Will the bullying revelations force Romney to withdraw?

[coalition_unwilling]

I wonder what is being whispered in the halls of Repuke power brokers right about now.

Oh, to be a bug on one of those walls.

[Bake]

1. Are you kidding?

It'll win him more support among the wingers!

Bake

[coalition_unwilling]

3. I have a couple Repuke acquaintances. Each was a victim of

school bullying. So I'll be keeping my ear to the ground.

I was not kidding.

[Bake]

8. Let us know what they have to say about it, please.

I'll bet a month's pay Karl Rove was bullied as a teenager. And he's a bully today.

Bake

[Geoff R. Casavant]

19. I seem to recall Karl Rove was beaten up by a 10-year-old girl.

I forget the exact circumstances, I think he was 12 or 13 at the time. If memory serves the tale is recounted in "Bush's Brain."

[nanabugg]

62. I really hope Mitt doesn't withdraw...I'm lov'in his hypocritical, flip-flopping, homophobic, racist

elitist ass.

[gratuitous]

23. Ditto Bake

Let us know what your contacts hear, and you're a better person than I am for keeping in touch with such acquaintances. Or maybe just younger.

[Fumesucker]

7. Eggs Ackley knocks it out of the ballpark on the first pitch.

Establishes Rmoney's credentials as a real tough guy.

[Posteritatis]

55. Yep. (nt)

[uponit7771]

2. For the base they get some points for the middle the story has to keep legs and it'll hit him even..

...more.

[meow2u3]

4. Being a bully is a prerequisite for GOP membership

Anyone who's not a bully gets thrown out of their party. Ask any teabagger.

[WI_DEM]

5. No. Why would it? this is the republican party

who loves bullies and hates gays. Also, I doubt the media will make a big deal of it. They will dismiss it as a youthful prank.

[coalition_unwilling]

10. If Romney's base starts jumping ship, I would imagine the

Repuke power brokers\fund raisers would start pressuring Romney to act in the best interests of the party, so as to prevent down-ballot disaster.

[eissa]

6. You're thinking of the wrong party

If it were a Dem, yes, of course it would be over for him. But for the party of hate this will only score him more points.

[fishwax]

9. the republican base opposes anti-bullying legislation

I really don't think they'll be all that bothered by this. There are many wingnuts who don't think picking on presumably gay kids is an inherently bad thing.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. I don't think he can stand too many more revelations

Revealing his tax returns over the last ten years I think would be the coup de grace.

[KamaAina]

26. Especially the ones where he was living in his son's unfinished basement

[Life Long Dem]

60. And we just got started with the vetting.

[Brickbat]

12. Why would it? The phrase "youthful indiscretion" has worked before.

[grantcart]

13. No but it may cause Tim Pawlenty to become suicidal. Tim if only you had listened to Lawrence O.

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. No ...

That is a highly desirable trait among the gop base.

[FSogol]

15. Dream on. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. You funny

He is ideal since his target was the gay. I wish I was kidding.

[coalition_unwilling]

38. He was also cruel to a vision-challenged teacher and taunted another

classmate with what can only be characterized as homophobic and misogynistic remarks.

What is the tipping point, I guess is what I'm really asking? How disgusting does his past have to be before Repukes are through with him?

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. The modern RNC is authoritarian in nature

They like this crap.

They are Social Darwinists as well...blind teacher, got what was comming...again, I wish I was kidding.

Also the primaries are over...this rejection would make the convention all kinds of messy. We can't have that.

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Bullying is a plank in the Republican platform.

He will not be affected in the least.

[COLGATE4]

18. Withdraw??? They'd give him

the Congressional Medal of Freedom if they could!

[emulatorloo]

20. No. Republicans love Bullies.

[longship]

21. It depends on how hard this hits and whether it's still an issue in summer

Concerning people here saying that this is a benefit for the bully Republicans, I would point out that Republicans alone cannot win a statewide election. They need independents to complete the deal. Also, there are still moderate Republicans. I cannot see either of these factions being happy about this bullying revelation. Especially since the WaPo seems to have unquestionable credibility on this story. (Rmoney's campaign would otherwise have denied it.)

