As Republican strategist Alex Castellanos described the split in the Democratic Party over Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, host David Gregory defensively attempted to focus on Romney's difficulties: "...here's the problem for Governor Romney. He does have to create distance from a Republican Party that is in trouble."
Gregory failed to give much evidence for that declaration other than pointing to a potential demographic edge for Democrats: "[Romney] has to create new opportunities for the fact that there is a coalition of the young, Hispanics and women who he has a severe disadvantage with." Gregory also insisted Romney must come up with a better economic message: "He has to do that with a kind of vision for the economy that is different than, 'How's it going with the other guy?' Which is basically what his message has been so far."
And all you have to do, I think, is look at the world around you and describe it....how do we grow this economy? The old way, the way Barack Obama still wants to do it, send our money to Washington and try to grow it top-down politically and artificially from Washington or take money out of big dumb slow government and put it in the American people's pockets, invest in 300 million dreams and plans and grow the economy naturally and organically bottom-up?
Here is a transcript of the June 3 exchange:
11:05AM ET
(...)
ALEX CASTELLANOS: This president is telling the American people that the biggest problem we have is other Americans that are holding the economy back. And Bill Clinton was a new business Democrat, a new Democrat. He wanted to grow the economy. The president's job, Bill Clinton thought, was to grow it for everybody, not just to redistribute what some Americans have. That's why the biggest split, I think, that's hurting Barack Obama now, is a split in the Democratic Party. It turns out Hillary Clinton is still running in the 2008 primary.
DAVID GREGORY: Well, let me ask you this though, Alex. Because here's the problem for Governor Romney. He does have to create distance from a Republican Party that is in trouble. He has to create new opportunities for the fact that there is a coalition of the young, Hispanics and women who he has a severe disadvantage with. And he has to do that with a kind of vision for the economy that is different than, "How's it going with the other guy?" Which is basically what his message has been so far.
CASTELLANOS: And all you have to do, I think, is look at the world around you and describe it. Which is what I think you are going to see not only Mitt Romney, but new Republicans do. And that is, look, how do we grow this economy? The old way, the way Barack Obama still wants to do it, send our money to Washington and try to grow it top-down politically and artificially from Washington or take money out of big dumb slow government and put it in the American people's pockets, invest in 300 million dreams and plans and grow the economy naturally and organically bottom-up? There is a new Republican agenda that's very different.
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