WashPost Grouses GOP Candidates Not Meeting with Unemployed Folks
Republican presidential candidates are meeting too many businessmen in their travels and too few unemployed folks or working-class wage earners, at least in the eyes of the Washington Post.
Post staffer Philip Rucker lamented in his 23-paragraph August 25 story that in a recent "50-minute session" with voters in New Hampshire that former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) -- who "is campaigning to be the jobs president" -- "hadn't heard from anyone who is unemployed, underemployed or simply clocks in for a working wage every day."
Rucker turned to "Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, who is neutral in the race," to complain that, in Bonjean's words, no one "truly identifies with the woes and has channeled the anxieties of voters."
"To be sure, they all interact with a cross-section of the public when they visit diners, stroll along downtown Main Streets or host town hall meetings," Rucker admitted, "But in their most intimate campaign settings, when they actually chew over economy policy and solicit comments rather than questions, the candidates usually hear from the employers, not the workers," he complained.
While perhaps the opposite complaint could be leveled at President Obama and Democratic officeholders in general, I'm not expecting the Post to write such a story for balance.
- Ken Shepherd's blog
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Comments
This, in stark contrast to
Submitted by bkeyser on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 6:33pm.
the throngs of out-of-work vacationers meeting with Barack Obama on Martha's Vineyard. Or the under-employed attendees at Obama's most recent $38,500/head fundraiser. Republicans are such bastards.
WH Press Release:
Submitted by Comrade Jim on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 8:48pm.
President Obama is planning to appoint a committee to investigate the possibility of forming a group to look into the development of a program that will lay out a blueprint for the staff of a new czar who will oversee the instillation of a procedure to come up with a draft of a model that will serve as a prototype for a new agency that will set in motion a project to construct a panel for the purpose of designing a new department to correlate the schedule of the president's staff who will be charged with mapping out the itinerary of the presidents advisers to make arrangements for the president to fit into his crowded schedule the possibility of meeting with some unemployed person. Because there has been only full employment during Obama's tenure in the WH it will be a difficult task. But the president is up to such difficult tasks.
Wow, Comrade..........did you
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 11:33pm.
Wow, Comrade..........did you plagerize that statement from Opie's cousin - you know, the White House press secretary??? It sound almost exactly like something that the REGIME would say.............except that you didn't mention the 'focusing like a laser' or 'not resting until everybody who wants and job has a job'..............right before Barama heads off for his 'Black Bus Tour' of White America.................and then flies up to Martha's Vineyard for 10 days of eating, partying, and golfing. And I think he's really irritated that this stupid hurricane is putting the kabosh on his well-deserved vacation........
Well its kinda like this..if
Submitted by ThePickle on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 6:40pm.
Well its kinda like this..if ya want to get America back to work you can either:
A) spend your time listening to the unemployed whine moan and cry, which while it might make the emotional types "feel better", will accomplish exactly jack squat OR
B) you can spend you time talking to the people that will be giving said folks JOBS about ways to turn the economy around and get folks back to work.
Guess which one I feel is time "better spent".
ok so what would they ask?
Submitted by kata on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 6:50pm.
Other than anecdotal stories I am not sure how listening to the plights of the unemployed helps. It's obvious what they need. And it's not for someone to "identify with them". They need a job.
I'd be more interested in the bottom line of what businesses need, in the absense of real demand, to start hiring. Things like regulations and tax burdens. Things that make the risk worth the reward to hire two people instead of just one. And I don't mean incentives. I am tired of the government playing industry du jour.
Where we they 2 weeks ago.
Submitted by pbthinker on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 9:22pm.
So, how many unemployed people did Obama meet on his little bus tour? I'm sure there were some plants there to beg for extending unemployment benefits passed the 99 weeks they've already been unemployed, but I bet they were few and far between. It's a little tough to get all that cheering when you're out of work.
I think that them thar' farm
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 11:35pm.
I think that them thar' farm boys was givin' ol' Obama the one-fingered salute when he was rumblin' by on his big black busses!!!
Wonder how many MPG's that bus got.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 8:50am.
5?
WAPO is Wrong Republicas Meeting With Lots of Unemployed
Submitted by Avitar on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 4:22am.
The Washington Post reporters just can't recognize the Unemployed in Republican circles. The Republicans y still own suits and have not gone on a bender after a year of unemployment. The WaPo cant understand that.
In fact since they were savers the average Republican starts his unemployment in better financial shape than Obama started his Presidency. Financial disclosure forms say Obama only had $60,000 in financial assets when he was sworn in. Most people with an intact 401K can do better.
Romney and the unemployed?
Submitted by big.league.slider on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 4:48am.
Wasn't Romney criticized for admitting that he himself was "unemployed"?
As for GOP presidential candidates like Perry reaching out to the unemployed, for crying out loud, he's the governor of Texas. And his state has produced more jobs than the rest of the US combined. If Perry wants to "reach out to the unemployed", he'll need to travel to a blue state like Illinois or California.
And as for Obama, he has sucked-up to GE's CEO Immelt. GE and Immelt have laid -off over 3000 US employees this year.
What WAPO Really Means
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 12:25pm.
When the left talks about the unemployed, they mean the rank and file union members who lost their union jobs when employers moved to right to work states or to other countries.
The reason the Republican candidates are talking to business leaders is to get their ideas on how to get them to create jobs.
Moral of the story: Businesses create jobs, unions destroy them.
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html