Only Time will tell. But I'll bet the lights are burning late these days at Camp Rmoney.

[emulatorloo]

24. Excellent point on independents. However, media will kill this story ASAP.

Their number one mission is PROTECT ROMNEY, TRASH OBAMA.

It was the same in 2008 - all bad McCain stories got buried. Until he said "The Fundamentals of the Economy Are Sound" - there was no way they could cover that up.

[longship]

35. Media kill this story???

With the "bully" movie making news? This could become a perfect storm. Plus, Willard fucking lied! He said he didn't remember it when there are four witnesses saying he was the leader!

If this goes away quickly, I'd be surprised, and shocked. Plus, just maybe WaPo isn't going to stop.

[emulatorloo]

36. glad to hear your analysis. Just read another story from his stint as Governor that adds a lot

to the picture

Romney Battled LGBT Anti-Bully Commission As Governor
Source: Talking Points Memo

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014118296

This is very bad stuff.

[longship]

46. Yes, see my post there...

I was first responder in that thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014118296

It looks, to me, to be the building of a perfect storm... All started by VP Joe Biden. Bless him.

[coalition_unwilling]

39. Yup, I'm thinking maybe, just maybe, some enterprising Woodward and Bernstein

types there long to attain the same glorious heights as their famous forbears.

[alphafemale]

61. The Rock song "Bully" by Shinedown has also topped the charts for weeks.

And his saying he doesn't remember the incident{s} makes it worse.

[NYC Liberal]

42. Maybe, maybe not.

The media is first and foremost concerned with making money. They love a good scandal and Obama hasn't given them anything to run with. So they may take this.

[maddezmom]

58. watching Hardball now and it doesn't look like anyone wants to bury this story

[polichick]

22. Republicans will like him better - they love bullies...

...and other sociopaths.

[hughee99]

48. They didn't seem to like Rahm very much. n/t

[polichick]

50. True dat! I didn't like him either.

[hughee99]

56. In all fairness, a lot of Dems didn't like him either. n/t

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

25. Running with scissors can be fatal.

[coalition_unwilling]

53. Oh, snap! That's positively stilleto-like in its

wit.

[Bolo Boffin]

27. Erick Erickson on CNN just now: "Romney cut a hippy's hair"

So Romney clearly has the bullying vote. You can only wonder when the Bullies for Romney page goes up at the campaign website. Oh, that's the Young Republicans page? Oh, right...

[DefenseLawyer]

28. They are wondering why he didn't bully more.

The strong owe it to the weak to "correct" their defects whenever possible.

[ScreamingMeemie]

29. This kind of thing is what those people want. They have no problems with bullies

and fake bullies (See W).

[backscatter712]

30. No, but I think it will hurt him at the polls.

The only people who like this sort of behavior are the teabagging Christofacist right. Everyone else is going to be repulsed.

Which probably means that Obama's going to win this November by a landslide!

[piratefish08]

31. serious?

they LOVE that shit.

[skip fox]

32. They'll give him "street cred" with the Repugs."

[RZM]

33. LOL. Why would it?

Events this far in the past are rarely relevant to a presidential campaign. The only thing that will come of this will be that some people who already dislike Romney will dislike him even more. But hardly anybody else is going to care.

People care much more about the big issues like jobs, health care, immigration, and foreign policy. People are gong to cast their votes based on issues like that and not what an adolescent Mitt was doing in 1965. To the extent his past will matter, it will be his adult past - stuff like his years with Bain, his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, and his record of flip-flopping.

[coalition_unwilling]

41. I guess I was hoping for a little justice for all past victims of bullying. I understand

that my wishes do not necessarily make things so, but if there's a steady drip-drip-drip of revelations, that could drive Romney's negatives into the stratosphere.

[RZM]

54. The more I think about this type of thing

The more I notice how little a candidate's personal past ends up mattering in elections.

Sometimes it does, of course, but usually not all that much.

Obama admitted to doing cocaine and Bush apparently snorted some lines as well - he was also busted for drunk driving. Clinton was accused of being a draft dodger and was also accused of sexual harassment by several women. Yet all three men ended up becoming president anyway, because people just didn't care enough about any of those things. And those were actions in adulthood. I don't think what the Mittster did as a kid will end up mattering at all.

