidates like Paul, who collected 158 delegates during the Republican primary season. The RNC also refused to recognize Paul's delegates from Maine, and this incensed his many supporters, leading to a nasty yelling match on the convention floor immediately before Mitt Romney's nomination. "Seat them now!" the Paulites yelled.

Roger Leahy, an Iowa delegate and Paul supporter, says he and other Paulites had pleaded with Reynolds to recognize Paul during the roll call, but she would not. "This is the Republican steamroller," Leahy said.

All this led to the unseated Maine Paul delegates storming out of the convention together. And a pack of angry Paul fans all clad in white ballcaps left the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Romney campaign and the RNC had hoped to avoid this kind of floor flight, large or small, during the convention. But once it was done, the convention proceeded and Romney was nominated, to polite applause.

Following the dustup, Yelena Vorobyov (pictured below), a 30-year-old Paul delegate from Apple Valley, Minnesota, was eager to vent. Barely taking a breath, she said: "This is just evidence of the manipulation of the Republican Party. They're not even allowing us to bring signs in, but they brought in their own [pro-Romney] signs. We couldn't nominate Ron Paul. The 'no' for not passing the rules was louder than the 'aye' and they ruled in favor of the rules. They're cheating. The Republican National Committee is not transparent and does not have integrity. They stole votes. They stole delegates. They refused to send buses for our delegates. It's a totalitarian process. This is not democracy. It's a really sad day for us. I've worked for Republican candidates since I was 16. We believed the Republican Party had more integrity. Boy, did they prove us wrong."

Yelena Vorobyov, one of Ron Paul's 33 Minnesota delegates, had to make her own sign on the floor, and she was damn mad. David Corn

Ryan's Radical Vision, Eastwood's Empty Chair, a Huge Donor's "Nightmare": Dispatches From #GOP2012

MoJo sent five reporters to the Republican convention in Tampa. Here's what they saw and heard.

—By David Corn, Daniel Schulman, Nick Baumann, Tim Murphy, Andy Kroll, and Adam Serwer

| Mon Aug. 27, 2012 5:35 PM PDT

Romney's Speech: The Softer Side of a Hard-Right Campaign

—David Corn

The previous evening, his veep pick Paul Ryan, when he wasn't tossing out profoundly false talking points, married two ideas together: The first is that Romney is a successful businessman who can revive the flagging economy and return the nation to greatness. The second is that voters are now living in an American gulag, where basic freedoms have been destroyed and sanctimonious central planners dictate citizens' lives, smother initiative, and doom everyone to a life of entitlements and control. The first of these notions is upbeat and hopeful, addressing the immediate concerns of voters confronting economic challenges: Romney, the guy who looks like a president from central casting, is galloping in on a white horse to rescue you. The other is gloomy and of more concern to the arch-libertarians of the tea party and conservative movement: We are living in a place akin to the former East Germany and must break free of the chains.

[Read more]

VIDEO: Clint Eastwood's Bizarre "Empty Chair Obama" Speech at the GOP Convention (With Full Transcript)

—Andy Kroll

On Thursday night, Clint Eastwood, the Academy Award-winning actor, director, and screenwriter, delivered one of the most bizarre political convention speeches in American history.

Speaking without prepared remarks, Eastwood carried on an imaginary conversation with an invisible President Obama seated in a chair next to him on the convention stage. I can't even begin to try to summarize Eastwood's rambling address to a bewildered audience and press corps. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick, looked less than pleased with Eastwood's speech. And the Hollywood star's invisible Obama skit quickly spawned its own Twitter feed—@InvisibleObama—and a satirical 2012 presidential bid. As well as #eastwooding.

Behold, Eastwood/Chair 2012:

Twitter user @zdroberts Twitter user @zdroberts