Who's been most hurt by gaffes?
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  Who's been most hurt by gaffes?
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Poll
Question: Who is bigger gaffe machine?
#1
Romney
 
#2
Santorum
 
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Total Voters: 39

Author Topic: Who's been most hurt by gaffes?  (Read 1107 times)
Likely Voter
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Junior Chimp
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« on: March 18, 2012, 05:16:11 PM »

Obviously Rick Perry will go into the Political Gaffe Hall of Fame, but of the remaining two front runners, who has been most hurt by gaffes/controversial statements?

One could argue that Romney is constantly feeding his own stereotype of an out of touch elitist with talk of knowing team owners, not caring about the poor, letting housing "bottom out", not making much money, couple of Cadillacs, etc. And his regular foot in mouth moments are why he hasn't closed the deal. There is probably some truth to that.

However I would argue (as would Charles Krauthammer) that Santorum squandered his big moment after he surged to the top of the polls after his three state shutout in February. He was leading going into MI (a Romney home state) but he got off message and on about "College, Kennedy and Contraception" and lost MI, which I think was his last chance at a "game changer". And this last week in PR is yet another example of a self-inflicted wound that will likely hand all the delegates over to Romney.

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Yelnoc
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2012, 05:24:04 PM »

Romney is the bigger gaffe machine, but Santorum's missteps have had a worse effect on his campaign.
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RogueBeaver
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« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2012, 05:58:10 PM »

What Yelnoc said. In the campaign at large- I think Gingrich (with Perry a close second), since RWSE finished him off before he even got started.
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King
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« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2012, 06:23:08 PM »

Santorum wouldn't have his base of support if it were not for his gaffes.
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Torie
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« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2012, 06:56:11 PM »
« Edited: March 18, 2012, 06:59:07 PM by Torie »

Mittens hasn't made serious policy gaffes, just diplomatic ones. I mean if Mittens wanted to repeal Marbury v Madison, or build human colonies on the moon, or argued that gayness hurts the economy, or give special tax breaks to manufacturing (however that is defined), triggering a trade war and GATT violations, and done it early enough, someone else would have gotten into the race - and I for one would have fled for the hills. Really.  As it is, he's been forced to take some positions because he got nervous, particularly on tax policy, that may come back to haunt him in the General - because now he has joined his competitors, in embracing voodoo mathematics.

The media has not really explored the ideas of Romney's competitors, because it didn't think any really had much of a prayer of getting the nomination, so why bother? If Mittens suddenly collapses for some reason, watch for that to happen to Rick. But it isn't going to happen.

I find no need to explore Paul's ideas or resume - he res ipsa loquitur. Smiley
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Frozen Sky Ever Why
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2012, 09:18:41 PM »

Well, Santorum's 'gaffes' certainly destroyed my opinion of him. I actually liked and would have voted for him vs Obama, but after his disgusting, pandering, patronizing remarks that ended quickly. Oh, that and his voter sabotage.
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TheGlobalizer
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« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2012, 04:59:56 PM »

As I've said before, Romney, because Santorum actually believes the stupid sh** he says, so it's not a gaffe.
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memphis
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« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2012, 05:02:45 PM »

As I've said before, Romney, because Santorum actually believes the stupid sh** he says, so it's not a gaffe.
Are you doubting that Romney enjoys firing people?
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TheGlobalizer
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« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2012, 05:07:12 PM »

As I've said before, Romney, because Santorum actually believes the stupid sh** he says, so it's not a gaffe.
Are you doubting that Romney enjoys firing people?

No, he does, but he doesn't like firing innocent people for no reason, which is how it was reported.

I think most people like firing companies that provide a sh**ty product.
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memphis
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« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2012, 07:31:29 PM »

As I've said before, Romney, because Santorum actually believes the stupid sh** he says, so it's not a gaffe.
Are you doubting that Romney enjoys firing people?

No, he does, but he doesn't like firing innocent people for no reason, which is how it was reported.
Are you kidding? Do you know how private equity works?
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Wisconsin+17
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« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2012, 10:49:47 PM »

Well, his Cheesy grits comment endeared him with the south, so I can see why Mittens' gaffes didn't hurt him.

Imagine how poorly he would have done if he hadn't said it?
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Ogre Mage
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« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2012, 01:07:04 AM »

I would say Romney has hurt himself more only because Santorum's candidacy was so improbable to start with.  That's in contrast to Perry, who actually came in regarded as a front-runner.  For those of us old enough to remember the late 90s and early 2000s, Santorum is not saying anything that we didn't already know about him.
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BigSkyBob
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« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2012, 01:09:09 AM »

The American people. The game of ripping people's statements grossly out of context to play "gotcha" games interfers with the American people's attempt to gather the information necessary to make an informed choice.
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Phony Moderate
Obamaisdabest
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« Reply #13 on: March 20, 2012, 01:13:56 AM »

The question in the title box is quite different to the question in the question box.
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TheGlobalizer
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« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2012, 02:22:03 PM »

As I've said before, Romney, because Santorum actually believes the stupid sh** he says, so it's not a gaffe.
Are you doubting that Romney enjoys firing people?

No, he does, but he doesn't like firing innocent people for no reason, which is how it was reported.
Are you kidding? Do you know how private equity works?

That's not firing people.  It's layoffs.

Sucks the same for the recipient but it's not the same thing.  I've never been laid off and said that I got fired.
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