One reason we hear so much about this stuff is that the media loves these stories, because they feed into the tabloid side of politics and get eyeballs. I think people have an appetite for these type of stories, but I don't think they factor them much into their vote.

[RebelOne]

34. Doubtfully. But we can still hope. n/t

[LanternWaste]

37. It will be (at best) little more than a blip on the political radar.

If Bush's National Guard duty was dismissed, this (being small potatoes compared to it) will be little more than a blip on the political radar.

[coalition_unwilling]

43. For the past 30 years, I have been hoping that Americans' fundamental

decency might reappear stage center and force a grand repudiation of the politics of hate (a la the Army-McCarthy hearings in the 50s that finally did in Joseph McCarthy).

There's something in the American character that does not like bullying and supports underdogs, especially when the bullying issue is laid on top of the issue of class privilege.

[NYC Liberal]

44. No, but it will be one more thing that contributes to his loss.

I've said it before: Romney will be sunk by the culmination of lots of gaffes and stories like this one that will frame him as an uncaring, out-of-touch rich guy. Just like what happened with McCain.

[Quantess]

45. Haha, that's a good one. Tell us another joke.

On a serious note, no.
Sadly, no, his constituents do not see this as a negative.

[coalition_unwilling]

49. I was a victim of bullying in school and I suppose I was

hoping for a measure of justice for victims of bullying (although the specific victim here died of liver cancer in 2004).

I was not joking.

[Quantess]

52. I am sorry to hear it, and I did not mean it to sound insensitive.

But I think it's a sad truth that his base is not bothered at all that he bullied a gay classmate. Not most of them, anyway.

[Rex]

47. Actually, that is an badge of honor in the halls of the GOP.

Bullying is a PLUS in the GOPs books...NOT a liability.

[randome]

51. There are not many who could truly be called 'power brokers' in the GOP.

Self-titled, perhaps, but effective? Not so much.

In itself, this issue will not force Romney to withdraw.

HOWEVER, it's interesting to speculate on the cumulative effect all this pressure is having on him. He clearly does not deal well with stress. Hit him on multiple fronts at the same time and he may break.

As in a public meltdown, which would be a very welcome sign of what to expect in this election.

[Zorra]

57. Odds are there are much bigger skeletons in his closet.

Waiting patiently to come out and ruin his chances of being elected.

[Logical]

59. Are you serious???

[coalition_unwilling]

65. I did ask the question seriously, as I'd like to think

America is not a nation of bullies and that daily tracking polls would now start to show a calammy ownitous dropping off of support for Romney.

To the point where power brokers inside the party would start whispering in Romney's ears that it's time to go "for the good of the Party."

This is partly coming from my own baggage from having been bullied as a schoolkid so many years ago.

[PotatoChip]

63. They are covering the story now on NBC Nightly!

I came here to post that I thought the MSM would not bother with it. Glad I was wrong.

[alphafemale]

64. Bully by Shinedown

&ob=av2e

It’s 8 AM, this hell I’m in
Seems I’ve crossed a line again
For being nothing more than who I am
So break my bones and throw your stones
We all know that life ain’t fair
But there’s more of us we’re everywhere

We don’t have to take this back against the wall
We don’t have to take this we can end it all

All you’ll ever be is a fading memory of a bully
Make another joke while they hang another rope so lonely
Push them to the dirt till the words don’t hurt can you hear me
No one’s gonna cry on the very day you die you’re a bully

Think it through you can’t undo
Whenever I see black and blue I feel the past, I share the bruise
With everyone who’s come and gone
My head is clear my voice is strong, now I’m right here to right the wrong

Read more: Shinedown – Bully Lyrics | Shinedown http://www.songonlyrics.com/shinedown-bully-lyrics#ixzz1uVo3mZnB

[pa28]

66. Not at all.

Romney's greasy response to the whole episode is much more likely to hurt him than the actual event.

He would have been better off among Republican voters by saying "yeah I did that. Tough shit".